I absolutely ate this book right up. This book is perfect for any aged horror fan, nothing gory or over the top, just good old fashioned creep factor following you along for the ride. The book focuses on Dakota, who returns to her childhood home after the death of her brother Lennox, where she ends up facings some demons from her past. The book comes in under 200 pages, a short read, but with pacing that isnt rushed. I would not hesitate to recommend this book to other horror lovers, and am excited to read more by the author.

this novella packed quite a punch. the horror aspect was very slow and subtle, but i didn't mind. in this story, the haunted house trope was used to explore grief and it was done in a hauntingly beautiful way. in the span of just a hundred or so pages the author managed to spin such a tragic, yet hopeful tale that had me shedding a tear or two for the characters.

thank you to timber ghost press and netgalley for providing this arc!

What..i can feel the darkness in this story, the sadness, grief, lost.. I Like Lennox, sad just met him just a moment. Dakota so strong and brave, it is trus we cant drown in negative emotion, better let them out.

Thank you to NetGalley for provide this book, it is pleasure to review this book.

#MouseTrap #CarynLarrinaga #TimberGhostPress #ScienceFictionandFantasy #WritersofAmerica #NetGalley #ARC

Dakota receives word that her agoraphobic older brother has passed away in their family home leaving Dakota to return to Astoria in order to clean up the house and sell it if she chooses as he's left everything to her in his will.

Returning home brings back old, disturbing memories. Mostly of their little brother Kai's death as a child falling down the basement steps as he searched for the Whisper Lady.

Two deaths, twenty years apart, could they be connected by a dark force at play?

"What's down there?" "Listen," Kai lisped. "This is boring." she complained." Kai held a finger up to his lips. "Shhh. She can hear you." "Who?" "The Whisper Lady."

A short little horror novella that, while well written, didn't really give me the spooks as I was hoping for. I do believe that someone that's either horror adverse or just wants to get a taste for the genre will be pleased as it isn't gory or terribly frightening. For me, I need just a bit more darkness to satisfy my horror craving. 3 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Ghost Press for my complimentary copy.

I was poised to give this 4/5 stars until I reached the end. No spoilers, but I felt like the resolution was too abrupt and didn't make sense within the rules of the worldbuilding. Other than that, this was creepy and well written. I really liked how the negative voices we all carry within us was incorporated into the slow, quiet horror stalking Dakota.

3.5 stars

This was a great novella. The writing style is wonderful and easy to read. The spook factor was on point. Also it is quite impressive how much was packed into this little book. I never saw that ending which is exactly the way I like it.

20 years ago Dakota Scott's baby brother, Kai, died falling down the back stairs. Now her other brother wasted away in the same house. Dakota returns to her childhood home to deal with Lennox's things and make arrangements for his funeral. However, when she returns she quickly realizes there is a malevolent force at work in the house and it is feeding off of the family's sorrow and despair.

I was immediately intrigued by the premise of Mouse Trap by Caryn Larrinaga. This plot sounded wild and absolutely dreadful. I am extremely impressed by the writing in this novel. This was a quick read but the overall feeling of climbing dread and atmospheric spookiness was phenomenal. The sadness of our MC was palpable. I thought I knew where the story was headed about halfway through but I never expected that ending! For fans of creepy atmospheric books, this one is a perfectly thrilling dread-filled novel that was released on January 3rd- and you NEED it!

Ah, finally, a small press quiet horror done right. Which is to say I’ve never heard of the author, barely heard of the publisher, and the cover leaves a lot to be desired, and yet…
This haunted house take was surprisingly decent. It doesn’t go for cheap thrills and gotcha moments so much as it revels in its subtlety, relying on strong writing and character development instead. I very much appreciate that in genre reading. In any reading, really.
The story features a protagonist mourning the mysterious death of her older brother, while getting his house in order. Almost immediately she finds herself tumbling down a memory lane as one might, but this tumble is different because this house is different. Question is, are they haunted by a childhood imaginary friend or something infinitely darker? Something she thought was left in the past a long time ago. Something that vehemently dislikes being left alone.
All kinds of spooky, this novella is a fun read for a dark night. Nicely done. Thanks Netgalley.

This was a pretty creepy read that incorporates a lot of the things I love in a haunted house story.

You get a rifted family dynamic, though this rift is only created by geographical space between our protagonist, her brother and their parents. You get somewhat repressed memories, or memories that surface situationally. You get a creepy old house with a lot of family history. You get childhood trauma. All great aspects to a haunting type read.

I though this was written really well. I was invested in the characters and the storyline. I just wanted it to be longer. I wanted a little more to the story.

Overall, I enjoyed this and would happily read this author again.

I found this book thrilling and creepy- I kept looking behind me because of how scared I’d get!
The ending did feel a tad bit rushed, I would’ve liked it to have been slightly more drawn out, but the book accomplished what it needed to do- be scary and creepy.

Thank You to Timber Ghost Press and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review!

I really love how during the entire story, I didn’t know if The Whisper Lady was an entity Kai saw or if she was born from Dakota’s grief any time she couldn’t process it. At the end of the book, The Whisper Lady is the visual of Dakota’s bottled up emotions exploding, which I found brilliant. This story left my spine tingling, I enjoyed how the book got it’s title.

I look forward to reading more works from Caryn Larrinaga!

I really enjoyed this novella about a woman who has to face the evil that is lurking in her family home; an evil that has taken the lives of both her brothers twenty years apart. I wished the ending had been longer; it felt a tad rushed. Otherwise this novella was a very engaging page turner. I also really love the cover and learning what it mean to the actual story.