I enjoyed this book. It was a twist on the common trope of strangers being trapped in a haunted/evil house but still felt original. I didn't find it particularly scary but there was definitely a lot of disturbing imagery. The characters were interesting, especially the protagonist, Melanie.

Wow! So, Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and The Haunted Mansion walk into a bar…. I sooo enjoyed How to Survive a Horror Story! Locked room, check. Quirky, unpleasant characters, check. And one seemingly unrelated character, check! Great story, fast paced and many twists and turns! One star off because one character needed a more developed backstory. I would love to see this get a Netflix adaptation!

FIVE STAR READ. Man oh man was this fun! Page turning, unputdownable, read it in a day kind of book! What a debut by author Mallory Arnold. If you enjoy a book that explores the darker nature of people, the many monsters in the world, and how sometimes, “people are just the monsters we love,” all while being trapped in a house that just might eat you, then this is the book for you!

Early in the book as the characters-authors speak to the heart of the horror genre, they lament that the rat race of publishing expects, “what’ll do well on TV these days.” Well dang, I’d watch this movie in a second, but I am sure glad I read it first!

Synopsis: Six writers: the mousy fearful no one knows, the verbose/morose celebrity chasing one, the southern gentleman writer, the one hit wonder plagerist and thief, the middle aged gossip in an overpriced caftan, the (former?) golden boy, and the mistress (??) -slash- writer of erotica horror all come together following the death of a esteemed colleague and fellow horror writer for the reading of his will. The house is filled with clocks, a storm rages outside, and the identity-less staff aren’t staff at all; what ensues is an escape room thriller. Can they survive the night and the challenge?

What I liked:
1. The characters and their revisionist stories (?) all told through a multi-POV narrative style.
2. It’s a classic creepy mansion horror story with a couple of epic oh dang moments.
What I didn’t like: not a darn thing!

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.,

I really enjoyed this book! It was super scary, which was what I was hoping for. For fans of horror movies and horror books, this is a great read. Suspenseful, scary, and filled with twists until the end.

How to Survive a Horror Story is a solid 3 star horror-ish novel. I do think it tries to do too many things at once- the game, the “twists”, the backstories, the not backstories, etc.

A famous writer dies and seven authors receive a letter inviting them to his manor, promising they’d inherit something. Once they get there, they soon start to realize that nothing’s as it seems, and they need to work together to figure out how to get out before the house reclaims every one of them.

I knew what I was getting into while starting the book: I’ve seen something like three different movies having this same premise, but still, I was excited to meet these seven writers and get to know their story.
That’s because the thing I love the most while reading or watching horror is getting to know the characters, their hopes and secrets, what scares them, what they have that it’s worth fighting for. For me, a good horror not only scares you, but it should make you fear for the characters’ fate, and that’s not what happened with “How to survive a horror story”.
We get to meet the seven writers through their same eyes, one chapter at a time, in third-person pov: this means that the characters get introduced to us readers very slowly and shallowly, while the story goes on.

Personally, I felt like I couldn’t differentiate them, they were all so similar and having a third-person pov didn’t help: not because I don’t appreciate this style, I most often do, but it made all the seven characters look exactly the same. What was missing was some different perspective for all of them, maybe changing the chapters structure -as it was the same, throughout the whole book: it starts with a funny quote, a bit of the character’s past that would lead to the reason they are now trapped in the manor, and a present look on the story. It felt repetitive and, if it wasn’t for the chapter being named after the character, I honestly would have had difficulties understanding who it was that the chapter was focused on.

The dialogues felt unnatural: these seven people get trapped in a people-eating manor, they only have little time to get out and try to find an escape, and still they make jokes, waste time, act like nothing much is happening, talk jokingly about their childhood like they weren’t about to literally fight for their life! And all that talking did nothing to make the reader grow fonder of the characters, or at least to get to know them better. It was just there, breaking the horror atmosphere.

I didn’t feel the fear that I would be expecting while reading an horror: there wasn’t that dark atmosphere that usually fills every silence between the characters. The manor was obviously impressive, and its changing and growing after eating a prey was definitely interesting, but personally, I didn’t find it as intriguing as it should be.

Everything happened so fast and was given so little attention: as I said, every chapter would include a bit of the character’s past and then focus on the current situation in the manor. However, by doing so, I felt like the deathly situation the characters were in was rushed, while their past was given a bit too much space, unnecessarily. Of course, the writers’ past was fundamental to understand the reason they got themselves in that mess, but I would have liked more action during the challenges in the house and less descriptive past scenes.

In conclusion, my rating is 1 star: I was intrigued by the premise, but in my opinion that was the only positive thing.

I loved the concept of How to Survive a Horror Story but it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you, NetGalley, for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I had a difficult time enjoying this book because none of the characters were likeable and the story seemed a bit over the top. When a famous horror author dies, a group of people are invited to his historic mansion for the reading of his will. Most of these people barely knew the author and are curious why they were invited. They are informed they will take part in a game, moving throughout the house as they solve clues. If they can't solve a clue, one of them will die. I felt the title was misleading because as gory as this book is, it's more a mystery story than a horror story.

Absolutely loved this book. A famous horror writer summons other writers to his estate for a will reading after his death, with the purpose of wreaking revenge for their misdemeanours. It rattled along well, with good pace and sufficient twists and turns so as not to be predictable, but also had some very gruesome parts. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC in return for an honest review of the book.

The story started off great with almost all characters getting introduced very early on. So a group of Horror story writers are invited to the will reading of legendary Horror writer. But little did they know it is not as easy as it sounds. The writers are given puzzles to solve to escape each room of a man eating mansion, if the puzzle is answered correctly, you get to the next room else you die.

The blurb of the book sounded similar to inheritance game only its not.
1.The whole book is in second person POV.
2. The story progresses simultaneously as we get to know the characters.
3. There are short stories within the story which at a point became a distraction from the story.

Overall it is a good read.

Thank you Net Galley for providing an ARC . Thanks to Poisoned Pen Press for this complimentary copy.

#Netgally #Horror

Described as a locked room mystery meets “Fall of the House of Usher,” @malwriteswords #HowToSurviveAHorrorStory intrigued me from the jump. As I dove into the book, however, I found there was a bit more of a supernatural horror vibe than a “Knives Out” vibe.

Famed author Mortimer Queen has recently passed away, and seven people are invited to his family manor for a reading of his will. Melanie, a struggling never-published writer, finds herself among some of the literary world’s biggest names. When they’re asked to play a game for the will reading, none of them know just what’s in store for them and the monstrous pasts they hide.

It’s been a while since I read a book I was so divided about myself. On one hand, I enjoyed the characters’ development through the flashback scenes of the novel and how they all fit into the puzzle of the story. On the other hand, I didn’t find any of the characters likable or even enjoyable. Even Melanie, who I would consider the main protagonist, doesn’t have an ending that feels fully right, fully absolving her as a breaking of a cycle. In a way, the book feels a bit Frankenstein, trying to be two things seemingly pulling against one another forced to be a cohesive story. This is a story of vengeance, and while it is served, it feels diluted by the supernatural horror angle, which also has some great moments and possibilities for a different story.

One of my favorite series growing up was “Goosebumps,” and what this book has going for it is that it feels like an adult version of that mixed with a Shonda-land tv drama. Not every book was a hit, nor is every episode must-watch tv, but in the end, they’re enjoyable. #HowToSurviveAHorrorStory does its job as a horror read, but leaves the reader wanting just a little bit more.

I was super intrigued by this ARC- the plot and story sounded super creepy and fun! And you know what: I loved it!

I will say, I wasn’t expecting the supernatural aspect in this story. I thought it was more like, Saw-style trap rooms. And, I mean, it technically was, just with more craziness 😂 Which kinda added to the whole “spooky, haunted house” vibe! It honestly would have been perfect to read around Halloween!

I loved how absolutely unreliable all of the characters were as well 😅 Like, I love a good unreliable narrator and getting the POV of all of the characters was super satisfying and added a lot of depth to the story.

Plus, it was GORY! Which I think really helps make a fun, entertaining horror story. I was racing to get to the end to see who was telling the truth and who wasn’t. I really wanted to see how everything came together, and it was super satisfying!

Packed full of spooky vibes, betrayal, haunted-house riddles, and a great mystery, I will definitely be recommending this one when it comes out! 😈

The book follows 7 horror authors who are invited into the manor of the late Mortimer Queen (best seller horror author) who has left something for them in his will. As the plot develops you find out the guests have more in common with the deceased than being writers and you will discover just exactly what landed them an invite to the gory Queen mansion.
If you like horror books this is a nice one, even though at times you’ll have a difficult time believing all the gruesome deaths. Maybe the book overall needs a bit of tightening but I enjoyed it nonetheless and would definitely recommend.
3.5 stars

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It's the perfect combination of locked-room mystery and haunted house spooky for readers who are just getting into the genre. It was a bit of a slow start, but once the action starts happening, it is pedals to the metal. Everyone's background and story for being there were pretty interesting, although for some of them I don't think they should've had to die over it. I was confused over Melanie the most- she seemed like such a sweet character, her twist at the end was most shocking to me. All in all, good book! I'm excited to see what else Mallory Arnold comes up with.

Thanks to Mallory Arnold, Poisoned Pen Press, and NetGalley for the ARC!

A tense and suspenseful thriller with a great premise...however, it sort of fell flat for me. The execution wasn't all there, it was very slow in some areas (almost making me DNF) and the characters/dialogue were very superficial with little depth to help further the plot. Overall a fun read but not one of my favorites.

Thank you for the advanced copy of this book. This isn’t the type of book I usually read but I really enjoyed it. Admittedly it did take a few chapters for me to get into but once the characters were introduced and the story got flowing, I was hooked!

Love the premise of a mysterious invitation and being trapped in creepy house. The characters were fun, some more likable than others. The plot wasn't necessarily original, but it was fun to read.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

1 star.

Famous horror author Mortimer Queen has died and a group of writers, each of whom is connected to Queen in some way, is invited to the reading of his Will.

When they arrive at his spooky manor house they are invited/compelled to play a game. There are riddles that allow the group to move from room to room. If they fail to solve the riddle one of them will die by being taken by the house. Eaten, I guess.

This wasn’t just silliness. That’s it. I thought of not finishing it but I pushed on. I shouldn’t have bothered.

I’ve reflected and still don’t know how I feel about it. Pacing was slow in the beginning and with some characters backstories. Although I did enjoy the ending.

When renowned horror author Mortimer Queen dies, several fellow writers are all invited to the reading of his will under the impression of getting a piece of his amassed fortune. However, they find themselves forced to play a game of Mortimers making in his massive yet run down creepy mansion. Why did Mortimer choose these particular authors and what is his ultimate goal from beyond the grave?

A typical one by one locked room murder mystery, the story slowly unravels each character's past relationship with Mortimer and why they are invited to the reading of the will. We bounce between each character being the main POV of each chapter. I felt this was really well thought out and while not an original horror story trope, the author puts a supernatural spin on it, making it feel more unique. I was impressed that this was the author's debut novel and I am looking forward to what they write next.