Would you move to a small town in Georgia if you were given a historic mansion for only $100? I’ve read enough haunted house horror to say, “Hell NO,” but clearly, our MCs didn’t get the memo 😅

💀 What did you love the most?
Emily Carpenter masterfully crafts an eerie Southern Gothic atmosphere. The story weaves between past and present, revealing the town’s dark history in a way that keeps the tension high and the mystery gripping. This isn’t really a ghost story—it’s a slow-burning, psychological horror that seeps into your bones.

📖 Read if you like:
🏚️ Light Gothic Horror
🌿 Creepy Small Town Settings
⛪ Cult Fiction & Hidden Secrets

⏳ How was the pacing?
This is a slow-burn horror novel, but the eerie atmosphere and gradual unraveling of secrets make it work beautifully. The suspense builds, and just when you think you’ve figured things out… NOPE.

🔪 Do you recommend this book?
If you’re new to horror books, this is a perfect gateway novel. It’s atmospheric, unsettling, and full of WTF moments without being too graphic. Emily Carpenter delivers a hauntingly well-written Gothic horror novel that will leave you questioning what secrets lurk in this small town… 👀

*3.5 stars. This book starts off with a delicious gothic and atmospheric premise but doesn't quite carry that through the entire story. Peter and Billie Hope live in NYC with their young daughter Meredith as the pandemic ends. Peter is a therapist who works with his clients online and Billie has had to shut down her successful restaurant. She receives one of those 'too good to be true' emails from a small town in Georgia offering a chance to start over and the couple jump at the chance. The reader is privy to the horrific things that went on in that town during the Civil War and so the dread builds for the naive couple.

The Hope family moves into the beautiful vintage house of their dreams in Juliana, Georgia, but right from the start things are not quite right. They learn there's an old abandoned well on their property so Meredith cannot run free until they can find it and get it capped. Both Billie and Meredith have similar nightmares but Peter cannot sleep! Their gentle cat becomes almost feral. Is there something wrong with this house?

I felt the story lost its way in the middle but recouped for a clever ending. The horror genre is probably one of the hardest to carry through successfully from start to finish. When it's done well, it is unforgettable. Two of my favorites are Rosemary’s Baby by Ira Levin and Harvest Home by Thomas Tryon and of course Edgar Allen Poe is the master.

Many thanks to the author and publisher for providing me with an arc of this new novel via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and the opinions expressed are my own.

Of course Mom fell for a cult; wait, are we falling for one too? Suspicious emails send our New Yorker main characters down a path of a perfect Victorian home too cheap to pass up in a small town of Georgia. Of course, there’s more to the house and town, with haunted children and dreams.

I liked that the Billie main character was unreliable; I’m assuming she is meant to be unlikeable, due to her recklessness of others and selfishness but it made me like her. When the neediness kicked in though, I could have done without. With little tidbits and hints regarding her mother and current relationship, it didn't really add to the story even thought the mother was the best character. I would have enjoyed a little bit more development on Peter; he was written as an outcast of the family, paranoia but not really a reason why. Like something would have needed to build it up before even moving to the town for it to be believable. Maybe a couple of flashbacks of their marriage so the possible triangle felt more developed, even though his storyline played out exactly like I thought. Maybe because I’m not a big romance reader, the love triangle idea and insta love I could do without. I would have preferred more detail to the horror ideas and elements instead. Then the added random couple of racist comments, when I still wanted development on previously introduced items, felt forced and unnecessary. The main character would reach conclusions that weren’t set up to reach. And it couldn’t be paranoia, as that wasn’t set up as part of her personality.

There’s a lot of ideas but not as much follow through I would like. Would have liked this better if a little simplified and focused. Even though this book falls for some bad tropes/stereotypes- like not telling people everything over the phone, but waiting to tell you when I see you in an hour- but the last 30 % was fun and I did enjoy the ending.

Did Carpenter Steal My Life? (No, She Didn't.) Hmmm... a book set in the real-life Bartow County (if in a fictional town within it) along the real-life Etowah River and some real-life roads (and some fictional ones). Featuring a veteran of a war named Major. Where an old Confederate area mine plays a major role. With (fictional) long-time area families being a key component of the story.

And I, a reader who is a native of the real Bartow County, whose great-grandfather was a WWI POW named Major, who went to high school not far off one of the roads in question (which runs through the northern section of Bartow County in real life, fwiw), who knows exactly where the real-life Cooper's Furnace and several area mines (including several similar to the fictional one in the book, which aren't on many current maps) are located, who can readily identify where the scars of the real-life war criminal terrorist bastard William Tecumseh Sherman's troops left scars on the land that are still visible *to this day*, who went to both high school and college near the sites of famous actions during the Atlanta Campaign, whose families (including all relevant branches) have been in the area for over 200 years as I type this (though to be clear, my dad and his siblings were the first to call Bartow their home county), who knows well how well-connected families *continue* to control the real-life Bartow County via its (one of few remaining *nationally*, per my understanding) Sole Commissioner government system...

Yeah... the parallels between my real life and the fictional world Carpenter created here allow me a rare (not *quite* unique, as there *are* at least a few hundred others who have similar life experience and knowledge) view into this particular tale. :)

But to be 100% explicitly clear, while Carpenter and I have interacted via social media off and on for a few years now, and while several of my grandparents and older were from her own area of Georgia in the Roswell area she admits in the Author's Note she actually based much of the tale on, we've never actually met and she had no possible way to know *all* of that about me. Thus, it is 100% coincidental that the story bears so much resemblance to so much that I can readily identify. :)

With all of *that* noted... this truly was a tremendous book. The motivations of pretty well everyone are pretty clear and believable (if a bit twisted, in the case of the antagonists of the tale). The parallels to The Lottery are blatant (as that tale is referenced in-story), but actually work well here with the story as presented. As things begin to go towards the psychological/ horror, it is done in a very believable manner, with open questioning of reality. The emotions are raw and visceral, no matter whether it be the hope of a new move, the horror of... the horrible things that happen (to avoid spoilers ;) ), the disgust of some other things that happen... it all completely works.

And yes, I could absolutely see some parallel reality where the real-life Cassville - the County Seat of what was then called Cass County during the Civil War - actually plays out very similarly to how Juliana plays out here. The tale really is that close to being true to life, at least life as I experienced it as a former trailer park trash kid growing up alongside Bartow's elite.

Finally, as Billie's diner is a big part of this tale, I wanted to end the review in a unique manner for me, since this is a rather unique book for me. I'm going to leave you with a few recommendations for places to eat and things to do in and around Cartersville, should you ever find yourself on I-75 in Georgia north of Atlanta. (Unlike Carpenter noting that her Bartow County was *two* hours outside of Atlanta, in real life it is closer to 45 min from downtown Atlanta without traffic, and with traffic... who knows how long. During a snow storm one year, it literally took my dad over 12 hrs to get from his work on the perimeter of Atlanta (on I-285, basically) to his home in Cartersville.)

Places To Eat:
4-Way Diner. Historic diner near downtown Cartersville, still retains its "black only" entrance from the days of Jim Crow (now for historic purposes only, to be clear).

Jefferson's. Restaurant in downtown Cartersville, inside the same building that houses the world's oldest outdoor Coca-Cola sign on its railroad-track facing side. Likely the closest thing Cartersville currently has to a real-life Billie's, as described in the text.

Moore's Gourmet Market. Small eatery near Roselawn (below) and the Bartow County Library, just outside of downtown Cartersville.

Restaurants Along Felton Rd. There are a lot of places here, none of which have any historic significance - but the road name does. The road is named for Rebecca Latimer Felton, who owned a plantation in this part of the County before and after the Civil War. She was the first female US Senator - and the last formerly slave owning one.

Things to See:
Roselawn: Sam Jones' mansion just outside of downtown Cartersville, one of few antebellum houses still existing in town. Across the street is a historic marker noting the former home of Lottie Moon, prominent Baptist missionary to China of the same era Sam Jones was preaching in and the person the Southern Baptist Convention's Christmas fundraising effort is named for.

Old County Courthouse/ Sam Jones Memorial Methodist Church: Side by side, these buildings represent much of Cartersville's history. I've personally seen KKK rallies at the Courthouse (and went the other way), and a cousin got married at Sam Jones, which was named after a preacher who was essentially the Billy Graham of the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries.

World's Oldest Outdoor Coca-Cola Sign. Along the train tracks at downtown Cartersville.

Etowah Indian Mounds: Mounds made by a pre-Columbus native tribe. The site is now across from a cemetery where several of my family members are buried and from Cartersville's main recreation park, Dellinger Park.

Atco Village: Early 20th century mill village, its mill has now largely been destroyed, but the elements of the town are largely still intact to varying degrees. The mill was actually one of two that locked its doors on my dad when it shut down nearly 25 yrs ago, but the old Methodist Church still stands at the entrance to the village, along with its old post office (next to the railroad tracks) and the Baptist church (where my family attended for decades) still stands at the dead end of the street that you enter the village on. Many of the houses still retain their original looks, despite improvements over the century.

Cooper's Furnace: I mentioned this site above. Just outside of Cartersville and just below the Allatoona Dam on the Etowah River, as you leave US 41 to drive over to this site, if you look into the river you'll see the stone pillars that once held railroad tracks destroyed by Sherman's troops as he moved through the region.

New Echota: Technically in Gordon County just north of Bartow, this is the site of the Capital of the Cherokee Nation at the time of the Trail of Tears. There is a relatively small State Park here with several buildings that were moved to this site to show what life was like at the time.

And enough with the tourism board stuff - I'm not Juliana's Initiative by any stretch of the imagination, just a man proud of his hometown and constantly in awe of just how much history he grew up around, largely unknowingly.

Even as a Bartow County native - maybe *especially* as a Bartow County native - this book is absolutely...

Very much recommended.

3.5 Stars (rounded up to 4) – Intriguing Premise, But Loses Steam at the End

Gothictown pulled me in right away with its eerie atmosphere and unique premise—a strange, too-perfect town hiding a dark secret. It’s like The Stepford Wives meets Get Out, blending psychological horror with social commentary in a way that feels fresh and unsettling. The buildup was fantastic, with tension and suspense growing at just the right pace.

However, the ending dragged on much longer than necessary. What could’ve been a tight, impactful conclusion ended up feeling bloated, as if the story didn’t quite know when—or how—to stop. It took away some of the punch that the earlier chapters had built up. Still, it’s an engaging read with a lot of originality, and I’d recommend it to fans of weird fiction who don’t mind a slower finish.

A restauranteur receives an invitation to move to a Southern town and buy a house for $100, as part of their population initiative. She moves her family there and slowly uncovers the town's nefarious past. And present.

First of all the cover is absolutely gorgeous, one of my favorites with the colors and the simplicity. But the story itself was also pretty fantastic. I've never read anything by Emily Carpenter, that I can recall, so I wasn't sure what to expect going into it and I loved it. It was so unique and unsettling, it really surprised me. This was one of those books that I couldn't tear my eyes away from and some of the twists were so crazy that my jaw actually. dropped. The ending was brilliant and unexpected and I loved it.

This book is really good!!!!!!!!!! It is exactly what we have to come to expect from Gothic author Emily Carpenter and I can't wait to read what she comes up with next.

Gothictown by Emily Carpenter, when the book starts it’s in Juliana Georgia 1864 and the founders are worried about General Sherman, plundering their beautiful southern town and so come up with a plan to hide their biggest asset but unfortunately it goes horribly wrong. Fast-forward to 2023 New Yorker and ex restaurant owner Billy Hope checks her email and finds one from the mayor’s assistant in Juliana Georgia. it explains how families and singles who are upwardly Moble can move to their fine city and buy a home for just $100 and those wanting to start a brick and mortar business in their dying community, will even get a $30,000 business grant to help start it.) after doing a little research and even visiting the town they believe it’s real and move there and couldn’t be happier. on the first night Billy and her six-year-old Meredith had the same nightmare but husband Peter isn’t sleeping well at all. As time goes on Billy finds the town folk will bend over backwards to help you out and is really fitting into the community her husband Peter however not so much. from their prayer to Juliana that they say before each meal, to their cat Ramsay‘s personality becoming unrecognizable to many other things found by her daughter and overheard by her in town is all making Billy Leary but it isn’t until husband Peter packs up and leaves that she really starts to think something isn’t right with Juliana Georgia. let me just say this Gothic story is nothing like any Gothic story I have ever read and I am saying that and an absolutely positive way. victorian home check, southern fried secret check, ghost… Kind of check, a horrific origin story absolutely check but it’s the rest of the story that is so original. there’s even attempts at arrange couples but not in the way you’re used to this book was so good so original I really love that anyone who wants to read a great haunted house story this isn’t that book wanna read a great haunted town story Gothic town is the book.#NetGalley, #KensingtonBooks, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #EmilyCarpenter, #GothicTown,

Billie and her family are offered the opportunity to live in small-town Georgia at nearly no cost. Although it seems quaint, the town of Juliana has a dark history.

I loved the themes in this--they tied in nicely with the post(?)-pandemic setting. In addition, Carpenter creates a great, creepy atmosphere. However, the rest of the story isn't as strong. Some plot elements seem to be abandoned, and some aren't resolved in a satisfying manner. Still, it's an engaging book and I will definitely read more by Carpenter.

Carpenter does a fantastic job of paining a very tense picture of what the town is like and the main characters are going through. The horror is situational and the reader can feel the tension. There were parts that were hard to get into mixed with some moments I couldn't put down. The first 20% is the hardest to push through- the prologue is good but gets boring for a bit after. The last 10% felt too predictable and convenient.

Thank you to the author and Kensinger Publishing via NetGalley for the free ARC in exchange for my honest review.

7/10

While i see a lot of potential in Emily Carpenter as an author, and will keep an eye on her in future, I largely found this miscategorised in the horror section, and I don't think this will land with a horror-focused audience, especially with 'Gothic' being in the title, there is no Gothic in the style.

There was a significant tonal shift halfway through this book, the first half was written like a romance, there is nothing wrong with that, and then at 50% it immediately shifts to a mystery, also nothing wrong with this.

My biggest issue is this was entirely predictable if you've read Silvia Moreno-Garcia's Mexican Gothic the ending will be obvious, and the trope of 'if it's too good to be true it probably is' didn't help that it was obvious where ti was going.

Also the story with the mother gets repeated twice, once told to the audience early on, then a second time repeated in a conversation, this was repetitive.

A little of an edit and tonal consistency would improve this a lot.

But I did enjoy Emily's Prose, she has talent, it just needs to be refined.

Great retelling- reimagining of The Lottery. It’s a short story we all wish was a full length novel and Gothictown delivers. I felt so creeped out while reading this. The horrific beginning just stays with you. Who can be trusted? What is causing these haunting dreams and maladies? Billie is incredibly flawed and I just didn’t like her. I was in a constant state of worry about her daughter! This is a must read for horror fans. Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC

In Gothictown by Emily Carpenter, a young family: Peter, Billie and Mere leave New York City after a floundering Billie searches for a new direction. Feeling lost after the pandemic closes the door on her restaurateur dream and losing contact with her mother, she is offered an opportunity for a new start: a house in the quaint Georgian town of Juliana for only $100 and an opportunity to open her restaurant again. But is the grass greener in Juliana or soaked with something sinister?

A recommended read for fans of Shirley Jackson and Get Out. The story of the quest for the American dream will have readers hooked, yet the characters could be more developed and some (Billie) more likable. In a town with such colorful character names, I was missing some of that personality in their dialogue and interactions. I did find the ending satisfying, but wanted more explanation regarding the paranormal events. I enjoyed the book and recommend for readers who enjoy mysterious paranormal novels.

Thanks to Kensington Publishing and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this ebook.

Billie Hope moves her family to Juliana, Georgia eager to leave the pandemic economy in New York City. Juliana is incentivizing business owners to move there by offered $100 homes. They soon begin to think there’s something menacing about the town under the southern hospitality.

Not only is this a creepy house story, but a creepy town story. We find out the backstory right in the beginning but the main character is not in the know. It’s an unusual perspective for the reader but I loved it. There was a lot of town history that was revealed in small chapters which added a richness to the story. It gets very exciting with lots of action and is extremely satisfying at the end.

“.. whatever is getting to me, whatever is tearing at my insides, it’s something here, in this place.”

Gothictown comes out 3/25.

Creepy, atmospheric, gothic, and compelling. Gothictown is not where I would want to live but Billie Hope is given an offer she can't refuse. She can be the owner of a Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia for the low cost of $100.00. Apparently, no one ever told her if it seems too good to be true it probably is. But it is just after the pandemic and life in NYC is cramped. What a great opportunity to have a big home and land for her daughter to enjoy. Plus, there is always a plus, there is a business grant!!!! She can open a new restaurant!!! Billie, her husband and daughter off and soon find themselves living in Georgia and being welcomed into the community.

What a community it is! Let's just say that this is not Mr. Roger's neighborhood! They begin to feel unsettled, uneasy, and well, who can sleep at night with talk of old wells and secretive townspeople. I enjoyed the something-isn't-quite-right feel of this book. This did read like a horror film, with the old southern town with deep secrets, creepy townspeople, and bless their hearts, controlling old men.


I enjoyed the tension, the dread, the atmosphere, and the creepy vibe in this book. I found myself wanting to tell Billie to beat it and get the heck out of dodge from the very beginning of the book. The unease in this book was off the charts and created a great vibe.

This was a 4-star read for me until the ending where I thought, "Seriously?" and "What the heck?". Let's just say I saw many ways for this book ending and the actual way it did end came out of left field and shocked me but thinking back perhaps the writing was on the wall with some dialogue sprinkled in here and there about certain things. Now that I have confused you by what didn't work for me with the ending, I will say that for the most part I enjoyed this book.

Gothic, creepy, and atmospheric!

Emily Carpenter’s got a raging talent for spinning Southern Gothic yarns, that sweaty, fucked-up genre where small towns feel like pressure cookers of weird, family secrets rot in the attic, and the humidity’s so thick you’d swear the ghosts are sticking to your damn skin. Her past hits, Every Single Secret and The Weight of Lies, screwed around with these vibes in ways that left you itchy and unsettled—good shit. So when I saw Gothictown, I was cackling like some mustache-twirling asshole about to evict orphans in a Dickens novel. This was gonna slap, right?

Well, sorta. It’s more of a playful smack than a full-on wallop.

Meet Billie Hope, a former NYC foodie queen whose career got bitch-slapped by the pandemic. She’s broke, bummed, and basically drifting when—bam—an email drops a Victorian dream house in Juliana, Georgia, in her lap for a hundred bucks, plus a juicy business grant to sweeten the pot. So, like a total moron, she packs up her husband, Peter, and their kid, Meredith, and bolts for Creepsville, USA.

If you’ve ever cracked a horror book—or even seen a shitty B-movie—you know a deal this good comes with a catch: (A) a hell portal in the cellar, (B) a cult with a body count fetish, or (C) ghosts hissing creepy-ass nonsense while you’re trying to catch some Zs. Gothictown grabs B, then sprinkles in some haunted house sprinkles for kicks.

Carpenter digs into sacrifice and privilege, throwing Billie into the ring with Juliana’s founding families—a bunch of old-money pricks who run the town like a Southern-fried mob with better manners. They’ve got spooky chants, cryptic bullshit rituals, and the occasional “oops, we killed someone” to keep the loyalty flowing. It’s like the HOA turned into a murder club, and the fees are paid in blood.

The neat trick here? Carpenter fucks with community and belonging. Billie’s mom ditched her for a cult way back, so she’s starving for a do-over. Juliana’s love-bombing hospitality—think Stepford Wives with sweet tea—makes her pause just long enough before she’s like, “Wait, why do you fuckers keep implying I’m stuck here?” Here’s the rub—Gothictown wants to be a horror badass, but it’s got the heart of a cozy mystery wearing a haunted house’s hand-me-downs. The vibe’s eerie, the tension simmers, but the scare-o-meter barely twitches. Carpenter’s prose is tight as hell, and she’s still got that slow-burn psych game on lock, but this thing leans more suspense than “oh shit, lock the doors” horror. Expecting The Lottery meets Mexican Gothic? Nah, you’re getting a mild case of the heebie-jeebies at best.

Let’s not bullshit—Gothictown is still a good time. The pacing clips along, the twists hit like a satisfying gut punch, and Juliana’s “everyone’s way too nice” schtick makes your skin crawl just right. Billie’s a hot mess of bad choices, but she’s complex enough to root for—kinda like that friend who keeps dating losers but you love ‘em anyway. Then there’s Peter, the poor bastard husband. He starts fraying like a dollar-store sweater the second they roll into town, and it’s a highlight. His spiral into paranoia and “what the fuck is happening” mania is legit unnerving—though sometimes it feels like he stumbled out of Hereditary while the rest of the cast is playing Southern Gothic Clue.

Biggest fuck-up? The ending. After all that buildup, it swerves into a “yay, we won!” finale that feels like it wandered in from a Lifetime movie. Imagine Midsommar wrapping up with Dani slapping a lawsuit on the Harga and cashing a fat check—lame, right? The bad guys get theirs, but it’s so clean you’d think they used bleach. A little grit, a little “what the hell just happened,” would’ve saved it.

So, read Gothictown? Sure, if you’re craving a horror-thriller lite that’s more creepy vibes than pants-shitting terror. Carpenter’s writing keeps you hooked, and there’s enough mystery and suspense to make it worth the ride. But if you’re jonesing for Southern Gothic gut-punches like Harvest Home or The Invited, you’ll be left shrugging. It’s like hitting a tricked-out haunted house at Six Flags—spooky enough to kill an afternoon, but you’re not sleeping with the lights on. Final word: solid, not spectacular. Dig it for the weird-ass small-town feels, but don’t expect it to carve up your soul.

The deal sounds almost too good to be true: move down to Juliana, get a house for $100, and help resurrect a small dying town.

Billie Hope moves her family from New York to Juliana, Georgia, in the hopes of a safe, quiet life for her daughter. Opening a restaurant, fitting in to the old southern society, and maintaining her marriage is a lot for any person, but there's something not quite right about Juliana and her residents.

A gripping and tense ride, Gothictown lives up to its name!

Juliana was meant to solve all of her problems but it turns to be a nightmare for Billie. She moved herself, her husband Peter and their daughter Meredith there to open a restaurant -thanks to incentives- after her NYC one failed. Peter reopens his psychology practice and Meredith starts school. And then the bad things start to happen. This is nicely creepy even before it goes off the rails a bit. I could feel the vibes that would make this a good movie. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. No spoilers.

"In an immersive Southern Gothic with echoes of Shirley Jackson's The Lottery and Sharp Objects by Gillian Flynn, a restauranteur lured by pandemic-era incentives moves her family to a seemingly idyllic small town in Georgia, only to discover a darkness lurking beneath the Southern hospitality and sun-dappled streets...

Welcome to gentle Juliana, where you can have it all...if you pay the price.

The email that lands in Billie Hope’s inbox seems like a gift from the universe. For $100, she can purchase a spacious Victorian home in Juliana, Georgia, a small town eager to boost its economy in the wake of the pandemic. She can leave behind her cramped New York City rental and the painful memories of shuttering her once thriving restaurant and start over with her husband and her daughter. Plus, she'll get a business grant to open a new restaurant in a charming riverside community laden with opportunity. It seems like a dream come true…or a devil's bargain.

A few phone calls and one hurried visit later, and Billie, Peter, and six-year-old Meredith are officially part of the Juliana Initiative. The town is everything promised - two hours northwest of Atlanta but a world away from city living, a "gentle jewel" with weather as warm as its people. Between settling into their lavish home and starting her new restaurant, Billie is busy enough to dismiss any troubling signs...

But Billie's sleep is marred by haunting dreams, and her marriage with Peter is growing increasingly strained. Meanwhile the town elders, all descended from Juliana's founding families, exert a level of influence that feels less benevolent and more stifling day by day.

There's something about "Gentle Juliana" - something off-kilter and menacing beneath that famous Southern hospitality. And no matter how much Billie longed for her family to come here, she's starting to wonder how, and if, they'll ever leave.

For readers of Stacy Willingham, Sarah Langan, Ashley Winstead, and Jess Lourey, a bewitchingly foreboding story about sacrifice, privilege, family, guilt, and the vengeful ghosts of a haunted past - from the bestselling author of Burying the Honeysuckle Girls."

I really like this new and interesting take on what has become pandemic literature.