As always a great read.

When Sam’s grandfather dies and leaves her almost everything she is nervous. She needs the money to support her sick mother, put herself through school and get back on feet but at what expense? She hadn’t spoken to her grandfather in all the years since her father died and he cast her and her mother out.

The inheritance comes with a stipulation - stay at the old family vacation home for one month. One month of not leaving the property where her father died after committing a murder. The property that gave her nightmares as a child and now an adult. The property that took so much from her.

As Sam sets up for her stay strange things start to happen. Is she going crazy or is it the paranormal? Are her memories real or dreams?

While yes a a ghost story it also touches on family, the lengths you will go to protect your own and finding out that some blood isn’t thicker than water.

The Hauting of Paynes Hollow is a horror-thrillery story about small town secrets, local folklore, (a lot of) family drama, and generational trauma with quite a few unlikable characters and a not-so reliable protagonist.
The setting is great for readers who enjoy horror stories set in cottages by the lake in the woods. The characters are, in my opinion, most of the time realistic enough. The pacing is great, really. The author throws us, the readers, into action and in the middle of the gore while developing the characters. It's gruesome, especially in the second half, and it envolves a lot of paranormal and supernatural myths and local legends, and it is emotional if you connect to the characters and care for them.

This is the third horror adult novel I read from this author. My favourite still is Hemlock Island, and the reason why I ended up really enjoying this one, Paynes Hollow, is because this book reminds me a lot of Hemlock Island. So I could easily say that whoever reads Hemlock Island might as well enjoy this one. My only reservation would be: sometimes, in my opinion, mostly in the final third of the book, the characters spoke and behaved in a very juvenile way. Even some dialogues read very young adult. And, according to the publisher, this is an adult horror novel. So, just keep that in mind.

However, I can also recommend this book to any horror readers out there who enjoy gruesome horror stories with supernatural twists and local folklores.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

Why yes I did read 2 Kelley Armstrong books back to back. I received this ARC for Haunting in Payne’s Hollow from Net Galley and St Martin’s Press. Overall yes I did enjoy the book but I think of the 2 I prefer the more Sherlock Holmes style of a murder/mystery who done it story versus this mental gymnastics. Sam Payne inherits her families lake property from her grandfather which she desperately needs to pay for her moms medical care with the caveat that she must spend 30 days on the property and isn’t allowed to leave for more than an hour - she hasn’t been to the property in 14 years since she found her Dad burying the body of a 13 year old local boy and outed him to authorities. If the goal is to make you also question your own sanity while reading then boy you are in for a treat because I had 2 ideas initially of what I thought had happened and whew was I wrong but I did like the overall story/plot lines.

Sam really did also make me start questioning my own sanity. I kept flip flopping back and forth between her being the one doing everything or it initially being her Grandfather or a family member. I liked the supernatural twist to this with the nekkers though.

I'm a Kelley Armstrong fan; any story, any genre, I'll read it. Her books span multiple genres, ranging from paranormal to rom-com and everything in between. She's got a few stories to tell. Yes, I love some of them more than others, but I would still love to see the Nadia Stafford series expanded. The Rockton series cannot be compared to any other of its kind; it's that good. The Cainsville series set off a years long fascination with The Wild Hunt. Armstrong's writing flows as she builds characters and the community around them. It's easy to ignore everything else when you start one of her books. I recommend them and often gift them.

Paynes' Hollow is a small town that was established around a family estate, that's right, the Paynes. For generations, there have been rumors and unsubstantiated tales of the events in and around the Payne family's compound, but the death of a young local man many years ago has left the compound isolated and empty. When Samantha (Sam) Payne's Grandfather dies, he deeded her the compound, with some conditions. She definitely needs the money, but her past experiences have left her leery of anything to do with her Payne family. As her worst nightmares come to life, Sam will learn things from her past that cause her to question her future.

(3.5 rounded up) My interest was piqued with this one because I’m a big fan of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” and it’s various retellings, and this novel uses the legend of the headless horseman to mostly effective ends. The story centers on Samantha, who is bequeathed her family’s lakefront cottage in her recently deceased grandfather’s will. The catch? She has to live there for a month, only being allowed off property for an hour a day. There’s another unsettling family element, with Samantha believing her father murdered a child at this property a decade ago and her grandfather certain that his son was innocent, so Samantha begins investigating during her stay at the cottage. And, as you might expect, shit gets spooky. The atmosphere in this is great, eerie and unnerving, and I was drawn to the writing, which is tight and economical (which I find quite rare in horror novels!). It is however, pretty slow-paced and very supernatural, sometimes more vibes than plot. I could see the ending being disappointing to some readers as well, but I thought it fit the story well.

*Many thanks to St. Martin's Press for allowing me to be a member of the SMP Early Readers Program*

Sam comes back to her family’s hometown for her Grandfather’s funeral and reading of his will. She loathes her Grandfather due to a long, complicated and difficult family history. The will states that Sam will get her family’s 300 acre property where she summered as a child but the last summer she was there, ended in tragedy. The will has once caveat though, she must stay on the property for one month (she can only leave for no longer than an hour otherwise she forfeits the inheritance and it goes to distant relatives). Her aunt goes with her but goes missing and then things start to go off the rails.

This book had great folklore, historical elements and quite a few twists and turns that captivated me from the start! I finished it in 2 days! I enjoyed the characters and trying to figure out how it all fit together. Definitely a fun read with a dark side!

Thank you St. Martin’s Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

4.5 stars rounded up. I cannot tell how excited I was to read this book and it totally lived up to all my expectations! The pace was perfect, lots of twists and suspense and weird things happening that I had absolutely no explanations for. I loved so many of the characters, Sam, Ben, and Josie especially, and I really liked Gail too, but I did not like that she suddenly wasn’t trusting Sam. I suppose it made sense in a way but I would have felt exactly as Sam did when she made accusations… This was creepy in all the right ways with great character development to go with it. I absolutely did not guess the twist, not a single part of it, until part of it was explained and then I still didn’t guess the final twist. I loved that it included folklore, if you aren’t a fan of some “somewhat supernatural” (I’m not exactly sure if folklore falls into the supernatural category, but there were def elements where the suspension of your beliefs may be necessary, depending on what your belief systems are). But for me I loved it. I also loved that the ending didn’t fix all problems and wasn’t all butterflies and rainbows because that’s how life is and I love how Sam chose to handle what she learned. Overall I recommend this book to any and all mystery/thriller lovers who are okay with some elements of folklore making an appearance. I am eternally grateful to Netgalley and the publishers for allowing me this copy of the ARC in exchange for this honest review.

Sleepy Hollow meets generational trauma, this book is eerie, emotional, and steeped in folklore, with a slow unraveling of memory and myth. It will be the perfect book for spooky season!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading this book. I was given an ARC. While I don’t normally read horror novels, I did give this one a try. The plot moved along at a good pace and I continued to guess the outcome throughout. I was still surprised by some elements of the story. It was well written, good twists, and full of suspense.

Samantha Payne has never been close to her grandfather. Ever since her father took his own life when he was accused of murder after Samantha found her father burying a child's body at their family cottage, her grandfather has always tried to prove that his son was innocent. So, when her grandfather passes away, she is shocked to find that he left the valuable lakefront property where their family cottage sits to Samantha. There is one catch: Samantha must stay on the property for 30 days. Determined to get the money she desperately needs, Samantha and her aunt travel to Paynes Hollow. She immediately experiences weird occurrences of dead animals near the cottage and weird lights underneath the lake in the middle of the night. Samantha believes that someone is messing with her. But when her aunt goes missing a couple of days later, Samantha believes there is something more sinister happening in Payne's Hollow.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow is darker than Kelley Armstrong's previous work, but I loved it. The mix of Dutch folklore and the story of the Headless Huntsman makes for a horror story that would be perfect for the fall season. I was invested in the mystery as Sam tries to figure out what is happening at Paynes Hollow while delving into her past that led to her father taking his own life. Although the ending takes a different turn than I expected, I still enjoyed the conclusion.

If you are a fan of mysteries with a paranormal twist, I would highly recommend The Haunting of Paynes Hollow.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow is out October 14th.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to review The Haunting of Paynes Hollow. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow follows Samantha after her grandfather dies and she returns home to win inheritance of the property and money. She hasn’t stepped foot on the land since her she caught her father murdering a child fourteen years ago. But her grandfather always believed he was innocent and he’s forcing Sam to uncover the truth. When strange things start happening, Sam is plagued by nightmares and paranoid and must figure out what’s really happening before it’s too late.

This was a lot of fun! I wasn’t expecting the folklore element but I thoroughly enjoyed that plot element. The concept was super interesting and the ending was very satisfying. It was a bit slow, but when the action picks up its really gripping. The horror element was really well teased out and I loved the haunting descriptions. There’s definitely this lovely sense of foreboding woven through the story.

I really enjoyed Sam’s character and the questioning of her sanity. I love when there’s some unreliable narrator suspicion going on and this was done really well. Sam cares for her family so much and has been through a lot and I loved how she didn’t back down when things got intense. Her friendship either Josie and Ben was really sweet. Ben was great too. I loved how he started how very harsh and brooding but softened over time.

Overall, if you love a good mystery horror with some folklore/supernatural elements, I’d definitely recommend checking this out!

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for the arc

Kelley Armstrong is quickly becoming one of my go to authors! Every year she writes a new book I become more and more obsessed! Supernatural horror is one of my FAVORITE types of books to read and she's slaying that in every book. I was immediately immersed in this story and couldn't put it down. I can't wait for more!

I absolutely loved the first half of the book, mostly because it was so refreshing to read about protagonists in a horror story that make good / reasonable decisions (e.g. calling the police when something is off, documenting strange things they witness,...), but when the supernatural part of the story really kicked in I was a bit less excited about everything.
Overall, this ended up being a pretty good read, but not a perfect one.

The author does a good job of melding the headless horseman myth with the myth of “nekkers” (water horses). She also keeps up the suspense, making the reader wonder how much of what Sam is seeing, hearing and experiencing at the family property in Paynes Hollow is someone gaslighting her and how much is supernatural phenomena. To gain an inheritance she desperately needs, Sam has to stay in the family cottage for a month and adhere to the strict terms of her sadistic grandfather’s will. She is forced to relieve memories of the events that irrevocably altered the lives of her family and other Paynes Hollow families, and she will have company in reliving it. She will uncover disturbing family secrets.

Sam Payne stands to inherit a ten-million-dollar property from her estranged grandfather under one condition: she must spend 30 days living there in her family's long-abandoned summer cabin. What could possibly go wrong? I mean, sure, people go missing in the area with alarming frequency and her dad may have sort of killed a boy (and then himself) there a couple of decades prior and Sam isn't allowed to leave the property for more than an hour a day without forfeiting the inheritance, but these definitely aren't details straight out of a scary movie and things will almost certainly be fine. Right? Right?? Right?!?

Wrong.

Since this is a horror novel, it probably goes without saying that things do not wind up all sunshine and rainbows.

There's some interesting Dutch folklore to be found in this one, and it's intertwined with the legend of the Headless Horseman from Washington Irving's famous story. It's all very creepy and entertaining, and there are definitely a few nightmare-worthy scenes. This book is a bit of a slow burn and it takes a while for the horror to really ramp up, but that doesn't mean that the initial chapters are dull: I was totally invested in the story and its characters from the very beginning.

And I did like the characters, mostly. Ben, the curmudgeonly caretaker and Gail, Sam's incredibly generous aunt, were my favorites, although Sam isn't a terrible main character as far as these things go. I appreciate that her desire to procure her inheritance completely overrides her sense of self-preservation, because I, too, like money. You'd have to drag my cold, dead body off of that property, because that would be the only way I'd be leaving. Granted, Sam has actual altruistic reasons for needing the millions, but, I mean, it's not like I wouldn't be donating to allllll the animal shelters and sanctuaries while swimming around in my Scrooge McDuck-esque money bin. (If you're really rich and looking to adopt a new granddaughter, message me!)

But speaking of animals … yeah. There are some dismembered ones in this novel. Sigh. You don't actually “see” it happening, but the, um … results are discussed extensively. Squirrels and bunnies and foxes should stay far, far away from Payne's Hollow.

Overall, though, The Haunting of Payne's Hollow doesn't disappoint. It's creepy and entertaining and there's a brooding, handsome, and mysterious caretaker who totally won't hold it against you if your father gets caught burying his younger brother's corpse in the forest. What more can you ask for in a novel?

4.05 stars, rounded down.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is October 14, 2025.

Samantha’s grandfather leaves her one heck of a surprising inheritance. They have not been close since Samantha saw something her father did and reported it. But her grandfather has always believed his son did not do this terrible thing. Now, the terms of his will mean that Sam will inherit a lot of money, if she spends one month at the family cabin in Paynes Hollow. He is certain she will discover that she was wrong about her father.
She cannot say no, even though she wants to. She is totally broke trying to take care of her mother who has early onset Alzheimer’s. This money will mean her mother will have the care she needs, and Sam might even get to fulfill her dreams and go back to medical school. That is if she can survive the month.
I’m not going to risk falling into a spoiler filled lake, so I’m going to keep this brief. There is a lot that happens once Sam arrives at the cabin. Old memories and feelings rise to the surface and certain things make her wonder if she might have been incorrect about her father after all. I had more than one theory but did not guess where the author was headed. The icing on the cake, or the s’mores on the bonfire on the beach was the fact that a person or persons got exactly what they deserved. How often does that happen.
Publishing in October, this will make a great spooky season read.

As a self-proclaimed fall girlie, the summerween trend is giving me life, and The Haunting of Payne Hollow was the perfect spooky summer read.

I don’t usually get creeped out by books, but this one actually scared the crap out of me—I had to stop reading it one night because it was freaking me out 😂.

I absolutely devoured it and had no idea where the plot was going, which made it even more thrilling. I won’t give anything away because it’s packed with twists and turns, but if you’re looking for a spooky, unsettling read, I highly recommend it.

Thank you to Netgalley for my arc! The Haunting of Payne Hollow is out this fall 💚

Just loved this. Highly recommend, especially for anyone who likes multi-layered stories wrapped up in communities and generations.

Set along the beautiful shores of Lake Ontario in New York State, this book masterfully blends eerie atmosphere with compelling storytelling. The woods and lake are vividly rendered, becoming almost characters in the unfolding mystery rooted in ancient lore. The protagonist's courage in the face of trauma was deeply moving and inspiring. I couldn’t put it down and finished it in a single weekend. Highly recommended for readers who enjoy suspense wrapped in natural beauty and emotional depth.

As someone who loves so many of Kelley Armstrong books, it pains me to admit that this one didn't work for me. Her books are always more character and plot focused over prose and narrative structure, but this one just felt weaker than others. The dialog really bothered me and held me back from enjoying this one.

I requested this one because it might be an upcoming title I would like to review on my Youtube Channel. However, after reading the first several chapters I have determined that this book does not suit my tastes. So I decided to DNF this one.