Now I know what a Spite House is. I had never heard of one before. You learn something new every day. Eric Ross is on the run with his two daughters, Dess and Stacy. Readers are left wondering what they were running from and why. Don't worry, eventually you will find out. Looking for money and wanting to come to terms with his past, Eric accepts a job living in the Masson House in Degener, Texas. It has a past and is considered the most haunted house in Texas. The owner wants documented proof of paranormal activity in the house.

The ad and the house call to Eric for many reasons but is he fully prepared to live there with his daughters?

This book does have a Gothic feel to it, and I love a good, haunted house story. I was invested in the story and wanting to learn more. Although I enjoyed this, I was left with questions and feel like I must have missed a few things. A lot happens in the end, and I found I wanted more clarification on them.

The Spite House is a story about a father and his two daughters who move into a haunted house. The first third of this story had me intrigued and hooked. I loved the trope of this family moving into the haunted house so the father can record and note his experiences.

Unfortunately, that’s where my love for this book ended. This book felt very disjointed and quickly became more about other characters, who I honestly didn’t care about. I kept wishing the story would return to the family but I found myself reading more and more chapters from other perspectives. I think this book would have benefitted from having fewer perspectives and perhaps a smaller cast of characters.

The writing lacked the descriptiveness that I needed to picture the characters, the atmosphere, and even the house. All I knew about the house was that it was… thin? The spookiest haunted house stories have really descriptive imagery about the house, in my opinion. And there just wasn’t enough spookiness overall.

So while I enjoyed some of the book, and really appreciate the social commentary and Black characters (more of this is needed in the horror genre!), I found most of it to be disappointing.

Spite House, the debut novel from Johnny Compton, is a very complex story. There are a lot of well-developed characters, and each of them has secrets, and stories, things they are keeping to themselves and things they want to share. And, of course, there’s that house.

Eric and his two daughters, Dess and Stacy, are running from something. That something is not shared with readers until far into the book, but it causes issues wherever they go. They are loosely aiming to reach Eric’s childhood home, a place he feels he needs to return to – a placed with unfinished business. Money is a problem, though, and finding work while living out of a car and a string of cheap motels, particularly for a black man traveling with two children, no mother in sight is a bigger problem. Things are not looking good, and they spend most of their time looking over their shoulders, checking to be sure no one is on their trail.
Then Eric finds an advertisement. All they need to do is spend time in The Masson House, a purportedly haunted home with a long and jaded past, write down everything that happens, and report back to the owner. The money is incredibly generous, which makes Eric suspicious, but despite that, he applies, and he gets the job.

What follows is a dizzying ride down first one plot line, and then another, as the house, the ruins of a nearby orphanage, the owner, and his own memories spiral and close in on Eric. Everyone has an agenda, and none of them are pleasant. Can Eric survive long enough to satisfy the home’s owner, Eunice? Will either of them find the answers they so desperately seek?

For those answers you’ll have to get a copy and enter The Spite House but be warned. It has a tendency not to let you go…

This is a spine tingling story that pushes a man's love for his daughters to horrifying lengths.

This might be described as a "haunted house" novel but the Spite House is much more menacing, twice as evil, and wants to be fed. The mystery surrounding the family who moves in for a big payday is every bit as intriguing as the history of this strange house. I love how the author gave so much life to these characters and didn't treat them as simply fodder for the horrors to come. You feel a connection with them and makes what happens much more horrifying and emotional.

I love this story and am looking forward to reviewing it for my Horror Reads YouTube channel. Definitely recommend this!

Thank you to NetGalley for an arc in exchange for an honest review. This review is wholly my own.

The cover of this book intrigued me and then I read the synopsis and was sold.

I am not a fan or gory horror, but love a good ghost/haunted house story. This book fit the bill. While it was not my "favorite" book, it was good enough for spooky season. I was kind of thinking it would have The Haunting of Hill House vibes, but not quite.

This story involves a father and his two daughters on the run. The father is intrigued with The Spite House in hopes it would help him understand why his family seems to be cursed. Obviously, it involves a very malicious house, battling inner demons and doing anything to protect those you love.

I give it a solid 3.5 stars. I would recommend it, I just wouldn't be "running" to get it.

I loved this book! i am a fan of haunted house stories in general, and this one was very engaging and scary, with some features that reminded me of other books I probably shouldn't mention because they'd be spoilers. Some wonderfully creepy moments here, and I'll be looking for more from Johnny Compton.

I really love a good haunting novel. I was hoping for more creepy. But it had a really long build. A lot of details. I found it hard to connect with the store and wasn’t able to immerse myself enough. I wanted more scare. I also thought the writing was kind of all over the place at times.

This scratched that gothic itch I was needing! It gave Shirley Jackson vibes, especially WE HAVE ALWWAYS LIVED IN THE CASTLE. It was spooky and creepy but also emotional.

Eric and his children, Dess and Stacy, are on the run. You won’t find out for quite a while what their reason is, but I assure you that it will not be what you think. And this plot line - which I can’t talk about without spoiling it - is what makes the Spite House different from all the other similar stories.

Anyway, the trio end up temporarily moving into a haunted house. Their purpose? To conclusively prove that ghosts are real. Do they do it? You’ll have to read the book to find out.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

I love haunted house horror. I especially love it when you don’t really know what’s going on and you have to be hand held through to gather all the pieces. This definitely had me feeling that way.

This is about a house built for spite when a man felt he was wronged when it came to his life and his property. Built years and years ago, now the house sits vacant, considering nobody can stay inside long enough without losing a piece of themselves. The current owner hires a man named Eric, a man running from something with his two daughters, to stay in the house and catalog everything that happens inside during his stay.

Seems simple enough… but everyone in this book has their secrets and holds them close.

I wish that this story focused a little bit more on the haunting inside the house, but ultimately, this was spooky and enjoyable! What isn’t to love about a creepy old house built in land soaked with grief and despair? That is a recipe for a haunting.

The small cast of characters and their different narrative chapters was a great way of telling the story from all angles. Even with multiple POV, there was a good flow to the story.

I look forward to reading more from this author.

This was an interesting book told from different points of view. A lot of history. A lot of creepiness but not a lot of scariness, to me..was a good book, but not GREAt in terms of a horror novel.

3.5 rounded up.

When I first began this story, I was thinking haunted house....I got that and more. The setting and backstory were well written. This one has many elements that were explained and made the story really come to life. There were a few parts that I wish were answered a bit more, but it didn't take away from the actual story. This one would be a definite recommendation for the Halloween season.

Thank you Tor and Netgalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I requested a digital copy in order to sample the prose on my phone (since I don't have a eReader) before requesting a physical copy for review. My review will be based on the physical ARC I read (if I qualify)

, Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money–it’s not easy to find safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.

When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because there’s a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it’ll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running. A terrifying Gothic thriller about grief and death and the depths of a father’s love, Johnny Compton’s The Spite House is a stunning debut by a horror master in the making.

Spite - a desire to hurt, annoy, or offend someone. I love titles that grab my attention and The Spite House did so not only with the title but also with the cover art. It's the perfect season for this highly readable novel, though anytime the mood strikes for a folksy creepy story, this will do.

Eric is on the run with his two daughters. All we know is that he has left everything behind, is strapped for cash, and has a fascination with his family's past. A story of his grandfather appears in flashbacks and feeds his monologues during the long journey to Texas for the first quarter of the novel.

An add in the paper might be the opportunity that can give Eric a break and cash out big. All he'd have to do is move his girls to the grounds of Sprite House and investigate some paranormal occurrences.
When he gets the job, he goes in blind, however. The owner of the home has withheld information, and things begin to be creepy in places shortly after.

The Spite House is infused with a dark history. It has spread through the town over generations and left a mark. While the owner has previously hired many different folks to investigate the strange occurrences in the home, the locals have despised any new visitors and the strangeness of it all and the new neighbors are less than welcome.

Eric's findings become entangled with his own history and the safety/past of his own family. Was he really the man he gave out to be or did he too have secrets?

This pageturner is told in multiple pov's, a strength of the novel as it keeps the reader guessing. However, it fell a little flat in terms of letting situations linger. It felt very told vs shown and lost a bit of that eerie sense that should have crept in at times from a story with such wicked historical twists.

Overall it has its moments and commences in unexpected ways.

I received a copy of this novel from the publisher. All opinions are my own. Thank you!

Of all the reasons to build a house, spite probably isn’t the best of them. The house might come out…angry, hungry, flat-out mean.
But there is such a house in this book. A lean thing built on a hill by a man scorned. A house that terrifies its current owner who, looking to undo some generational damage, is looking for proof of the house’s nightmarish nature.
Enter Eric Ross and his two daughters. Eric is a man on the lam, desperate enough to take a job no matter the dangers if the pay if right. And so, he gets to stay at the place and tango with the nightmares of it.
This was an interesting and original take on a haunted house genre. So kudos for that. The eponymous place was brought to life nicely - creepily and vividly. The writing was strong throughout, including the character writing. Even the kids.
The things that didn’t quite work were minor. Some of it might just be debut novel jitters. The plot eventually got busy in a dizzying way, overcomplicating the story. The author tried to put so much in under 300 pages that he had to resort to exhaustive span of perspectives that shifted constantly. It got especially convoluted toward the end with explanations of the house’s evil nature. Also, some of the pacing dragged in some places.
But overall, it was solid enough of a read and showed a lot of potential, so I’m going to round up my rating. Plus, what a great cover. Thanks Netgalley.

I loved the structure of the novel, being able to read scenes from different characters points of view was very cool because they had different information. I would call this horror-lite because it was a good story but it wasn't exactly scary.

Black horror with a haunted house premise? Sign m up! Eric and his daughters are on the road, They are running from a mysterious past. They are in dire need of cash and some place stable to live. Enter The Spite House and Eunice. She is desperate to prove it's haunted. Really well written story with some creepy vibes. What I found most compelling is one of the daughters, you'll know when you read it ;)

I was excited to read a horror novel during this time of year. This however, didn't offer any real scares and there was just about one small part thats a little creepy. At times I felt like I was reading a young adult novel between some of the dialogue and lack of descriptive writing. Not once could I fully picture any of the characters or the spite house itself. While the idea of this was good, the story in itself just fell flat with no solid conclusion or explanation. I hate leaving negative reviews so I will leave it at that. Two Stars for the concept.

Thank you to Netgalley and Macmillan-Tor/ Forge for this ARC.

I'd like to thank Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me a chance at reading this book.

This book with its title, the creepy cover, and the summary sounds like the perfect arc to read prior to the spooky season (the book comes out in Feb of next year). So I dove right in to get my list of spooky reads for 2022 going.

After 15% into this book, I think it's that nothing creepy has actually happened yet and it is taking too much time to set something up. I have gotten that he house is haunted or paranormal things are happening but I haven't seen what paranormal things. I did get one of the girls having a 'dreamwake' and that was a little odd because it didn't make sense and it was written as if we would understand it or that it has happened before.

Others have had a better time with the book. I think I'm expecting too much from it and the horror I'm looking for is not going to be the horror I'm expecting.