This spooky ghost story invoked some teenage nostalgia, and the storyline surrounding the house on its own island was intriguing. I connected with Billy and his best friend, David. I did have to take a break in the middle because the pacing was moving too slowly for me. I'm glad I went back and finished the story, though. It's a great read for fans of slow-burning horror.

3.5 stars

J.D. Barker’s Something I Keep Upstairs promises a chilling blend of coming-of-age nostalgia and supernatural terror, set against the backdrop of a sleepy New England town. The premise is immediately enticing: two best friends, Billy and David, spending one last summer together before college in a mysterious inherited house on an isolated island. With no parents, no rules, and the thrill of freedom, their adventure has all the makings of a summer to remember—until the house begins to reveal its sinister secrets.

Barker excels at crafting atmosphere. The coastal New Hampshire setting is richly described, capturing both the charm of small-town life and the creeping dread of isolation on a fog-drenched island. The lore surrounding the house, and the idea that “for a haunted house to be born, somebody has to die,” is both eerie and thematically powerful, tying together ideas of legacy, sacrifice, and the lingering weight of past sins.

However, while the mood is compelling, the novel struggles with pacing and character development. Billy and David’s friendship is at the heart of the story, yet their dynamic often feels underexplored, leaning too heavily on stereotypes of teenage rebellion and bravado. As the supernatural elements intensify, the characters’ choices sometimes feel forced, serving the horror tropes rather than growing organically from their personalities.

The horror itself is uneven. Some scenes deliver genuine chills, particularly when the boys uncover the house’s grim history, but others fall flat or veer into predictability. Barker clearly wants to balance psychological tension with visceral scares, but the execution wavers, leaving certain sections dragging while others rush past key revelations.

Unfortunately I have decided to DNF this one, it wasn't for me.
I will continue to check for future books from this author as I like to give author's a second chance and I won't be put off from DNF this one for my future reads.

What I thought was going to be a creepy haunted house on an island story ended up being something so much more! I loved this King-esque storytelling with a mind warp plot. I was thrilled, I was chilled, and I was absolutely blown away with how the story all played out. Highly recommend for a fun mess with your mind horror story.

J.D. Barker's "Something I Keep Upstairs" is like that mysterious box in your attic that you're pretty sure contains either Christmas decorations or the restless spirit of your great-aunt Gertrude. You know you should probably check, but honestly, you're kind of afraid of what you'll find.

The book follows our protagonist as they discover that their new house comes with more than just outdated wallpaper and questionable plumbing—it also features a complimentary supernatural entity with serious boundary issues. Think "Extreme Home Makeover: Poltergeist Edition."

Barker writes with the confidence of someone who has clearly spent way too much time researching exactly how creaky a floorboard needs to be to achieve maximum psychological terror. His attention to atmospheric detail is so precise that I found myself checking my own upstairs after every chapter, just to make sure nothing had moved. (Spoiler alert: my laundry pile had somehow gotten bigger, which is arguably more terrifying than any ghost.)

The pacing moves like a person walking through their house at 3 AM trying not to wake anyone—carefully calculated steps punctuated by moments where you're absolutely certain you just heard something that definitely wasn't the cat. Barker knows exactly when to make you jump, though I do question whether my neighbors appreciated my involuntary yelping at 11 PM.

Where the book stumbles slightly is in its middle section, which drags like that one drawer in your kitchen that never quite closes properly. Some scenes feel as repetitive as a ghost stuck in an eternal loop of reorganizing the linen closet.

The ending delivers the kind of revelation that makes you want to immediately flip back to page one to catch all the clues you missed—much like realizing the "ghost" sounds were actually just your house settling, but way more satisfying and significantly less embarrassing.

Bottom line: "Something I Keep Upstairs" is a solid supernatural thriller that will make you reconsider your home's storage solutions. Perfect for readers who enjoy their scares with a side of "maybe I should finally clean out that spare room."

Just maybe read it downstairs.

Overall, I really enjoyed this title. I look forward to reading other works by J.D. Barker in the future. Will be recommending to friends!

First thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Shuster and Hampton Creek Press for the e-copy....

If you like haunted houses and lots of creepiness, this is for you! I did enjoy this one but it did seem to drag on a bit.

Haunted houses and quiet islands are a set up for a great thriller. Eerie and creepy story, I don’t recommend reading at night LOL. Pacing was good.

Unexpected delight. Really enjoyed this story and couldn’t put it down. Read all night. Strongly recommend and will read the author again. Great characters and wonderful writing.

This book often felt like it had too many layers competing for attention, and while the concept is fascinating and the writing is undeniably strong, in the end it left me feeling a little lost. No strong reactions either way, which is always the hardest kind of book for me to review.

In the sleepy coastal town of New Castle, New Hampshire, seventeen-year-old Billy Hasler's life is about to take a terrifying turn. When his best friend David Spivey inherits a mysterious house on a nearby island, it seems like the perfect place to spend their final summer before heading off to college. No parents. No police. No responsibilities.

As they dig into the island's dark past, they awaken an ancient evil that has influenced generations. What begins as an innocent summer adventure quickly descends into a nightmare.

"Something I Keep Upstairs" is a haunting exploration of friendship, sacrifice, and the darkness lurking just beyond our understanding. It will keep you on edge until the final, chilling page.
Chilling! Thrilling! And suspenseful. Loved it from the jump. Will recommend to others.

This was such a creepy read. I was intrigued, but had a hard time liking the characters. At times this book did feel like it drug on as it was such a long book, but overall it was a good book.

Billy Hasler’s life takes a turn when his best friend David Spivey inherits a house on a secluded island. They think it will be a fun summer of unsupervised mischief, but things are definitely not what they seem.

I enjoyed this one! As a fan of Barker’s Fourth Monkey, I was excited to read something of his outside that franchise. I loved how spooky this book was. My main complaint is that it started to drag and got a little convoluted/confusing for me toward the end. Very creepy, atmospheric, and overall entertaining though! Solid four stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the early read!

I received both audio and ebook versions of Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D Barker from netgalley. I listened to the audiobook, so that is what my review is based on.

I think the narration was so well done. I'm not sure if this book is supposed to be YA, but the narrator, characters, and story all give YA feel. HOWEVER, that's not a bad thing as I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

The characters and setting are very descriptive. There's mystery after mystery, keeping me on my toes. With creepy almost horror aspects.

*I say YA, not meaning youth. There are dark elements*



Definitely recommend!

This takes a step back into classic Barker from when I first started reading him.
From the moment we see the characters step onto the island, we are faced with a simmering dread that slowly starts to heat into a boil.
When starting, I did not expect a YA, and honestly, it didn't feel that way at the end either. This is due to Barker tackling problems that plague us all daily. His handling of it was also done with a maturity that made its way to the characters - so do not think this is your typical YA novel because it certainly isn't.
Yet another high scoring book for me that kept the pacing going well (I do enjoy a slow burn in the beginning, where I can see some people having issue with).

This is an unsettling story with a creepy atmosphere. I enjoyed the pacing and the characters are all entertaining and unique. I liked the writing style because it sucked me in and didn't let me go until the end. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to J.D. Barker,Hampton Creek Press/Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

ᴍʏꜱᴛᴇʀʏ ʟᴠʟ: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Kept me guessing, especially for the missing girl. That was unexpected
ᴛʜʀɪʟʟ ʟᴠʟ: ⭐⭐⭐
Thrill in this sense is for the level of intrigue and suspense. Though it did keep me guessing, the suspense wasn't consistent. Usually, though there's a dip in some chapters, the suspense remains in the background that pushes you to keep flipping those pages. In the first half of the book, it was losing its grip, thus the rating.
Final rating: 4⭐️
I really thought there will be some character development for our MC, Billy, but damn! Kira did her best to save you, man. She knows it wasn't right or at least she realized at some point she made a bad decision, and she did not want Billy to pay the consequence of that. But our boy's a simp. Sigh

Enjoyed it thoroughly to the point that it put me in a mini-slump because I can't stop thinking about that ending. Definitely one of my J.D. Barker favorites.

I will start this with, I WILL ALWAYS READ A JD BARKER book! Now this was not my favorite, but I fear nothing will compare to 4th Monkey. And that is a genuine, whole hearted complement. I will also say I did not realize this was a "chiller" which, great! But I think my expectations were very off. I did love the MC, the chilling, and ghostly things in this book. But I was very annoyed I am afraid, with every female character and the scenes that tried to be spooky, but just were not.. Other than that, I really enjoyed this and was very, strangely, happy with the ending lol.

Some houses have memories. Others refuse to forget.

For seventeen-year-old Billy Hasler, one final summer of freedom should have been simple: long nights, no rules, and nothing to worry about. When his best friend Spivey inherits an old house on a remote island off the New Hampshire coast, it feels like the perfect place to escape before life moves on.

But the island has a past—and it’s not finished.

What starts as a teenage adventure soon takes a darker turn.

Told with Barker’s signature sense of creeping dread and emotional intensity, Something I Keep Upstairs is more than a haunted house story—it’s a coming-of-age tale about friendship, memory, and the invisible weight of inherited fear. As the line between reality and nightmare begins to blur, Billy must confront the cost of curiosity—and the question that haunts them all:

Once you’ve awakened something, can you ever put it back?

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Creepy, Gripping, and Full of Chills

Something I Keep Upstairs is another chilling win from J.D. Barker. Right from the beginning, the atmosphere is unsettling in the best way—it creeps under your skin and keeps you on edge. Barker knows how to build suspense slowly, with just enough detail to make you feel like something is always lurking around the corner.

The storyline was original and gripping, with twists that genuinely surprised me. The psychological elements and eerie pacing gave the book a haunting quality that stayed with me even after I finished. It was one of those books I couldn’t stop thinking about while reading.

I’m giving it four stars because there were a few moments that felt a little drawn out, and I wanted just a bit more depth with some of the side characters. But overall, this was a smart, suspenseful read that thriller fans will absolutely devour.