Cover Image: The Spite House

The Spite House

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Member Reviews

Thank you Netgally for the ebook. *2.5 stars* this was the least scary haunted house story I’ve ever read… so slow, too many POVs, not enough atmosphere nor was it character driven.

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Creepy, thrilling and haunting. This haunted house book deals with grief. We follow a father which is cool because I like to see perspectives from male protagonists when it comes to parenthood.

I’d say this book leans more gothic than anything but overall a good read.

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Rating: 3.75 leaves out of 5
Characters: 3.5/5
Cover: 3.5/5
Story: 4/5
Writing: 5/5
Horror: 2.75/5
Genre: Horror/Thriller
Type: Audiobook
Worth?: Yeah

Want to thank Netgalley and publishers for giving me the chance to read this book. Coming into this book I wasn't sure exactly what to expect and I am thankful for that. What I got was a swirl of Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House mixed with Stephen King's The Shinning, but even with this Johnny made it into his own world. Where I was disappointed with Shirley's work, Johnny picked up and made better.

The narrator did an amazing job, reminding me of James Earl Jones, and made a haunted house... inviting.

All in all the story was good and worth the read. I say it leaned heavier on the gothic more than the horror. Was it creepy? Yes. Did it make me second guess going into the dark parts of my house? Yes. But all in all it was poetic in justice. Johnny showed how anger and hurt can fester into a generational curse.

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New fear unlocked. And it’s not at all what you would expect…

It’s probably also not the fear this book also intended to be the forerunner in its list of nightmare inducing moments, but as a highly anxious parent, you get what you get.

The Spite House was an interesting read with a lot of secrets and a whole lot of, you guessed it, spite. Did I think it is the most terrifying book on my horror-filled shelves? No. Do I still think it’s worth reading? Absolutely.

Compton’s writing style is alluring and thought provoking. He is a master of story building and knows how to draw his audience in quickly. Although The Spite House didn’t quite live up to the terrifying hype, I still thought it was a great book.

If you’re new to the horror genre and want to dip your toe into a variety of nightmares but still be able to sleep when you close the covers, this is the book.

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This was a fresh and new take on the classic haunted house story. The mystery surrounding the family was intriguing, and I really appreciated the history of the land/haunting. There were a few too many POV's to really find myself attached too the characters. I really enjoyed the audiobook along with reading the book, very atmospheric and added an extra level of spooky! Really looking forward to what the author comes out with in the future.

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If you’re looking for creepy, this book is for you. Eric accepts a job where he has to move into a house with his two daughters and record any evidence of paranormal activity. I purposely didn’t pick this book up at nighttime cause it was creepy!! However, it wasn’t paranormal the whole story through. There were other points of view of the story that helped develop the plot. I did find it to be a little slow, which is why it’s not a five star read, but definitely a great debut book.

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I am a sucker for a haunted house story. Ever since Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House, I immediately gravitate towards this sub-genre.

Eric Ross knows that he cannot stay too long in one place. He has left everything behind and taken his girls with him. The problem, he can't provide references to get a job to support them all. So, when he sees an ad for The Masson House in Texas, he jumps on it. All he needs to do is serve as the caretaker of the house and provide the owner with proof of paranormal activity. Can't be too hard right? If Eric can survive and live in this house, maybe he will understand the reason why his family has to keep running.

This book is 261 pages so needless to say it moves at a breakneck speed. There are multiple POVs and backstories that you as the reader have to keep track of. It is kind of hard to do that with this book because of the pace of the narration. However, this is a good slow burn gothic horror story so if that is something that you enjoy, I recommend that you grab this book!

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The Ross family is desperate for money, a place to stay, and above all anonymity. So the advertisement for a short stay in a haunted house is perfect for them. After all, they've had experience with death, and ghosts, and fear. Never mind that the last people to stay in the house ran away from it in terror and went straight to a mental hospital. Never mind that the creepy old lady who owns the house and runs the town has ulterior motives for keeping them near. Never mind that the man who built the house still looks out from the fourth floor window of the house he built to spite a bunch of orphans. The Ross family is there to make something happen, even if Eric doesn't admit as much to his daughters.

This was an interesting take on a haunted house. We know right away that ghosts are real, so there's no hundred pages of jump scares and figures seen out of the corner of one's eye. Open the door and those ghosts are on the other side like hello, what took you so long? The whole town walks around seen ghosts every day. The question isn't whether the house is haunted, it's whether being haunted is worth the money. It's certainly worth reading about.

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Unfortunately, It did not work for me. I will not leave any reviews on my social profiles or GoodReads.

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I loved how Johnny Compton used the haunted house trope as a spite house, giving the trope a fresh spin. The house is brought to life vividly, creating a sense of dread, danger, and foreboding that provokes fear.

There is a dark, tragic history that opens the door to see the effect social evils have on people, adding layers to the story. However, the characters tell us the history instead of in flashbacks that show us what happens. The history and motivations create a chilling, compelling ghost revenge story, but the suspense and tension are lost in the telling.

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This freaked me the f*** out so much! I loved it. This was a mixture of family drama and haunted house horror, and I had a blast with it! I almost read this in 1 day, but I had to go to work, but I finished it the next day. I loved it so much.

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I had received an ARC of this book and was really excited about it but was unable to get to it in time. I have since purchased a copy and I’m so excited to read it because I am in my spooky haunted house era of books right now. Will update once completed (:

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A new and exciting twist on the classic haunted house tale. The story follows a father and his two daughters as they take a too-good-to-be-true job living in a supposedly haunted house, funded by an owner who wants proof of its haunting. It was definitely spooky, with some unsettling scenes set in a rickety hallway that left me shivering, and some interesting twists and turns you won’t see coming. The book does jump around to several different POVs, but that didn’t bother me too much. Definitely recommend for anyone looking for a good classic haunting.

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Although there were plenty of eerie tales associated with the house and its potential for hauntings, the promised thrills fell short of expectations. The book alluded to intricate background stories that remained unexplored, leaving readers without a fulfilling conclusion.

One redeeming aspect was the well-developed characters of Dess and Stacey, whose depth and complexity made the reading experience worthwhile. On the contrary, Eric's consistently poor decisions detracted from the story.

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Thank you, NetGalley, for this book.

I love finding good horror books, but this one was just okay. Having every chapter be from a different narrator didn’t work. You ended up reading the same event but from another perspective, which was repetitive. However, if the book were third-person omniscient, that would be much less confusing. The story is also told in multiple timelines, adding to the jumble.

As for the plot, the story is fine. For some reason, Eric and his two daughters are on the run and need money. Eric finds a classified ad asking people to live in a haunted house and report what happens. Easy money. But, of course, it’s not as easy as you would think. The story isn’t just a basic haunted house story because it also involves events that occurred in the past and Eric’s family in the present.

I gave this one three starts because I did like the overall book but the multiple perspective narrators was so off-putting that I had a hard time getting past it.

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👻🏚Book Review:
Title: The Spite House
Author: Johnny Compton
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️/3 stars

This book was trippy! Did you know that there really is such a thing as "spite houses?" I had to Google it to get more information! Now, I'm not sure if these real spite houses were as haunted as the one in this book, but it was intriguing to learn about nonetheless.

The Masson House in Degener, Texas, is looking for a new caretaker. Kinda. This "caretaker" will be expected to keep a detailed account of the time spent in this home. The owner, Eunice, believes the home to be haunted. Many have fled this home in terror.

Eric Ross, on the run with his two daughters, answers the ad and applies, desperate for money. The six figures being offered seals the deal. It doesn't take long for him to move his daughters into Eunice's home due to some truly terrifying experiences. Eric is determined to find the answers behind the spite that went into creating this home. This book was truly creepy! It's definitely perfect for the upcoming spooky season!

Thank you, @netgalley and @tornightfire, for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Published: February 7th, 2023

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Eric Ross and his two daughters are on the road, living on the run for a mysterious reason that is not revealed until later, when he is offered a job that, if he can pull it off, will pay enough for them to abandon their peripatetic lifestyle and live a normal life. All that Eunice, the elderly woman who is the owner of the Masson House in Degener, Texas wants is documentation of supernatural activity. This is the intriguing premise of The Spite House. A “spite house,” for those who have never heard the term, is built solely to give grief or annoyance to someone else, whether by blocking the view, being an eyesore, or as a reminder of something the other person would prefer to forget. Its origins date back to the Civil War, when a terrible crime was committed that Eunice, the owner, feels spawned a curse on her and her family.

Eric, of course, knows nothing of the backstory, nor does he know that the previous investigators left as physical and emotional wrecks, but he accepts the job and moves in. There is a slow buildup of occurrences, but eventually, everything comes to a head in a shattering climax. While the book was what I believe is called a “slow burn,” the ending was sufficiently original, in my opinion, for me to round up my 3.5-star rating to 4. One of the only things that I wish had been, if not explained, at least explored more fully, is the unusual ability that the builder of the house and members of Eric’s family, including his younger daughter, shared, that probably contributed to his (relative) success in his task.

I also felt that the characters, including Eric and his daughters, Dessa and Stacey, as well as his employer and her staff members, were well-rounded and easy to identify with.

I received a copy of The Spite House from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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This is definitely one of the better horror novels I've read in a few years, and also made me look up what exactly a Spite House really is. The storytelling is great, the characters are intriguing and the mysterious backstory definitely keeps you guessing. My biggest gripe would be that a large part of the tense moments throughout the book are only delivered effectively if the reader understands the layout of the house, but again, that would be my only gripe. I'll definitely be on the lookout for more!

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This was a fun book with lots of twists and surprises! Can’t wait to read more from this author. Thank you netgalley for providing this e copy

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The Spite House follows Eric Ross and his two daughters, Dess and Stacy. The family is on the run from the police and all of their family and friends (for a reason unknown to the reader at first), and Eric is forced to take sketchy odd jobs for the family to survive. One day Eric comes across an advertisement seeking a person to stay in a house that may or may not be haunted. All he would need to do is record any signs of paranormal activity and he’d receive a payout that’s a “high six figures at minimum,” enough for his family to start over and build a new life in a new location. But this is a horror novel. I’m sure you’ve guessed that the house is, in fact, haunted and Eric and his daughters are about to have a bone chilling, life ruining, paranormal experience.

My absolute favorite thing about The Spite House is that the plot was very creative. I think an author managing to put a creative spin on a concept as simple and common as a haunted house is super impressive. This book was not predictable to me at all and I loved it that way. While reading I felt like the author might have been building a little too much hype around why the family is on the run and the reveal might fall flat, but the reveal of did not disappoint me at all. The paranormal scenes made me feel physically tense and paranoid at times, and horrors rarely do that to me. I cared about Eric, Dess, and Stacy both as individuals and as a family unit, which is what makes books about families grab me and suck me in.

One particular thing I’d like to compliment is the fact that Stacy, a seven year old, is written in a way that feels true to her age. I’ve found that writers often write the personalities of children around that age as if they’re either toddlers or 16 year olds. They either say things like “pwease” and “I’m hungwy” or sassily express their in depth opinions about romantic relationships and politics. But I think Stacy really did have the perspective and personality of a seven year old (at least from what I can remember about being 7. It’s been a while 😅).

Unfortunately I can’t share my primary complaints about The Spite House. They’re huge spoilers. But I will tell you that there is a trope in here that I hate in any book. I’ve never seen it written in a way that I’ve enjoyed. It’s not anything that I feel a need to warn you about. It’s just something I personally dislike. I also didn’t like the ending. And at a certain point the story started to feel like it was dragging. It’s a slow burn, and I think it could’ve had a slightly quicker pace. I also think it could’ve been a little shorter than it is.

All in all I recommend adding this to your TBR if you’re a fan or horrors, but I wouldn’t rush to read it.

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