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irenemarie's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Child death, Death, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Mental illness, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, War, and Violence
Minor: Gun violence and Death of parent
flying_monkeys's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
Eric, Dess and Stacy Ross are such loveable characters, it's impossible to not connect with them and root for their safety and success. The Texas setting felt real and scary. But, if you're reading The Spite House strictly for the horror, then the star of this story is the Masson House, a deeply haunted house built for vengeance in a place cursed by its terrible history. A ghost story with heart and history. 3.5/5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Gun violence, Grief, and Violence
Minor: Suicide and Fire/Fire injury
amyparsons's review against another edition
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Child death
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Violence
rorikae's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
'The Spite House' by Johnny Compton is a haunted house story with an interesting concept but not as much atmosphere as I was hoping.
The Spite House is true to its name, built out of the spite held by one man. Eric Ross and his two daughters are running away from mysterious circumstances and looking for a way to make money without bringing too much attention to themselves. The offer of staying in the Spite House feels like the perfect opportunity. But when the Ross' move in, the house makes it clear that they are not welcome and embroils them in circumstances that spill out beyond the house's walls.
I am fascinated by the work that Compton has done concocting the lore and character motivations at the heart of 'The Spite House.' He has created a set of complicated characters, where it is easy to understand both protagonists and antagonists. As we slowly begin to understand more about what drove Eric and his daughters away from their normal lives, we come to better understand how they are easily embroiled in the Spite House. I was really hoping for a bit more atmosphere. A great deal of this story is about the house while only a choice few moments are spent within the actual house itself. I would have loved to see more dread built up through moments in the house. I am intrigued to see what Compton writes next as the thought put into the story is clear and he's juggling a number of fascinating concepts.
The Spite House is true to its name, built out of the spite held by one man. Eric Ross and his two daughters are running away from mysterious circumstances and looking for a way to make money without bringing too much attention to themselves. The offer of staying in the Spite House feels like the perfect opportunity. But when the Ross' move in, the house makes it clear that they are not welcome and embroils them in circumstances that spill out beyond the house's walls.
I am fascinated by the work that Compton has done concocting the lore and character motivations at the heart of 'The Spite House.' He has created a set of complicated characters, where it is easy to understand both protagonists and antagonists. As we slowly begin to understand more about what drove Eric and his daughters away from their normal lives, we come to better understand how they are easily embroiled in the Spite House. I was really hoping for a bit more atmosphere. A great deal of this story is about the house while only a choice few moments are spent within the actual house itself. I would have loved to see more dread built up through moments in the house. I am intrigued to see what Compton writes next as the thought put into the story is clear and he's juggling a number of fascinating concepts.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, Child death, Death, and Murder
thereadedit's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.75/5
Unsettling: 😬😬/5
SCARY: 👻👻/5
DEATH: 💀💀/5
INTRIGUE: 🧠🧠🧠🧠/5
The Spite House was nothing like I expected. With such poignant writing to take you through so many cycles of terror that were being held within the four walls of the Spite House. The tenants withheld in those four walls have every intention to make your life hell while you are there. Would you believe me that two children run the house? Oh yeah. Those children will scare and torture you till you finally just give up.
With a family on the run after a miraculous happening, the chance to make 6 figures is always a plus. Especially when you are hiding who you are and why. But is the money worth it when you know that you could lose the two people you love the most? The ones you went on the run for??
Eric is a father that is determined to do everything for his girls that he can. Even after his daughter comes back to life after dying, he knows something within their family gives them that blessing of life after death. Just as it did for his grandfather. But he is determined to make a life for his girls and figure out more about the gift they have been given.
With so much paranormal activity, lies, deception and money there is always room for mayhem. Enter the Spite House. Welcome to the chaos!
I also want to include that this book is a great representation of POC by a POC. Which I absolutely love and appreciate. In what bit of horror I have read there isn't a whole ton of POC representation. But also the representation showing how different the stereotypes that so many authors stick to aren't the same in this book.
Unsettling: 😬😬/5
SCARY: 👻👻/5
DEATH: 💀💀/5
INTRIGUE: 🧠🧠🧠🧠/5
The Spite House was nothing like I expected. With such poignant writing to take you through so many cycles of terror that were being held within the four walls of the Spite House. The tenants withheld in those four walls have every intention to make your life hell while you are there. Would you believe me that two children run the house? Oh yeah. Those children will scare and torture you till you finally just give up.
With a family on the run after a miraculous happening, the chance to make 6 figures is always a plus. Especially when you are hiding who you are and why. But is the money worth it when you know that you could lose the two people you love the most? The ones you went on the run for??
Eric is a father that is determined to do everything for his girls that he can. Even after his daughter comes back to life after dying, he knows something within their family gives them that blessing of life after death. Just as it did for his grandfather. But he is determined to make a life for his girls and figure out more about the gift they have been given.
With so much paranormal activity, lies, deception and money there is always room for mayhem. Enter the Spite House. Welcome to the chaos!
I also want to include that this book is a great representation of POC by a POC. Which I absolutely love and appreciate. In what bit of horror I have read there isn't a whole ton of POC representation. But also the representation showing how different the stereotypes that so many authors stick to aren't the same in this book.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Child death
Minor: Bullying, Mental illness, War, Violence, and Murder
jessreadreceipts's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder, Child death, Grief, Racism, Violence, and Death
Minor: War, Racism, and Hate crime
ruthlessreads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Absolutely phenomenal haunted house novel! I'm kicking myself for not having started it sooner. The Spite House confronts one towns legacy of violent racism, bringing reparations to those who have been denied justice. But it's not just Spite House that has secrets, the Ross family is on a collision course to a reckoning with the past they've been running from and it all culminates in one harrowing event.
It's a horror novel, yes, but it's also about how far a father will go to protect his children, about grief, and about how the acts of the past ripple through time to affect us all still today. Powerful, deeply moving, and incredibly creepy.
It's a horror novel, yes, but it's also about how far a father will go to protect his children, about grief, and about how the acts of the past ripple through time to affect us all still today. Powerful, deeply moving, and incredibly creepy.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Grief, Racism, Violence, and Child death
Moderate: Slavery
Minor: Body horror
starrysteph's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
The Spite House is a gothic horror tale revolving around parental love & protection, ancestral hauntings, and complicated karmic seeds.
We follow the Ross family (dad Eric and daughters Dess and Stacy) as they run from their mysterious past, desperate to improve their circumstances and find some stability. When an eccentric billionaire offers them a small fortune to stay inside a mysterious house and record potential hauntings, it’s too good of an offer to pass up. But of course everything isn’t quite so simple, and vengeful ghosts and complicated family histories soon intertwine in a deadly way.
If you tend to get irritated by horror story protagonists making absurd choices for no reason, you won’t find that here. The Ross family aren’t foolish risk-takers. They’re not intentionally charging into danger. They’re thoughtful and do safety drills. They’re logical and calculated. And they’re forced into the house out of desperation – which makes this story all the more compelling.
I enjoyed the multiple POVs, but could have gone without the one-offs of side characters and antagonizers. I would have appreciated being kept to a more limited viewpoint - so that I as the reader could uncover truths alongside the three Ross’, instead of being given reveals from the secret-keepers surrounding them.
I thought the pacing + flow was very well done. However, I would have loved more scenes of action & atmospheric horror inside the house. We actually didn’t spend a whole lot of time between its walls. Additionally, the history of the house was well thought out, but became a bit convoluted. This was a 300 page book and a lot of info was squished in.
Overall, this was an engaging read and a chilling story – I only wish the plotting & POVs were little less complicated and more expansiveness was given to the central family and terrifying spite house;
CW: death (incl. child death), gore, murder, child abuse, psychosis, war, racism, gun violence, mental illness, kidnapping, confinement
(I received an advance reader copy of this book; this is my honest review.)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Grief, Gore, Gun violence, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Body horror, Confinement, Death, and War
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