The cover for this is the very first thing that drew me right in - its cool and its creepy
I will admit that the premise of this sounded very intriguing to me but it could have been much more than it was.
Still a very easy fast read and there are monsters and monster hunters so whats not to like??

DNF. Thank you NetGalley and Publisher for this early copy! I decided to not keep reading this one, it was not for me. Thanks!

I love all incarnations of this writer! The book had good characters and a very atmospheric setting. A little Lovercraftian mood as well. Starts a little slow but really gets going midway through and holds on until the end. Best in one sitting so that dread stays put and grabs you until the end!

In the Shadow of Spindrift House is a Lovecraftian mash-up of Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! and The Haunting of Hill House, though it is far more serious and contemplative than its Scooby-esque origins might lead you to believe. It deals with adult greed and deceit, with sly winks to the classic cartoon, but this book is far more concerned with questions of fate, family, and time. Its chilly heart beats with the seduction of the sea, the pull of infinity, and the allure of abandoning yourself to nature and destiny and the cosmos.

The story follows the Answer Squad, a group of four plucky teen sleuths who aren’t plucky teens anymore. Harlowe, whose parents died mysteriously when she was a child, finds one last case for the Squad to solve together: Spindrift House, a seaside mansion with disputed ownership that seems to kill anyone who tries to go inside. If the four friends can survive the spookhouse long enough to find the original deed proving the house’s true legal owners, they’ll go out on a win and earn $3.5 million in the process. It’s a compelling premise, and Mira Grant’s narrative goes places I didn’t expect, hinting at intriguing questions and backstories without ever explaining too much or losing momentum.

This is my first Mira Grant book (and my first book by Seanan McGuire, the author behind the Mira Grant pseudonym). I had no expectations other than a good story, but I was not prepared for how her prose would affect me: I wanted to wrap the words around myself like a blanket or roll around in them like satin sheets. Her style shifts depending on the narrator, but there remains a breathtaking tone throughout that places you under its spell just as surely as the “haunted” Spindrift House enchants its victims.

In the Shadow of Spindrift House is a fascinating blend of horror influences that neither shocks nor terrifies; rather, its fear rolls in subtly like fog. It makes you empathize with and perhaps even envy the monsters; after all, there is peace and a sense of belonging in the act of letting go.

The waves beckon to us all.

Four friends go to a haunted house for one last ghost hunt before they move on to the real world. Good book, ended too quickly.

Speaking of wrenching my heart out. I continue to love Mira Grant and everything she writes. This one might not make it to the top of my list, but I still loved it a lot. Great for fans of Meddling Kids and Final Girls and the tropes that inspired both books.

I enjoy the premise of the book. Really like the Scooby doo vibe (mystery gang). Throughout the story got confused with the plot and did understand the story. Wish the book was longer maybe I would of like it better.

Received from NetGalley
Completed July 20, 2019
125 page ebook

Mira is always good for a creepy and engaging read. Though short, this book was quite enjoyable. The characters were engaging and memorable and though I guessed some aspects of the story, it didn't dull the enjoyment of it. It's really hard to say more without spoiling the book. I'm not a big horror fan but I enjoyed it so it wasn't too much.

Setting = A
Plot = B
Conflict = B
Characters = B
Theme = A

If you were trying to combine the talents of H.P Lovecraft and Shirley Jackson you might very well get a story a lot like <em>In the Shadow of Spindrift House, </em>a dark coming of age story.

Harlowe Upton-Jones is at the end of her teen years. She's grown up tough, always asking questions and digging for answers since her parents were killed by some strange cult. Now she leads a group of teens in a detective agency, but she knows that the novelty of being teens who are very good at what they do, is soon going to wear off and so she's looking for one last assignment before they begin work as adults.

The stories about Spindrift House are about as varied as the number of stories themselves. It's an old house, run-down and spooky, and no one has spent time in it for a very long time. But there are people willing to pay good money to get to the bottom of determining who owns the property now. Harlowe is certain that her team of teens can cut to the bottom of the mystery. They have everything they need ... intelligence, determination, and a plan. What they don't have, is time. And Spindrift House has kept its secrets for a long time and it isn't ready to let go of them just yet. In one of her steps to becoming an adult, Harlowe will have to make a tremendous sacrifice.

Although this is sold as a limited edition book, it's not really a novel, but a novella. Perhaps even a novelette. And the only reason this is important is because it doesn't really have the length to allow Mira Grant (aka Seanan McGuire) to do what she does best, which is to develop really strong characters who become surrounded by story. Our main protagonist, Harlowe, is well defined, but the other characters, her associates and the house itself, fade into the background too much. I like Harlowe's journey, but I didn't feel as drawn into the story the way I expect in a Mira Grant book.

But if you want a dose of horror, in the tradition of Lovecraft or Shirley Jackson's the The Haunting of Hill House, but with the adept hand of modern master Mira Grant, then In the Shadow of Spindrift House should be on your to-read list.

Looking for a good book? I wouldn't turn down anything by Mira Grant, but <em>In the Shadow of Spindrift House</em>, is not her strongest work. Still, it is a nice mix of gothic horror and YA mystery.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

(Apologies for a late review!) This novella was gorgeously written, and the prose really takes center stage. It allowed the atmosphere to shine through in a brilliantly poetic manner. The story itself was bittersweet and almost felt like a dream. I did, however, find that Andy and Addy -- and even Kevin at times -- didn't add much to the story. They felt like they were there more as props rather than actual characters. All in all, great novella.

I love this authors writing style, it’s so easy to connect to the characters and I am always pulled into the story line very quickly. The length was perfect, the setting was scary, and the mystery was interesting. It’s sort of like Scooby Doo meets Stephen King.

Seanan McGuire as Mira Grant crafts a horror story the likes of which I've yet to see this year. The horror goes from situational and subtle to overt and overwhelming in the short span of this novella, and by the time you get to that point it's already too late for you to put the book down.

We get to explore the subtle differences in different types of horror - the horror of change ("the thing that used to be a deer but isn't anymore"), the horror of deception ("the thing that was not a deer and probably never was"), and the horror of something hidden in plain sight ("the thing that looked like a deer but you could tell that deep down it wasn't"). Told through the lens of a girl practically born in the arms of horror, IN THE SHADOW OF SPINDRIFT HOUSE gives you the dark side of "teen gang solving mysteries" that you never knew you wanted.

I obviously recommend this to anyone that longs for the days of "Scooby Doo on Zombie Island, and definitely check out the podcast episode to hear more of the review!

I received a copy of this from Netgalley and the Publisher in exchange for my open and honest review.
If you would like to read more of my reviews or various other bookish things please come by my blog
at https://beforewegoblog.com/

Mira Grant has written some of my favorite stories. Have you read The Newsflesh Series or Parasitology? If not, you should. Both are fantastic. Grant has a way of writing aspects of the horror genre that humanize it. For instance, in Newsflesh, the main antagonist is zombies. But, more than that, it is the yoke of our fears as a society. Instead of a typical zombie yarn, we have a story that is very human and one the reader can empathize. In Parasitology, we have science and technology run amok — again a story with horror aspects that can be empathized within our technology-driven world.

The ability to empathize or care about the main characters is entirely missing in The Shadow of The Spindrift House.

It doesn't make it a bad book — it's typical and humdrum. What could have been exciting and terrifying is boring and predictable. I still liked it; I gave it a three out of five stars. It is still a serviceable book. But, it is no way up to par with Grant's other books. It is a typical haunted house story, with slightly stupid characters that make predictable mistakes and choices and pay for their decisions with deadly consequences. If the book was longer and Grant had more of a chance for significant exposition on her characters and more worldbuilding with the house, it would have been much better. As it stands, though, it feels short and a bit choppy.

If you are looking for a haunted house book to whittle away at for an hour or two, it isn't bad. But only if you are hard up for something to read in that genre. Otherwise, pick up The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson or Room 1408 by Stephen King.

I don’t think this one was the book for me, unfortunately. It was very hard to get into. Will still keep an eye out for future works.

3.5 of 5 stars
Scooby-doo is the best place to start with this book because that’s essentially the origin of the main characters (sans a talking dog). I enjoyed the way the author showed the transition into adulthood after a childhood of detective fame. The interpersonal relationships were well developed. I wasn’t entirely sold on the narrator’s mysterious background, mostly because for me that wasn’t the interesting part of the story.
But then, of course, the focus of the second half was entirely on her mysterious background. It was well written. I’m not normally one for haunted houses (or maybe I am???) but I loved the tone and setting of Spindrift house. If you like cosmic horror (usually called Lovecraftian horror) then I think this will be a solid story for you. The fantastical elements didn’t work so much for me, though. I will still happily read the authors future works, including if she does more cosmic horror, because for her writing I am 1000% willing to give it another shot.

Okay, I really enjoyed this one. It's creepy and weird and gave me the heebie-jeebies, along with some Scooby Doo vibes, just without a dog. The characters are realistic, flawed, well rounded, and get on your nerves sometimes, just like actual friends. I need a Kevin in my life! Seriously, he's awesome.
I've seen a lot of reviews describing this as Lovecraftian, but as I've never read Lovecraft, I can't say for sure; if you dig Lovecraft, you'll probably enjoy this, I would assume. The cover shows tentacles, but I didn't notice any, though there are other creepy ocean-y things going on. This was a story that kept me up late to finish it, which doesn't happen often. The ending seemed a little abrupt, with a couple of loose ends I won't mention, because spoilers!, but overall a very satisfying read. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

#InTheShadowOfSpindriftHouse #NetGalley

I should be surprised at Seanan McGuire’s ability to make me like anything she writes, but here we are.

I hate horror, and yet. I COULD NOT STOP READING so all the nightmares for me? But also this was excellent and yay lesbians?

"Humanity is an aberration, an affront upon all that is right and true and holy."

What a ride. It never ceases to amaze me, the way Mira Grant can fit such a thoroughly well-developed, deep story into so few pages. There are countless writers who require hundreds of pages to do what she can do in a few chapters, and it astounds me every time. This one took me a bit to get invested into, but I think that must have been singularly to blame upon my horrible four-month-long reading slump, because by the time that slump passed, I devoured this novella and was devastated when it ended.

"It is a graveyard for the small and a playground for the vast, as all graveyards must be, for tragedy is so often a matter of perspective."

First, I want to talk about how casually and effortlessly diverse this is, just like nearly everything else I've had the pleasure of reading from this author: our narrator is an out lesbian (who happens to be tragically in love with her best friend), the narrator's adopted brother suffers from tremendous levels of anxiety, and our side characters are Asian-American. There's also an implication towards a character being aromantic, but it's never stated explicitly on-page.

"Spindrift House has been allowed, for most of its long and lonely existence, to stand alone."

Next, there's the beautiful writing. I must have highlighted nearly half the novella in my kindle because there were so many incredible quotes. Mira has this way of painting scenery through metaphors that feels totally and uniquely her own, and it always leaves me with the vague consideration of getting entire paragraphs of her stories tattooed on random places on my body, just for the daily reminder that any one human being could be so capable of leaving such vast impressions on me with the quietest statements.

"Spindrift House has had a great deal of time to decide what it wants to be, and what it wants to be is unforgiving."

And finally, there's the story itself. While there's something fantastically nostalgic about the Scooby Doo-esque feel to this little mystery-solving gang all grown up, it never diminishes the looming threat that Spindrift House plays out over the entire cast of characters. There's a touch of bizarro and Lovecraftian inspiration to the events that occur in these pages, with a great deal of dark fantasy twisted in, and it's all deliciously chilling.

Whether you're a long-time horror lover or someone who only dips their toe into the genre from time to time, I cannot recommend highly enough that you take a visit to Spindrift House and see what its seaside decay has in store for you.

All quotes come from an advance copy and may not match the final release. Thank you so much to Subterranean Press for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Well the story itself was alright, Definitely not the pure horror filled creep-fest I was expecting from Mira Grant. It was more of a mildly creepy.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of this book, which I voluntarily chose to review.

I'm not entirely sure what I was expecting, but this book both was and wasn't it. (Which is actually kind of fitting, now that I think about it...) I ADORE Mira Grant's Into the Drowning Deep and was hoping for some more sea-beastie filled horror from her. This one is more of a psychological thriller/horror than her killer mermaids books, and I'm not really into psychological thrillers, so it was a little "meh" for me. The set-up is this group of oddball friends who basically have formed their only little Scooby Gang to solve mysteries, and they're going after one last big mystery (with a big payout), all for their own reasons. I just wanted to like it so much more than I actually did. I'm not sure what else to say. It was OK, but if there was a sequel I wouldn't bother to read it.