Something I Keep Upstairs by JD Barker
For those that love the eerie, spine tingling, hair standing up on the back of your neck kind of books, this may be for you.
This story is mainly centered around a group of high school kids. ‘Spivy’ inherits his (unknown to him) grandmother’s house out on wood island after her strange death. His folks are livid about this. But Spivy and his friends are excited to have a new place to hang out. The house comes with a lot of strange rules but the kids are intent to have fun. A lot of people don’t want them near that island and they can’t figure out quite why.- Until they do. It’s a good read especially if you like to sleep with the light on at night. Pry would make a good movie.

Something I Kept Upstairs by Author J.D. Barker is a Haunting story taking place in New Hampshire.

This story started off on a high for me, it was rolling along at a good pace and kept my interest for the most part.

I did however start to lose some interest as it went along.

I will read anything that this author writes, however this one was just ok for me.

The premise is about mysterious house on an island, which is inherited by a teenager after his grandmother dies.

It’s spooky and mysterious, and is all about friendships.

In my opinion there was just too much going on and was really meant for a young adult reader.

The dark past of the house, island and area are all interesting though.

Thank You to Hampton Creek Press, NetGalley, and Author P.D. James for my advanced copy to read and review!

Great book, very dark and scary. This would a great autumn/halloween time read. I love the authors writing style so will look forward to picking up more books by JD Barker. Thanks for the early access!

While I love J.D. Barker when he writes with James Patterson, this novel was really good as his own. And while it's not as good as his Fourth Monkey trilogy, it was a good stand alone novel.

Complex, cerebral, creepy, and genuinely disturbing in it's closeness to reality, leaving you hanging by a thread - maybe it is real, or not. Fans who like real horror that creeps from the shadows and breathes emotion from the dark, this is for you.

JD Barker has done it again. Totally opposite end of the spectrum from his 4MK trilogy, but with all the thrills, twists and suspense you’ve come to love from a Barker novel.

The book details a group of high school kids who are looking for one last fun summer together before they enter in their last year together and go off their separate ways for college. Spivey (David) inherits an island with a house on it from his grandmother. The house contains a list of rules that he tries to stick by, but ultimately their friends end up breaking. Once in the house, the story jumps back between Billy’s storyline and Whaler, decoding between a missing teen, ghost sacrifices and more. These characters are developed so well and the further you get into the story, the more layers are peeled back revealing just how much this storyline and the past is webbed together.
Towards the end I couldn’t read fast enough. All of the events taking place on the island with Billy and his friends while jumping chapters with Whaler trying to help locate the missing girl and learning more of the islands past. I felt the excitement and tension building up in myself just wanting to get to the end and see how it all plays out. The ending did not miss and the closer you got, the more I kept going no way!

Thank you NetGalley and Mr. Barker and his team for the ARC. This novel did not miss.

One last thing, Please feed Emerson..

J.D. Barker is a masterful storyteller whose latest novel, Something I Keep Upstairs, is a haunted house ghost story that is dark and creepy in the best sense. The plot is slow to unfold, but once the pieces start to fall into place, what emerges is a tale that is both chilling and mind-blowing. It's best to go into this one without spoilers to enjoy it fully. Don't miss the Author's Note at the end.

Thank you to Hampton Creek Press/Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

When David inherits a house on an island belonging to a Grandmother he knew nothing about, his rather sad life takes a turn....

I loved this book. It is a chilling and exciting read and I think my favourite charcter was Emerson. Emerson has a mystery attached to him and I loved trying to guess the outcome of the plot.

A well told haunted house tale that would be a great TV drama.. highly recommend

J.D Barker has done it again! He is truly an exceptional storyteller!

If I had to quickly summarize this absolute
masterpiece, I would say it's a chilling coming of age story about friendship and family with undertones of generational trauma set in haunted house where everything and nothing is and isn't what it seems to be.

Billy Hasler is an all-american 17 year old. Athletic and well liked with a beautiful girl. His parents are successful professionals and he lives a comfortable life. The exact opposite can be said about his best friend
David Spivey. His life has been more difficult in many ways. His parents aren't as successful, wealthy and put together. They are actually quite the mess. Spivey has battled cancer off and on throughout his childhood, he is often bullied at school, and his home life is tough. Maybe his luck is changing because he just inherited everything from a grandmother he doesn't really even know. The boys and a few of their friends set off on an adventure..what's to be the best summer ever... so they think..

I don't want to give away the secrets tucked away so perfectly within these pages but I know late at night when hear the house make a noise or feel like I'm not alone, my mind will definitely drift to what I read. If you're a fan of Stephen King or Joe Hill, you will devour this book.

Thank you, NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press/Simon & Schuster for opportunity to read an advanced copy of #somethingikeepupstairs

There will be enough of both summary and praise in other reviews, so I would like to spend our time together contemplating these pressing questions:
Why is the title?
Why, in all the great wide world of names out there - Emerson?
Orgy? (Use your imagination to make that an answerable question, I'm stumped.)

What fun it must be to live in Barker’s mind!

For a haunted house to be born, somebody has to die.

Teenagers, Summer, and an entire island to play on and a house that has a lot of secrets.

When David’s grandmother dies, he is her sole heir to the island and the house, as well as the mysterious Emerson, who must be fed.

Grandma lived alone out there and forbade her own child from stepping foot on the island, and David can’t remember going there more than once.

Just when you thought they had free reign over things, they don’t.
There is an executor who everything must funnel through.

The first night there, odd things happen and trust me, they only get odder!

Twisty doesn’t begin to describe this one. Barker is a master at many horrible things happening all at once, and this one kept me on my toes!

This is the best kind of horror and I am here for all of it!


NetGalley/Hampton Creek Press / Simon & Schuster | Independent Book Publishers Association (IBPA), Members' Titles
May 13, 2025

I love the fact that it is a dual point of view, I have never read this story before, but I really do love this ghost story. It really gave me a feel of the nun of the conjuring series if you like Stephen King, this is a great read for you.

This story was about a group of teenagers who go to this creepy house. It’s like across the water and one of the guys his best friend who has leukemia. His grandmother basically inherited this home, and it was given by in the world to him. (sprivey) and so he goes there with a group of teenagers friends from school to check it out and there’s just so many weird things that happen at the house and I feel like the pace of the story was a bit slow but as you get in around 55% and up the story picks up and you find out a lot of things that come together because to me this feels like a mystery book. There’s a lot of unanswered questions till you get towards the end of the book on what happened to this place and if it’s haunted.
I also felt really bad for his best friend who has leukemia because his cancer symptoms started up again and he was trying to hide the fact that he had them because he didn’t wanna go through getting treatment again, knowing how hard it was for him and he wanted to be like just feel like a normal teenager and do normal things and he was telling his friend like this is Gonna be our year and I just felt so bad for him, this was a pretty good book and judging from the ending of it, I feel like he’s gonna write a secondary book to it like a sequel, but I loved reading it. It was perfect and set the mood right.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press/Simon & Schuster for providing me an advance copy of J.D. Barker' new book.

Thank you to both #NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press/Simon & Schuster for providing me an advance copy of J.D. Barker's latest #mysterythriller, Something I Keep Upstairs, in exchange for an honest review.

#SomethingIKeepUpstairs is a modern-day ghost story involving a group of teens who spend their summer exploring the mysterious Woods Island, and excavating secrets about its deadly past after one of them inherits the isle's only home from an estranged grandmother. This novel is perfect for fans of Stephen King and Simone St. James.

More eerie mystery, however, than straight horror, the novel alternates between the perspectives of seventeen-year old Bill Hasley and New Castle's Chief Whaley. There are a number of unpredictable twists and turns, which were legitimately difficult to foresee. While some characters required fleshing out, lack of those details did not detract from the actual plot. Though there are some murky points which require clarification. The conclusion is abrupt in the sense that there may be a sequel or series spun from this standalone.

I had never read any books by the author prior to this novel and was pleasantly surprised by their ability to weave an entertaining tale, including even through the more mundane passages, such as setting the backstory. Cannot wait to read more by J.D. Barker, and am so happy to have found a new author I enjoy!

Ghost stories are not my favorite subgenre, but I really enjoyed this supernatural thriller by J.D. Barker. It starts a little slow, but definitely picks up in the second half. I didn't want to put this down once I got about 60% in and the pieces of the mystery starting falling in place. Highly recommend for fans of Barker's work. Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC to review!

4 ⭐️s

My house is hungry for attention too, but it acts much less ghosty in its pursuit. It’s much more like an aggrieved ex, constantly reminding me of its faulty electrical and backed up pipes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press | Simon & Schuster for the advanced copy and the opportunity to write an honest review.

This book was good. I have always been a Barker fan, and although this suffered slightly from his typical verbosity, I was never once pulled out of the story because of it. And this was just a flat out good ghost story.

Themes…
The power of childhood friendship, the impact of broken trust, and the exploration of how far we’d go to find wealth and immortality.

Character Work…
The characters were great. The ones we were supposed to love were lovable. The ones we were supposed to despise were despicable. And the ones who traversed those emotions were complex and nuanced.

Prose…
Barker never wows you with his prose, but he’s incredibly effective in his storytelling, and uses language deftly in doing so.

Pace…
Like I said before, Barker is verbose. There were parts that were unnecessarily descriptive and other parts that were a tad repetitive, but nothing that the intrigue of the story couldn’t overcome.

Thanks author and publisher for the ARC. The book's writing is very good as expected for me from J D Barker. But the book has few flaws due to which I wasn't too involved with the characters.

From the prologue it's clear that no one involved in the incident are alive except Billy and he alone is being hounded by media and police. So we know how the events are going to end. This removes sense of mystery in the events. The prologue could have just been used as narrative set-up for the past events rather than divulging too much about them.

Also the Author's Note at the end tells that lot of events that we've read are factual (or mere recitations of the people living there). Once I read the note I went back to thinking about the whole plot. How much of it is true?? Someone has actually experienced few of these events but the world didn't believe. And how much of this is author's spin on those events. That was an interesting thing. So if Author's Note was moved to the start of the book, we could have this additional thread during the entire book like has this event happened?? Where 2 dead bodies really found on this island or was this author's creation?

Also there's few spelling mistakes for "rite of passage" which is spelled as "right of passage" and few other mistakes too.

This novel tells the story of Billy Hasler and his friend David Spivey, who inherit a mysterious house on a remote island in New Castle, New Hampshire. The house has a dark and troubled history, making it the perfect place for a summer of freedom and adventure before college. Billy and David like the idea of no parents, no police, and no responsibilities, but as they dig into the island's past, they accidentally unleash an ancient evil that’s haunted generations.

The characters feel real and relatable. Billy and David are likable main characters whose friendship makes their terrifying experiences more believable and intense. The supporting characters add depth to the story, each with their own secrets and motivations that add to the mystery.

The atmosphere is suspenseful and foreboding, keeping readers on edge. The author uses the isolation of the island well to make it feel like there’s no escaping the horrors.

A sentient house isn’t just a backdrop in the story; it's a key player that pushes the plot forward with its dark influence. The house can change its layouts, create illusions, or even hurt people physically, making it hard to know what’s real and what’s not. The house acts like a character, controlling the people inside and often messing with their minds in scary ways.

In this story, the house goes through cycles, with two worlds—the living and the dead—existing in the same place but never at the same time. It’s like time isn’t fixed; it’s more like a fast-moving river you can step into from anywhere along the shore. You can even step out again, but here’s the tricky part: going with the flow is way easier than trying to swim against the current to get back to where you started. It’s not impossible, but it’s difficult. There’s another option, though: you can stand still in the river, looking both ways to see where the water has been and where it’s going.

As the story progresses, it brings out various emotions—excitement, curiosity, fear, and dread. The writing style is engaging and easy to follow. The author uses language vividly, clearly depicting the setting and characters.

The book explores themes of friendship, curiosity, and the consequences of messing with forces you don’t understand. It also shows how the past can affect the present and how some secrets should stay hidden.

The book balances action and suspense well with deeper thoughts on human nature.

A lot of what you read is made up, but there’s also a good amount of truth mixed in to make things interesting. The author leaves it to you to figure out which parts are real and which aren’t. If you do some research, you might be surprised by how much of Billy’s story actually happened.

This novel is absolutely captivating, and J.D. Barker has truly delivered an exceptional read. It's a perfect fit for my tastes, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The isolated house on the island near New Castle has always attracted local teenagers. When Spivey inherits it after his grandmother dies, he decides to explore it with his best friend Billy and the rest of the group. Unsettling rules and a disturbing mystery will keep them coming back again and again until they can no longer escape the mansion's spell.
I have felt immersed in the atmosphere of the narrative from the beginning and little by little the tension has been trapping me in its pages reading frenetically to reach the end.
I enjoyed it immensely and intensely as I am sure any lover of the genre will do. Undoubtedly a highly recommended novel.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

I've been longing for a book like this for quite some time. One to capture me, hold me and keep me awake til the wee hours of the morning. This is absolutely and without a doubt the best J.D. Barker's work up to date.
The story is vibrant and alive, the pace dynamic and even, the feel of a small town palpable. You can almost smell the sea and feel the breeze on your face.
The characters are portraited with care and have distinct personalities, motivations and triggers. They are teenagers – mature for their age, yes, well versed, intelligent, educated, curious – but still painfully young, with all the delusions of grandeur we all had back in the day.
It's a multilayered book: a ghost and horror story, yes, but much more than that. It's a tale about expectations and dreams, crushed hopes and impossible choices, love and redemption, truth and evil, ultimate sacrifice and insatiable hunger in pursuit of power, healing, and belonging.
And the ending is just perfect. I honestly can't recommend this book enough.

#SomethingIKeepUpstairs #NetGalley

Thank you to NetGalley, JD Barker and Publisher for this ARC!

You can't go wrong with a JD Barker book, you just can't. I don't think I've ever read a genre like this before, maybe I have because I read so many books but if I have, it obviously wasn't memorable. I felt that this was a different type of genre in a way for Barker as well. The young adults, the mystery, the paranormal, the history... all of it wrapped up in a neat little bow. I was pissed off at the ending until I realized it wasn't the ending after all and to continue after the Author's note. For those who don't read those, they would be very disappointed.

After reading the Author's note (his are always top tier), I couldn't believe that some bits of this story have truth to it (don't mind me, I'll just be up all night googling) which makes it even THAT much greater. Had it been in the beginning of the book I would've thought it was a joke but here we are.

I've always been curious if ARCs go through another round of editing and if the Kindle "report content error" actually goes through to anyone. I found several typos and mistakes and reported them but we shall see if those are ever corrected. At the end of the day, authors and editors are human (or are they?)