A short little ghost story about a children’s game gone too far. Children are a staple in horror, and it still works, very creepy. This was a very short book/novella, but the story was interesting, and I could tell that the author had a clear vision about the world and the setting. That shined through.

Wow! WHAT HAPPENED AT HAWTHORNE HOUSE just stunned me, rendered me speechless; and I 'm still pondering. This was my first encounter with author of the short-form Gothic, Hadassah Shiradski; surely it will not be the last. Now I've read some Weird Boarding School/Orphanage riffs [most recently Philip Fracassi's newest, BOYS IN THE VALLEY]; but Ms. Shiradski has managed a particular historical English Gothic rendering quite exquisitely. This is a take-no-prisoners variation which settles into one's imagination, burrows in. I recommend, do read the content warnings before commencing. Matron is awful, but the girls! Way worse! And of course, there's not going to be sweetness and light and an afternoon stroll in an English garden! This is Horror Gothic! And persistence beyond the veil! So beware!

Thank you netgalley for this novella.

Firstly i just want to say i love the cover and at first i thought it was a little middle grade to me HOWEVER as i kept reading it got darker and darker and it had one of my favorite concept in novels that make me uncomfortable lots of insects. 🕷️ I love that this novel basically had 2 stories in 1 but still the same story if that makes sense. Past and present novels are one of my favorite kind of reads. This book follows a manor and a game they play for someone to become queen and to wear a certain type of grown it was dark IMO also this was also ghostly as well it had so many different elements and i loved it. Usually for me alot of the manor based books i dont like and the concept always misses but i loved this one. Strong characters GREAT writing and dark moments this novel was great!

Thanks Brigids Gate Press, LLC, NetGalley, and Hadassah Shiradski for the chance to review an ARC of What Happened at Hawthorne House. This is the story of a group of girls in 1926 at Hawthorne House Orphanage that are desperately searching for something to fill their time. One of the, Roslyn, comes up with a game based on a court that you had to work your way through to become Queen. She will do ANYTHING to become Queen. This was a very entertaining book and a quick read. Definitely would consider it a horror/ mystery novel.

What happened at Hawthorne House is the story of a group of girls who create a game to bring some joy into their dreary lives in the orphanage: it's the Clover Court, where they all have titles but only one can be Queen.

The first fourth of the book sets up the dynamic between the girls, which is sniping, bullying, and plotting, each wanting to be the highest in the hierarchy. Then blood starts to run, and a great tragedy unfolds.

Thirteen years later, Andrew Endley sees the girls' spirits in the remains of Hawthorne House, soon to be rebuilt to be of use housing people during WWII. In order to get the construction project going, he plays along with their game, asking for their approval and offering himself as Ambassador to the Clover Court. Andrew knows, however, that the cruelty and vile behavior of the spirits pose a very real danger to anyone staying in the rebuilt house, and learns the rules of dealing with them as best he can.

The three main bullies, Rosalyn, Sophie, and Marie, are pretty interchangeable - there is no rhyme or reason for their behavior, they're all just awful and no one is safe.

There are a lot of triggers in this novella, the least of which is the fact that the girls are ghosts for half the story.

The cruelty of children is viscerally depicted but I found it almost numbing, it was so constant. There is no let up to these girls' behavior, and much of the book consists of "and Sophie did this, and Rosalyn did that, and Marie said that" like a horrible Ferris wheel of names and deeds.

In the hands of a more polished writer, What Happened at Hawthorne House might have been more compelling - as it is, it was too repetitive for any chance of truly lingering horror.