The September House is a haunted house novel. There, that's out of the way. Yes, spirits, ghosts, and undead spectors abound within these pages but it's written in a way that gives us those familiar scares while simultaneously defying overused tropes of that subgenre.
A couple decide to buy a house because it's a steal at the price. More importantly, this couple has a daughter in college and this is the first home either of them have ever owned. They were both raised in nomadic families and never had a home to call their own.
So when the realtor begins to describe some of the eerie strange occurances that have happened there in the past, they ignore it. They're determined to have this piece of ownership and ready to deal with anything that entails.
And, boy, this house is haunted. At first, the incidents are minor annoyances and typical of what you would expect in a house with spirits in it. But every September, things take a decidedly horrifying turn for the worse as activity increases at an alarming rate.
Blood drips from the walls from upstairs to down, ghastly wailing sounds out all night not allowing for much sleep, and the ghosts of dead children are always underfoot. These children are in various stages of distress, missing limbs, bloody gashes exposing bone and brain, and some that will bite... literally.
There's also something very evil in the basement. Something that the children fear. Because of this, the basement is always shut, locked, and boarded up. That's one of the "rules" our female protagonist comes up with to deal with their circumstances. She believes that if she comes up with a set of rules for themselves and the spirits, they can all coexist somewhat happily together.
After the first two years, the husband can't take it any longer and he leaves one day, never to be heard from again. And this is where this novel takes a twisty turny path and really shines.
To say much more would be going into spoiler territory. But their daughter has never stepped foot inside the house (being busy at her studies and all) until she hears about her father going missing. Now she's determined to come and stay while solving this mystery, pissed off at her mother for seemingly not caring at all that nobody's heard from her husband since he left.
The great thing about this novel is uncovering the secrets, not only of the house and it's ghostly occupants but this family's secrets as well. Not all has been well nor is it better now. And whether these hauntings are actually taking place will put us readers on a path of "what's the truth" as there were times I believed and other times I doubted the wife and mother.
There are several more surprises in store and I'll leave them for you to discover. But this is one haunted house book that scares and mystifies all at once and that's why I highly recommend it.
Dave from Horror Reads
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