Emily Lawrence caught her big break when she was contacted by THE Cooper Yancy to design the cover for his new horror novel. The thing is, he hasn’t actually written the novel yet so he is giving Emily free reign in hopes that she will find the perfect inspiration he needs for his novel. When Emily comes across an old Victorian house, she knows it’s the perfect muse. Emily hasn’t told her husband, Miles, though. She wants to make sure Yancy is good on his word before sharing any good news.

Emily begins sketching and painting the house, filing her studio with pictures of it. When she unexpectedly becomes pregnant and is marked high-risk, Miles thinks the house will be just what they need for their growing family and does what any sensible, loving husband would do—certainly—and buys the house without consulting her first…

Once they move in, Emily begins hearing voices and items move around in the house. Is it all in Em’s head or is something more sinister at play?

Chapters shift back and forth between Emily’s and Miles’s experience which helps readers get a closer look in to each character. The atmosphere is no doubt suffocating, with stuffy air and windows that are painted shut. And every haunted house has to have a good back story right? Well this one didn’t disappoint. However, I found the “scary” scenes—the scenes where there were strange happenings—to be a bit lackluster and actually not very scary at all. In addition, I grew increasingly frustrated with Emily and Miles and the fact that they wouldn’t just TALK TO EACH OTHER honestly. At times, the writing felt clunky and juvenile.

All in all, this story needed a little more workshopping for it to really work.

Thank you Turner Publishing and NetGalley for the digital copy in exchange for an honest review. Available 09/12/2024!

The Nobel Leeds House is just what Emily Lawrence is looking for. She to illustrate the cover of a horror novel when see first sees the dilapidated Victorian located on the edge of a swamp. Its mysterious aura intrigues her. What she hasn’t yet realized is that Emily Lawrence is just what the Nobel Leeds house has been looking for.

What follows is near confusion, lack of communication, suspicion, terror and tragedy. Mistaking his wife’s sketches for an interest in the house, her husband Miles buys the house as a surprise. She’s newly pregnant with a much wanted baby and finds the house terrifying (as she should.) Neither Miles nor his twin sister, Emily’s best friend Monica, understand Emily’s fears. They don’t see the rolling toys, hear the voices singing, or see the doors slamming shut. After the traumatic premature birth of their son Rhett nearly kills both Emily and the baby, Miles and Monica try to provide all the help they can to her. They believe postnatal depression is causing her hallucinations and visions. It isn’t, but by the time the evil in the Leeds House shows itself and causes a media circus, so much will be lost.

All good horror stories have to be based in reality. Ev Knight so vividly describes Leeds House that you can see it, imagine the wraparound staircases, the zinnia covered wallpaper and the creepy toys. By the time you realize that Emily and the house are horribly linked, you won’t be able to stop reading. And when you finish The House on the Cover of a Horror Novel, don’t look behind you. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, RDS Publishing and EV Knight for this ARC.

Tell me the male main character is autistic without telling me he's autistic and then spend a bunch more chapters making him out to be a piece of shit that is causing all the problems cause men bad. Starts with a cool concept and goes right into "pregnant wife habe hormones can't trust brain." Not a good book and managed to piss me off along with it.