Marin Blythe has always loved horror novels, and Alice Lovelace’s novels most of all. But when Marin receives the opportunity to work and live at Lovelace House, she learns that Alice’s horror novels may be based more in fact than in fiction, in this perfectly eerie gothic horror.

When Marin’s mother dies, she has no where to go and no one to turn to, so when the famous horror writer, and her mother’s estranged best friend, Alice Lovelace, offers her room and board in exchange for nannying her two young daughters, Marin can’t turn down the opportunity. But, the girls are not quite right, Thea has been burying her dolls in an old graveyard and Wren plays cruel pranks on Marin. The house is even stranger than its residents, with what appear to be skulls stamped in the ceiling tiles, dead (or almost dead) birds turning up in Marin’s room, and bones found in the mud at low tide. Then Evie, Alice’s oldest daughter, returns home from boarding school and things at Lovelace house get stranger than Marin could have ever imagined. But despite the strange and spooky happenings, Marin finds that when she is with Evie, her near constant worrying, settles.

I really loved the eerie atmosphere that McCauley created in All the Dead Lie Down. A creepy estate is a personal favorite setting for horror novels, and this one had all the essential bits like an on-site cemetery, a large mansion, to big to explore fully, and it’s isolated in the country. Lovelace house also has the unique aspect of being right on the coast, allowing the ocean to play a key role in creating a sense of foreboding, by both threatening the integrity of Lovelace house and it’s surrounding land, but also revealing key clues about the dark matters happening there.

The characters were all enjoyable, even the evil ones. And, for the most part, they all underwent interesting character development. Wren was a particular favorite. The building relationship between Marin and Evie is a large part of the story, and while I personally didn’t enjoy this piece greatly, it was very melodramatic and over the top (so typical teen romance), I expect it will be enjoyed by many other readers. It also never disengaged me from the story, so I don’t think it would make this book a no go for readers less interested in romance. My biggest complaint with it is that Evie is used by Marin as a sort of cure for her anxiety, and while it is likely just that Evie makes her feel safe and confident, I still am not loving that she is relying on someone else to manage her anxiety rather than learning to do so on her own.

All in all, All the Dead Lie Down was a very well done atmospheric horror story, with unique supernatural elements, that made this an extremely enjoyable read for any horror fan.

This is a read in on sitting kind of book and I did on a gloomy rainy day. The creepiness has you turning the pages with a twist that had me speechless

“Maybe memory was a kind of haunting in itself.”

All the Dead Lie Down is the gothic haunting story I didn’t know I was missing.

Marin Blythe has recently lost her mother, the only person she really had. After living a life of constantly moving, she has the chance to settle down at Lovelace House in coastal Maine, owned by Alice Lovelace, an acclaimed horror author. Alice is not some random woman, however; Marin’s mother Cordelia and Alice actually grew up together. Marin, anxious to a fault, tries to use this to keep a connection to her mother.

Alice’s two youngest girls, Wren and Thea, keep Marin on her toes with seemingly harmless pranks. Soon, the eldest daughter, Evie, comes home, and things move more into scary territory. Not only does the house seem haunted, but the very land itself. Marin sees some things she can’t explain, and doesn’t want to explain. As she grows closer to Evie, Marin has to face her fears in order to stay with this ethereal girl she’s grown fond of.

I originally requested this book because of the cover, but as soon as I read it was being marketed as similar to The Haunting of Bly Manor, I knew I would enjoy it. I didn’t realize it was YA at first, and while I have no issue with YA, I feel it could have gone a little further had it been adult. It still doesn’t shy from the horror, though. Be aware, this book contains a lot of animal death. If you’re squeamish, I would maybe sit this one out.

Thank you to NetGalley and Katherine Tegen Books for the chance to read this advanced review copy. I look forward to reading more Kyrie McCauley in the future.

CW for death, animal death, animal cruelty, death of parent, blood, gore, body horror, panic attacks, mental illness/anxiety, stalking, and emotional abuse

“what was wrong with this damned house”

Marin is alone in the world after her mother’s tragic death. An old friend of her mother’s reaches out to offer a nanny position with room and board. This friend turns out to be a famous horror author whose books Marin loves. She has never met Alice Lovelace but she has no other options since money is tight. The family is also mourning their own loss as Alice’s husband drowned recently.

Marin travels to Lovelace House in Maine, a complete contrast to her life in California. Here she will watch over Alice’s two young daughters while Alice writes. The home is everything a gothic horror requires in a story. Grand, dark and full of secrets. Even the drivers tells her the house is cursed before dropping her off. She quickly realizes she has her work cut out for her when Alice’s daughters, Thea and Wren, make several attempts to prank and even hurt Marin.

A surprise visit from the girls older sister, Evie, puts Marin’s position at stake but Marin ends up finding a friend. Maybe even something more than a fri be. Soon Marin hears hushed conversations that pique her curiosity.

There is a twist that changes everything and I couldn’t put the book down afterwards. I kept saying one more chapter! I found the writing to be very haunting and beautiful. I would definitely read more from the author.

The reference to Haunting of Bly Manor is honestly a perfect association. If you love this, definitely check out the season.

I highly recommend reading this book on a dreary, rainy day in front of a big window overlooking a garden or woods. You’ll need a warm cup of tea and a comfortable blanket. Playlist: Haunted Victorian-era Manor on Spotify

Thank you to NetGalley and Kyrie McCauley for allowing me to read this book. I have written this review voluntarily!

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Actual rating: 3.5

Kyrie McCauley presents All the Dead Lie Down, a young adult horror novel marketed as The Haunting of Bly Manor combined with The House of Salt and Sorrows. Readers follow Marin, a teenaged girl whose mother recently died in a tragic train accident. Marin is left with nearly nothing so when Marin's favorite author, Alice Lovelace, reaches out with a job offer for Marin to be nanny to her two young girls, Marin accepts. Marin knew Alice had been friends with her mother and the job provides room and board. Lovelace Manor has many secrets and the secrets seemed to have only grown since the death of Alice's husband the previous year. Marin is quick to realize there is danger, but with nowhere left to go and children in her care, she will have to figure out how to navigate Lovelace both the author and the house.

I can fully understand why the choice of a Bly Manor comparison. There is a gothic building of dread, the estate of generational wealth, the nanny/au pair plot line, the potential supernatural component. I get it. I do struggle a bit more with the comparison to House of Salt and Sorrows. Lovelace Estate is an oceanside place with the ever present threat of drowning. But, aside from vibes, I think the comparison mostly can stop there.

Marin is an interesting choice of protagonist, as her anxiety tends to take second seat to her curiosity and her sense of responsibility. Her budding romance with Evie, the eldest daughter, is age appropriate and has the appropriate amount of weight to appeal to a teen audience.

I do feel that this book was a bit longer than it needed to be, as the reveal of what was causing the issues at Lovelace Manor took over half the book to get to only to rush through reveal after reveal after that initial hurdle was jumped. The slight pacing difficulty was not detrimental to my enjoyment.

There were some aspects to the horror parts that were a little glossed over, but as the plot progressed, so did these descriptions. I found myself wishing for greater detail throughout, but can understand the desire to allow for a build and not be gratuitous in the descriptions for a book intended for teen readers.

Overall, I found All the Dead Lie Down to be an enjoyable read, and would recommend it to young readers of horror or dark fantasy.

This unfortunately wasn’t for me. Definitely a YA attempt at horror but unfortunately fails to be really suspenseful.

This novel tells the story of Marin Blythe, a young woman who has just lost her mother, and the eerie things she is faced with as a nanny to horror novelist Alice Lovelace’s children. This gothic inspired haunted house novel takes you into the dark depths of family history and the secrets held at Lovelace house.

I really enjoyed this novel and the characters; I especially loved that it was dark and spooky but not too spooky to binge read at night. The plot was very interesting and very well executed; I thought the author did a wonderful job of progressing the story at a good pace. It never felt too slow or rushed, especially near the ending. The writing was also pretty lyrical and very beautifully done. I will commend the author for leaving out any homophobic/anit-LGBTQ+ sentiments because there is already so much of that in our real world, we really don’t need it in our fiction!

Overall, I really enjoyed this gothic YA novel. I would recommend this to YA readers who are looking for a spooky read with some LGBTQ+ content.

This beautiful novel reads like a very dark, Gothic fairy tale. After losing her mother, Marin becomes the nanny of two strange little girls in Lovelace House. Right from the beginning, she hears that it’s cursed. The owner, Alice Lovelace, is a famous and reclusive mystery writer and her daughters are definitely weird. The more she learns about this family and their mansion, her feeling of disquiet grows, and it all gets even worse when Evie, the older sister, returns from school unexpectedly. I loved the descriptions of Lovelace House and its grounds, including the woods, the beach and not one, but two creepy graveyards. The girls are likable, despite all their quirks. I didn’t know where the story was going, but I was pleasantly surprised. No spoilers but some parts are very disturbing and gory. There are also passages that animal lovers might want to skip. Some parts reminded me of two very famous Stephen King novels, but with a twist. Readers who enjoy dark stories will enjoy this book.
I chose to read this book and all opinions in this review are my own and completely unbiased. Thank you, #NetGalley/#HarperCollins Children's Books!

If there are three things I love in a horror novel, it’s the following. 1) A haunted house and an atmospheric setting. It creates a close, tense setting that ramps up the tension and adds a sense of claustrophobia that I absolutely love. 2) A romance subplot to temper the creepy. In the case of All the Dead Lie Down, the romance between Marin and Evie was realistic, emotional and full of sapphic longing. I loved it! 3) creepy children and a deer that’s *not quite right* aka creepy, crawly horror elements that mix body horror, plain unsettlement and nature elements. Needless to say, AtDLD checked all my boxes and I loved the story!

The pacing and characterisation was spot on and there wasn’t a moment I was bored or felt like scenes were unnecessary. Marin was a great MC and I really felt for her anxiety and desire to find her place in the world. She was both cautious and prone to worry and courageous when others were counting on her. I thought she was very well rounded and really enjoyed spending time in her head. I loved her blossoming relationship with Evie and thought their romance was both very sweet and realistic for their age. The mystery of Evie’s family was woven nicely in and I was genuinely shocked by some of the twists near the end. I’d highly recommend this book and a think readers who enjoy a bit of horror in an atmospheric, northeastern setting with a bit of romance will love it!

I really liked the setup and reveals. A great LGBT YA Gothic horror novel! The main character and the house with the spooky estate was a great setting as well.

"All the Dead Lie Down" follows Marin Blythe who ends up taking a position as a nanny, to a family her mother knew when she was a child, the Lovelace's. Alice Lovelace, is a famous horror author with three children, Thea, Wren, and Evie. Evie is away at school so Alice needs Marin to help her with the children. The family is still recovering from the accidental death of Alice's husband, and father to the three girls. Marin though feels as if something is wrong at the Lovelace Estate. The woods seem dark and menacing. And the birds seem to die and then disappear once again. When Evie returns from boarding school, Marin finds herself drawn to her and to finding out what secrets the Lovelace's are hiding.

I thought Marin was a great YA character. Not a pushover, and definitely not a Mary Sue. She takes Thea and Wren on (dealing with awful pranks) but realizes that something seems off with Alice. She finds herself falling for Evie, but realizes that something is going on that she doesn't understand.

The other characters all have quirks and I love that we slowly get pieces to a puzzle that Marin is trying to figure out. I also laughed a few times (mostly with the little girls).

I loved the writing and thought the setting of the estate was very Gothic and spooky.

The ending was very creepy and I liked the final resolution. At times though you think that Evie and Marin could be a bit older, but you realize they are older in a way because of everything they have gone through.

Rating: 3.5

I liked the plot and the creepy atmosphere of the story, but the characters felt one-dimensional and I didn't really care about them or the relationship between Marin and Evie.

This was so twisted and haunting... but sooo good at the same time! I'm a huge horror movie lover and new to reading the genre but this was so much fun. It had me thinking about it way after I had finished it. I didn't want to put it down because it made me so anxious to know what happened next and how it was going to end. I will definitely be reading this again in the fall on a rainy day because I think it would be perfect! It's definitely the perfect gothic horror book for fall time!

I definitely will be recommending this to anyone who loves gothic novels, horror, LGBTQIA+!

"The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley's contemporary YA Gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we'll cross for love.

The Sleeping House was very much awake...

Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace - an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin's mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family's coastal Maine estate.

Marin accepts and soon finds herself minding Alice's peculiar girls. Thea buries her dolls one by one, hosting a series of funerals, while Wren does everything in her power to drive Marin away. Then Alice's eldest daughter returns home unexpectedly. Evie Hallowell is every bit as strange as her younger sisters, and yet Marin is quickly drawn in by Evie's compelling behavior and ethereal grace.

But as Marin settles in, she can't escape the anxiety that follows her like a shadow. Dead birds appear in Marin's room. The children's pranks escalate. Something dangerous lurks in the woods, leaving mutilated animals in its wake. All is not well at Lovelace House, and Marin must unravel its secrets before they consume her."

Oh yes, definite The Haunting of Bly Manor vibes, I love me a dark Gothic nanny tale!

This was haunting. A true story that keeps you on the edge of your seat wanting to know more with each page.

I really enjoy the authors writing style as well as the overall “vibe” of this book.

This book immediately made me think of crimson peak. The cover itself is beautiful and haunting, I will be honest and say at first I had a hard time getting into the book. I love the gothic vibes the book brings with an old house on the seaside surrounded by woods. I did enjoy Marin and Evie's romance but overall I felt this book fell a bit flat.

This book was great. It’s a gothic zombie story with Haunting of Bly Manor vibes. The creepy children spend their time hazing the new nanny who just lost her mother. The romance between Evie and Marin was sweet and very PG-13. The author did a good job of making the house feel creepy and inhabitants, like the mom, even creepier. The only thing I would say didn’t feel right with me was the way Marin’s grief was addressed. It felt like the death of her mother and the accident had very little impact on Marin. She mentions her mother’s death several times, and that is whole reason she is there at the manor, but the feelings weren’t there. It was like Marin was estranged from her mother and wasn’t even present when she died. Sad but not impactful.
Overall, I really enjoyed reading this and will recommend it to teens looking for a great horror book!

Thank you so very much for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

The writing was beautiful, but the book itself was dreadfully boring. And just when I thought it would get spooky... it fell flat.

Loved the LGBTQ+ rep

A queer gothic horror novel that explores grief and trauma set in (what is essentially) a haunted house? This book sounded exactly my speed.

The first half begins with creepy or unsettling occurances around the house but after we find out the cause in the second half—that's when the true horror begins (and where the story really hooked me). The relationship that blooms between Marin and Evie is touching and you really understand how deeply they care for each other. The writing is a little boring and clunky at times (not unexpected given that it's YA), but then you also get lines like:

"The way Marin's arms formed parenthesis around her. When Evier sighed against her neck, it was an apostrophe—in the possessive. And Marin knew all the words. She had been memorizing them for months."

Which is just *chef's kiss* the kind of romance perfect for the gothic horror genre. Aside from some pacing issues, I found the story compelling—it had me, in equal parts, on the edge of my seat and sighing forlornly, wishing that I too lived in a giant weird house full of dead things.

CW for graphic body horror, lots of death (including animal death, death of a parent, and brief description of death of a child/baby), gore, stalking, kidnapping, violence, and panic attacks.

Thanks to HarperCollins Children's Books and NetGalley for the digital ARC!

Young girl takes a job as a live in nanny for a reclusive author's children. Everything is not as it seems and every character has an aura of creepiness. A quick read.

Creepy, creepy, creepy! This is a YA horror novel that uses atmosphere and mystery to keep you hooked all the way through the book.

This is a much darker YA horror book, it contains a lot of death. The title pretty much says it all. This book certainly has some gothic horror undertones to it, past family secrets, graveyards, an ancient house...it has all those pieces. It reminded me very much like the Netflix show the Haunting of Hill House. So if you liked that, you'll probably enjoy this as well!

Marin was a great character, she was thrown into the middle of a mysterious family, and is a nanny for two children of an eccentric writer. It gets more convoluted from there, and I don't want to spoil too much of the book. Suffice to say it was good!

I really liked the plot of this book and how it played out. I couldn't put the book down; and there were moments I was going "WHAT?!" at the book.

There was also a sapphic relationship that was really sweet admist all the horror in this book.

All the Dead Lie Down is a twisty, mysterious, and thrilling horror book for all older audiences.