One House Left by Vincent Ralph is a paranormal YA horror novel that is absolutely chock full of urban legends!

Main character Nate Campbell and his disconnected family keep relocating to different communities and I was intrigued to find out why... but instead I found myself not fully connecting to any of the characters or to the plot.

It felt like this story began at an odd place, and instead of being purposefully mysterious, it was just confusing. I had hoped that everything would begin to make more sense as the story unraveled, but I'm still not sure I had a good grasp on the whole thing. Although I was never able to figure out the randomly interspersed second perspective, I'm sure they were there for a reason.

I enjoyed reading the tagline "Ready or not. Whatever you do. The Hiding Boy is coming for you." which became even more sinister via audiobook! Admittedly, there were some creepy AF moments that make this a perfect choice for spooky season, but I wouldn't necessarily compare it to a R.L. Stine book.

Overall, while this was a quick read I much preferred Secrets Never Die from Ralph!

Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press and Wednesday Books for the complimentary copy to read and review.

As a huge R.L Stine and Urban Legend fan “R.L Stine meets Urban Legend” pulled me in. I was super excited to start this one based off the synopsis. Needless to say this book does not live up to the comparison. I definitely expected more based on the description. This was one I finished just to finish, but I didn’t have any need or desire to keep reading. Some parts of the story were interesting, but not enough to keep my attention. I struggled to connect with the story or any of the characters.

I love urban legends. This entire read was giving me such nostalgia from my early RL Stine days. I enjoyed the characters and the story. All the fun twists and turns toward the end I was not entirely expecting.

As a fan of Vincent Ralph’s previous books, I was excited for One House Left, but it didn’t quite live up to expectations. While the premise was intriguing, the story took some odd turns that left me more puzzled than thrilled. The eerie atmosphere and suspenseful moments were well done, but the plot felt disjointed at times, making it harder to stay fully engaged. It had potential, but compared to his past work, it lacked the same gripping intensity and satisfying payoff. A decent read, but definitely one of his stranger ones.

I'm all about spooky urban legends, and this was just what I was looking for! Even though it is a YA novel, it didn't read that way for me (in a good way). This was a really slow burn, and at times a bit confusing. However, about 3/4 of the way through, things take quite a turn and all the questions I may have had were answered. The ending was Goosebumps-like, and I absolutely loved it. Great book!

I read Vincent Ralph's Secrets Never Die back in September of 2023 and while I enjoyed it, I didn’t love it near as much as I loved One House Left. This book blew that one out of the water, and I adored the mixture of supernatural suspense, gore, mystery, and fright! This would be an extra creepy book to read around spooky season, but also safe to enjoy all year round. 😉 I wasn’t expecting the story to be broken into parts and when you get to the second part it is a doozy. There are also extremely creepy chapters throughout that just upped the anxiety I had while reading this. I didn’t really know where it was going, and I had more than a couple of surprises by the time I got to the end.

The audiobook is narrated by a full cast and never was there a better decision. Pete Cross, Jesse Vilinsky, Andre Santana, TJ Clark & Gary Tiedemann all did a phenomenal job and while I think it could have been made even better with some sound effects, they made the audio a star that can’t be missed. I am shocked that One House Left has such a low average on Goodreads, and it definitely made me a fan of Ralph forever. Murder Road reminded me of the Simone St. James book with that title, but I have to say I like the road in this one more. The ending did throw me for a bit of a loop, but I think I liked it?!

Read this if you are a fan of young adult horror that is more creepy than scary, the book The Whisper Man by Alex North, and ghost stories.

Audiobook Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐.5

5/5 🌟 This was my first read by Vincent Ralph and will definitely not be my last! The twists and turns throughout this book, I couldn't turn the pages fast enough! One of my top 5 thriller/suspense reads! You'll want to grab this book asap!

Thanks to NetGalley, St Martins Press, and Wednesday Books for this copy of "One House Left."

This was spooky and creepy and WOW - the twist in the middle caught me completely off guard! And the ending - let me know if you read it and what you think it meant.

So Nate and his family move to a new town and he's reluctant to make friends because it usually goes wonky once they find out he grew up near Murder Road.

But when he falls for Max and it turns out that her friends are obsessed with proving or disproving urban legends, he can't hide from the past any longer.

This book was overwhelmingly average. The characters were fine - not interesting enough to really stick out in my mind as anything other than bland. The plot was fine - a little disjointed in the beginning but interesting enough for me to finish the book. I honestly can't think of any other words to describe this book as other than average and a little bland.

"R.L. Stine meets Urban Legend" is ALWAYS going to pull me in! And I am happy to say this one met all my expectations. I couldn't love this one more and Vincent Ralph is going to be someone I look for in the future.

Read 8/28/24

This author is really good at writing YA Thrillers. I always feel like they have the right amount of suspense, and the plots are unique enough to keep me invested. This story was a little more on the horror side of things, but I think he did a good job with it. Could you feed randomly chosen people to a vengeful ghost if it meant keeping your family safe?

There’s nothing better than a book that keeps you hooked the whole time and then blows your mind with a twist in the last 20%. It’s like you’re so sure you know where it’s going, and then—bam!—everything changes. That’s when a book really pulls you in and shows off its best moves.

This was a great mystery thriller. I enjoyed the plot of this one and loved the idea behind the story. I did think there were a lot of great elements throughout the book but this book just didn’t have the impact that I was expecting for the plot and genre that it is in. Overall definitely recommend reading this one!

One House Left by Vincent Ralph is a gripping supernatural thriller that explores the chilling legacy of a cursed street. Sixteen-year-old Nate Campbell, who has grown up haunted by the legend of Murder Road, must contend with a family history of tragedy linked to the vengeful spirit of the Hiding Boy. When his family moves to escape the curse, Nate hopes for a fresh start, but he’s drawn into his new friends’ obsession with ghost stories. As the line between old and new legends blurs, the tension builds to an unsettling climax. Ralph masterfully blends suspense, mystery, and a touch of the supernatural, keeping readers on the edge of their seats. A must-read for fans of eerie tales and psychological thrillers.

This book reminded me of a train wreck. You want to look away hit you just can’t stop staring. Or like going to the movies and you don’t like how the movie is going but you paid for tickets so you stick it out and finish it. I just, no so much no.

One House Left started off ok but then I felt like I was missing something as I kept reading. There were so many unanswered questions. I felt like we only got the surface of the characters and never really knew enough about them to care or root for any of them. The last quarter of the book picked up and got crazy so I was able to fly through the end, but the first 3/4 of the book dragged on & left me with more questions.

I would’ve loved this set in the 80s— almost gave off a Stranger Things friend group vibe (maybe because the girl’s name was max?).

Many thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for this copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was a good YA horror/thriller read. If you tend to like books more on the scary and adult side, this might not be for you. It was spooky in the way that urban legends are spooky, but wasn't scary or vulgar. I enjoyed reading this as a light wrap up to fall!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A throw back thrill ride. Like a more grown up RL Stine novel. Full of chills and twists. With great characters and fun writing. A delight.

The storyline is great and definitely kept me intrigued the entire time. Sometimes I had a hard time following the story especially the ALT chapters. With that being said, I really enjoyed this book!

I tried reading this quite a few times but this storyline never really made sense to me? I felt so confused for so much of this book and even though I loved the take on urban legends I just never fully got into this one. The family was clearly on the run but everything else was so vague. More clarity would have been appreciated. I know horror is usually ambiguous, but this is YA. If I struggled then surely a teen will, too! Overall, it did pick up by like the 70% mark but I still wasn’t thrilled with the direction this took. Hoping I enjoy other books by this author more in the future.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Press/Wednesday Books for this ARC!