(I received a copy of The Spite House from NetGalley and Tor Publishing Group in exchange for an honest review)
The first time I saw the cover for the Spite House, I immediately knew it was the kind of book I would want to read. Then I looked for the meaning of “Spite House”, I had no idea the term existed, and my curiosity peaked even more.
(A Spite House is, according to Wikipedia, a building that is constructed or substantially modified to irritate neighbours or any party with land stakes).
So, we had a Spite House, which is haunted with dangerous ghosts, we have a family on the run with some secrets of their own, and we have a curse for which the above-mentioned family has to stay in the spite house and uncover the mystery. Let’s just say it: If books were carnivorous plants, this is how they would get me.
The book is separated into different point of views, something that made the rhythm continuously changing, something that, in turn, made the story to unfold in a very satisfying, ‘page-turnery’ way. I loved Johnny Compton’s writing style, you could really differentiate whether little Stacy was your eyes or it was Eric, or Donna, and there are truly scary passages that made me nod along the pages, because this is how you create the atmosphere for a truly authentic haunted house.
There were some questions left unanswered towards the end, a couple of them vital to me, and that made me feel a little dissatisfied, but as the days went on, and I was preparing to write this review, I wondered whether they were as necessary as I initially thought them to be or I was just trying to know it all and make sense of everything in a story where ghosts are real.
Finally, I have to say that all the characters were well built, I usually am extremely critic when it comes to characters that are just there, along for the ride, but I don’t think there are any in the Spite House. Some have more importance and more action than others, but they all ‘deserve’ to be there. (Not sure whether deserve is the best word for it, by the way, bearing in mind the things that happen to them, but anyway). I think Dess was my favourite and Eric was the one that made me suffer the most.
To sum up, I think The Spite House by Johnny Compton will be a delight for all fans of haunted houses and old curses, and I would really like to know what people think of the ending, because I think it’s going to be one of those ‘I love it, I hate it’ situation.

I received a copy of The Spite House from NetGalley and Tor Publish Group in exchange for an honest review.

I’m pleasantly surprised to say that I did not see some of the twists and turns that this book will take. Honestly, I wasn’t sure what to make of the book at first but let me put into words what the book was about first.

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters. We know nothing about what happened, only that his grandfather had a violent streak, and his wife is no longer in the picture for one reason or another. He takes odd jobs where people often try to take advantage of him or that end up being shady. His older daughter has started to do shady work behind his back when she notices that money is getting tight, and they live out of hotels and move from place to place though Eric wants to move back to Texas.

One day he finds an ad in the paper asking someone to stay in a supposedly haunted house, not just stay, but be paid a large sum of money to do so. The money is too good to pass up, so he makes the call and sets up an interview. Of course, the owner has her own agenda and hiring someone desperate and hard up might just be what she needs to get the “proof” she needs and break a “family curse” that’s been haunting her since she was born.

The story starts fairly slowly, it took a quarter of the book for Eric and the girls to get to the house because the book is told from almost every character’s point of view at one point. Honestly, this is what made the book more of a 4-star review for me than a 5-star. I prefer as few points of view as possible or I start getting confused as to what is going on. I felt like I could figure out some of the motivation of some of the characters without going into their heads and simply following already established characters, or that by introducing this character, while they might become relevant later, they weren’t important enough to care about see their point of view.

That said, the story of the house is fascinating. I almost wish there’d been more time in dreams and reflections about them. That was one of the times I thought that the change of point of view not only really worked but was integral to the story and it had me hooked in and interested, and I really thought that with more focus I could play with some of the ideas of revenge, ownership, violence, and trauma within the story and work it in context of what happened.

Overall, I’d suggest giving this a read when it comes out in February, letting it sit, and then reading it again in Autumn. I think it has a real chance to speak to people and not just be another scary story, but maybe that’s just my takeaway. 😊

The Spite House is a great read for spooky season - or if you are a fan of ghost stories in any season. This book has a lot going on: a father on the run with his two daughters, a wealthy benefactor who is deeply afraid of a family curse, a small town with secrets, a super weird looking haunted house, a dilapidated and abandoned orphanage, paranormal researchers and skeptics, and some deeply intertwined spite and rage. Personally, I found the book to be more unsettling and mysterious than scary. There were several plot points that were teased for a long time before they were explained. The point of view shifted frequently and often overlapped a bit with the previous chapter. Definitely worth a read if the synopsis sounds like your kind of story.

This was a 3.5 for me, rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley for early access to this spooky read.

A spite house is a building constructed or substantially modified to irritate neighbors or any party with land stakes. -Definition coming from Google.

I have seen Curb Your Enthusiasm and know that you can do all things through spite. I didn’t realize that Spite Houses were real. After learning the definition, I became to remember houses that had no purpose but to annoy the neighbors.

I was immediately drawn to The Spite House after reading the synopsis and seeing the cover. I love haunted houses and gothic stories so this was perfect for me.

Every ghost story is going to come with a balance of belief and disbelief. Compton does a great job of adding scary ghost stories while still doubting existence. I loved parts with characters sharing their personal experiences.

The story is told in different perspectives which allow the story, background and more without lengthy chapters. We are able to see the events from all angles.

The Spite House is a classic ghost story that sheds light on the loss of loved ones. If you grew up reading scary stories and scouring the internet for footage of real ghosts caught on film, this is for you.

Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy. I have written this review voluntarily.

Gothic horror is one of my favorite sub-genres, so I was really psyched for this. So psyched in fact that I skipped over many 2022 arcs to read this 2023 one. Plus I needed a Black Horror read for my Book’s in the Freezer challenge!

Now onto the book. I found the plot intriguing, the setting chillingly atmospheric, and it wasn’t as slowly paced as some other gothic horror books I’ve read. A small town, a generational curse, a family on the run with secrets, a father so desperate for money that he stays in a haunted house. So many good things going on! To compare, this was like the absolute opposite of The Haunting of Hill House, another GH that I gave the same rating to. Whereas that one captured a character’s slow descent into madness with more of a psychological angle than a pure ghost story (it’s different from the show y’all), this was 1000% about ghosts with a focus on grief and rage. Now, a book full of ghosts and grief is not at all a bad thing. Quite the contrary. I just found some of the writing to be clunky, there was way too many POVs, and I had some unanswered questions that I was really hoping to see resolved by the end. Overall, I thought it was a solid read! Not my favorite gothic horror but definitely not my least.

3.5 ⭐️

Thank you, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire, for allowing me to read The Spite House early!

I liked and simultaneously disliked this novel. It was an interesting exploration of grief, but it lacked that je-ne-sais-quoi to make it a standout.

I love a good haunted house story, particularly a southern/Texas-centric haunted house story. This story was ok, though the writing was a bit clunky for my taste and made it hard for me to immerse myself in the world.

The Spite House by Johnny Compton was freaking phenomenal!
Where to start with this one. It was creepy, atmospheric, and amazingly written.
A brilliant gothic thriller that had me glued to my Kindle.
This book is extremely dark, creepy, and absorbing.
Compton does a great job of keeping the reader on edge for the entire book,
I read it entirely in one sitting, and loved all its strange twists and turns.
Absolutely loved this book and Johnny Compton's writing!

Tor Nightfire,
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this amazing eARC!

3.5 stars
This is a great haunted house horror novel. Super creepy, with high tension. Nice medium pacing and fun reading.

Eric has left his entire life, including his wife, behind in Maryland. He’s taken his two daughters and is desperately looking for somewhere to live and a way to make some money. In his current situation, he can’t provide any information about his past, so he’s thrilled to discover that the Masson House in a small Texas town needs a live-in caretaker. Well, kind of. It turns out that the Masson House is rumored to be the most haunted place in Texas, the owner of the property wants Eric to keep a log of any and all paranormal goings on. Eric finds it nard to believe the stories about previous caretakers going crazy after spending time in the house. All he knows is that he has a place to hide with his daughters and he has the chance to claim a big monetary prize if he can provide the evidence, But that’s a big if, in this super creepy haunted house thriller