what do they say about revenge? it’s sweet or something like that, right? this book was absolute genius. seven authors get invited to the creepy manor of the famous horror writer mortimer queen, all expecting to walk away with a fortune. instead, they’re gathered in one place to expose their secrets and are trapped together, forced to work as a team to escape while desperately trying not to let anyone find out what they’ve done.

what i didn’t see coming was the ending. i’d call this a twisted, fun take on willy wonka, but way darker. it kept me hooked the entire time, and getting little flashbacks of what actually happened was so satisfying.

definitely recommend if you’re looking for something dark, clever, and a little unhinged.

When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen leaves this earth, he's not quite done telling his stories. 7 authors receive invitations to Queen's manor, for a will reading. Each was promised an item of great personal value. Upon arrival, they find themselves locked in the manor for the game of a lifetime... all they have to do is solve a few riddles and they'll be able to leave. Sounds easy enough... but every time they fail to solve a riddle, the house will claim one of them; and it's very hungry!

I am not big on horror but I love mysteries so I decided to give this one a go. It did not disappoint! As a debut novel, this book leaves quite an impression. Were some of the characters over the top? Sure, but even the characters we didn't spend long with were well developed. Was telling the story through 7 different POVs ambitious? Yes, but it worked. I explained the book to a friend as a case study in revenge and I stand by that description. While the book was tropey, it was still gripping and original. I can't wait to read more from this author!

Note: I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and am leaving this honest review voluntarily.

Legendary horror author Mortimer McQueen has passed away and invited 7 authors for the reading of his will. Each author has their own unique connection to McQueen and no one rejects the invitation.

After the guests arrive they are informed they are to play a game with simple rules- solve the riddles and progress to the next room of the house. However, not everyone will make it out of the house that horror stories were built on!

The premise of this was so intriguing and I felt like this was going to be one of those movies you can’t help but yell at the on screen characters (and I was here for it!!!). A real like escape room house and you know there is going to be something way more sinister afoot!

This is a locked room story of how your curiosity (and greed) can and will get the best of you! A masterpiece story of vendetta and I couldn’t wait to see what would happen next in the house filled with such a variety of monsters (because monsters come in all shapes and forms!).

Open your mind (don’t be so serious!), give it a go and get to know the story or each author!

Thank you to author, Mallory Arnold, Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this book. I am leaving my review voluntarily.

3.5 / 5 stars

Legendary horror author Mortimer Queen has passed away and invited seven fellow writers of the genre to the reading of his will at Queen Manor. Well, six writers and a woman named Melanie Brown, who hasn’t been published and seems equally perplexed about her invitation.

Nevertheless, Melanie is given the same charge as the other guests: solve the manor’s riddles to receive their inheritance. Failure means the house will consume one of them. Yes, these writers have walked into a real-life horror story, and if they hope to survive, they’ll need to uncover Mortimer’s clues – and his grudges.

This was a very fun read that puts a horror spin on the “cursed dinner party” and “house of games” tropes I’ve been seeing a lot lately. It reminded me of You Are Fatally Invited in structure but leaned fully into horror rather than mystery/thriller, and the group’s progression from room to room gave me The Staircase in the Woods vibes – though with a campier edge.

In addition to the group battling against the clock and one another in order to solve Mortimer's riddles, it quickly becomes evident that Mortimer has brought his guests to his manor to punish them posthumously. The house literally eats people if they fail, which is such a fun, unhinged take on this trope, and the Clue-like ridiculous character names (Buck Grimm, Chester Plumage, Crystal Flowers) add a darkly comedic flair. But the third-person-limited narrative – interspersed with short stories about each guest – keeps you guessing who’s telling the truth (or rewriting it to suit themselves). This layered structure stops the novel from veering into nonsense.

I devoured this in a few sittings – the pacing is quick, and the layered mystery of “why” keeps the pages turning. The ending didn’t quite land for me – more neatly packaged than I’d hoped – but it didn’t ruin the ride. If you enjoyed You Are Fatally Invited, The Staircase in the Woods, or the layered horror setups of The Other People or the haunted house in Phantasma, this is a fun, twisty read to add to your summerween or spooky season TBR.

7 people invited to the reading of horror author Mortimer Queen, survive a night in the house and win a prize. Sounded great to me, however there were a couple issues that kept this book from being great.

I love a good dual POV book but 7 different POVs was very ambition and even I found myself confused about who was who for the first couple chapters.

The secrets these people were willing to die to keep secret were really not that bad. I could see one or two people wanting to keep theirs but the other 5? No. You would rather be killed than admit you told a magazine Mortimer was abusing his wife? I don’t buy it.

This was probably a me issues, but I found the parts that were supposed to be scary to be comical.

Melanies personality did a 180 and the end and it came out of nowhere. There was no build up to it or anything so it seemed completely out of place and as a way to end to story.

Scott Clay.
Petey Marsh.
Chester Plumage.
Winnie Roach.
Crystal Flowers.
Buck Grim.
Melanie Brown.

All invited to the Queen estate because they have been left in Mortimer Queen's will after his passing. Not all were close to him, and not all have had the best experience with him, but they are all connected to him in some way. It comes as no shock to most when they are informed they will not be receiving any inheritance or property. Instead, they are to compete in a game where the stakes are high. To win the game, they need to solve a riddle, and if they fail, the house will consume one of them.
I enjoyed this locked-room mystery more than I thought I would. It's thrilling, it's exciting, it's suspenseful, and in my opinion, a great debut for Mallory Arnold. Each character has wronged Mortimer Queen in some way, and it was thrilling watching him take his revenge from beyond the grave. There were lots of shocking and gasp-worthy moments throughout this novel, and I found myself not wanting to put it down! My only complaint would be that the ending seemed a little lackluster after such a plot and overall execution. It would have been  5 star read for me, but unfortunately, the ending fell flat. 4 stars, and I'd definitely recommend if you're looking for a suspenseful, captivating thriller!
Thank you NetGalley, Poisoned Pen Press, and Mallory Arnold for this ARC!

This was a lot of fun!

It was a little tropey but i think that’s kind of to be expected with this type of horror story. Some of the deaths were imaginative & gruesome and as a big Final Destination movies, i ate it up. I love a horror story that can keep me engaged.

What a surprising story! I was going in expecting that the authors would be getting picked off one by one, but I never expected such a deeply connected and twisting plot, as well as some supernatural elements.

If you loved “Puzzle House” by Duncan Ralston, definitely give this one a read, it’s got similar vibes.

I just overall found this to be a fun and thrilling read, enjoying every moment of it. The switching perspectives and narratives worked really well in my opinion, adding insights and new commentary. I would’ve loved to see the Queen Family’s history expanded upon a bit more though. Like how is some of this stuff happening? The riddles/clues could’ve been a bit more obscure, as it seemed kind of obvious what the answer would be each time.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Poisoned Pen Press for a copy.

The beginning is a bit slow, it takes quite a while to get into it and I would say the book is at times too descriptive. The author portrayed the atmosphere in such a way that I kept feeling a bit eerie and spooked. I didn’t have a favourite character or really cared who lived but it was certainly entertaining enough. Honestly there were too many POVs to be easily readable and maybe that contributed to my confusion at times and apathy towards them.
Thank you to the author and netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read “How to survive a horror story”.

”You know I believe in the power of ghosts like Jennifer Aniston believes in the magic of moisturiser.”

This was a little slow to start but by the time the first puzzle came along I was hooked, however I quickly started losing interest around the 40% mark. I stuck with it, as it's a very easy read, but it really struggled to keep me absorbed. The plot felt busy and there was too much going on at times, not leaving the story a lot of room to breathe. I thought this was going to be a locked room mystery but with horror and supernatural forces at play rather than a human but I wasn’t quite right with this.

The mystery of it all was not set up in a way where the reader could really work it out, it depended on information told to you at the same time as the other characters in the book found it out. The horror, which this book is predominantly advertised as, also fell a bit flat for me as none of it felt particularly horrific or horror-like, except for the vaguely supernatural house? Which I do not think was utilised enough throughout the story. You could've had something other than a man-eating house, you could've removed the supernatural element from it entirely and made it entirely organised by humans and the plot would've been more or less the same.


The switching character perspectives were interesting! But again, with how busy the plot was, this too felt overwhelming particularly near the start and middle of the novel. You got to spend a little bit of time with each character, understand their motivations and personality before they died which was nice as it did lead to me having different views on characters as different people would notice different things about them. I think the author portrayed this very well and I think I would read another book from this author purely to see if this would be utilised in future books. It's particularly interesting for a horror, especially when they're being picked off one by one. I also enjoyed the short stories intertwined too, when I saw the first one I will admit I rolled my eyes, but I do think it worked for this novel and it worked well.

The tone as well was confusing at times, seeming to shift from a serious horror to a cartoonish/ comedy style one quite quickly. The deaths, while seemingly meant to be creative and gory, fell flat for me after the first one. There's ways to integrate horror and comedy, look at Meddling Kids, but it just didn't quite seem to work here. I'm not quite sure what the conclusion of this book was. The characters were all morally grey, which was the point, but none of them felt very original to me. The ending I saw coming, somewhat, and I would've preferred it if it subverted stereotypes and more than one had made it out the house but that's my personal preference. I guessed very early on who was going to make it.

Very reminiscent of the Fall Of The House of Usher. With some similarities to Saw and Squid Games too!

"Maybe it's just as sad as when bad people die, because they never lived long enough to redeem themselves."

Thank you to Poisoned Pen Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. This started out promising but just felt a bit lukewarm in the end.

Ever since I heard about this book, I’ve been dying to read it. I’m new to horror and the concept really intrigued me. I’ve always found haunted house stories fascinating and this one didn’t disappoint! The characters were well developed, and I really enjoyed the writing style, it was an easy and immersive read.
The only downside for me was that some of the mystery and riddles felt predictable, so I missed that element of surprise.
Still, I’d absolutely recommend this book to anyone who’s just starting to explore the horror genre!

How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold

#sixtyseventhbookof2025 #arc #howtosurviveahorrorstory #lockedroommystery #hauntedhousebook

CW: various graphic deaths, murder, assumed suicide, blackmail, adultery, poisoning, cancer

From NetGalley: When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon, some known, some soon to be discovered, and they’ve been waiting for their chance to step into the author’s shoes for some time. Instead, they arrive at his grand manor and are invited to play a game. The rules are simple, solve the riddle and progress to the next room. If they don’t, the manor will take one of them for itself. You see, the Queen estate was built on the bones of Mortimer’s family, and like any true horror story, the house is still very, very hungry.

My thoughts: If you like seeing terrible people get their just desserts, this is a fun read! I enjoyed it way more than something very similar that came out a few months ago. The premise started off the same but the execution of this novel was miles beyond. This one had characters that were fully formed, and the house was sort of a character of its own as well. The short story flashbacks were a great way to tell the characters’ backstories and the reasons for their inclusion in the game. And the twist at the end was pretty good, and very unexpected. I enjoyed this novel quite a bit and recommend it.

Thank you to @poisonedpenpress and @netgalley for the advance copy. (pub date 7/8/25)

thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this e-arc in exchange for an honest review!

If Charlie and the Chocolate Factory met Monster House

How to Survive a Horror Story follows a group of well-known horror authors who are invited to the will reading of the recently deceased King of Horror, Mortimer Queen, including one aspiring author, Melanie Brown. Once the group arrives, however, they are forced to face their worst and most real horror story yet. Exploring themes of morality and the monster in us all, “How to Survive a Horror Story” delivers an enjoyable read that challenges the truth in the stories we read and tell, and who determines what is told.

“How to Survive a Horror Story” by Mallory Arnold was such an enjoyable read! I believe it is the author’s debut novel and I am looking forward to their future works! The writing was clear and vivid — though perhaps more telling than showing at times when it came to invoking feelings of horror, but still made for an engaging and delightful read. I loved the aspect of exploring the notion of truth in a story and makes us think — who exactly wrote or told the story? When there are two opposing sides to the truth, what do we do when there is only one story left? However, while I thoroughly enjoyed reading the way the author approached the concept of truth within a story, it would have been more amazing had the author also delved deeper into the aspect of the horror genre itself. With the title and the fact that all but one of the authors in the story were horror writers, I was expecting more development of either subverting or exploring the conventions of the horror genre itself. While the author and novel did do that, it wasn’t to the extent I was expecting and hoping to read. But let that not deter you from reading the book, as the author still does an excellent job of exploring humanity through the elements of writing a story! It is perhaps, not so much horror in how scary it is to read, but horror in how both the readers and characters learn how terrifying people can be.

I would also like to say that I had read this during a reading slump, yet not once had I felt like I was struggling to read this book! In fact, I would actually want to get back into reading the book instead of doing other activities. “How to Survive a Horror Story” is an excellently paced book that I felt did a wonderful job not just juggling the chapter lengths, but the character POV changes as well. In addition to that, despite there being a cast of six(?) authors that we follow and read the story from (fix wording), each character felt distinct in their own way and only served to enhance the mystery behind the secrets of the will reading and even the other characters, despite those characters having their own POV chapters.

All in all, a strong four stars for me and if you're looking to get into horror whether as a beginner or in the summer, I recommend this book!

3.5/4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨️
I was so excited for this one—it was one of my most anticipated reads of the year! While it didn’t quite hit the mark for me, there was still a lot to enjoy. The twist at the end was unexpected and satisfying, and some of the eerie moments really delivered. That said, the story juggled quite a few POVs and backstories, which made it a bit hard to stay fully connected.

In How to Survive a Horror Story, a group of writers is invited to the reading of legendary horror author Mortimer Queen’s will, expecting a fortune—but instead, they're pulled into a deadly game inside his haunted estate. Solve the riddle and move on. Fail, and the house takes one of them.

With locked-room chills and gothic atmosphere, this one’s a clever ride—just a little too crowded for me to fully lose myself in. But wow, that cover? Gorgeous.

A little Knives Out, a little Clue, a little House on Haunted Hill, and a whole lot of fun, How to Survive a Horror Story is the perfect Summerween novel and I am so here for it.

This is a gem of a debut novel that’s engaging from the first page to the last, never suffering from any lag in the pacing or filler in the plot. I loved how no one in this book is even an ethical person, all of them compelled and driven to succeed no matter the cost.

In horror novels the antagonist isn’t who, but what, and author Mallory Arnold’s talented writing almost gleefully shows us what happens to those who spit on ethics in order to make it to the top. It’s hard to say they didn’t deserve it. This book is the definition of, “If I’m going down I’m taking you all with me,” in a very literal sense. I loved it. 5⭐️


I was provided a copy of this title by the author and publisher via Netgalley. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/Horror/Meta Fiction/Psychological Thriller/Supernatural Horror/Supernatural Thriller

4.5 stars ⭐️

Why was this so much fun? I love the concept of a haunted house and I love that the author made this a bit closed door mystery, a bit gory horror, a bit supernatural, she's drawn some of my favourite horror tropes together to weave an engrossing story that I devoured (much like the house devours it's victims).

No one is safe and the whole time I was convinced I knew who to root for, only to be proven wrong. With a cast of 7 and POVs / backstories for all (plus the way they all fit in with Mortimer's story), this could have been too much but it was actually perfect, I felt like the reader was always given just enough information to keep us hooked.

The characters are deliciously flawed and the twists in the last few chapters are excellent, I was shocked by the ending. I like it when horror doesn't focus too much on the gore, there was as much to explore about the horror of people as there was about the horror of the house in this story.

I really enjoyed this and would absolutely read another book by Mallory Arnold!

How to Survive a Horror Story presented an interesting premise, but I unfortunately found it largely predictable. While the house itself was a standout character, creating an eerie feel and suspense, the human characters felt underdeveloped making it hard to connect with any of them. I found myself wishing for more insight into Melanie's journey in particular to become truly invested. Overall, I enjoyed the book's unique plot and pacing, but wish there was a more impactful twist or stronger ending to really tie the story together.

Gosh I loved pretty much everything about this book. I thought it was such an entertaining story that I didn’t want to put down. Each of the characters felt very distinctive to me and I really loved the way this story was written. I spent so much time questioning what was real and what wasn’t in the best ways possible. This book was just everything that I wanted it to be all the way to the end!
Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC!

What a wild ride this debut novel turned out to be! Mallory Arnold delivers a fast-paced horror adventure that serves up a fun mashup of escape room chaos, Clue-style mystery, and a hungry monster house. How to Survive a Horror Story offers a creative and gruesome experience that I think horror fans will appreciate.

The pacing did feel a bit uneven at times. The earlier “escape room” sequences are detailed, immersing the reader in each puzzle and twist. As the story builds momentum, the rooms become shorter and more frantic, which initially felt a bit rushed, but it mirrors the characters’ growing panic and the story’s descent into madness. That shift, intentional or not, worked for the tone of the book.

If you’re drawn to multi-POV narratives with campy horror vibes and a house that literally is trying to eat its guests, this one’s for you. It’s gory and it’s fun! A solid 3.5 stars from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the early copy. All thoughts, as always, are my own.

I really liked this one, very pacy and twisty! I love a haunted house and a survival game so this was a really good take on that and it didn’t feel like anything I’d read before.