Thank you Net Galley for the arc of How to Survive a Horror Story! This was a twisted, spooky horror that entwined thriller and paranormal elements to tell a story of revenge. My favorite part of this book was the varying viewpoints given through multiple narrators. While each character has their own vice and secret to keep, some were more likable and you found yourself rooting for. As the plot unfolds, I feel like the chapters and sequence of events become predictable. The characters are who you thought and do what you expected, and the “big twist” felt oversimplified and unbelievable. While certain parts will appeal to horror readers, I wanted more from the storyline, the characters, and the overall message, so this lands as a solid 3 star read for me.

One of these things is not like the others…

Melanie and 6 famous horror authors are invited to the reading of the will of Mortimer Queen, an OG of the horror world, but they must survive the night to get their reward.

What a ride! This book took classic horror tropes and turned them into something fun. A mix between Fall of the House of Usher and Squid Games, this story took me for a spin. It was engaging and the characters were great.

How to Survive a Horror Story follows a group of writers invited to the eerie Queen Manor, where they must solve deadly riddles to survive. As they uncover secrets about the legendary horror author Mortimer Queen, they find themselves trapped in a terrifying game with a house that has its own dark appetite. This thrilling, locked-room mystery mixes dark humor with spine-chilling horror.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

Knives out the book! This was fun, gorey, intense and twisty. The characters were a bit much, but I think how it was set up was a great homage to the great mystery writers of our time.

Book Title: How to Survive a Horror Story by Mallory Arnold
Start Date: March 28, 2025
Finish Date: April 30, 2025

Synopsis: When legendary horror author Mortimer Queen passes, a group of writers find themselves invited to his last will and testament reading expecting a piece of his massive fortune. Each have their own unique connection to the literary icon, some known, some soon to be discovered, and they've been waiting for their chance to step into the author's shoes for some time.

Rating: 📖📖📖📖/5: Thank you to @Netgally and @poisonedpenpress While I thought this book was going to feel like Clue or Knives out, it had a REALLY nice and surprising turn. While this book took me a month to read (mainly because life has a way of lifing and making it hard to read), it had nothing to do with the contents of the book. The beginning set up each character with proper background. One thing I did appreciate was that while the story moved forward, you got each character's point of view. I would recommend this book to friends. However, I would put it more in the thriller category vs horror. I didn't feel scared, which I did not want to.

Audio/Physical/Digital: @amazonkindle @netgally

Gene: #Horror #Mystery #MysteryThriller #Thriller #Adult #Fiction #HorrorThriller #AdultFiction #Dark #BooksAboutBooks
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“[…] The true root of horror is in its characters. They should be the scariest part of a book because the human mind is the most macabre protagonist in existence” - How to Survive a Horror Story, Mallory Arnold

Many thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending me an ARC of this suspenseful, intriguing horror story, which I absolutely raced through and highly recommend to fans of self-aware horror.

The first thing I want to highlight about this book is the excellent divergence from standard horror tropes of characters behaving completely unrealistically (the ones that make you scream “DON’T DO THAT, what is wrong with you?!!” at the page). This is a horror story starring horror authors who work out they’re in a horror setting, immediately call out those character clichés and vow to act differently - it helps keep this fast-paced, with our focus shifted to solving the mysteries of the very creative ‘locked rooms’ in which they are trapped. That is not to say that there are never moments where characters make unrealistic or downright idiotic choices (come on, you need *some* of that in any horror story!) but it makes sure you aren’t pulled out of the student by your own incredulity.

I also really enjoyed a lot of the character development, especially the inter-character relationships. One or two characters either didn’t get much development or were a little far-fetched, but most of them had believable & impressively thorough character arcs for so short a book with so many characters. I especially enjoyed the character arcs in the last third of the book, though I won’t say any more to avoid giving spoilers.

I felt that the riddle elements started off very strong but began to feel a little more basic later on. But the ‘personalised’ elements to each room showed excellent attention to detail throughout, and it all still served as an effective vehicle for the background reveals. This is also much more of a tense & suspenseful horror than a terrifying or stomach-churning one - while there is a decent amount of gore, none of it is excessively visceral, which suited my tastes perfectly - and I think Mallory Arnold maintained an excellent balance of all of those elements from start to finish.

I really like this book, and although I think there was potential for the reveals to have been less predictable and the ending to be more chilling, I think it’s absolutely worth a read for any seasoned or new horror fans!

I am including a list of Content Warnings below for those who find them helpful (in addition to the obvious warnings about gore that I gave earlier!). If that’s not you, then STOP READING HERE TO AVOID MINOR SPOILERS!

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Content Warnings:
- alcohol use/abuse (throughout), alcohol addiction including relapse, and drink-driving
- animal death
- bereavement, including loss of a friend and grandparent
- bigotry - ableism, chauvinism, classism
- child abuse (physical, emotional & neglect), described in limited detail
- domestic violence
- suicide (multiple, one described in limited detail)
- terminal illness - cancer
- violence, death/murder, blood, vomit, burning flesh & body horror

I expected a bit more from this book, especially since the concept in the summary really caught my attention. But even the beginning was a bit of a slog. I struggled to stay engaged even at the start—the first chunk of the book was excruciatingly slow and dragged on so much, I ended up stretching it over weeks.

By the time I reached what I assume was the actual storyline, I honestly didn’t even realize it had started—which probably says a lot. That said, I did enjoy Mallory Arnold’s writing style; her voice and storytelling weren’t the issue. The real problem, for me, was the core concept itself—it just didn’t click.

How to Survive a Horror Story turned out to be tedious and painfully predictable. Every supposed twist felt signposted well in advance, and the action rolled out with a flat rhythm that made it tough to stay invested.

Still, I can absolutely see that effort was put into this book. While I didn’t connect with any of the characters on a personal level, I can appreciate that they were thoughtfully developed. When I read the summary, I was genuinely intrigued—as a fan of horror escape rooms and scary stories in general, I thought this would be right up my alley. Unfortunately, this book just didn’t do it for me.

Thank you, NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press, for the ARC!

While the book had some great moments of suspense and eerie atmosphere, the pacing dragged in places. Some sections felt repetitive, and I wished the characters had been developed a bit more. The twists were interesting, but not all of them landed as strongly as I had hoped.

The premise was fun and very reminiscent of other classic works of thrillers and horror stories. One dead celebrity has sent out invitations to a group of people and they must survive an ordeal of some kind. Nice premise, good for a horror story.

Unfortunately, I didn’t feel anything reading this. I didn’t care for any of the characters. The premise that had sounded so interesting and engaging simply did not live up to my expectations.

As this book is released in July there are still time – I think (I know nothing of publishing) – to make the characters a bit more clear so that you care about them just a bit more.

I'm not a horror girly but I am a How to Survive a Horror Story fan! The story follows several horror writers who are invited to Mortimer Queen's (a famous horror novelist) mansion after his passing for the reading of his will. Instead of getting part of his fortune, the writers are locked in the mansion and must solve clues to escape. The catch? Each room has a 1 hour time limit, and if the room is not escaped in that time, the house will take (eat) one of the remaining people at random.

I love escape rooms and wanted to branch out to the horror genre so I was drawn to reading this book and it did not disappoint. The clues told were hidden very well within the eccentric house, so I enjoyed trying to figure out the escape room before the houseguests. The house was a perfect setting as its whimsical touches made it very eerie but atmospheric (for example, Queen had dozens of cuckoo clocks that were slightly out of sync). The horror aspect came into play with the way the house interacted with the guests, especially the special chosen ones, and while it was somewhat gruesome at times, it was so over-the-top that it wasn't scary.

I had trouble at first with learning all the different characters as they were introduced quickly and then each had their own chapters and backstories. But, as the story went on, that became easier and easier (as they disappeared). Looking back, I like the various ways the characters were tied together and their interesting backstories and personalities, so I ultimately didn't mind the big cast of perspectives.

Overall this was a fun horror story with some escape room elements and I think it was a good way to start off reading horror books for me.

Thank you to NetGalley + Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC

I really liked this story. This book had a unique premise in a world where books sre all starting to sound like the same. I recommend it.

I'm not one for horror but I want to branch out in the genres that I read this year.

The summary for this caught my eye with the themes that I like: a group of horror writers stuck in a locked room mystery/escape room-esque game of survival where if they don't solve the riddles, they die, and the house eats them.

Although horrific things happen, I didn't find this book scary. I was glued to this book needing to read what happens next.

I did question some actions of some of the characters because it seemed kind of out of character of them.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the arc!

How to Survive a Horror Story was such a fun, chilling ride! Mallory Arnold blends classic haunted house horror with sharp, witty writing that made me both laugh and shiver. The setup — seven writers trapped in a manor, solving riddles to survive — immediately hooked me, and the story kept a tight, eerie tension throughout. I loved the way the house itself felt like a living, breathing character, and the mix of dark humor and genuine scares was spot-on. Each character brought something different to the table, and the twists were unpredictable but satisfying. If you like horror that's clever, creepy, and a little bit playful, this book is definitely worth reading.

Once I figured out this was a locked in mystery that includes a haunted house and spookiness, I was hooked!! The characters individual short stories helps the story slowly unravel, but it keeps the book from getting dull and made for a nice reading pace. I thought the ending was good too, but part of it was too unbelievable, other than that I ate this one up and definitely recommend it!!

This was a fun read! Honestly, it took me a few tries to get into it, but the pacing improved once the structure emerged (room, challenge, reveal, short story). Some aspects of the characters were a little distracting, like Buck's accent, but it was an easy, entertaining read!

This is a crazy story of the death of Mortimer Queen and how he's summoned many previous guests to his home after he's been laid to rest. Many of them are horror writers and are unsure why they've been invited but are of course anxious to visit the famed writer's home. But when odd things begin happening--like a window cracking on its own--they become frightened and wonder if they are in a real life horror story. Are there monsters, ghouls?? You may not want to read this at night in the dark!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

A quick read and overall good horror story! The story takes you through the backstories of each of the characters and their interactions with Mortimer Queen, the deceased famous author whose haunted manor and will reading kicks off the book. Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the e-Arc in exchange for my thoughts!

When a famous author dies, a group of horror writers are invited to spend the night at his manor in order to find out what has been left to them in his will.

But as each chapter flicks between the different attendees it becomes clear that their initials urges to run away from this place had been right.

I enjoyed the character development, the description of the gory details and the over all horror escape room vibe.

How to Survive a Horror Story is a locked door mystery where the killer isn't one of the inhabitants, but the house itself. With a plot that gave me subtle 'Clue' vibes; instead of having to solve the murderer/room/weapon trifecta of Clue, a riddle that points to one of the players must be answered to advance from room to room, with dire consequences if they fail it. How to Write a Horror Story was in turns funny, suspenseful, and per its name: horrific. The cast of characters that this novel comprises of is both colorful and relatable. As the novel progressed, I had a hard time deciding who I wanted to win at the end. And the ending? I audibly gasped at the ending. This novel shines a light on flaws of the human condition, and the consequences thereof. Readers who enjoy a good dose of bone-chilling horror with their mystery will love How to Survive a Horror Story.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for providing me with an eARC of this novel for me to read and review.

Thank you Netgalley for the advanced reader copy! I enjoyed this book and look forward to reading more from this author.