This. Book. My god. I don’t typically stay up all night reading books - especially now that I am pregnant - but I read 50% of this book in one sitting while my husband slept beside me because I could NOT stop! The pacing, the plot, the characters, from the very first page I was pulled into this crazy house and this crazy protagonist’s mind. I finished the book the very next morning and I do believe it is the fastest I have ever read a book. This book is going to be a hit in September and I am so grateful for my early copy!!! By a debut author no less, I am so psyched to read everything else she gives us!

This book was a wild ride from start to finish; nothing I thought I knew turned out to be true. I really liked the wondering about the main character and if she could be trusted or not, especially as the book progressed her world became more and more disordered.

The twists were perfectly timed and kept me guess not only as the the character and their backstories but to the cause of the problems within the house itself. It is an idea I have not seen in a book before and really got me thinking about how this could or would come to be.

Thank you so much for the advance copy!

"One need not be a chamber to be haunted; One need not be a house; The brain has corridors surpassing Material place." (Emily Dickinson)

Lisa Matlin recognizes the powerful impact of the human psyche when it comes to the deep pinches in the mind that hold those terrible hauntings. The Boogey Man is all too familiar. He sits in the dark recesses of our closets or folds himself expertly under our beds at night. We still look high and low for him. Strangely, he resides coiled tightly in our own minds.

Sarah Slade thinks that she has tapped into a gold mine. She and her husband, Joe, have purchased the infamous Black Wood House in an upscale Australian area. Their plan is to renovate it with the least cost and resell it for an amazing profit. They got it cheap. Way cheap. Why, you ask? Oh, it's one of those. A murder house.

To most people that would be off-putting. To Sarah, it's an opportunity to re-establish themselves and start over with a few coins in their pockets. Sarah is a popular social media influencer who happens to be a therapist as well. Joe is a bartender. Both have new jobs not too far from the Black Wood House. Their marriage is feeling the pressure of some bad decisions in the past. Oh, Baby, but this present decision will be a killer of a decision.

And the neighbors? Far from welcoming. Sarah has found threatening notes and a dead rat in her mailbox. The previous owner, Amanda, went missing. Nobody wants to talk about it. Nobody.

Lisa Matlin has an uncanny ability of creating a highly toxic atmosphere within these walls. Even the contractors hang up when they hear the address. Matlin lets the tides overflow and permeate into these individuals themselves. It takes a certain talent to inject a high level of tension and an even more crucial talent to keep it there throughout the novel. Sarah's past pulls up a chair in this one and feels quite at home in the depth and breadth of this house. Warning: Nightlight will not be optional while cracking this one open. It's a necessity.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House and to Lisa Matlin for the opportunity.

I really enjoyed this thriller/horror! There were some parts where I was genuinely scared for our main character. I only dinged a star because I wish we would’ve found out what happened to Janet at the end of the book and I was hoping to find out more about why the house is the way it is (reasoning behind the paranormal stuff).

I really enjoyed this debut book from Lisa Matlin. I was hooked from the beginning and did not see all the twists coming at all finished it in almost one sitting! Sarah is a seemingly successful self help author and influencer who decides to buy a famous murder house and document renovating it. Of course nothing is as easy as it seems and problems begin almost immediately. We start to see that Sarah's marriage and her career aren't really what they appear to be either. The neighbors don't want them there and it seems the house itself doesn't want to be fixed up. Soon everything around Sarah is falling apart and she has to figure out who or what is causing it and how to stop it. This was a quick suspenseful read that I will for sure recommend. I want to thank NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the arc in exchange for an honest review.

Good book! This book had a bit of everything! It had suspense, intrigue, murder, mystery, and some really creepy twists and turns! The storyline was very interesting and kept me glued to my Kindle! I definitely recommend reading this book as it was well worth reading! Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for sharing this book with me!

Creepy and gothic. I gasped a few times throughout. So good! It still left me with a few questions- is it all in Sarah’s mind?
The cat was a great addition and the name couldn’t fit any better.

This book definitely gives you the creeps. Similar to books like Girl on the train, you aren’t sure if you can trust the narrator. I found the twist to be a little lackluster but was thoroughly creeped out by the character Lizzie and her obsession with “skins”.

The Stranger Upstairs is a good mix of horror and thriller. I was initially drawn to the book from the description, influencer buys a house that was a previous murder scene to fix up. As I am a lover of HGTV and easily influenced by Instagram ads, this was right up my alley. The main character Sarah is your typical influencer, a perfect life on social media but with our Sarah there is something not quite right. I thought the author did a great job of introducing us to the “real” Sarah slowly, reveling new secrets at a steady pace. The house itself becomes the most important character and I loved by the end of the book, I was thinking that the house was alive as well! I couldn’t stop reading and thought the book ended with a great twist. I highly recommend picking this book for a fast, twisty and tension filled read!

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam / Random House Publishing Group for this advance copy in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you for the ARC! Loved everything about this book, could not put it down. Love all the twists ! Definitely kept me guessing. I definitely recommend reading this book!

I couldn't read it. It wasn't in order. Page one was followed by some other page and then page two and then some other page. Very unfortunate because I wanted to read this.

I love stories about creepy houses and this was a great creepy house. I'd like to continue reading about it and the next owner! I do not love stories featuring a female protagonist who self-admits to "a bit of an alcohol issue." When the main character is so unreliable that we can't trust what she's experiencing or how she's narrating it, I start to wonder what is the point. Thankfully, this protagonist wasn't inebriated the entire time and alcohol wasn't the only issue in the book. I found the unraveling of her backstory interesting. The side characters were great, from townspeople as creepy as the house to a kind coworker.

Sarah is a social media influencer who buys a murder house to fix up. She wants to use the house for social media engagement and hopes to turn a large profit after it’s renovated. From the beginning, there are creepy spooky gothic vibes all around.

There is pushback from the community over her buying the house, unexplained things start to happen, her husband is always absent, she receives mysterious notes, and secrets start to slowly unravel.

This was a fun haunted house story. It was well paced with a good ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bantam for an eArc in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, what a debut! Kudos to you Lisa Matlin! ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"The Black Wood House" or #murderhouse as it's known to it's neighbors in Beacon is notorious for the murder/suicide that happened there many years prior and the house has remained vacant ever since. Along comes Sarah and her husband Joe, although I include him reluctantly as he is never there and takes off for days/weeks at a time. What good is he? Sarah and Joe seem to have their own secrets and are running from their past.

Legend has it that Bill Campbell killed his wife in this house and attempted to kill his own daughter, and then kills himself. The floorboard in Sarah's bedroom remains stained with blood. Strange things start to happen. Sarah hears footsteps in the attic, her cat Reaper seems afraid, and Sarah starts to believe the house doesn't want her there.

This was haunting and creepy and keeps you guessing. I loved the tension built up in every chapter.
Sarah appears to be descending into madness. Is she an unreliable narrator or is it the house? This is a debut novel and was very impressive! 5 ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐!!!

I received this ARC as a surprise gift and am so very thankful to Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read this book prior to publication. Thank you!

Thank you to Random House - Ballantine and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

First of all, what a gorgeous cover! The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin is a creepy thriller about a haunted house. The story revolves around Sarah, who has just bought and moved into an infamous murder house. Black Wood House was the site of multiple murders, and Sarah is set out to renovate it. But when sinister events keep piling up, will Sarah finally acknowledge that the house is haunted? Or will she persevere through the renovations?

Here is a creepy excerpt from Chapter 1:

"Welcome to Black Wood House.
This is the front door Janet Campbell burst out of. This is the barren yard she ran across, fleeing for her life. Those are her cries echoing down the lonely street for forty years now.
Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me. Don’t kill me.
Upstairs is a bedroom with bloodstained floorboards. This is where Susan Campbell bled to death, and this is where I’ll sleep. Some people think that’s messed up.
I am not some people."

Overall, The Stranger Upstairs is a creepy thriller that will appeal to fans of The Haunting of Hill House or The Woman on the Train. One highlight of this book is the haunted house and horror vibes, which would make this the perfect Halloween read. There are plenty of creepy notes and dark attics to go around. Another highlight of this book are the jaw-dropping twists and reveals. I finished this book in one setting because I could not put it down! If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of thrillers in general, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in September!

Just when you think you’ve got it all figured out… you’re proven wrong. Theres twist after twist and The Stranger Upstairs will leave you with your jaw on the floor. I read this in 2 days, simply because I couldn’t put it down - If you’re trying to get out of a reading slump, I highly recommend reading this.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House publishing for this eARC in exchange for my honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book reminds me of an Agatha Christie novel! The way the story played out and the hidden mystery made this read a page turner! There were a few redundancies, but even with that, this was excellent!

Thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read this book early and to Netgalley as well! I read this in one evening as I could not put it down - if you get the chance to do the same, please do. This book is one of my favorite kinds of reads and it quenched my thirst so well. Definitely adding this author to my favorites list.

This book is amazing! I’ve spent the entire day reading it! So much for adult responsibilities. Seriously just clear your day before opening this book.

Wow!! I have been on such a great roll lately! I have been choosing such great books to read. I’ve had so many 5 star books lately and The Stranger Upstairs was no exception. I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and I could NOT put it down. It was such a fun, fast paced thriller, I am so surprised that this is a debut novel for @lisa_m_matlin. Sure didn’t seem like it. (Also I read the author’s note and what a fun down to earth author she is. Love her 💕)

This was a story about a Instagram Influencer, Sarah, who has bought Black Wood House. It’s an old house, where a double murder took place many years before and has remained empty ever since. Well, Sarah and her husband Joe move in with plans to renovate and then turn a profit. Both trying to run away from past mistakes. However, after the double murders, the house has been said to be haunted, and Sarah starts noticing strange things happening. She’s hearing footsteps up in the attic, someone is leaving her notes about things only she would know about. The neighbors don’t want her there and neither does the house itself. 😱 She starts to think the house is talking to her. Is it or is it simply that Sarah is losing her mind?
This is a crazy ride and I tell you, I could not put this book down. I had to keep going and going. Every time I planned on stopping, the cliffhanger chapters kept me wanting more. This was a haunting ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars for me!!

Thank you to @netgalley and @randomhousepublishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review! Everyone needs to buy this book when it comes out. It’s a great one!
Pub Date: September 26, 2023

Were you lucky enough to get an ARC of this book? Have you read this one yet? What were your thoughts? I’m dying to discuss with someone.