I found very little interest in this book. The synopsis drew me in and I had high hopes, but I did not find it scary, which as a horror book is something that I feel should be there. There were a lot of components that went into this story and multiple POV showing back stories. But from all of that, I felt a little lost with too many stories combining. My rating: 2.5 stars out of 5, rounding up to 3 on goodreads.

Thank you to NetGally, Macmillan-Tor/Forge, and Johnny Compton for providing me with these gifted copies in exchange for my honest review.

This book about a haunted house was exceptionally well written. This haunting was no ordinary haunting. The house, aptly named, Spite House was born from hundreds years of hate. Pure and simple. What was done to the land was not going to be forgotten. As the years passed, the inhabitants of the house wanted what was due to them. They were spiteful and nothing was ever going to change that. I know this was fiction but what if the premise of this book were true. Something to think about.

Firstly, thank you to netgalley for a copy of this to read and review.
When I started this book I had no idea what a spite house was and did spend a bit on google looking up real spite houses. I've read about haunted houses before but nothing like this book, there were so many unique ideas but I felt like I still had questions at the end. We start off with a family on the run and we don't find out why until about 50% through the book, and the activity in the house starts the very first day they enter it. I really enjoyed the creepiness of this book but also all representation of the black community by a black author.
Again this book was unique in its hauntings, taking a piece of you that it traps away in the house, while your physical body still continues on outside the house. No one knows but you and your "dreams".

I feel really fortunate to read this before the release date, and can't wait to see what else this author writes in the future.

Omg this is so good, a perfect haunted house novel. So spooky and atmospheric, tons of exhilarating shocks and reveals, and a throughline that's satisfying and earned.

This is certainly eerie and increasingly unsettling but there are too many POVs and so much is disconnected. Well written but poor execution (no pun intended). I mean, the house takes people, body and soul. But why?! The true source or motivation isn't really given. I wanted to hear more about the Renners and the surprise about Stacy was pretty shocking. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

4.25/5

If you’re a fan of paranormal horror and haunted houses, definitely add this one to your radar! I finished this book in close to 24 hours because I just couldn’t put it down.

I personally love multiple POVs, of which there are many in this book - I immediately felt connected to all the main characters. I was extra invested in our little family of three and was terrified for them to entire time.

Aside from the haunted house, there are also multiple mysteries threaded throughout the book that you must uncover, which made it extra exciting (and harder to put down)!

This book follows Eric and his two daughters Dess and Stacy. On the run for a to-be-discovered reason from their Maryland home, they follow an advertisement to move to the Masson House in Texas. Eric's job is to record proof of paranormal activity for a huge payout that he cannot pass up.

This book succeeded in having a great, scary atmosphere, but I found it to be a little disappointing. Some of the dialogue is bloated, leaving me wishing they'd wrap up the conversations to get back to the action. The pacing is a bit off too, and the story of the house ends up a little too convoluted. I think it would've been more powerful had some of the details been left out.

The Spite House has been well reviewed, and I do like supporting new horror authors, as it's one of my favorite genres, so I think this is worth a read if you enjoy gothic horror, but I was a little let down.

This one sucked me in much like the spite house sucks in its unfortunate occupants. I love a good haunted house story and am even more intrigued when the living are just as haunting as the dead.

~ 3.25✰ rounded to 3✰ ~

This book had an amazing start. The author did a fantastic job setting up the story and characters + getting the reader invested in the Ross family. He drops all of these delicious breadcrumbs that really pulled me in and had me asking all kinds of questions + getting excited about learning the answers.
I also really loved what he did with the sisters in this story. Adore seeing positive sisterly relationships in my reads~

While the book started out strong, it didn't take very long for it to start to drag for me. I felt like there were too many exposition dumps that I wished were more organically woven into the narrative rather than dropped on the reader all at once. I was also surprised about how little time was spent in the titular house + felt my attention wavering in the sections spent away. Additionally, there were a lot of side character POV switches, and I felt like it really brought down the mood and the pacing.

All in all, it was an enjoyable read, but not something that I would revisit. And while this read wasn't a new favorite for me, I'm still looking forward to seeing what this author has in store for us in the future.

Would recommend this to readers who enjoy stories about haunted houses, generational trauma, and family bonds.

Thanks to Tor Nightfire and NetGalley for providing the ARC for review.

The Spite House started off like a rocket, a father and two daughters on a mysterious flight across country from an unspecified danger in their old life and propelled towards a haunted house story. There a strong Haunting of Hill House vibes about it in the way that even looking at the very shape of the house causes people to feel bad. I was really hooked immediately and felt like I was being set up for a classic.

Unfortunately, the second half went off the rails. There were too many major plot lines that made no sense and were neither explained nor resolved.

If it wasn't for the start and the promise it showed, I'd have given this a 1.5-2 stars instead.

I can't really specify the issues I had with it so, here goes with the spoliers ...


///////////////////// Some fairly major spoilers ahead /////////////////



The old woman's aim was to put an end to a family curse that sees them die of heart attacks in great fear, it seems. But the woman is 80 and while you wish everyone a long life you'd wonder what she was fighting so hard against and risking other peoples life and minds. The fact that she was the last of her line meant that she wasn't even solving it for future generations.

We never find out why of how the little girl comes back from the dead.

We never find out why or how the WWI soldier - later the spite house owner and ghost - comes back from the dead.

We never get a sense of what this deep, dark, malevolent entity is that's behind everything and why it bothers with this cosmically miniscule situation.

We never really find out why Eric was so fixated on getting back to his grandparents' house and then why that was abandoned and they moved to California instead. Was it because he got his cosmic kicks in the house?

Too much going on, not enough care taken to tie things together. Feels like a strong editor should've worked this one over.

Eric and his two daughters, Dessa and Stacy, are on the run, skipping from town to town, taking odd and dangerous jobs, and generally just evading...something. Eric finds a situation that could mean a lucrative payout for him, thus ensuring the safety and security of his girls, even though this strange situation is anything but safe or secure. He has applied to live for a time in a possibly haunted house...a spite house. Which I had never even heard of, until I read this story, but look them up; they're a thing. His employer? An old woman who has a vested interest in the property for reasons of her own, reasons which hinge on his findings. I found myself rooting for the family and compelled by the story, which. while I don't think I have read anything quite like this story, it wasn't really breaking any new ground, either. Not quite "just another haunted house story," but ...close enough.

Book: The Spite House
Author: Johnny Compton
Publisher: Macmillan-Tor Forge
Pub Date: February 7, 2023

This is not a book I normally would choose. I don’t read a lot of horror books and while I liked this one I will say if horror is your genre this might be a little “vanilla” for you. It was creepy enough for me. I was hooked immediately because I wanted to know what the heck they were running from. The dad showed he was fiercely protective over his kids as was the older sister Dess. Stacy is so innocent and so likable and clearly has special powers. The best line of the book was, “And there was her sister, living proof that death didn’t have to be final.” This was a good haunted house read for those of us who don’t want too much horror.

Thank you Macmillan-Tor Forge and NetGalley for this sneak peak! Publication date is February 7, 2023.

After seeing this book all over Bookstagram, I really wanted to read it. Sorry to say, I wish I hadn't.

While the writing wasn't bad, especially for a debut, I found the book too slow to keep my interest. The characters held no value to me and I found myself not really caring what happened anymore.

As for the book being horror, where? Sure, there's a haunted aspect but none of it was scary. It was more of a slow mystery for me.

The kind of ghost story I would stay up late to finish, even though it gives me nightmares! It's never a good idea to accept a job as caretaker of a haunted house. Eric Ross knows this. He also knows more about the paranormal than he lets on. It's a while before we learn the reason why this formerly well-off Black entrepreneur and his two daughters are on the run, desperate for an off-the-books gig in white rural Texas. I was getting a little frustrated with the slow reveal, actually, but when it came, I could see why this surprise needed to wait.

The most thought-provoking part of the book, for me, was its depiction of the dark side of white "allyship". Both the man who built the Spite House, and the elderly rich woman who hires Eric to live there, think that they deserve a bigger reward from the universe for being on the right side of racial issues. They feel entitled to take it out on less privileged people. Peter Masson built an ugly, weird-shaped home to annoy the orphanage next door because he wanted their land. Eunice conveniently omits telling Eric that his predecessor went insane after three weeks in the house.

It seems that the Spite House never gives up its hold on anyone, whether their involvement was ego-driven or based in unselfish parental love. This bleak conclusion left me a bit unsatisfied. Horror novels don't have to end with the good guys winning, but I felt the book was gesturing at saying something about historical injustice and expiation, and the moral indifference of the outcome made me wonder what it all added up to.

I received a free e-book ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This one just didn't hit the mark for me. It started out well, and I do like how the author slowly revealed the reason why this father and his daughters are on the run as it maintained some mystery through the story. For me, the multiple POVs made it difficult to connect with any of the characters because every chapter was told from a different perspective. While the beginning of the story demonstrates that the main characters are driven by the power of family and wanting to protect those one loves, as the story progresses and there is some separation of characters, this theme seems to get lost a bit. Not sure if that was the author's intent as "spite" is in the title. Ultimately, this just wasn't to my taste but I'd still encourage readers to give it a go, especially if you're just getting into to horror novels.

The Spite House
By Johnny Compton

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to review!

A unique and twisted haunted house novel.

The Mason house (aka Spite House) is owned by Eunice, a wealthy and eccentric old woman who's goal it is to remove a deadly family curse that has plagued her for a lifetime.

Eric Ross and his daughters are on the run and need money. Responding to a strange help wanted ad placed by Eunice, Eric agrees to move himself and his daughters into the Spite house and document any paranormal incidents that may occur. His employer never bothered to tell him how dangerous his new job was going to be.

Many twist and turns play out while the mystery of the Spite house and how Eunice, Eric and his family are all tied together in a supernatural suspense. As the mystery unfolds Eric realizes what the house is and what must be done to save his daughters.

Slow beginning but once hooked, I couldn't put it down. Very interesting story. Different then any other haunted house books I've read .

Johnny Compton is on the run with his daughters. He’s doing his best to keep them safe and not leave a trail behind them. When he sees an add for a caretaker of an old home, he thinks his prayers have been answered. The job is easy enough, write down all the spooky happenings that he experiences while living there. While it’s creepy, it’s a place no one will likely find the family and the compensation makes it a double plus.

While the job sounded easy, Eric finds that his daughters are not safe in the house, but he’s not leaving quite yet. He needs more than the money and he’s not leaving until he can get what he needs.

This is a really creepy and scary read…I LOVED IT! If this is the author’s first published work, I’m expecting him to have a very long and creepy career! I can’t wait to see what he comes out with next!

I’ve seen plenty of characters contemplate the price they’re willing to pay to achieve their ends, going all the way back to Odin plucking out his own eye for wisdom. Characters who pay these kinds of prices are heroes or legends; they do what we often can’t bring ourselves to do. Before I read Johnny Compton’s terrifying novel, The Spite House, I don’t think I’d ever seen a story that asked the corollary question: what price are we willing to make others pay so that we can have what we want? This book is full of selfish characters. Some are flat-out evil. Others (possibly even scarier ones) are convinced that their selfishness is justified by whatever “good” they want to achieve. Oh, and all of this takes place in a house so haunted that I couldn’t help but compare it to the one in Shirley Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House.

We don’t know why Eric Ross and his two daughters have fled their previous lives in Maryland for an under-the-radar existence on the road. All we know is that the stakes are high enough that they have to keep their profiles so low that Eric has trouble making enough money to keep them fed and sheltered on their way back to his grandfather’s home in Odessa, Texas. That pressure leads Eric to answer an absolutely bonkers job offer, to stay in a potentially haunted house in Degener, Texas and report back any signs of the supernatural to its owner. The payout is big enough to tempt Eric to ignore the red flags and apply.

Meeting with Eunice Houghton, the owner of the Masson House and a good chunk of the town of Degener, reassures Eric and his oldest daughter, Des, enough that they agree to the job. We readers know, however, that Eunice isn’t being honest about the Masson House’s full history. She certainly doesn’t tell Eric what happened to the last two people who stayed in the house. Instead, she tells Eric a bit about how the strange spite house came to be built and a little about her family’s curse, which has roots back in the American Civil War. Unfortunately, the supernatural shenanigans start the very first night the Ross family stays in the spite house. The only character who isn’t frightened out of their wits for most of the book is Eric’s youngest daughter, Stacy—but then, she has a very good reason not to fear death.

At first, The Spite House keeps its cards close to its metaphorical chest. I actually thought it waited a little too long to start revealing what was really motivating Eric and Eunice. But once the secrets start to spill, the pace really picks up. And what secrets they are! I thought I had a good handle on what to expect but The Spite House defied every one of my expectations. Aside from my quibble about its initially slow pace, I was completely hooked by this novel. I blazed through the last third of the novel because I had to know who would survive the big climax and what price the characters would have to pay for their survival. Also, a big part of what kept me reading was a kind of horrified fascination with how far the characters would go to achieve their goals. Rational behavior goes straight out the window for most of the major characters, especially Eric, in part because everyone has justified their own actions so well that they never stop to really consider the harm they might be doing to the people caught in their wake. I just couldn’t look away from this big, haunted car wreck.

This is such a creepy read that it gave me goosebumps. Eric and his two daughters are running away from something. What it is, is not clear, but his own past is steeped in the supernatural. He then gets an offer he can’t refuse: live in a haunted house for a lot of money. Eunice, an eccentric millionaire, needs someone to record the paranormal activity in the Masson House, a mansion that looks “wrong” and where horrible things have happened. For anyone thinking how Eric should know better than to drag his two daughters into a haunted house, be assured that the plot explains it in such a way that it makes perfect sense. The pervasive feeling of uneasiness is impossible to ignore and the titular Spite House is described in such a way that it’s easy to imagine. There is an abandoned orphanage nearby, spooky hallways, shadowy corners where anything could be hiding and… I don’t want to get into spoilers but it is really, truly scary. Most of the characters are very likable, especially Eric and his daughters, so it’s easy to root for them. I highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys being scared and doesn’t have a heart condition.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#Macmillan-Tor/Forge, Tor Nightfire!

2.5 stars

This book started out incredibly strong, but then lost me somewhere in the middle. By the end, I was ready to be done with it.

I liked the concept of the book, but felt like there was too much being crammed in.

Eric and his two children, Dess (a young adult) and Stacey (a small child) are on the run. You don't find out why until midway through the book. When you finally get that answer, it is kind of a head scratcher. Even taking the explanation at face value, it doesn't make sense to me that they are essentially living as fugitives. Eric needs money, so he accepts a job from eccentric, old Eunice, who agrees to pay him a ridiculous amount of money, if he stays in a haunted house she owns and documents his experience. There had been others in the past, but all went crazy and didn't complete the assignment. Apparently, Eunice is trying to prove the house is haunted, so she can bring in her old friend, a paranormal expert and disbeliever, to analyze the house.

The whole plot of Eunice's friend being at her beck and call to fly in at a moment's notice to document the house as soon as she has enough evidence didn't make sense to me. Why wouldn't he just come in and do it for her in the first place? And what was the real end game?

The whole backstory of Eunice's family curse, mixed in with the curse of the house was lost on me. Again, I believe that way too many stories were trying to be stuffed into a small space with this one.

There were also way too many unnecessary POV's. I am a fan of multiple POV's but when we get into POV's of the housekeeper and local reporter for no reason, it just gets messy.

The last thing I will say is that I completely did not understand the ending. I won't discuss it here due to spoilers, but with so many unnecessary explanations and story lines, I felt the end could have done with a better explanation as to what was going on.

Overall, I didn't hate the book, or the concept behind the book. I just think it could have been cleaner and told a clearer story.

This was an honest review in exchange for an advanced copy on Netgalley.