The Haunting of Room 904 had all the ingredients I usually eat up—a haunted hotel, a grieving psychic, creepy deaths that defy logic—but somehow it felt more like a slow simmer than a full boil. I loved Olivia as a character—gritty, complicated, and just barely holding it together—but the pacing dragged in parts, and some of the twists didn’t hit as hard as I expected. That said, the atmosphere? Chef’s kiss. Dark hotel halls, ghostly whispers, and that lingering dread made it perfect for a moody fall read. I didn’t love it the way I wanted to, but I still respect the vibes and would totally pick up whatever Erika Wurth writes next—she knows how to craft a haunting, even if this one didn’t fully possess me.

Fantastic and all the Conjuring feels with Indigenous culture. I very much appreciated this book and everything it offered. The protagonist is great, the story is solid and well thought out. I loved it and have been recommending it to everyone. We need more horror books with Indigenous representation, please!

After the mysterious suicide of her sister Naiche, Olivia Becente finds she has a gift of communicating with the dead. Within a few years, she has become the most in-demand paranormal investigator in Denver and makes house calls to investigate mysterious items, places, and circumstances. She loves her job but is still haunted by the loss of her sister. She receives a call from the famous hotel where her sister died to investigate mysterious deaths of young women every few years in that same room no matter what room they checked into beforehand. Olivia is forced to confront a cult, a radical racist journalist, and a crazy ex-boyfriend in order to get to the bottom of this mystery and found out what really happened to her sister – and how to stop it from happening to anyone else.
This was an excellent indigenous paranormal horror read that dove into the creepy vibes almost instantly! It had the perfect amount of spiritual séance conjuring scenes that kept the story moving and kept it feeling spooky and suspenseful. I loved the way the author incorporated her indigenous culture throughout and honored the victims of The Massacre. The flashbacks were woven in well and helped provide some insight to this horrific event in history, which I was unaware of and I learned so much. I appreciate the political leanings and references expertly woven throughout the book in regards to race, culture, gender, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic background. The book did jump around between different supporting characters and situations so it was tough to follow at times, but did end up bringing everything together and connecting most of the dots to the main story by the end. There were a couple of huge twists that really caught me by surprise! I do wish there had been a final chapter to provide an update on where the main characters are now, but it also felt fitting to end the way it did. Overall I really enjoyed this one and highly recommend it, especially if you like learning about indigenous culture and events and if you enjoy paranormal, suspense, and horror genres. Thank you to NetGalley, Erika T. Wurth, and Flatiron Books for the gifted ARC. This is a voluntary and honest review.

Olivia’s story is filled with mysterious paranormal occurrences. Deaths in a motel room are tied together but what is going on here? A weird cult? The further you get in the book the more you can’t put it down!

Again, Erika Wurth always has my heart, this book is terrifying. The idea of ghosts and hotels, and then a personal mystery? Terrifying. I loved it

This is a really good scary story with a lot of the kind of stuff that gets to me in horror: mirrors, jump-scares in mirrors, scary things happening in the corner of your eye, ghosts mingling with other other-worldly creatures, and vivid, wicked dreams. A fast-paced, dark read with some true historical and spiritual depth beneath the horror.

An interesting story. A lot going on.

A paranormal investigator of native descent sets out to find out the secret behind room 904 in the famous Brown Hotel. Her sister was one of the women that killed themselves in room 904.

Over all, the story was a bit long with a few too many story lines. The characters were fairly likable but it was a bit hard to follow. I appreciated the paranormal aspect of this book and would read more from this author.

Erika T. Wurth's The Haunting of Room 904 delivers a compelling blend of supernatural thrills and emotional depth. At the center of this haunting narrative is Olivia Becente, a gifted paranormal investigator who unexpectedly inherits her sister’s ability to communicate with spirits after Naiche’s mysterious death. Olivia’s quest for truth brings her to the eerie corridors of Denver's historic Brown Palace Hotel, notorious for a chilling pattern of deaths in room 904.

Wurth expertly weaves suspense with heartfelt introspection, crafting a story that delves into profound themes of loss, grief, and familial secrets. The atmospheric tension is palpable, intensified by Olivia’s encounters with dangerous cults, deceptive allies, and unnerving supernatural phenomena. Each revelation deepens the intrigue, compelling readers to turn pages rapidly toward the chilling climax.

The Haunting of Room 904 stands out not only for its gripping plot and supernatural chills but also for its genuine emotional resonance and complex character dynamics. Fans of paranormal thrillers and character-driven mysteries will find Wurth's novel hauntingly unforgettable and utterly absorbing.

The haunting of room 904 by Erika Wurth follows Olivia, who has a special gift of communication with the dead. Using this gift, she sets out to find the truth of who killed her sister. Unfortunately I was pretty disappointed with this writing and flow of the story, it felt choppy and disoriented. Overal just too much going on and hard to keep focus.

Read If You Like:
• Paranormal thrillers with emotional depth
• Indigenous protagonists and cultural narratives
• Haunted hotel settings with historical resonance
• Stories exploring grief, guilt, and family secrets
• Mysteries intertwined with supernatural elements

Olivia Becente never anticipated inheriting her sister Naiche’s ability to communicate with the dead. But after Naiche’s sudden and mysterious death in Denver’s historic Brown Palace Hotel, Olivia begins to experience unsettling visions and encounters with spirits. Now a sought-after paranormal investigator, Olivia is drawn back to the very hotel that haunts her past. Room 904, the site of Naiche’s death, harbors a dark secret: every few years, a woman dies there under inexplicable circumstances.  

As Olivia delves deeper into the hotel’s mysteries, she uncovers connections to a secretive cult, confronts a journalist intent on discrediting her, and faces betrayals from those she trusts. The investigation forces her to confront not only external threats but also the lingering grief and guilt over her sister’s death. The line between the living and the dead blurs, revealing that some hauntings are rooted in unresolved emotions and historical injustices. 

Thank you so so much to the publisher for my gifted ALC and ARC!

I received this book in exchange for an honest review from NetGalley.

Overall, I liked the premise and the ideas behind the book, but the execution of it was just not for me. The writing felt very juvenile and stilted, and the dialogue was not at all realistic.

Genuinely scary and a wonderful contemporary haunted hotel story. I particularly enjoyed the framing devices of starting chapters with on-line paranormal equipment / haunted items listings. A strong sophomore work from Wurth.

People who want power and immortality will do anything to achieve these goals; even sell their soul. I found this book so intense. The descriptions of the massacre was heartbreaking because the soldiers attacked women and children. How cowardly of these men to treat the native people so cruelly. What they did was beyond evil. To wipe out a group of people out of hate never ends well for other party. Then descendants of those who massacred the native people thought it would be ok to try and use tools they found to continue the harm. I felt so much sorrow at what happened to Naiche. She struggled with the message she received from the spirits but was unable to take on the entity on her own. Had she been stronger, emotionally and mentally, she could have ended the curse. Once Olivia stepped in to investigate why her sister did not ask for her help, she was drawn deeper into the power struggle. I could feel the icy cold breeze and observe the intent of the shadows to end Olivia. She was brave and determined to set right the wrongs of the past. With the help of family and friends Olivia was able to face her guilt and find a way to end the decades old curse.

I LOVED White Horse and couldn’t wait to get my hands on The Haunting of Room 904.

This had so many elements that I absolutely adore: ghosts, murder, grief, cults and also a personal favorite - it had an indigenous angle to it… needless to say, this definitely held my attention.

I loved our main character, and I also loved the diversity of the characters we were given. I was flying through the pages, anxious to find out how this all wrapped up, it read quickly because of how well it was written.

For those that loved White Horse, this is much different so please don’t go in expecting the same type of storytelling. I would say this one was more of a supernatural thriller, but it was incredibly enjoyable for me.

Many thanks to Flatiron for my eARC. The Haunting of Room 904 is available now.

I found that the concept of this book was really interesting, but the execution of it fell flat. The premise was so interesting and drew me in straight from the start of the novel, but I found that the book was very reliant on telling and not showing - I felt like there were entire paragraphs of just information dumps of past experiences with Olivia's sister or even just past experiences in general. I feel like it was written a bit like a Y/A novel, which isn't necessarily a bad thing but I don't think it really worked with this book. I also appreciated the amount of diversity in the book, but a lot of it felt like it fell a bit into the stereotypes.

2.75 stars rounded up

I liked this book and there were even more parts that I wanted to like but doubted their execution.

I enjoyed the main character, as well as the glimpses into her life and job. And the side characters were all independent people who seemed fairly developed. The writing was also enjoyable though the pacing and expository parts weakened the overall story.

The most difficult part was getting to the meat of the story, because there are cases in the book before the titular case, and it was all just very confusing. I found myself wishing that the main case had been introduced earlier to stem the confusion and difficulty I had getting into the story. Not to mention that a lot of the background stuff didn't really hit with me: when connections were revealed, the reveals often felt forced and had to be over explained by other characters before I was kind of like...okay?

The horror when it's there is good and interesting (including the every day social and historical horror which was definitely most effective to me), but a lot of other parts felt like spinning its wheels trying to get to the different beats.

Overall, an interesting story with great characterization, but some review of the pacing and expository details would have created a stronger delivery.

The Haunting of Room 904 by Erika T. Wurth is a novel I was highly anticipating and one I have been wrestling with reviewing for months. While the premise of the novel sounds tailor-made for my liking, unfortunately, I am sad to report that is not the case in application. It's hard to say where things did not work for me, but on the whole, 904 felt very disjointed. While multiple plotlines, plot-points and and conflicts are introduces, following the actions of the characters or how they work to resolve the problems at hand felt very difficult. Information regarding characters' backgrounds is introduced at VERY convenient times that made the facts feel as though they were added to ease the complications of the plot. I desperately wanted to love this novel, but I could not follow all the various events transpiring and the wide cast of characters.

Thank you very much to Flatiron for the ARC.

The Haunting of Room 904 follows Olivia, a psychic who is sucked into the mystery of a cursed hotel room after her sister tragically dies there. When the hotel room threatens to claim another victim close to home Olivia has to race against the clock to solve the mystery and beat the dark entity haunting the room. I was pretty into this at the start, but I’m not going to lie it really lost me at around the halfway point. I just didn’t understand a lot of character choices and some of the characters were almost cartoonishly one-note (I’m looking at you random ex boyfriend). When it’s focused on the family elements, and the main friendship between Olivia and her roommate, I think it works pretty well. But there’s just way too much going on and I feel like the plot just loses itself along the way. Pretty bummed this didn’t work for me, but I would still read this author again.

I absolutely love the premise of this book - a paranormal investigator, Olivia, investigates her sister's mysterious suicide at the Brown Hotel. Every 5 years, a woman dies in room 904. What is the mystery behind this hotel room, and can Olivia stop this mysterious cycle?

I wanted to love this book. I really did. I love mystery/thriller books with a paranormal element. Atmospherically, they're my favorite type of mystery. I love adding in the spooky elements and unexplained occurrences. I feel like this had a lot of promise with the story but lacked in execution. There were places where I felt like I couldn't fully grasp what was occurring because there wasn't a good transition or the parts weren't tied together as well as they could be.

A well-intentioned story with a good premise that can’t quite manage to thrive in the multiple genres it tries to inhabit.

Part mystery, part Gothic horror, part mythological fantasy…all things that could mix in theory, but that mostly resulted in something vaguely likable but narratively messy and confused here.

The best part of this was the creepy object stuff at the very beginning of the book, and I wish the story had leaned more into that. The protagonist’s job as a paranormal investigator and sorta-kinda medium would have played well with that if it had been more prominent throughout the story.

The mystery too works fine here, as a whodunit and as a sort of suspense thriller. Where the story falls apart is in the attempt to mix three different mythological/belief systems, which results in a confused and nonsensical wander through different cultural beliefs without any clear or organized trajectory.

The details don’t mesh well, and it starts to feel like this was more about what the author wished to include than what made sense or created a good story. Ideologically the idea of blending belief systems seems lovely, but it didn’t work here and as a result the climax and conclusion of this otherwise fairly enjoyable and well-paced book left me feeling a bit let down by the reader experience as a whole.