I really enjoyed the kind of old school 90s/2000s horror vibes of the “The Suffering”. It had a slightly slow start to the haunting itself, but I felt like that gave all of the build up and history to what you needed to know for the action packed ending.

I really wanted to love this book, I was expecting to be more wowed and get scared. Loved the characters and the writing and the beginning of the story did grab me but after a while I couldn’t read it was boring unfortunately. Couldn’t get thru another page.

Ouiji boards are never a good idea.
Kyle and his friends take it a step further and perform the séance on Halloween. Unfortunately, they will learn what it truly means to suffer.

This book is scary! It's full of gore, madness and an intensity that'll keep you turning pages. I found the concept of haunted people thoroughly entertaining. The book gives of Thirteen Ghosts vibes and I would definitely watch the movie version. I highly recommend to horror fans who don't have a weak stomach.

Thank you @netgalley and #wickedhousepublishing for allowing me to read and give my honest review!

The Suffering, by MJ Mars, was a pretty solid story in the thrills and chills department.

Kyle and four of his friends live in a Victorian house that has been in his family for generations. It was the scene of a gruesome mass murder in 1876 that included one of Kyle's ancestors. During a seance on Halloween, Kyle and his friends release 5 ghosts of the murderers that have been lurking in the background. The five ghosts latch onto each of the students who reside in the house, preying on their biggest insecurities and gaining strength. Kyle and his friends must figure out how to get rid of the ghosts before the ghosts get rid of them.

This was a great story. I could see this being adapted for screen as a movie. I was hoping for a book that scared me but this one wasn't it for me. That's not to say it wasn't good but it just didn't scare me very much. I thought it strange that Kyle was the one who had the ancestor ghost yet he wasn't "haunted" on a consistent basis like his housemates.

I didn't understand where it had sections labeled "1. Investigation," when it was somewhat in the middle of a chapter. There didn't seem to be any clear delineation of the topic or why it was there. They were all labeled something different but all started with "1." It wasn't a chapter identifier, either.

I have nothing negative to say about this book but I think I went into it with preconceived ideas that it was going to terrify me and that was a bit of a letdown.

Thank you to MJ Mars and Wicked House Publishing for the ARC.

This book was incredible! From the very first page the story grabs hold of you. Things are happening and chugging along and when things really kick into gear it’s like a bullet train til the very end. The characters were well written although I wish we had gotten a little more about them individually. The storyline was fascinating and gave me a bit of a Thirteen Ghosts vibe, especially with the backstories of the ghosts and Lucius. It was extremely fun to read and will be one I read again.

I was first attracted by this gorgeous cover, and the synopsis intrigued me.
Starting off with a séance in a haunted house on Halloween is right up my reading alley! I was all in from the start, but for me, things moved way too slowly after the spooky beginning. It felt like a long time before things really picked up again. I think this could have been shortened by 15 pages.
I enjoyed the ghosts and their backstories more than I cared for the living characters.
The writing style wasn't always engaging and often pulled me out of the story because of it.
Example-
"He'd sat up stiffly in bed, thinking about the creepy laugh that sounded as though it had come from his pillow area." "Torturously, he hadn't been able to stop imagining what it would be like to hear again."
You may enjoy it more than I did but this one was just not for me.

Must read! Such an amazing book! I am so grateful to netgalley for allowing me to read this advanced reader copy

Liked the ghosts and how they each had a fun backstory. The beginning seemed quite slow and the ending was really quick, would've liked a bit more. Overall a good creepy Ghost story.

I want to thank Netgalley and the author for gifting me the ebook. I love the cover. I was really excited about this novel. I think it had potential, but there was just something that made me not absolutely love it. The story felt rushed and it was not really scary (that could just be a me thing). All in all the story was entertaining.

Thank you for the chance to preview this book. I did enjoy it, though at times
it read like a cheesy horror movie. It had a 13 Ghosts vibe to it.

Thank you for the ARC. This was certainly interesting and I enjoyed the ride. The ending is nightmare inducing and I will likely never recover.
I am rooting for Tad's success in sewage. We need it.

Writing: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5
Plot: 4/5
Scary: 3/5

Warnings: Language, Sexual content

Themes: Horror, Mystery, Haunted house

The Suffering is about a group of friends that lives in a house that had a seance go horribly wrong many years back. But now it seems like history might repeat itself after the group of friend hold a saence of their own. I reall enjoyed this book from start to finish. It was a good combination of scary and mystery. The lore behind the hauntings was my favorite part. It wasn’t just a group of ghost attacking at random, the had a set story and a purpose.

This book is great for anyone who loves a scary story and a mystery of how to stop them.

I received a free copy of this book and am leaving an honest review.

I thought this was a very interesting ghost story! Each of the ghost were fun to learn about and there were some scenes that genuinely creeped me out. I will say, Cassis did annoy me. She seemed immature and I know her ghost was making her quick to anger but I still did not like her. I felt that the beginning dragged on a bit and that the ending/resolution went by too quickly. I wanted more out of the ending with how compelling the ghosts' backstories were. Overall, it was a fun horror story and I definitely think it's worth the read.

Kylie live in haunted house name The Suffering with his housemates. On halloween they do séance, to summon 5 ghost that caused murder in that house back in 1876. Lucious Halgrove great-great-great-grand uncle of Kyle, summon five ghosts who would capture the key components of spell: Po, an ancient Peruvian monster (Strenght). Connor Rourke, a factory worker who had been caught stealing from the owner and die tragicly (Stealth). Lisa Vaughan, a teenaged fortune teller who cursed the sailors who sought her wares (Frivolity). Anthony Pile, a member of the Hellfire Club who committed satanic rituals (Deception). Jarvis Rice, a corrupt executioner who enjoyed his profession so much he murdered women and framed their husbands for the killing (Malice). The ghosts still in the house waiting to take chance appear again.

All steps of demonic posession happend in the house. Footstep, smells present by each ghosts, voices, moving object, physical attacks, sleep walking, nightmare, see shadow, anger, depression oh my god this book succses creep me out! I hope this become movie! I can see that.

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

#TheSuffering #MJMars #BooksGoSocial #WickedHousePublishing #NetGalley #ARC

The Suffering has a 13 Ghosts vibe, sort of. There's not thirteen ghosts but the ones that haunt this house are terrifying enough to make up for the lack of numbers!

Seances, ancient spell books, and a house where the spirits live in the walls (and an especially nasty one in the cellar) makes this novel engaging page after page.

As hell is unleashed upon the housemates, they must find a way to undo the evil they've inadvertently let loose within the walls of their home. Until then, all manner of torture and death follows them, ensuring that nobody is safe.

This is a fantastic frightening novel with lots of action, great characters, and (of course) bloody good times. Well, good times for horror lovers but not so much for the characters!

I definitely enjoyed it and highly recommend it.

MJ Mars does a great job in the horror genre, it had what I was looking for from this description. The characters worked in this universe and I was invested in what was going on. It had such a great concept and delivered on this story. I'm glad I got to read this and look forward to read more from MJ Mars.

"Upstairs, a sudden flurry of footsteps raced along the landing. They weren’t heavy enough to be an adult, were too long in stride to be made by a child, too human-like to be a dog or another animal. Kyle’s eyes darted towards the ceiling to follow the sound, a pointless, instinctive move."

Thank you to the publisher for allowing me to read this eARC.

This wasn't bad but it definitely reads like an early 2000s horror movie with a group of dumb, goofy friends in a house full of ghosts. It wasn't anything particularly unique but it was fun and quick and scratched that itch for something a little more spooky.

3 stars
This is a somewhat familiar story, though I can’t really place it. However, it was very good, and kept me turning the pages. I enjoyed the characters and the writing was well done.

Thank you netgalley for the arc. I really enjoyed the story. My favorite character was Cassie. I really enjoyed all the different ghosts.

Remember that movie from the 2000's that had the dumb group of young adults, the lawyer who "split" and a bunch of scary ass ghosts that all had to come together to do a thing... yeah... that's this. Not a bad read, pretty amusing but hard not to make comparisons to the above.