Welcome to Litsy!

This is starting out so well! A middle-aged woman finally buys her dream house (Victorian! A wraparound porch!) and nothing - not her husband nor the numerous ghosts or bleeding walls - will get her to leave it. I‘m really enjoying the satirical tone. 😆

A seamless blend of horror/supernatural thriller, mystery,domestic suspense, and psychological thriller.To say I was captivated by just what was going on in this house would be an understatement I was fully engaged in it from start to its amazing and very satisfying ending. How Carissa managed to weave this book together with these themes and still blow my mind! An atmospheric, darkly disturbing, haunting read in all the very best of ways.⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

I‘ve had this book for a while, and October is the perfect time to dive into this haunted house story!

#SundayFunday I hope you all have a fantastic day, and don‘t forget to tag me!

I'm not usually into books about haunted houses but I thought I'd try this one. I really liked it. No subtle build up here, the ghosts are part of life right from the go. I wouldn't say it was scary, definitely some gore and violence. Parts were predictable, but the ending was satisfying. A fun read!

Loved this read that is perfect for the beginning of spooky season. A haunted Victorian house with ghosts that you will love and hate. Margaret believes she can follow the rules to survive. Past happenings resurface that entwine with Margaret‘s “haunted” life. 👻👻👻👻

This book! I don‘t know where to begin. This is certainly not your typical haunted house tale. And I really didn‘t expect to laugh hysterically at the end. That being said, this is not at all a funny book. It‘s horrifying and gory and bloody and mystifying. Unreliable narrator is an understatement and actually does the narrator a disservice. You‘ll have to read it to find out for yourself what is real and what is reality

#RIP begins in September and #SciFiSummer doesn't end until the 20th. I'm also moving towards the end of the month, so this month's #BookSpin list is a mix of Horror and Science Fiction ebooks from my TBR and library books I have checked out.

First read of 2025 done! This is horror about a woman determined to stay in her dream home that‘s haunted, even when her husband goes missing and her adult daughter unaware of the hauntings comes to visit. This started out strong, but petered off when the haunted house as a metaphor got really heavy handed, and it felt like the author was worried I wouldn‘t Get It. I think I wanted this to lean into the campier aspects more than it did. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had a lot of fun with the 2024 book bracket! Thank you to @catsandbooks for the template! 🎉 #bookbracket #2024bookbracket

WOW! This book! I don‘t know where to begin. This is certainly not your typical haunted house tale. And I really didn‘t expect to laugh hysterically at the end. That being said, this is not at all a funny book. It‘s horrifying and gory and bloody and mystifying. Unreliable narrator is an understatement and actually does the narrator a disservice. You‘ll have to read it to find out for yourself what is real and what is reality.⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Yesterday I talked about my most disappointing reads of 2024 now let‘s talk about my favorite reads of the year. I was in a slump most of the year but I did read a few books that I really enjoyed. And apparently 2024 was the year of horror/thrillers.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2024/12/29/the-best-books-of-2024/

❤️❤️❤️Aletheia thank you so much for this surprise!! I love it- and am so grateful for our friendship and your thoughtfulness- it means the world to me!

#trappedinaspookyhouse

The tone was a little bit sillier than your usual haunted house tale. The MC has accepted the presence of a slew of ghosts (mostly murdered children, mostly harmless) as the price of living in her dream house. When her husband goes missing, her daughter shows up to investigate, throwing all her careful routines for coexisting with the ghosts into chaos. But … why isn‘t she more curious about her husband‘s whereabouts?

I was expecting a traditional haunted house story and got so much more. I had a great time reading this. Just when I thought I knew the direction it was going it would switch up on me. Plus, I loved the tongue in cheek humor thrown in.

https://wildwoodreads.com/2024/10/21/the-september-house-review/

Perfection 😍

I‘ve been sick this past weekend and my lovely friend dropped me off a care package including the book and blanket! Perfect reading for spooky season…

Creepy, crazy haunted house , the author has you guessing about fmc it was a ride, very descriptive, I loved it for scary season!👻💀
#ReadAway2024 book 38

finished this on the last day of September…so fitting… #readinggoal #audiophile #readinglife

Started this one on my lunch break. This one is due back in a few days so i hope i can get through it because it‘s really good so far.

This was refreshing.

Four years after moving into the Victorian house, Margaret and Hal have gotten used to some of the quirks of the old house. September seems to be the roughest month if the year, bleeding walls, wailing, ghosts all over the house, but Margaret thinks nothing is so bad that you can't get used to it.

When her adult daughter announces she wants to visit things get tricky. How can Margaret hide the ghosts?

⬇️

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃 this book weaves horror, gore, family trauma and humor effortlessly. Hats of to a well crafted story that is both shocking and delightfully entertaining. A wonderful protagonist that will win your heart.

I read this one (tagged) in April on a trip to Zion National Park (pictured), and I've been recommending it to people who like spooky reads ever since. I love that there's so much more to it than just the spooky stuff.

If you're looking for something chilling to read in October, I recommend The September House.

#BlackCatCrew @BookwormAHN #HauntedShelf @PuddleJumper

I had this on my TBR and then @scripturient recommended the audiobook - she said the narrator was stellar.

Eight chapters in and I'm in love. The narrator of the audiobook manages to transfer the nonchalance of the novel's narrator perfectly. Gory ghosts, moaning, bleeding walls,... you get used to it. 🤷As annoying as a cute cat hacking up hairballs. 🤣🤣🤣

It's horror, but it's also funny.

My reading buddy wondering if it‘s time to put the book down and take a Sunday nap??🤣😴

September for me means a combination of #SummerSciFi and #RIP, so I tried to reflect that in my #BookSpin list for the month.

@TheAromaofBooks

First, the good things. A darkly humorous, scary, and surprisingly deep book about a woman puttering around her haunted house. The book would have benefited from being 80 pages shorter. There were some issues with scenes dragging on too long, and the aggressive passivity and inaction of the MC (which I know is plot-relevant) got grating the longer it went on. Easily solvable by cutting some scenes down. Overall, funny, scary, and fun.

Last night this book (finally!) became available on Libby and I am having the BEST TIME listening to it! I can‘t even describe how much I am enjoying it- I‘m definitely going to have to buy a copy. Horror with a bit of dark humor - I hope the rest is as good as the beginning!
#litsylove

Holy sh*t, that was awesome. Just when you think you‘ve figured out what‘s going on, this author smacks you upside the head, because NO! And then she does it again. A darkly funny, gory, creepy, little mindf*ck.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Have you read this, @Reggie ?

This haunted house story manages to brush against all kinds of horror from gory ghosts, domestic violence, continued trauma, but tempered with a surprising bit of humor and heart. A dark story for sure with menace that rises as steadily as the blood pours from the faucets and walls, but one that kept my attention from start to finish. A strong audio performance, too makes this all in all a promising debut novel!

Margaret has fallen in love with a Victorian house that a great deal. Of course, the house is haunted, and boy-howdy are there ghosts! There‘s even a dead serial killer in the basement. What makes this such a clever story, is that Margaret is able to cope by applying the skills she has learned surviving years of domestic violence. Her husband earns his just deserts in the basement. There‘s a great, powerful women-united-against-violence ending!

Also stopped at my local library and they were able to find The September House for me🥹 so I got to leave here with 2 horror books that were on my radar!👻🖤 I‘m convinced she had magical powers because it was not on the shelves when I looked😅

I knew I would love this and I‘m so happy I did! I was laughing at so many things and excited at others. A haunted house? A crazy woman? Who knows??? Do you stay in a haunted house or do you go?

Oh, my gosh! I love this novel! It's so weird and intense, with such an honest, deep representation of "home" and all the complicated things that come with it. It's about the accommodations we make to hold things together, and what it looks like to set a firm boundary, at long last. And alongside that, it's a deliciously creepy haunted house story. Probably shouldn't have read it on vacation in a house whose noises I don't know, but here we are.

Wow! What an amazing ride. Steady pace but relaxed for a haunted house book. Good characters, gripping scenes. Not your typical ending. A strong recommend.

📚Spending my weekend with these library books

📚 What are you reading this weekend?

I went into this blind and so was even more blown away by this quirky, drily humorous and simultaneously gory haunted house tale! Haunted houses are my favorite, but this was like no other haunted house I‘ve ever heard of. The bleeding walls, the shrieking ghosts, the biting ghosts, and a host of other paranormal oddities are dealt with in a matter-of-fact tone that only makes them more surreal. Absolutely LOVED it!!

If you are looking for a story that will scare you and make you laugh,look no further!
Margaret has been living in a haunted house for 4 years now and every September is when things get really crazy. Her nonchalant and dry comments towards her "pranksters" and their hijinx is the highlight of this story for me. But if all that weren't enough, her daughter is coming back into town to look for her father (an abusive alcoholic) who has gone missing.

Margaret loves her new “old” Victorian house. So much so that when September rolls around and the walls bleed, the “pranksters” roam the house (just be careful Elias doesn‘t get his teeth in you), and the local priest attempts an exorcism, just follow the rules and you‘ll get through it. I enjoyed the author‘s writing style, and there was some humor thrown in. The build up towards the end was a little long, but I was satisfied with the ending. 4⭐️

We‘ve been hibernating this week - it‘s rainy and so windy I keep thinking the house is going to blow to Oz 😂
So I‘ve been getting some solid reading time with some really good books. So far this is hilarious and sad and SO WEIRD.

This horror novel about a haunted house that goes into overdrive every September is one of the best haunted house books I have ever read. Orlando doesn‘t just provide tension and dread, but she frames it in a larger observation of abuse and relationships. The story was riveting, and the characters were well-developed. I listened to the audio, and looked around for things to do so I could have an excuse to listen. Warning for violence, gore, abuse.

#12Booksof2023 I couldn‘t believe this was a debut! I loved that it completely surprised me not once, not twice, but over and over. The ghosts were great and the level of humor was perfect for me. Since finishing it, I‘ve been dying to see what Carissa Orlando writes next. I can‘t wait.

The Quiet Tenant by Clemence Michallon was another great September read. A serial killer story. I just remember feeling so many HUGE emotions while I read it.

@aCleverDuck thank you for everything in my #creepychristmasswap package I love it all sadly the mug broke in transit. But everything else survived. @teebe

THNAK YOU THANK YOU! @WildAlaskaBibliophile
This is an amazing #creepychristmas package.
I wanted to read this book for a while. the other book looks really interesting (a great way to get introduced to new authors).
the #manpanion and I spend the PB cups right away. YUM!
Where did you find that ornament and teas? They are fantastic.
I Love everything so much.
BTW the wooden postcard with the bat is perfect.

#tebee

Book 205📚 4.5⭐️

This one was so good! And there was now delay on the crazy shit, they just jumped right into it!!

Flies coming outta their mouths, biting ghosts, bleeding walls. It‘s great.

They had be going there for a bit too near the end!!😱

Needs must when the devil drives…

I enjoyed this one more than I was expecting! It has the ghosts and gore that I was expecting (and hoping for), but it also had humor and heart and quite a bit of sadness that surprised me. I can‘t get enough of haunted house stories but this one had the added benefit of being unique and fresh. And the narrator was great! 🌟🌟🌟🌟

This is horror with really complex, sad themes woven throughout. I felt all kinds of things reading this, including horror. Definitely passing this on to friends to read. @StephMC82 it‘s coming to you!

I love a book with a haunted house.

This was not as scary as I would have liked, but I thought the premise was an interesting way to tell a haunted house story. My favorite part was getting to know all the different ghosts.

There were also a few good twists.

#Scarathlon #SpookyGhostClub @Clwojick

I am convinced you are not human @Litlady because you are just too good. I couldn‘t have pick out better gifts for myself. I‘ve already gotten into the lotion, the word finder, and decorated the house with those sponges (that I get the biggest kick out of) and cute ghost pumpkin. All the books look creepy and perfect. Thank you so much my friend! My #litsypenpal is the best! Happy Halloween to all!!!

October 2023 Wrap Up
- The September House ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
- Out There Screaming ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
- Mermaids Never Drown ⭐️⭐️⭐️
- Mister Magic ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Oooooooh I‘m so excited for both of these!! Thank you @MidnightBookGirl for picking out perfect books for me!! And I love peeps (will save for next cheat day ;)) and those bookmarks are adorable! Thank you!!!! 🧡👻🖤🎃🧡👻🖤🎃

And thank you @MaleficentBookDragon for hosting one of my fave swaps!! #AllHallowsReadSwap #AHRS