there was just too much going on in this book for how short it was. it was creepy, but not enough character depth and not a 'traditional' haunted house story.

The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel by EV Knight is a horror novel and ghost story. It's short but I think that actually hurts it. It needed to be fleshed out more than it is. It has potential, but didn't quite hit the mark for me.

Oof okay. So the story for this was really chaotic. The dialogue among the characters was kind of cringy with how much unnecessary swearing there was... I swear like a sailor, but it felt like the f bomb was being placed in the dialogue way too often that it didn't feel genuine. I didn't feel like I connected with the characters and their grievances, nor did I root for any of them. I did appreciate the dual POV's because it did help with perspective with Emily and Miles, but it still didn't feel like it was enough for me to really connect. Emily and Miles didn't communicate at all, which is one of my bigger complaints, because the miscommunication came off as childish. I think if some of these areas were corrected a bit more, it would be a better haunted house story, but the focus seemed to be on miscommunication rather than the house for the majority of the ride.

Emily is a talented artist and a loving husband. One day she is contacted by the renown author Cooper Yancy and asked to paint the cover for his next novel, a southern gothic horror.. Emily finds the perfect haunted looking house in Savannah, Georgia but barely gets in to tour the house when she starts bleeding badly and collapses. She is happily surprised to be told that she is. pregnant with a healthy baby boy. Such joy after years of trying with Miles.

However…Miles knows nothing about the commissioned work for Cooper (nor does he know of Emily’s bad feelings regarding the old,Victorian . So, he buys the house as a total surprise on the assumption that she loves the place. Emily does not love the place. Not one bit. When Miles unveils his big surprise Emily is giddy with happiness as he expected, Emily decides to make the best of it for the sake of Miles.

Of course…..strange things begun to happen. Scary objects are thrown away and then appear back in the house. After.a traumatic birth Emily is dismayed to not feel great love for Rhett in the beginning. Yet, as the haunt grows more threatening her love for Rhett suddenly blooms in a big rush and she know she will do anything-anything to protect her son from the house, it’s long dead first owners, or what ever it is that seems to want Rhett.

Fight she does and she fights alone as Miles thinks all,of this is stress. When Rhett is seriously in danger the police suspect her, Miles blows off her concerns about ghosts and an old house and her best friend even starts taking Mile’s side a bit. Finally, in full-on battle mode Emily gets to alone in the house with “it” and brokers a deal. Will Emily come out ahead on this deal and get her son back? We readers really root for her!

There is a sadness in this book that adds realism to what the main characters are experiencing. The haunting is well played and not overdone. I would recommend this novel to readers who enjoy the classic haunted house tale. Thank you #netgalley for allowing e to read #TheHouseOnTheCoverOfAHorrorNovel.

EV Knight masterfully blends horror, motherhood, and creativity in a tale that’s eerie, emotional, and impossible to put down. The ending? Let’s just say I’m still recovering.

This is a binge-worthy, haunting read that’s perfect for spooky season. If you love stories where the house feels alive and the suspense never lets up, this is your next must-read.

The cover of the book was what drew my attention. I think it is a beautiful cover and made me want to read the book. I thought it was going to be more a haunted house book but felt more like marriage issues. It was a good read but it took me a bit longer to read than what I'm used to. I wanted it to be scarier.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for letting me read it in advance.

This is a good horror novel with a satisfying end for those who love horror. This is a ghost story that could be a little more atmospheric. Old toys reappear, things go missing, people go missing. Where does everything go?

Raw, scary, and immersive. This slim volume somehow manages to be a slow-burn, expertly paced and creeping towards a shocking conclusion. Very excited to see what EV Knight does next!

Thank you so much to RDS Press for the e-ARC of The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel!

I am so so SO sad that I didn’t love this one. Knight’s writing tends to be a hit for me, but unfortunately — this one felt a little too unpolished.

I loved the idea, I loved the supernatural elements & I loved that I had no idea what was going on.

I didn’t love the pacing or the side characters — primarily Miles, the husband. The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel took me way too long to read, because I had lost all interest in reading it.

The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel is a horror novel about Emily Lawrence, an artist who receives a commission by a famous horror author to create something that will inspire his next novel. Emily soon finds herself fascinated by an old Victorian house in their town that draws her in as much as it terrifies her. When a sudden medical emergency and an unexpected, high-risk pregnancy, however, Emily’s husband Miles learns about her interest in the house, and thinking that it’s her dream house, buys it for their growing family. Living in the house, though, proves to be just as tumultuous as Emily suspected from the beginning. As Emily is overtaken with postpartum depression, Miles must keep the family together and safe from a force that he doesn’t fully understand.

It is such a horror trope of characters being willfully oblivious to the horrors hiding in a haunted house, and I loved the idea of the main character ending up in a haunted house despite her own self awareness. I ended up feeling quite impressed with the thought put into this house as well – it’s clear that the author had a consistent vision for how and why the haunting works the way that it does, and I enjoyed having those details revealed one by one. There’s an interesting twist to this haunting that worked out quite well too.

That being said, I feel like there’s something missing with the character development. All of the characters in this book feel like the author did at least try to add dimension – they have their own personal struggles that are firmly grounded in their experiences, and it was interesting to see how the very different characters interacted with one another. However, I still just feel like something is missing. Perhaps it is the lack of growth in any of the characters. Perhaps their drive is consistent from start to finish, but none of them seemed to have any great moments of clarity. Instead, they continued to clash again and again without any of them showing any real change.

The general plot of this one felt a little disjointed, and it was sometimes hard to follow what of the action is and isn’t real, and I definitely think your enjoyment of the plot is going to depend on personal preference. It’s fast-paced, and easy to get invested early on, but about halfway through it becomes difficult to distinguish the main characters’ delusions from their reality. There were elements of this that certainly worked well – I enjoy an unreliable narrator from time to time, and there was a strong foundation for this unreliability. However, I personally am a reader who wants a better grasp on the world, and I sometimes lost track of the plot because of it. Again, I don’t think this is a fault of the writer. I think this has much more to do with me as a reader, and I think readers with a little more flexibility are unlikely to have the same issues.

In all, I’ll give The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel a 7 out of 10. This novel is a fast-paced horror that has a lot to like, even if I struggled a little with the characters and clarity in a few places, and I think it’s a decent choice for horror lovers looking for a new read.

Emily Lawrence was an artist that made the art on the cover of books. She goes in the hospital with her pregnancy. Emily's husband buys a home he thinks she loves. There is something strange about the home.
Thanks to RDS Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC.

I ate up this paranormal horror story that perfectly wove in threads of the difficulties of motherhood and womanhood.

Emily is an artist who is commissioned to find the perfect "muse" to create a cover of a horror novel that hasn't been written yet by Cooper Yancy. She finds the perfect house in her hometown of Savannah, GA. Her husband learns that she went to look at the home and thinks she fell in love with it so surprises her with buying it.

Once the couple moves into the home, Emily is in a high risk pregnancy and has a traumatic birth but things just get worse from there.

All of the characters are so real, raw and relatable. There are times I wanted to slap the husband up the head but he really was having just natural reactions to the situation before him.

This story gets gruesome, heartbreaking, palpable... I just really enjoyed every page.

I looooove haunted houses - they’re my favorite horror setting by far. Knight skillfully weaves haunted houses, motherhood’s many fears, failing relationships, and questionable sanity into one short and punch packing novel. I loved figuring out the house’s secrets alongside Emily and seeing each character's flaws build and build to the climax. Overall a great Halloween read!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a captivating read that held my attention from start to finish. The story was well-paced, and the characters felt real and engaging. I’m grateful to the publisher for providing an early copy—it was a pleasure to read!

**Book Review: *The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel* by EV Knight**

In *The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel*, EV Knight delivers a chilling, thought-provoking story that speaks to the heart of every parent's worst fears. Artist Emily Lawrence sees potential in an eerie house as inspiration for a horror book cover, but her husband, Miles, misinterprets her sketches as a vision of their dream home. When an unexpected, high-risk pregnancy forces her to step back, Miles makes a surprise purchase of the house—only for them to discover it's anything but a dream.

Knight expertly crafts a haunting blend of psychological horror and family drama that kept me glued from the first page. As a parent, I found this story especially resonant; it taps into those primal anxieties parents carry—the instinctive fear that something might threaten our children. Emily’s struggle with postpartum depression and her increasingly strained relationship with Miles felt painfully real, adding layers to the supernatural elements surrounding their new home. Her vivid experiences of a child’s voice and presence blur the line between supernatural threat and the toll of her fragile mental state.

The dual perspectives of Emily and Miles provide a tense, multifaceted view of their unraveling reality, each doubting the other’s perceptions in ways that reflect the complexities of postpartum experiences. EV Knight’s portrayal of Emily’s journey, combined with the house’s dark aura, makes for a story that lingers, leaving you with lingering chills even after you’ve closed the book.

Though not a haunted house story in the traditional sense, *The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel* feels like an exploration of what haunts us as parents and partners. It’s a slower, unsettling horror that quietly builds toward a tragic, unforgettable conclusion. Warning: This book may be especially tough for those sensitive to themes of parenthood and mental health, but its poignant approach makes it worth the emotional investment. Fans of classic horror, like *We Have Always Lived in the Castle*, will find much to love in this haunting tale that combines atmospheric dread with psychological depth.

2.5 stars

I have to admit, the title had me expecting something a little more… fun, I suppose. I went into the book anticipating something a little like Grady Hendrix, playing with the haunted house genre with great affection. Instead I got a pretty run-of-the-mill haunted house with fighting parents and a postpartum depression subplot that felt a little overdone.

I think my big issue with the book is that none of the side characters felt like more than props to the story, and the non-supernatural plot points at times stretched my suspension of disbelief. There are good moments in this book; the reality-bending nature of the house’s manifestations is appropriately trippy, and there are moments that remind me of <i> Oculus </i> and <i> El Orfanato. </i>

The lack of engaging characters or a gripping plot kept me from connecting with this book, but other readers may find it interesting if they’re particularly interested in: missing children, maternal horror, and reality distortion.

This is a story of a young married couple moving into a house that the wife absolutely hates and she also happens to be pregnant.

Emily and Miles Lawrence have a solid, loving relationship and are excited to start their family since they have wanted to have a baby for a long time. Emily has a stressful pregnancy with complications and their new house is making it worse for her. She hears noises and a little girl's whispering voice and the room that will be their nursery has a bad feeling plus closet door open and close on their own but Miles thinks it's all in Emily's overactive imagination from her hormonal stress. Things continue to worsen for Emily and their solid marriage is showing cracks that are turning into craters as time goes on and she knows the house is haunted but why won't Miles believe her even when he's now witnessed strange events that he shouldn't be able to ignore.

Emily suffers postpartum depression after experiencing the most unbelievable, traumatic birth of their new baby. Their marriage is falling apart and the house is dangerous but Miles still thinks it's all in Emily's head and she will get over all these irrational thoughts as the baby gets older but he will soon find out that is not what the house has in store for this family but by the time he realizes everything is out of control it will finally be too late!

This was a terrific, disturbing, creepy and very spooky haunted house novel. The writing was atmospheric and captured the eerie essence of being haunted and being powerless against evil which one can't see yet is
everywhere although the people closest to you don't believe you and think everything you experience is all your imagination. I can't imagine what that would be like to be locked away with horror attacking you and your family but no-one believes you.

The author EV Knight captured a complicated pregnancy and postpartum depression wonderfully and It's important for women and men who have never experienced this horrible and misunderstood mental health issue to take a peek into what some women, sadly have to suffer through to have children of their own. This particular case was a horror novel in itself. Whoa, what an unexpected ending!!

I really enjoyed this book filled with subtle and also in your face graphic, horror! I highly recommend this novel to all horror lovers but maybe not to women who are currently or planning to get pregnant in the very near future because it will definitely give nightmares to those in a sensitive state!


I want to thank the publisher "RDS PUBLISHING/ Screaming Dog Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital copy and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 4 DISTURBING AND SCREAMING 🌟🌟🌟🌟 STARS!!

The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel Review! 🏚️

Thank you Netgalley and RDS Publishing for this e-copy!! The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel is out now!

This was definitely a cover read, I mean look, stunning! This one was a 2.75/5 stars for me!! This plot had everything going for it. After reading the synopsis, it literally sounded like American Horror Story: Murder House (my favorite season 💁🏼‍♀️). And while reading, it did remind me a lot of the show. Very creepy house with a terrible past, a family hard on their luck, and a pregnant wife who thinks she may be going crazy! After a while though, it felt like I was reading the same thing over and over and over again. And the ending fell extremely short for me! 🤷🏼‍♀️ A creepy haunted house book, but redundant and short ending! If you like AHS Murder House, give this one a try!

This southern gothic is well done. It ties motherhood and eerie happenings in the house. I think it lacked a bit of a scare factor for me. I need more sinister to feel captivated. Still well done and I would give this author a try again. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this earc
3/5 star

This was such a strange book. It was so creepy but took forever to get entertaining. I wish this was a series.