THE SEPTEMBER HOUSE - Carissa Orlando

4 stars

Very interesting read. One of those "it's an underlying message" tales that usually drives me nuts—but this one? It worked. And it worked WELL, and it managed to keep the enjoyment factor at the same time.

Concept: ★★★★★
Pacing: ★★★
Characters: ★★★★
Humor: ★★★★

I totally can see why The September House made it on to so many of my mutuals' lists... and after reading it, I now understand the really polarizing reactions to this read.

Ranging from lukewarm "whatever, it was fine" to oh-my-god-this-was-so-freaking-cool to "what are people on about, this was dull and preachy"—yeah, it seems like this story incites a reaction.

I had no idea where I'd fall, and the blurb from Grady Hendrix saying "just when you thought you'd seen everything there was to see about the haunted house story, there's this surprise" practically made me do it for that alone. As someone who loves haunted house stories, what do you MEAN this was something...new?

I love new.

So with my curiosity piqued, I dove in.

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings that happen every September. Most people would flee. Margaret is NOT most people.

The blurb sets us right off: there's a house, it's a nightmare to live in each September, and most owners don't make it to the next autumn before they flee into the night. But then, there's Margaret.

Margaret has nerves of steel and an unwavering will to resolve all solutions through adaptability and compromise. She's had a lifetime of experience navigating challenges and she knows the truth: as long as one follows the Rules, any problem can be navigated.

So Margaret deals with the walls dripping blood. The screaming and moaning. The dead children all pointing to the basement door saying "he's down there." She doesn't mind the housekeeper with the axed forehead who serves her tea. And she's even cool with the screaming demon boy with the biting habit.

All things, after all, can be managed if done properly.

But when Margaret's husband, Hal, runs off into the night and disappears... Margaret runs into problems. Her daughter, Katherine, wants answers. Where is Hal? Why did he leave? Why does Margaret want her to stay away?

Margaret doesn't want to tell Katherine about the hauntings. Especially not in September.

Katherine—like father, like daughter—doesn't listen. She arrives, and she's here for answers. In September.

Margaret's going to have quite a time. (And she does.)

This was a really, really cool horror novel. I think this is the kind of story I was expecting out of Sarah Gailey's Just Like Home, which disappointed me more than expected a few years ago. The September House has some layered family secrets and traumas that are boldly, and yet subtly, conveyed in this story.

Margaret as a main character was such a clever choice. Her wry humor, her acceptance of all truths (no matter how dark), and her resolute will to continue on at all costs was so...singular. And I loved unpacking all of that over the course of the novel.