Thank you NetGalley for a copy of this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Johnny Compton crafts a solid haunted house story for his debut novel, but doesn't flesh out the more unique elements he brings to the table here as much as I would have hoped for.

The Spite House offers up some tantalizing promises that I wish Compton had more fully explored. Eric has an obsession with ghosts and during a phone interview with Eunice in the book's opening chapter describes his theory that "sometimes the past has sort of an echo that catches up to the present." It's an intriguing concept and once that I wish Compton has developed more fully beyond the typical haunts and scares of this particular horror sub-genre. Maybe I just had my expectations set too high, but once Eric's theory was laid out I was tantalized with promises of temporal anomalies and multi-dimensional gateways. We do get some of that via the dreams cum flashbacks Eric experiences once in the spite house, but it's never quite as intriguing or next-level as 1 had hoped for.

I was also disappointed that we didn't get a more direct through-line into Eric's experiences within the spite house. Instead, Compton gives us a shorthand look at what Eric is going through by couching it all under the experiences others have had within the spite house. Eunice had previously hired a husband-and-wife ghost-hunting team, but they largely feel extraneous to much of the larger happenings here, despite charging us into the book's climax when one of Eric's daughters is abducted. We get told a lot about what Eric should be experiencing, but we never really see it directly until very late in the book and through some subtle bits of self-reflection.

For as much as the spite house itself is built up to be this grand and frightening monolith of horrors, we never get to see enough of it to really buy into its fabled multi-generational legacy. Compton tells us a lot about its past, and while the Masson house is

certainly rich in history, I really wanted to see more of its manipulations and damage wrought in the present. I wanted to see Eric and his daughters dealing with the confounding and inexplicable nature of the spite house, but we never get quite enough to truly satisfy. The Spite House does have some intriguing angles to it, particularly the mystery of why Eric and his children are on the run. Compton serves up a truly wicked explanation that took me completely by surprise.

Unfortunately, it's another element that is never really given a satisfactory explanation. It offers up some neat background but, given that we're ultimately expected to just go along with it, it also comes as a pretty big ask without more information to ground it.

Therein lies my biggest issues with The Spite House. Compton has some really terrific ideas, but they never really come together as fully as they should, nor are they mined deeply enough to exploit their fullest potential. If Compton had explored some of these ideas more attentively, the book would have been stronger for it. That said, I'm certainly curious to see what Compton does for his next book based solely on the promise he shows in this debut and the tantalizing ideas he brought forth here.

I loved this twist on a haunted house and the characters Compton created fully developed. I've told so many people about this book and plan to tell more.

Loved this super creepy read. Before I read this book I had never heard of a Spite house. This book gives the haunting vibes. Loved all the little details.

The Spite House by Johnny Compton is so much more than a haunted house story, but also seems to have got a little lost along the way while trying to be different than the status quo. While I appreciated the diverse range of characters, and the differing familial relationships, and perspectives, every direction this book attempted to go seemed to fall short. The differing perspectives helped with the pacing of the story but also made it hard to get to know any individual character enough to really be emotionally invested in their outcomes. There were some inventive "haunting" and horror aspects in this story, but it read more like a thriller with some historical elements than a genuine horror novel.

I had high hopes for The Spite House, but it did not live up to the hype. There were a few scary moments, but I was hoping for so much more. It was very slow moving, and a lot of different POV's that took away from the story instead of adding to it. Would not recommend.

The Spite House by Johnny Compton was one of my anticipated reads of 2023. Unfortunately, it was a DNF. I don't normally review books that I do not finish, so I will just leave it at that.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

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.

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.

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 (:

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.

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.