This is a creepy, unnerving novel about Sarah Slade, a writer (and a fake therapist), who moves into a house where a husband murdered his wife and attempted to murder his daughter decades prior. While living there with her husband, she begins to have hallucinations, be paranoid, and think she's hearing things in the house. I was surprised at the end of this but it wasn't a favorite. I would still read another book by this author!

Black Wood house's newest owners aren't who they say they are... and the house knows. Best-selling therapist Sarah Slade and her bartender husband think they've found a good deal when the Black Wood Murder House goes up for sale. They plan to blog about the renovations, get some sponsorships, sell it and start their new life with the massive profits. Unfortunately, the townspeople and, it seems, the house itself, want the house bulldozed. As things continue stacking up against her, Sarah will have to race to finish the renovations while she still can.

I absolutely loved this one and flew through the bulk of it. The only issue I had was that the end got very confusing. Ultimately it mostly sorted itself and the last bit was phenomenal, but there was definitely a bit at the end where the characters became extremely hard to keep track of and I had to read it twice.

For a debut novel I believe Lisa Matlin has hit a home run out of the park folks!!! I loved the alternating timeline to bodies discovered yet again that fall victim to the Black Wood House, but then flashes back to current residents Sarah Slade and her husband living amongst all the strange and creepy happenings since they moved in and started trying to renovate!
The house isn't just a house it seems, Sarah and Joe aren't who they seem, so many secrets waiting to be revealed! Throw in the past murder 40 years ago and also a previous missing owner and there are a few more secrets to this house! Well done unfolding of a murder house with an even creepier attic inside!! I loved every minute of this and loved the suspense ride!! This book has a sadness that is so eloquently written dealing with mental health and bravo to the author from start to finish with this debut!! I hope there is something else in the works for another twisted filled psychological thriller because I will be watching for one!! Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the gifted copy to immerse myself in and find another hit!!

"Want a great deal on a house? BUY ONE WHERE SOMEONE WAS MURDERED! Here's the killer truth: A brutal murder can slash the price by as much as 50%. But would YOU do it?"

Sarah Slade, author, therapist and influencer, has bought the infamous Black Wood House. It was the scene of a vicious murder/suicide forty years ago and no one has lived in it since...except someone has. No one will even acknowledge her existence, but a woman named Amanda lived in the house for a brief period of time. Sarah is anxious to extend her social media following and thinks that the renovations will be a boost to her blog and popularity, at least until her new book comes out. Well, that is, if she ever gets around to writing it. Sarah is not doing well - she can't focus on her patients, her husband Joe is increasingly absent, and she is losing time. But she loves the house, even down to the bloodstained bedroom floor. Besides, she can't give up when she has so much to lose.

Confession time: I would buy a house where someone was murdered.

So I thought this book would be perfect for me. But I had a hard time with it. Sarah was just so erratic. I can deal with her being unlikable, but she seemed to bounce around like she was living in a pinball machine. Is she having some kind of breakdown? Is someone stalking her and leaving her notes? Has someone poisoned her cat? Or is she just plain old crazy? For most of the book, I couldn't tell. I could never really plunge myself into the storyline and get lost the way I like. This was really leaning toward 2 stars for me but the ending and epilogue did save it a bit. Overall, I was rather disappointed though. This book really should've been tailor-made for my weird little heart.

Creepy and compelling. I flew through this one. Well done, Lisa -- I can't wait to see what you come up with next.

The Stranger Upstairs is, in a word, disturbing. I continued reading, thinking at some point the book HAD to get better. I've got news for y'all----it didn't.

Plot: Sarah Slade is self-help author with a penchant for trouble. That's the only way it could make sense that she roped her husband, Joe, into buying Black Wood House, a home notorious for the murders that occurred there years ago. The house is considered haunted, if not a downright abomination. Let's just say the neighbors have some strong feelings about wishing for the property to be bulldozed instead of renovated. When strange things start happening in the house (surprise, surprise,) Sarah feels like she's starting to go crazy. She's receiving cryptic messages, gets headaches all the time, and swears she's seen one of her neighbors lurking around the house. When everything in her world seems to be spiraling out of control, what will be the breaking point?

Aside from the fact that this book is alarmingly dark, it struggles seriously from a lack of plot. The amateur status of the writing unfortunately really shows. There was something about it that made me want to keep reading to see what the end resolution could possibly be, but I was left disappointed. Don't waste your time on this one. It borrows from the overused "haunted house" trope and is pretty predictable and boring. The shock and awe factor the author was going for didn't work at all for me.

Thank you so much to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Lisa Matlin, and NetGalley for the ARC of The Stranger Upstairs!

The Stranger Upstairs tells the story of Sarah Slade. Though, you probably know her as Sarah Slays - well-known influencer and self-help guru.

The carefully constructed facade Sarah built behind to crumble shortly after purchasing a famous murder house. A husband woke up one morning and brutally murdered his wife in bed with a hammer before attacking their daughter (she escaped and was never heard from again), and then killed himself in the bathroom. The house sat empty until Sarah decided to flip it for the Gram, and turn a nice profit.

The house may have other plans though.

The town might not be so welcoming, as many knew the family/the victims. Are they telling Sarah everything?

And soon, we learn Sarah has quite a few secrets herself.

At first, I thought this was going in the same direction as Just Like Home by Gailey, but I promise the twist is one you won’t see coming! It was un-putdownable, and I enjoyed watching Sarah slowly spiral 👏🏻👏🏻

I was really excited to read this book because Murder House! Who doesn't love that?! The cover is beautiful and really draws you in. Unfortunately, I felt a little unsatisfied at the end of the book and wanting more.

Sarah Slade is a therapist and social media influencer who buys the infamous Black Wood House. She is hoping to renovate the house for resale and wants to document the process for her viewers along the way. She is hoping this will help salvage her marriage with her husband Joe does not want much to do with her or this house.

The infamous Black Wood House is where Bill Campbell bludgeoned his wife Susan and tried to kill his daughter Janet Campbell, before ultimately killing himself. Janet got away and was found running down the street yelling "Don't kill me, Don't kill me, Don't kill me and has not been seen since.

Sarah and her husband know all about the Black Wood House and that is what Sarah thinks is going to make this journey with her viewers so much more exciting. The only problem is that Sarah and her husband have some secrets from their past that they would like to keep under wraps, but the house starts to expose.

The book started out great and was very promising, but the second part of the book got weird. I felt like Sarah became annoying at times and I found myself not being able to invest in the storyline. I had a hard time connecting with any of the characters as well. I will say that I did not expect the twist at the end which helped but overall this book was just average for me.

Thank you Netgalley and Ransom House Publishing-Ballantine for the gifted arc for my review! I also chose this book as my book of the month because the cover is just gorgeous!

Creepy. Twisty. Brilliant. Terrifying. Atmospheric.
The story is not a new one, but the way this one is written is really good! An influencer buys a murder house – what could go wrong, right? Nah, it does not go the way you think at first. It goes… worse. And then some more worse, but not in the ways you thought at first.
Honestly, I can’t believe there are no other books by this author. The writing is so good, I will be keeping an eye out for her next books!

I really enjoyed it! A creepy story of a manor that was left empty for many years, until a blogger, Sarah, buys it to renovate it. And then things go really bad. As the story progresses, we uncover new secrets which adds more intrigue to the story. I wish the story was a bit more tighter: some areas were not fully developed, and it felt a but unfinished. But I would recommend this whole=heartedly for this spooky season.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an early access to this thrilling novel!

Thank you Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, NetGalley, and Lisa M. Matlin for gifting me this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

What would you do if the murder house you bought didn’t want you inside?

The Stranger Upstairs centers around a social media influencer with a shady past, Sarah Slade, who just purchased a murder house in hopes of renovating it and selling it, all while documenting her journey on her online blog. She moves into Black Wood House with her husband, Joe, and her cat, Reaper. Sarah and Joe’s already rocky marriage starts taking a turn for the worse as soon as they move in. Strange things begin to occur almost immediately. Sarah begins to find random notes around her house, hearing noises at night, and even her cat starts acting peculiar. If that wasn’t bad enough, her neighbors aren’t giving her the warmest welcome either. It seems as if everyone, including the house, doesn’t want Sarah there. But what are her neighbors hiding? Is someone out to get Sarah, is she going crazy, or is the house actually alive?

I’ll start off by saying that this book was definitely an entertaining read. I kept trying to guess what was going on and building theories in my head the whole time I was reading. I’ll admit, there were a couple of things that felt a bit unbelievable (won’t disclose as this is a spoiler-free review). There are quite a few twists and turns throughout the book and the ending is definitely not one I was expecting. I wasn’t a huge fan of the end, though. The book had such an interesting premise and I feel as though more could have been done with it. Nonetheless, it was an overall good thriller and definitely very psychological.

This was a wild ride and I was totally on board! I would never, ever buy a murder house! Also, Sarah is kind of a bag of dicks and a nightmare rolled into one! This was my 1st book by Lisa M. Matlin but is not going to be my last!

#TheStrangerUpstairs
#NetGalley

3.5 stars

This book was wild. I really enjoyed a lot of this. It was kinda crazy and was mostly entertaining.

Sarah and Joe buy and move into the local murder house. They want to complete some renovations, sell it and make a quick profit. Along the way A LOT of lies and secrets are slowly revealed. Sarah likes to portray herself in a certain light, but it’s not accurate to who she really is.

The house itself plays its own character in this story and things get fairly twisty towards the end. All sorts of scenarios were running through my mind while I was trying to figure out WTF was actually going on. The big reveal was a little bit less exciting than I would have hoped for, but it worked.

If you are looking for something a little bit different that is also dark and creepy then this is for you.

*** I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and this is my honest opinion. ***

This is one of my favorite books I've read this year! It is a very eerie and atmospheric book. It has a really good amount of spooky moments that make this book intriguing and the writing is able to pull you right into the story. This was spectacular! Special Thank You to Lisa M Matlin, Random House Publishing, and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

Sarah Slade swears she isn’t afraid of living in a house where a murder occurred. In fact, she posts cheerful blog entries about how well the renovations are going and how happy she is. In reality, her marriage is falling apart, she can’t write her second self-help book, her therapy clients seem to see right through her, and the house seems to be actively fighting being fixed up.

As time passes, Sarah becomes more and more convinced that not only is there something wrong with the house, but with the neighbors too. There’s a past to the house that just may be able to top her own horrible past, and Sarah fears there’s a reckoning coming.

This is a creepy book from the start. Just knowing the murder that has taken place in the house automatically sets this up for scary times. As we learn more about the house, and Sarah’s past, things get even eerier, especially as both Sarah and the house seem to deteriorate simultaneously. This is a good book to pick up for spooky season.

Thank you @netgalley @bantambooksuk for the #gifted advance copy of #TheStrangerUpstairs!

I’ve always been fascinated by stories involving a haunted house, and when you add in the element of a social media influencer buying it, I’m definitely sold!

The Stranger Upstairs was an entertaining and fast-paced thriller that I ended up binging in less than 24 hours. There were so many twists and turns and I never guessed what was coming next. Although I do think the trope involving a FMC being an alcoholic/struggling with their mental health is a little overdone, I still ate this book up.

I also appreciated the fact that a cat plays a role in this story 🥹🫶🏼

The Stranger Upstairs has a great creep factor and will be a perfect read for the Halloween season. Sarah Slade and her husband buy a murder house. The neighbors and the house do not want them there but Sarah wants to remodel the house and sell it for a decent profit. She is going to post the progress on the house on her lifestyle blog. Soon many things start going wrong.

I don't want to give anything away so let me say, I enjoyed this book and would recommend reading The Stranger Upstairs. I found it to be a quick read and it held my attention throughout the book. I did not expect some of the twists at the end. The book will be available September 12, 2023 so perfect timing for the fall reading.

Thank you NetGalley for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. #NetGalley #TheStrangerUpstairs #LisaMMatlin

I received an ARC of this book. This story was creepy right from the start. Overall a good suspenseful mystery. Unusual twist on living in a "murder house".

The Stranger Upstairs is a fast-paced, twisty psychological thriller with a hint of the supernatural, featuring Sarah Slade, a marriage therapist with a dark past and large social media following. She and her husband Joe have just bought Black Wood House, the site of a murder/suicide and the disappearance of a child. Sarah's marriage is on very shaky ground from the start, seemingly because Joe never wanted to buy Black Wood House. But Sarah has a plan to renovate the house that had been empty for 40 years and sell it for a nice profit. She's staked all her money on it. So Joe goes grudgingly along.
And the stakes are not just her savings. With her marriage falling apart, her career as a marriage therapist and a social media influencer are threatened as well, if Sarah can't document her happy marriage and their public renovation of the house, she'll lose her clients and her followers.
Very quickly strange things start happening in the house, bad smells, accidents, mysterious notes appearing, footsteps in the attic in the dark of night. There is something almost alive about the house, which feels more sinister with each page. And it seems even her neighbors know more about what is going on than Sarah does.
The twist at the end is well-plotted through the book, and perhaps not entirely unexpected. Matlin also leaves one loose end in a subplot, but otherwise, it is a very satisfying read.

📚 #BOOKREVIEW 📚
The Stranger Upstairs by #LisaMatlin

⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

This is an ARC review and these are my honest thoughts and opinions.Y'all I have to say, this cover sucked me in! This book is about Sarah (MFC) a social media influencer with a secret past. Sarah and her husband Joe decide to move into and renovate the "Murder House" . The "murder house" got its name because a man killed his wife and then himself in the very house, which has sat empty for 40yrs. This story had so many chilling twists and turns it kept me up most of the night (part because I just didn't want to put the book down and part because I was terrified of closing my eyes!) For being Lisa's debut novel, she absolutely hit it out of the park.I will definitely recommend this book to others!
I want to say thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine for my ARC to read and review. As always ,please check the TW!