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4.02 AVERAGE
4.02 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A quick read, I was surprised how much I enjoyed this book. I am not a big fan of horror and gore, actually I hate horror and avoid horror movies and tv shows, but there is something about this book that just engaged me and had me reading for 2 days until I finished it.
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"The walls of the house were bleeding again. This sort of thing could be expected; it was, after all, September." Margart lives in a haunted house, but unlike most thrillers where this would turn deadly after the 2nd night, it's been years and she's just gotten used to the blood on the walls and the dead people trying to bite her. I love this comedic take but that lasted briefly because Margaret's husband is missing and her daughter is coming to visit. Then things end up taking a dark and sad turn as we learn more about the house, her husband and their relationship. Definitely rec!
For Margaret the horrors of her haunted house have become a daily routine and hasn’t kept her from loving her home, as long as she follows the rules. Her ghost maid is incredibly thoughtful, as long as you ignore the ax sticking out of her head, the walls occasionally leak blood, but that’s easy to clean, and occasional ghost children pop up to warn her, especially one with razor sharp teeth, but are harmless if you don’t get too close. But everything is dialed up to the nth degree in September, to the point where it even drove her husband away and she hasn’t heard from him in a few months. Worried about them, her daughter decides to make an impromptu visit precisely at the worst time: September. Unable to assuage her daughter’s fears and keep her away, she dreads the truth she’ll find as the hauntings only get worse and worse.
This is another one of those books that had me asking, wtf did I just read? Another premise that had a lot of promise, but I’ve genuinely never read a more boring haunted house book in my life. I get this is supposed to be campy and a tongue in cheek look on the mundanity of horror, but wow it did NOT work for me. Part of it is I listened to this and this audio narrator is HORRIBLE, I’ll keep an eye on her and give her a wide berth from now on, I cannot stand the way she narrates. But I highly doubt reading it would’ve helped.
The hauntings were incredibly repetitive, to the point where each ‘gory’ or ‘scary’ moment just had me groaning and eyerolling. Like I freaking get it, September is bad, it gets worse at September, he’s down there, the one kid bites if you get too close etc. I GET IT!! It was the same shit again and again, how you make a horror book boring, I truly don’t understand, but I was waiting and waiting for anything to happen and when I thought this would turn out to be an unreliable narrator book, I was about ready to bash my brains into a wall. Truly the only reason this is a 2 and not a 1 shit actually went down in the last two chapters, thank fucking god. FINALLY!!!! But the problem is, while it was savage and gory as fuck, and I loved that, it also made zero sense. Why now was this happening? Why is it so selective on who sees what and who gets injured and how any of this works? It’s just so half-baked for something SO long and so repetitive, I truly don’t understand. The construction in general was just a terrible decision, I found myself groaning through all of this and desperate to get to the end so it would be over already.
Even worse, I found every character entirely unlikable so it made this even more of a slog. I hated Margaret and her daughter and especially hated her husband, (view spoiler) It just comes off incredibly melodramatic and insufferable, it felt like plodding through cement to get through this shit, it was just not at all for me.
I’m bummed because clearly I’m in the minority of reviewers going off the main GR page, but the score is below 4 stars so I mean…maybe more people are with me and don’t get the hype of this at all, but who knows. Clearly this type of book worked for some, but I'm just not one of them. So give it a go if this sounds like something you’re interested in, you may like it more than me, but I most certainly do not recommend. I didn’t think a haunting book could be so boring, but here we are.
This is another one of those books that had me asking, wtf did I just read? Another premise that had a lot of promise, but I’ve genuinely never read a more boring haunted house book in my life. I get this is supposed to be campy and a tongue in cheek look on the mundanity of horror, but wow it did NOT work for me. Part of it is I listened to this and this audio narrator is HORRIBLE, I’ll keep an eye on her and give her a wide berth from now on, I cannot stand the way she narrates. But I highly doubt reading it would’ve helped.
The hauntings were incredibly repetitive, to the point where each ‘gory’ or ‘scary’ moment just had me groaning and eyerolling. Like I freaking get it, September is bad, it gets worse at September, he’s down there, the one kid bites if you get too close etc. I GET IT!! It was the same shit again and again, how you make a horror book boring, I truly don’t understand, but I was waiting and waiting for anything to happen and when I thought this would turn out to be an unreliable narrator book, I was about ready to bash my brains into a wall. Truly the only reason this is a 2 and not a 1 shit actually went down in the last two chapters, thank fucking god. FINALLY!!!! But the problem is, while it was savage and gory as fuck, and I loved that, it also made zero sense. Why now was this happening? Why is it so selective on who sees what and who gets injured and how any of this works? It’s just so half-baked for something SO long and so repetitive, I truly don’t understand. The construction in general was just a terrible decision, I found myself groaning through all of this and desperate to get to the end so it would be over already.
Even worse, I found every character entirely unlikable so it made this even more of a slog. I hated Margaret and her daughter and especially hated her husband, (view spoiler) It just comes off incredibly melodramatic and insufferable, it felt like plodding through cement to get through this shit, it was just not at all for me.
I’m bummed because clearly I’m in the minority of reviewers going off the main GR page, but the score is below 4 stars so I mean…maybe more people are with me and don’t get the hype of this at all, but who knows. Clearly this type of book worked for some, but I'm just not one of them. So give it a go if this sounds like something you’re interested in, you may like it more than me, but I most certainly do not recommend. I didn’t think a haunting book could be so boring, but here we are.
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Initially, The September House seemed a bit slow-paced, yet it did become more engaging as it progressed. Although I appreciated the concepts presented in the story, and it certainly held promise, it ultimately did not quite meet my expectations for this particular book.
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Recommended if you like: Dark humor and deadpan reactions to the grotesque and gruesome; Sympathetic, authentic depictions of damaged people; Uncomplicated prose; Complicated relationships
Avoid if you dislike: Gratuitous descriptions of blood, injuries, bodily trauma; (CW, 2nd act spoiler)Domestic violence/abusive relationships ; Modest, somewhat repetitive vocabulary; Violence against (CW) children
In the well-explored genre of haunted house horror, Carissa Orlando’s The September House proves that there are still corners of haunted basements to discover. Orlando’s doctorate in clinical psychology shines through her characters and makes this read one of the more honest and emotionally-rewarding stories you’ll find in horror.
From the word “go,” MC Margaret is lovably mordant and impassive in the face of even the most terrifying paranormal activity, which sets the darkly humorous tone for the rest of the story. Her reasons for adapting to her haunted house instead of, you know, running away like most would is logical, if not a little unreasonable. But her behavioral rituals work at keeping the spookies at bay, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. After all, the housing market is a horror of its own, and who could blame her for wanting to avoid all that?
There are clearly defined and well-thought-out rules to Orlando’s world. The ghosts haunt in specific ways. Certain things work to corral their behavior. Many things do not. There are reasons and logic tightly woven into every element of Margaret’s interactions with her house, her family, and her roommates. In a story about adapting to challenging circumstances, the importance of having a well-developed ruleset cannot be understated.
The way that the layers of the story are revealed as Margaret’s complicated living situation becomes even more complex is fantastic. The pacing is good, the revelations are delivered with grace, and the strain that weighs upon Margaret steadily builds until you can’t help but ask, “How the hell did we get here?” But that’s sort of the wonderful part about The September House: In horror stories, people make poor decisions aplenty, but those decisions rarely make sense. With Margaret, every questionable decision makes sense–from a certain point of view.
As for critiques, they are few but worth mentioning. Orlando’s spartan vocabulary makes for easy reading, but left me wanting a little more effort at times. There is the occasional inspired simile that perfectly captures a creepy sensory moment or emotional beat, but they’re reused until the edges are dull. These gripes are subjective and easily-forgiven, but my biggest issue is with the climax.
While the 3rd act is appropriate and satisfying, the climax itself is a 16-page marathon that way overstays its welcome. The summary is familiar, and nothing an avid movie watcher hasn’t seen before. And yet, the actions repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and every detail is explained and re-explained ad nauseam until your eyes are skimming the pages with a desperate need to move on. I understand the desire to (major spoilers)give every ghost their cathartic revenge against Master Vale , but it takes ages and there are certainly ways to abbreviate it into something more streamlined and engaging.
Avoid if you dislike: Gratuitous descriptions of blood, injuries, bodily trauma; (CW, 2nd act spoiler)
In the well-explored genre of haunted house horror, Carissa Orlando’s The September House proves that there are still corners of haunted basements to discover. Orlando’s doctorate in clinical psychology shines through her characters and makes this read one of the more honest and emotionally-rewarding stories you’ll find in horror.
From the word “go,” MC Margaret is lovably mordant and impassive in the face of even the most terrifying paranormal activity, which sets the darkly humorous tone for the rest of the story. Her reasons for adapting to her haunted house instead of, you know, running away like most would is logical, if not a little unreasonable. But her behavioral rituals work at keeping the spookies at bay, and if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. After all, the housing market is a horror of its own, and who could blame her for wanting to avoid all that?
There are clearly defined and well-thought-out rules to Orlando’s world. The ghosts haunt in specific ways. Certain things work to corral their behavior. Many things do not. There are reasons and logic tightly woven into every element of Margaret’s interactions with her house, her family, and her roommates. In a story about adapting to challenging circumstances, the importance of having a well-developed ruleset cannot be understated.
The way that the layers of the story are revealed as Margaret’s complicated living situation becomes even more complex is fantastic. The pacing is good, the revelations are delivered with grace, and the strain that weighs upon Margaret steadily builds until you can’t help but ask, “How the hell did we get here?” But that’s sort of the wonderful part about The September House: In horror stories, people make poor decisions aplenty, but those decisions rarely make sense. With Margaret, every questionable decision makes sense–from a certain point of view.
As for critiques, they are few but worth mentioning. Orlando’s spartan vocabulary makes for easy reading, but left me wanting a little more effort at times. There is the occasional inspired simile that perfectly captures a creepy sensory moment or emotional beat, but they’re reused until the edges are dull. These gripes are subjective and easily-forgiven, but my biggest issue is with the climax.
While the 3rd act is appropriate and satisfying, the climax itself is a 16-page marathon that way overstays its welcome. The summary is familiar, and nothing an avid movie watcher hasn’t seen before. And yet, the actions repeat, and repeat, and repeat, and every detail is explained and re-explained ad nauseam until your eyes are skimming the pages with a desperate need to move on. I understand the desire to (major spoilers)
Issues with prose and the pacing of the climax aside, The September House is an exciting, emotional, and fascinating joyride with one of horror’s most haunted and resilient protagonists. It's a fantastic debut effort that puts Orlando on my shortlist of new authors to watch.