“The Invisible World” by Nora Fussner is what paranormal should be, vivid and spooky as it explores the reality of paranormal investigation shows and how your point of view determines your belief. The novel immediately pulls you into the world of the tv show, heightening the feel of the reality show with interspersing the events of around the characters with interviews and what shows on the film that the show captures. The use of multiple characters helps increase the pace of the book and the tension as the reader has to determine what is real and what is not. 

Especially as the reader interacts with Eve, you soon realize that more is going on than is expected. Is the activity in the house paranormal or is it created by Eve? Are psychic talents at play?  But as we encounter Caitlin, Sandra and the other characters, the questions arise about the reality of the events and the terror increases. I love the way that perceptions and the truth are questioned in a vivid and compelling way. The resolution of the story gives the reader some answers to the questions raised by the story. 

One aspect that didn’t work for me as well was that because there were so many different point of view characters, I did struggle to connect to the characters. For me, I prefer to have a tighter point of view and this was third person which limited how much emotional content the reader encounters. The story is still vivid and spooky. And the exploration of the paranormal in the context of a reality show is brilliant.

If you like vivid and spooky, I would recommend trying out “The Invisible World.” I especially suggest it if you are interested in the paranormal or ghost investigation shows. It explores those aspects brilliantly and the different point of views adds to the illustration that each character actually experiences something different, just like real life. The resolution is thoughtful and compelling. Overall, this is a very different book about the paranormal and the kid in me who loved ghost stories loved this book.

THE INVISIBLE WORLD is a slow burn of a ghost story, reminiscent of Paul Tremblay's A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS in subject if not in style. Fussner is more interested in what happens in the 'invisible world' between characters and within characters' minds than she is in supernatural horrors, which is not necessarily a bad thing! I ultimately wanted a little more connection with the main characters (or, perhaps, a clearer focus on fewer characters, as the narrative bounces around quite a bit).

Perhaps the highest compliment I can pay this wonderful book is that it reminded me of Paul Tremblay's 'A Head Full of Ghosts,' a somewhat same-themed novel, which I consider a masterpiece of slow-burn horror that's a page-turner at the same time. And, indeed, up to the last third, Nora Fussner's 'The Invisible World' does share a lot of Tremblay's writing style in that book (interview transcripts, footage descriptions, etc.), as well as the ambiguity and the interiority characterizing his novel. However, once I reached the last third of 'The Invisible World,' I realized that Nora Flussner's book was going to be something entirely different, an original and unique work with its own, distinctive voice, and a far more intense ending. I was not disappointed. In fact, Flussner's book may be among the top three 2023 horror books I've read so far.

Center-stage is a paranormal TV show, arriving at a supposedly haunted house for their new episode, Along comes a group of ghosthunters, employed by the TV producer, meant to investigate the supposed haunting and get some nice moments of the supernatural on camera - or, at least some hints of it given in post-editing narration. The owners of the house, a young couple with their own problems and frustrations, get slowly mixed up in the TV show politics, not realizing that such shows are not after truth but merely good performance. The realism with which Fussner describes the conflicts of TV crew and producer, the clashes between producer and director, the internal dilemmas of the couple, and, most of all, the craving of the ghosthunters themselves for the supernatural is incredibly well-done, utterly convincing, and may very well be the first time this kind of realistic portrayal appears in the horror genre.

The haunted house story in the book is intricate, somewhat obscure but quite unsettling, nothing gory but disturbing mentally and emotionally. A lot of the 'paranormal' experiences described sound like someone really lived them; the subtleties involved are handled with great respect and thoughtfulness, and the author has done the work necessary to show the supernatural elements in a veridical light, without ridicule or melodrama. I consider this a definite achievement.

Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early digital copy of the book and a chance to review it.

I'll be honest- I haven't read other reviews on this book, so my opinions might be slightly redundant. Let me start by saying that if you are expecting this to be a book filled with constant, show-stopping scares, you're going to be disappointed. It has some "ghostly" moments, but it focuses much more on the "invisible" things going within us- especially between and within the main characters, Ryan and Eve. It has an atmospheric, slow burn to it, and is quite well written and enjoyable, but I feel that the less you know/expect going into it, the more you'll truly reading it. I've not read books by this author in the past, but will absolutely keep my eyes ipen for future titles.

Sandra, a producer on a ghost-hunting TV show isn’t in it for the spookiness. When she arrives on location, she’s ready to get in and get out, sticking closely to the pre-written narrative. However, when the crew travels to a rural home owned by an artist and her husband, things don’t go as planned. Are ghosts real?
🖐 Takeaways

1) This is a solid haunted house story. It’s really easy to go to cheesy or just poorly written within this genre, but this is some solid story telling.

2) A good ghost story needs a balance of inner turmoil for the characters and external spooky events. Fussner does well with this.

3) The characters aren’t terribly likable, but they’re not on a level that hurts the book.

4) The spookiness level was low for me, and I think it’s because there are too many central characters. It’s difficult to build suspense and eeriness when you’re bouncing from character to character so often.

5) If you’re looking for some ghost hunters in a rural haunted house, you could check this one out. It wasn’t a favorite for me, but I did enjoy the reading experience.

Eve and Ryan think their house is wonderful until it's not- until weird things begin to happen and prompt Eve to remember oddities from her life. So (of course) they reach out to a ghost busters sort of tv reality show. This is told from multiple perspectives, including members of the crew as the tv people investigate. To be honest, it's less a tale of the paranormal than it is about the "reality" tv business and relationships. That said, it's a well written debut with some insightful commentary. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. A good read.

I am still trying to digest this read. I am not sure how I feel about it. It is told from multiple points of view, but I never get to fully know them and develop a bond. The descriptions and details of the house and various locations are spot on and made me feel like I was standing right there, taking in the scene. Trying to figure out what is occurring. What is real and what is not? The story leads you on, telling you a little at a time. Making you want to figure out this complex problem that is occurring inside Eve and Ryan's home.

Eve gave up the big city life to move in and marry her love, Ryan. Unexplainable things have been happening since they moved in. Pictures falling off the wall, glasses smashing, odd noises, are just a few of the examples. Eve is brought back to the road trip her family took across the country when their car seems to have lost four days. What happened during this time skip. Did it really happen or was this just a young girl's imagination? They decide to bring in a tv show that investigates paranormal activity to see if and what is happening under their roof.

I feel like there was a ton of build up for a less than lackluster ending. I feel like nothing was really explained and I am still left wanting more. Thank you to Nora Fussner and Vintage for my #gifted book.

I love the way this book was written. On the surface, it’s a haunted house story, but in reality it’s a character study of everyone involved in this paranormal investigation. I was so impressed by the rich characterization achieved so quickly in a book that is relatively short. The ending left me with one too many questions than I would have liked; it’s one I’m certainly going to be trying to decipher for awhile. Overall I really enjoyed this debut.

The Invisible World was an interesting book, it might be a good book to pass the time on a plane or other travel. However, I just didn't particularly connect to it.

The Invisible World is about a C list reality tv program that goes to peoples homes to film paranormal activity. I have personally never enjoyed watching this type of tv. The story follows the lives of the production crew and couple as they are filming the interviews for the tv show. Because of this it very much reads like the type of tv show it is based off of. I did enjoy reading the interviews that were written in the book. However, I struggled through finishing. I would not hand sell this title.

This finished copy was provided by the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Read if you love: Paranormal TV shows, haunted houses, horror movies like The Conjuring, and just being freaked out in general.

I liked the interview style format of The Invisible World. While I was intrigued, it left me wanting a little more horror/spooky moments.

I really enjoyed this story. It had my hooked from the very beginning and I was on the edge of my seat to find out what happened. Highly recommended.

I enjoy haunted house books and combining that with reality tv made this my kind of book. I liked the way a lot of this story was told as interviews with various characters. And the haunting that was happening was intriguing. But ultimately this novel was a bit flat. It's not scary or spooky enough to be considered horror - more like domestic drama with some spirits thrown in. And the build-up of the haunting and its explanation goes nowhere. I suppose it's a paranormal reality tv ending where nothing is really solved and you can make up your own mind, but that was disappointing.

Eve is frustrated, her house is haunted. To get help, she enlists a paranormal television show. They come to her house to try to get to the bottom of the haunting. But unexpectedly the crew experiences some very real experiences that can’t be explained. As the incidents multiply, it is up to the shows producer to create order in the madness. As the supernatural experiences intensify, they’ll have no choice but to venture within themselves and prove that the house is only as the people in it.

This book was a lot of fun. I love a good, haunted house horror book and this one did not disappoint. I loved how the author used television interviews as part of the tv show that was playing out in the plot to add to the book. It was a fun mixed media format and it really worked. The characters were rather interesting. I liked reading about Eve and the odd things that she has been experiencing. I loved the mix of experts the show brought in to help with the haunted house. From psychics to paranormal experts, they tried to figure things out. This one gave me vibes from The Blair Witch project, and I think it would be a fun one to turn into a film. This book has some unsettling moments, but no gore.

If you are looking for a creepy and unsettling horror book, then check this one out.

Thank you to the publisher Vintage and Netgalley, @Netgalley for this e-arc, and Vintage for sending me a copy in exchange for a review. All thoughts are my own.

Publication Date: September 26, 2023

The Invisible World by Nora Fussner is an eerie and virtuosic tale, a masterpiece of innovative storytelling and psychological horror.

AHHHHHH! ONE OF MY MOST ANTICIPATED READS OF 2023 JUST ROCKED MY WORLD.

Yall KNOW I love a haunted house horror book, and this scratched my neverending itch in a very dramatic and Stephen King-like way. **Cough, Cough the cancelled show Castle Rock came to my mind so many times. Cough Cough**

Eve and Ryan's home is haunted and a Ghost Hunting Reality TV show is coming to get the whole thing on tape for hundreds of thousands of viewers. But it's actually deeper than that... Eve has been having odd time slip/continuity errors her entire life, for example, that one time her and her grandparents ventured out to the beach, and decided to pull off onto the side of the road to rest and woke up 4 days later -- with her other family members panicked and amber alerts set. So, yeah. Weird.

What this crew ends up finding stumps the knowledge of seasoned psychics, paranormal experts, and cameramen altogether, for there's something more sinister at play than just a friendly neighborhood haunting...

The Invisible World is projected to hit shelves on September 26, 2023, and I'm so thankful to Vintage/Anchor Books, Nora Fussner, and Netgalley for granting me advanced digital access to such a haunting gem.

As someone who grew up on Ghostwatch, The Blair Witch Project, and the UK TV show Most Haunted, novels about ghost-hunting TV shows are my absolute jam. The Invisible World is a somewhat familiar story, with some uncanny surprises, and I loved it.

After leaving New York, and her dreams of being an artist, Eve is living a frustrating small-town life with her husband. After a few weird experiences in her home, she decides to contact a ghost-hunting TV crew. However, when it becomes clear the TV crew already has a narrative in mind, Eve attempts to take some power back, and reveals some weird things from her past. And then when a member of the crew goes missing, things get really spooky.

There are some incredibly unsettling moments in this story. It always makes me smile when I have to re-read a sentence or passage because I can’t quite wrap my head around what I’ve just read. This occurs a few times in The Invisible World, most notably Eve’s final, chilling interview with the TV crew.

Another thing that really impressed me was how quickly and effectively characters were established. It can be easy to dismiss a TV crew as one, egotistical entity, but individuals were really fleshed out. Sandra, the put-upon de facto leader, has an interesting narrative journey; I really enjoyed getting to know her.

The Invisible World is a spooky, weird, and engaging novel. Like all good ghost stories, it does not offer any definitive answers, which makes the strange moments even more terrifying. Highly recommended to lovers of the supernatural.