As a seasoned horror reader, The House of Last Resort sounded great. I love the setting, the main characters and the storyline. Overall, however, it didn't completely do it for me.

Is it creepy? A little. Is it dark and sinister? Teeny bit. Did I want more? Yes.

It starts off great. New home in a new, but old, country. A town desperately trying to breathe new life back into it. The home purchased has... vibes and things happen. Eventually the history of the home comes to light. Kate and Tommy are now wary of noises and incidents they passed off. Time passes, more things happen and we get to another, even darker secret, a twist I didn't see coming, and...the end.

For someone who hasn't read much horror I think this would be a good one. It would be a good read for Spooktober as the atmosphere is perfect for Fall reading.

I sincerely appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy.

Christopher Golden knows how to write a book synopsis that makes me desperate to read it. My first Golden book was All Hallows, which I didn't love (you can go back and read my review if you're curious). But once again, the synopsis got me. I am always willing to give authors a second chance, so I only briefly hesitated to pick this one up. I should have hesitated longer...

This book had all the elements of a winner. A creepy house in a crumbling Italian city? Check. Secret history? Check. Catacombs? Check. But somehow the execution just didn't work for me. The MCs weren't particularly likable, the plot and conversations felt a bit repetitive, and the buildup was too slow and made it borderline boring.

Reviews on this one were mixed. If you are a Golden fan, then you might enjoy this one. My husband really liked it. It just wasn't a fit for me. I think Golden is just not my cup of tea.

Definitely not what I was expecting, I should probably read blurbs beforehand, huh?
It was an interesting story nonetheless and did hold my attention at times but i just wasn’t feeling the demons, exorcisms, spirits.. overall, it wasn’t my cup of tea. That’s not to say it won’t be someone else’s though!

While I love this cover and the premise, this story didn't do it for me. I wanted to love this! And I genuinely love reading Golden. I'm not sure why this story didn't land for me but the timing was off and I just wanted it to end differently than it did.

An interesting concept that ended up falling flat for me. I would describe the story overall as fine, fully of potential but not going deep enough for what I was hoping for. The hidden secrets linked to this land/house had me interested, and there were moments where I couldn't put the book down, but I found those becoming further and further apart as we got closer to the end. I still enjoy Golden's writing, but he doesn't always live up to my expectations.

Wonderful horror again by Christopher Golden. Kept me on the edge of my seat and I finished in very few sittings. Once again, the ending felt incomplete, which just added to the horror aspect.

The House of Last Resort is now my third time reading Christopher Golden, and this man never disappoints when it comes to quick and creepy reads. Though this is marketed as horror, it felt a bit more like supernatural suspense to me with some horror elements that completely grossed me out. I LOVED that this book had catacombs in it, and the house that Tommy and Kate move into is old and super creepy. The annex is a point of exceptional eeriness, and between the rats and strange noises on top of the weird things that start to happen, I was beside myself.

The audiobook is fantastic and gets a huge recommendation from me. There are two narrators (Marnye Young & Noah Michael Levine) which means one for each viewpoint, and it is a DUET NARRATION!! This is my favorite kind of audio and having both voices throughout the entire storyline brought that something extra. This is not a traditional book in any sense of the word, and I love that Golden has such an original take on more traditional genres/tropes.

Read this if you enjoy amorphous antagonists, haunted anything, and can suspend disbelief!

Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

DNF at about 10% in unfortunately.

Thank you netgalley for the earc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 rounded down. Very atmospheric but undeniably strange read for me - maybe I just don't read enough horror, but things took a rapid left turn about two-thirds in, and it felt like the book kind of got away from itself, if that makes any sense. I enjoyed the setup and the setting more broadly, and the ending was undeniably eerie and descriptive, but the overall progression of things was a little bewildering for me and made me feel like I'd lost the thread.

I would round this book up to 3.5 stars solely based on the ending. This was a tough book to get through, because the first 60% was so boring. The story just seemed to ramp up out of nowhere and I really enjoyed the ending. Unfortunately, I would have never made it to the ending if I was better at DNFing books I don’t enjoy.

The premise of this book is fantastic. I’m just disappointed that the first half of the book isn’t more enjoyable.

This is a new-to me author and a new-to me genre, horror. I grabbed this one, knowing Golden is a New York Times bestselling author so felt it would be a good place to start a new genre. I'm not sure if it was the genre for me, but did finish this one. The weird rooms, strange noises and random opening doors are too much for me right now, especially when priests were thrown into this one. Thanks for the copy!

Loved this thriller! It was spooky and love the setting! The story did take so time to speed up but it helped with building up the suspense! The characters were enjoyable but not my favorite thing about the story. Definitely recommend reading this book!

What a wild ride this one was. It was yet another possible supernatural turned horror thriller storyline but it was intriguing so I did binge the audio in one day. Including the church and the grandparents and that’s what made this one a bit unique. I will say the twist at the end wasn’t something I expected but overall a pretty good read.

Christopher Golden writes a haunting tale that starts as a slow burn but quickly picks up the pace and takes you for a dangerous and terrifying narrative through the times.

I really enjoyed the premise of the book. Were the couple is looking for a fresh start and move to a house in a small village as part of a program to bring people back the the village. The village sits on top of various catacombs where bodies are buried. What i didn’t like is the bodies are of people/children that where mental ill or had disabilities and where sent to this place in order for the priests to perform exorcisms because it was thought that these people were processed by demons.. Other than that it was a pretty good read.

Thank you st Martin’s press and netgalley for an arc.

For my love of round numbers, it stands to mention that this is 1000th review of this book on GR.
Since most of them have averaged out to just about three stars, you may get the idea that this isn't the author's bets work. That idea would be accurate. Golden can and has done better.
Maybe the epigraph from someone primarily famous for Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants was a warning.
At any rate, I expected more from this book. The idea was there, credit where credit's due, the author did come up with something original for this haunted abode. The location was there, a small town in Sicily that lures in fresh blood with promises of one-euro real estate. And if that sounds too good to be true, it is. It really is. As the couple in the book quickly finds out.
Now here's everything that was missing or left you wanting more:
1.The pacing was way off. The novel kept getting bogged down in descriptive details, which only served to highlight that there did not seem to be enough plot.
2.The couple is the story was generic in the way that left the reader utterly indifferent to their fate.
3.The explanations and overexplanations never stopped. The overall result was highly predigested and repetitive.
This is all very frustrating because it clearly could have been a much better read. There are glimpses of that here and there, in the genuinely creepy moments and a fun ending. But overall, a bit of a slog, though thoughtfully brief. Thanks Netgalley.

This book was incredible! I absolutely loved the unique twist on the haunted house trope, set against the backdrop of beautiful Italy. It's a slow burn, but once the tension kicks in, it grips you hard. The atmosphere, the suspense—it all came together in such a captivating way. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment!

"Their beautiful adventure. With just a hint of haunting. She had decided that if ghosts really did exist, as long as they kept their mischief to slamming the occasional door, she could survive that."

Tommy and Kate (hello old fashioned quintessential American names) buy a house in the small coastal town of Becchina in Sicily. They bought their house for $1, with the promise that they will make improvements and bring promising endeavors to this small dying town. There is also the added benefit that Tommy has family here, and actually used to visit his grandparents there regularly when he was a child, until his father and grandfather had a falling out and stopped talking. Tommy and Kate's new house is huge and beautiful, but Tommy's grandmother won't cross the threshold and they begin hearing all kinds of things in the night. Plus there's a mysterious door that won't open....

What this book does masterfully is setting the scene.
"The darkness breathed down here. It had a heartbeat."
The setting is chef's kiss for a horror story and it was so easy to visual this rambling old house in a coastal Sicilian town and the beauty and the history but also the inherent creepiness. Add to that the fact that Tommy and Kate's beautiful house was once owned by the Vatican and how it was used. I won't spoil it as that is one of my favorite parts of the book.

Despite all this, the book ends up being just ok. The characters don't feel very real or very interesting and this was not as creepy as it could have been. It ending up feeling like a formulaic horror movie when it had the potential for more. Not mad I read it, but won't be one I highly recommend either.

I had to DNF and half way through. It was creepy but I just couldn’t connect with the characters, or the writing. Just wasn’t for me.

I got about 22% into this and I think I'm DNF'ing for now. I haven't had any pull to it to continue. It's rather slow and in parts feels a bit rambling. I've been in a bit of a reading slump, and particularly a thriller/horror slump, and since i have no pull to this currently, it's not helping my ability to pick it up. 3 stars because I can see where this has promise if it pics up