A creepy ghosty book is always something I will pick up. We are given an unreliable character as she and her husband but a house that is famous for a murder. Strange things start happening and I was onboard. The writing was ok and could have been a little bit more engaging. The characters were great and you felt the anxiousness and nervousness as things started to unvail. The ending was not what I wanted it to be.

Wow!! This is was the perfect spooky season read. I love when you’re reading a book, but you have no idea where it’s going! I love a good haunted house book, but this one is a little different than any other I’ve read.

Fast paced thriller that kept me guessing. The main character and her unhinged ways gave me chills just as much as the creepy house. I had some thoughts about the husband but was way off. The entire book gave off creep factor and dark vibes until the very end.

I wouldn’t be sad if there’s a sequel about this house.

Thank you NetGalley and Bantam Books for gifting me an advance copy in exchange for my honest review of The Stranger Upstairs.

I have to say, I was immediately drawn into this one. It was intriguing-- the idea of a murder house and the "supernatural" aspects. But my interest quickly halted. Things became too bizarre. The main character was insufferable. There were plot holes. Then it all ended abruptly and unbelievably.

This simply just wasn't the book for me, but I can see why others enjoy it. It was by no means awful, in fact, it was quite entertaining until the last 100 pages. I just think it could have been a little bit more thought out and developed.

I very much enjoyed this book. The characters were well developed and the story kept me engaged throughout. I would recommend this book to others. Thank you for the opportunity to read this ARC!

The Stranger Upstairs was a great debut novel for Lisa M. Matlin. I cant wait for her future books as I am an instant fan. I loved the creepy feel of noises in the attic as well as the background story for the previous residents. The whole book I was wondering whether history was going to repeat itself or if Sarah was going to be able to pull through. Great story overall as it kept me up until I finished the book and get the answers I needed.

Are the neighbors out to get her? Is the house haunted? Is she crazy? This book had me playing out all the scenarios in my head!

In a book that’s sure to make one rethink every future home-buying decision, debut author Lisa Matlin has written a super creepy story that examines what happens when a homebuyer’s intentions don’t line up with what the house itself wants!

Successful lifestyle influencer and author Sarah Slade and husband Joe have purchased Black Wood House, where forty years ago Bill Campbell murdered his wife Susan with a hammer and attempted to kill his daughter before ending his own life. Sarah’s ambition is to renovate this murder house and rely on a future buyer’s morbid curiosity to make a tidy profit.

In reality, Sarah is trying to escape events from her past and keep her disintegrating marriage from unraveling further. The more she tries to control her husband and her new home, the harder they both seem to rebel against her. It’s as if the house resents her as much as Joe does. Maybe even more.

As menacing notes appear around her home and her new neighbors eye her with suspicion or outright contempt, Sarah’s paranoia steadily increases. Floorboards in the attic creak at night, her cat Reaper begins acting strangely, a builder she’s hired has a bizarre accident, and to make it all worse, she learns of another mysterious disappearance related to her new home that no one in town will talk about or even acknowledge.

What starts off as a simple house-flipping scenario turns into an increasingly bizarre fever dream from which there may be no escape for her. Can she outrun the ghosts of her past and present before she loses her mind … or her life?

I listened to this on audio while reading along on my Kindle. The story is told almost entirely from the single POV of Sarah, admirably narrated by Fiona Hardingham. I would’ve appreciated some variation in her male character voices - they all sounded identical - but apart from that I thought she did a good job.

There were interspersed news sections that detail a new crime that was committed at Black Wood House … the reader isn’t told who the victims are until much later, adding a nice suspenseful mystery to the story. The book definitely leads you to think in a certain direction, but kudos to Matlin for taking the story in a direction I NEVER suspected! The ending reveal was such a clever switch up from what I’ve come to expect from stories like this. I grew a little bit tired of hearing only from Sarah for so much of the book, but the ending made up for it!

This was a solid debut effort from Lisa Matlin, and I’ll definitely watch for what she writes next. One last thing: the author’s note is really thoughtful and worth a moment to read!

★★★ ½ (rounded to 4)

Thank you Netgalley & Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for an Arc in exchange for an honest review.

What an Incredible debut novel, can’t wait for more from this author. I was completely captivated from start to finish. If you love spooky stories this one is for you!

This was a quick read for me but I had a hard time getting invested. The story follows Sarah Slade and her essentially non existent husband Joe and their quest to “flip” a murder house. We quickly see Sarah unraveling trying to figure out who is tormenting her from inside her house. The twist at the end was a little unexpected but overall this book just fell flat for me. I did appreciate the authors note at the end. Special thanks to netgalley for the arc.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin.

When an influencer is that desperate for attention that she and her barely attentive husband buy a house that is notoriously the town's murder house...what can go wrong??

Listen, I'm not opposed to reading a story with unlikeable characters, sometimes it can make the story even more delicious. But when you start out with someone so unbelievably vapid, someone posing as a healthcare provider yet clearly means harm, someone who will stop at nothing to get attention online...okay, yeah it still sounds pretty enticing.

But I still didn't care for this book. It moved too slow, the characters were whiny and SO dumb, and the plot just did not grab me.

I really wanted to like this book and the first half really captivated me. However, the second half went really off the rails and was hard to follow/believe the plot line.

Typical domestic thriller with an unreliable narrator. Why do I keep falling for these books? The writing was good and the author did make me want to find out who “The stranger upstairs” was. However, I was not surprised by the ending. I do have friends who will love it and I will recommend it to them.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this book.

This book was ok. I was interested the first half and then I lost interest. I think that is because I was expecting this to be a horror novel. By 1/3 of the way through I figured out that there were no scares to be had.

I was really excited to read The Stranger Upstairs and ultimately found it to be a slight above average read. It is a mixture of a thriller with touch of supernatural thrown in at the end, which I didn't particularly love. I usually find that paranormal explanations feel lazy and too imaginative and take away from the realness of the drama leading up to it. I did enjoy the ending despite that aspect though. I thought this was very evenly paced and held my attention from the get-go. The main character Sarah was very frustrating at times and I didn't particularly connect with her. I wish she had been a bit more well rounded as a character and not quite so one-dimensional. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

2 stars.

There was a scene in this book that really triggered me involving the cat.

It was an interesting psychological thriller that up until that point kept me interested but after that scene I kinda lost interest.

Sara and her husband buy a scary house for a low price because a murder happened there. She plans on using the history of the house to promote herself since she is an influencer. Sara started hearing things and got super paranoid and she just annoyed me. Add to that there were articles in the book that referenced things that hadn't yet happened. which took a lot of the suspense away, unfortunately.

Thank you Netgalley and Ballantine for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.



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The Stranger Upstairs
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Author: Lisa Matlin

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Random House Publishing and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

Synopsis: Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide—she’s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage.

But as Sarah paints over the house’s horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can’t conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents—and Sarah knows there’s only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic.

When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her—her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she’s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder . . . was it all worth it? Or will this house be her final unraveling?

My Thoughts: For a debut novel, this was incredible. Sarah Slade buys a house where the famous Black Wood murders occurred. The cover is what drew me to this story. While a psychological thriller, it is also a spooky, haunting horror story. Sarah is a social media influencer and wants to renovate this house. Named the Black Water Murder House for the famous murders that occurred here. Bill Campbell brutally murders his wife and then commits suicide. The house just sits after this unable to be sold. When some strange occurrences start, the wallpaper peeling, her failing marriage, and the questionable neighbors, she realizes quickly this is more than she signed up for. Sarah starts to lose her grip on reality not knowing what is real and what her mind is imaging, and starts to really spiral. Is there something sinister going on? Or is Sarah on the brink of a psychiatric break?

This story is narrated in a third person POV by Sarah. When you think of characters, you think of the people in the story, however, the house is its own character in this story. The house has a constant leaky faucet, the peeling creepy wallpaper, noises from the attic, and the decaying smell, then there is of course, the creepy, spooky attic. Sarah is a complex character that has her own secrets that she does not want exposed. Then there is her husband Joe, with their shaky marriage that needs an overhaul. The neighbors, oh the noisy, suspicious neighbors, who are not very welcoming. The house is the main character for this storyline. The characters were created with depth, mystery, were intriguing, and creatively woven throughout the story. The author’s writing style was complex, layered, suspenseful, twisty, and brilliant. The book gives off a gothic vibe, similar to a Stephen King novel. The author provides an author’s note at the end and discusses her own mental health struggles and how healing it was to write this book, which is so brave of her to do.

The Stranger Upstairs is an atmospheric psychological thriller that is captivating, creepy, spooky, suspenseful, and full of tension moments that will keep you on the edge of your seat, and make you want to sleep with the light on. This is another perfect book for the spooky season. Once you start reading or listening, it is hard to put down and you want to finish it in one sitting. There were some plot holes that were not tied up, hence the 4 ⭐️ rating. Overall, this was an enjoyable read that I highly recommend.

This is a hard review to write. There wasn't anything wrong with the story, but I just didn't get invested in it. It was creepy and did make me want to keep reading. It heavily relied on the mental health trope - which is my least favorite. The ending left me with some questions, which was the point, but I do like when thrillers wrap up at least a little.
Overall, it wasn't bad for a debut author and I would be interested in reading her next book

The Stranger Upstairs is a good murder house thriller with a bit of a different ending than I am used to. It starts off strong when Sarah Slade moves into a house where a notorious murder happened years ago, with the intent to renovate the house and blog about it in an attempt to keep her audience engaged in her social media platform. The neighbors are are not happy about Sarah and her estranged husband buying the house, as they feel the house brings down their property values and they would just like to have the house demolished. Sarah begins losing it - at work, she can't concentrate, she feels sick and has constant headaches, at home, she hears noises and finds strange notes and feels that her neighbors are breaking into her house. Her life is spiraling out of control, and throughout the story, we find out bits and pieces from Sarah's past, which make her, quite frankly, unlikeable. The story wraps up with an interesting twist, and I like the author's note at the end. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced copy.

I ended up listening to this one on audio, and I really enjoyed it! I have to say I did predict one part of the plot twist, but not both. Overall, the characters are horrible (which is a classic trope in thrillers), but super entertaining. I was completely entertained, which was exactly what I wanted.