OUTLIER REVIEW:

I have never read Kelley Armstrong before (I know! Can you believe it?) so when this GORGEOUS BOOK COVER caught my eye, I thought, Why Not? I usually love reimaginings.

But, this isn’t a retelling of “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” though it takes place in a nearby town and references the mythical figure of the Headless Horseman, and other folklore tales frequently.

Samantha Payne’s father allegedly took his own life after being accused of murdering a child at their lakefront cottage. Her grandfather always insisted her father was innocent, despite Sam having caught him burying the child’s body, red handed.

So, nobody is more surprised than Sam when she learns that in his WILL, her grandfather left her the lakefront property worth-if sold-a cool ten million dollars which she could use to pay for her mother’s care for patients with dementia.

Of course, there is a catch: Sam needs to stay in the cottage for a month.

Sam’s grandfather is hoping that by immersing Sam in sensory memory, she will recall what REALLY happened that night, and realize that her father was indeed innocent. And, he has recreated what the cottage looked like 14 years prior, right down to the bed linens and how the kitchen table was set for dinner.

But, as soon as Sam arrives, the nightmares return and Sam wakes up to the sound of pounding hoofs, and unexplained lights under the water in the lake at night. And, mornings bring mutilated and dismembered animals delivered to her porch for her to find.

Is someone or SOMETHING trying to scare her off the property so that she won’t inherit the money?

No book is for every reader and clearly this book was NOT for me.

Kelley Armstrong’s loyal fans are loving this one, but I didn’t find it spooky at all because it seemed so over the top with the walking undead creatures.

The books that I find scary are those that are plausible and this one doesn’t meet that criteria. If you enjoy “Final Girl” type horror this will probably be a hit for you!

I think I have the only TWO STAR review on NetGalley, so do read other reviews to determine if this SUPERNATURAL HORROR may be a better fit for your personal taste.

AVAILABLE October 14, 2026.

Thank You to St. Martin’s Press for the gifted ARC provided through NetGalley. As always, these are my candid thoughts.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong

Samantha Payne has been carrying a heavy burden of sadness and guilt since she was a young teen. Long ago Sam saw her beloved father crouching over the body of a dead boy, told her mom, and then her dad killed himself. Sam's bitter grandfather never thought his son was a killer and he has never forgiven Sam for the role she plays in her father's death. Now her grandfather is dead, the will is read, and Sam is shocked that she's mentioned. Not only mentioned but will get millions if she lives on the property where all the past horrible things took place, live there for a month, never getting to leave for more than an hour a day, at most.

Luckily Sam can go there with her aunt so she's not all alone. Then there is the property caretaker, the nice looking, grumpy caretaker, and he has reason to not want anything to do with Sam because he's related to the dead boy of the past. No bother, Sam can do everything herself and right away she decides she wants a bonfire although it's already dark and she has no firewood. No problem, she's just amble out in the dark to the shed she remembers from years ago and grab a hatchet and go chop firewood in the dark. Just normal, horror story stuff, go to a cabin with a deadly history of weird noises and sightings and then go chop firewood in the dark. ha ha ha

Our girl, Sam, runs to strange sounds, runs toward very ghastly beings, runs blindly toward danger, because otherwise she'd just be sitting safely in a furnished cabin. So, yes, I'm not happy with Sam's choices of what to do next. But at least she has her aunt and grumpy caretaker and things that one would think were silly to even imagine apparently are true and it's a good thing Sam studied medicine and doesn't mind blood and guts all that much.

I'm just not the best at reading horror because I think too much, question too much, and have such different expectations of the characters and if I were in charge, we'd all probably die hiding in the cabin under the covers of Sam's childhood bed. Lots of action here, lots of dead animals and talk of dead animals (which I try to avoid in my reading) and even more dead stuff. Just in time for a nice gory Halloween read. There had been rumors about this place and Sam just might learn the rules of existing here if she has the stomach to stay around.

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for this ARC

With a vague knowledge of the tale of “The Headless Horseman”, I was curious whether this story would prove to be a paranormal phenomena, or some kind of psychological trick. I won’t spoil it for you. Kelley Armstrong keeps the reader guessing what is real, and what is imagined, for an impressive amount of time in The Haunting of Paynes Hollow.

Samantha was not prepared for torture from beyond her grandfather’s grave.

Samantha Payne returns to her childhood home, a place she hoped to never return again, for a required 1-month stay to inherit the very valuable property. She’d love to defy her grandfather’s demand in his will; however, she really needs the millions of dollars it’s worth in order to take care of her sick mother. She knows that she saw her father burying the neighbor after he killed him, but evil grandpa is certain she got it wrong all those years ago. During her house arrest, she uncovers much more than just a few family secrets tucked away in closets and cupboards. Suddenly those childhood memories of horse hooves in the night feel like more than just her wild imagination.

Per usual, Armstrong has written a page-turner that will keep readers up at night.

The Payne family legacy is dark, and full of tragedy that was a well kept secret for far too long. Kelley Armstrong keeps us guessing throughout the story with little mysteries that aren’t easily explained. Readers will doubt their own ideas of the truth while Samantha Payne second guesses her sanity.

The Haunting of Payne’s Hollow can be pre-ordered before it’s October 14, 2025 release.

Book Review
The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
By Kelley Armstrong

What Its Got
✅ Headless horseman retelling with a twist of Dutch folklore
✅ Missing people
✅ Childhood tragedy
✅ lake front cottage on a large remote property
✅ family Member with Early onset dementia
✅ Unresolved trauma
✅ an inheritance with a brutal caveat

Thoughts
📕 I wont look at a lake the same way again
📕 Googling “nekker” late at night - not a good idea (also look up “nixie” and “cryptids”)
📕 this story reminds me of HP Lovecraft and tales of Cthulhu, all the good horror stories start with myth, legend and folklore, and maybe….. a grain of truth
📕 FACT: the scariest monsters are the ones that hide in plain sight or in the lake
📕 this book would make a fabulous horror movie but I wouldnt watch it 👀😱

Overall
This book will be fueling my nightmares for the foreseeable future

Thanks to @netgalley and the publisher for my digital ARC in return for an honest review. Opinions expressed are my own.

4.5/5 stars


This is a standalone supernatural horror novel.

Horror is not a genre that I read often. But Kelley Armstrong is my favorite author. And somehow she manages to write horror books that I enjoy.

This is a dark creepy read. It features a mysterious haunted lakeside property filled with family secrets.

The main character is twenty-six year old Samantha/Sam. The book starts with her grandfather’s funeral and the reading of his will.

The will requires her to go back to her family’s large property. Broody Ben is the caretaker of the property. Sam has some childhood trauma that happened with his brother. But Sam and Ben were definitely my favorite part of the book

Sam is an interesting character, with an interesting backstory. When she was a child she saw her dad burying a body. Also her mom is battling dementia, which has caused Sam to sacrifice a lot

There is a compelling mystery with supernatural answers. The book is full of tragedy. There is a haunting legend that is an important part of the story. The supernatural elements were my least favorite part of the book. But it’s still a riveting story.

This is a spooky read, perfect for this time of year. Even if you don’t love horror this one was still a good read.

Thank you Netgalley for the ARC.

I would give this 3.5 stars/5.

When Sam’s estranged grandfather dies, she is left a large family property on a lake in upstate New York. The caveat is that she must spend a month in the cabin her family stayed in when she was a child. The place where she caught her father burying a child, and then her father’s suicide after she reported him. Sam drives up with her aunt to complete her stay and get the $10 million dollars worth of land.

I liked the reimagined Sleepy Hollow aspects of it. Kelley Armstrong also creates a vivid world that illustrates the various creatures that emerge from the lake. I feel like I didn’t really understand her relationship with her mom upfront, but maybe that was the point. I also felt like the beginning of story took two thirds of the pages, and the middle and the ending felt rushed. The impact of something’s didn’t have time to fully settle in.

So this story is classified as mystery/thriller and I can't say much without giving spoilers - so I'll just say, it's not about what you think it's about.

And that was a great thing - I was pleasantly surprised at how everything came together in the end.

A few things were a bit predictable, but others were not.

I thought the pacing was good, although a bit slow at times.

Some parts were a bit unbelievable, IYKYK - but still, this was a unique out-of-the-box mystery that was interesting.

I enjoyed the ties to the Legend of Sleepy Hollow and it's perfect for Halloween.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an e-copy of THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW to review.

I rate THE HAUNTING OF PAYNES HOLLOW four out of five stars.

When Samantha Payne's grandfather dies, she receives a most devious inheritance - the Payne's Hollow summer property, valued over 10 million dollars. The catch - she must move onto the property for 30 days before she can claim her inheritance. Sam doesn't want to return to the nightmare of her childhood - where she witnessed her father murdering a 13-year-old boy, but the money would allow her to pay for her mother's memory care and get out of debt. What she didn't expect was the strange forces trying to make her flee. Is someone gaslighting Sam or are the secrets of Payne's Hollow more closely tied to her than she expected.

Great mystery. The plot kept me hooked as I tried to figure out if the incidences were fake or real (and I'm not telling). Well crafted characters.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow is a supernatural family mystery with lots of red herrings. I didn’t quite guess the ending and that’s a good sign (chuckle).

There is plenty of angst as we are dealing with past trauma for the victims of the murdered and the killer. It creates delicious tension. Then we have relatives who may or may not be “bad guys.” The author keeps us on our toes as to the supernatural aspect of it and how much it influences the actions of the humans involved.

There is a “hmmm” for me as I’m wondering how one of the figures made it so far to the house to commit some crimes. I didn’t get that impression from the rest of the description, so it was something that made me go “hmmm.” Also, there remains deep feelings in shapes so another’s actions kind of surprise me too. (Another moment of “hmmm”.) This part seems like closure, but left me with more questions.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow has the potential for being a romantic suspense. There isn’t a cliffhanger, but there are loose ends so to speak. I would love for Armstrong to do a sequel that’s set about 4.9 years in the future and have Sam and Ben come back together to face what needs to happen. This could be an epic battle and make this a second chance romance.

It’s probably going to sound weird, but this feels like a first book in either a duology or a series. I just feel like these characters (all of them) have a lot more to say. I really hope Armstrong comes back to the story and writes a sequel.

Rounded up 4.5 ⭐!!!
I always look forward to Kelley Armstrong novels. She has a way of telling a unique story while amping up the suspense and creepiness.

When Samantha Payne's grandfather dies, she is shocked to discover that he has left Payne's Hallow (the family land) to her. She has not spoken or had contact with him since her father was accused of murdering a boy, and then committed suicide. It was Samanthat who witnessed the event, and her grandfather was always trying to convince her that she was wrong. He has left Payne's Hallow, an isolated 300 acre family summer retreat in the middle of nowhere, to her. However, she has to stay on the property for 30 days to receive it.

While there, Samantha's memory of the events of the past are put into question as she experiences horrific visions, and physical elements left on her porch. There is also the family legend of the Headless Horseman- but not the one that we are familiar with!

This book was downright claustrophobic and creepy. I've said it before, but Armstrong has a way of imbuing her setting as a dark, eerie character that is essential in driving the plot. The suspense pervades throughout the narrative, and there is a darkness in what Ava, Ben and others are experiencing. And for me, the end was a mind blowing twist that I didn't see coming!

This is another book for the Creep Season that I highly recommend. Suspense, mystery and paranormal all rolled together!

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. This is my honest and voluntary review.

Horror is not my usual genre but I found myself completely enthralled with this supernatural story. Blending folk horror with a reimagining of The Legend of Sleepy Hollow, this novel is a perfect spooky season read. Fast paced and a quick read with a mounting sense of dread, this book delivers creepy scares without a lot of gore.

As a child Sam and her parents spent their summers at the family’s 300 acre lakefront compound in Paynes Hollow New York. After a terrible tragedy Sam never returned again until she is left instructions in her grandfather’s will. Sam will inherit the compound if she returns to Paynes Hollow and remains at the compound for 30 days. On site is a caretaker with ties to the tragedy from Sam’s childhood. Spooky shenanigans occur and they make for a fun read.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow
By Kelley Armstrong

This is a story of the supernatural – a horror story based on folklore. Samantha (Sam) Payne is the scion of the Payne family that owns the property at Paynes Hollow. As a child, Sam witnessed what she thought was her father burying a boy he has killed. Though she adores her father, she turns to her mother with what she has seen. Her mother takes her to the sheriff. As a result of her story, her father commits suicide leaving a confession behind.

Her paternal grandfather, a nasty old man, has told her all her life she was wrong. That her father hadn't killed anyone. Now her estranged grandfather is dead and she finds out he has left her a property worth ten million dollars – with one stipulation. She must reside on the property for one month, without leaving for more than an hour a day, to receive her inheritance. As much as she would like to refuse the bequest, Sam needs the money to pay for the care of her mother who has early onset alzheimer's disease.

So she, along with her Aunt Gail (who is the only family member she trusts), returns to Paynes Hollow – where she hasn't been in years. Almost immediately strange things begin to happen – things for which there seems to be no rational explanation. As the situation deteriorates and the bodies start to mount up, the horror increases. Both heroes and villains end up dead. In the end, all the loose ends are tied together – and the truth makes the future possible.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for this ARC.

I’ve read a book or two by Kelley Armstrong but she isn’t a favorite author. The Haunting Of Paynes Hollow had great potential but it was only a 3 star read for me.

This book surprised the heck out of me. I was not expecting it to be as cool as it was! It is a retelling of a Dutch legend, and I was thoroughly immersed in the story!

There is a little bit of everything in this, from the paranormal parts to family secrets, and other surprises that I think are best reserved for the individual reading experience. There was so much to love about this book, and I'm obsessed with the ending. The way Sam handled her trauma at the end of the book was delicious. I didn't expect the story to take the direction that it did, and I loved every second.

Thank you so much to the publishers at NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for sending me an e-ARC! I'm a lucky bookworm to have read this before the release date. I'm going to need K. Armstrong to either write a sequel or pen another dark legend-based horror story! This is a perfect spooky read for the middle of October, and I think it would be a phenomenal book to read in the dark.

Sam is broke and doesn’t know how much longer she can afford the assisted living facility her mom lives in for early onset dementia. She has minimal contact with her family and is surprised when she is told her grandfather has died and she is required to be present for the reading of his will. Assuming she will get nothing as she absolutely couldn’t stand her grandfather she is shocked that he left his lakeside estate to her that could be worth millions upon resale. The only catch is she has to live there for 30 days. What seems like a simple task turns into something of a nightmare. She begins seeing things and starts to question if the folklore about the headless Horseman could actually be reality. Can she make it out alive within those 30 days?

From the reading of the will all the way through the bumps in the night there was never a point in the novel where I was bored. The folklore was woven in seamlessly and the ending was tied up in a satisfying way. I would consider this more of a supernatural mystery more so than a supernatural horror as it was very tame in the horror elements. Overall, I enjoyed reading this novel, but I wasn’t necessarily blown away.

This would definitely be a good novel for those who enjoy light supernatural mysteries with a nice dose of family drama. Especially during the spooky season.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher, for my advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the advanced reader copy of The Haunting of Paynes Hollow by Kelley Armstrong! I can honestly say this was one of the best horror novels that I've read in a while. I was hooked very early on! This is a page turner I just could not put down because I needed to know what would happen next.

The premise was interesting enough to me, but nothing I was confident I'd love. The main character, Samantha Payne, is set to inherit essentially a fortune from her grandfather. But first she has to spend a month at her family cottage located on the shores of Lake Ontario. A cottage where she once saw her father burying a body, before she turned him in and he took his own life. I was intrigued, but I wasn't sure exactly what to expect. It didn't seem like that most original plot, based on that description to me. Well, whatever I thought, The Haunting of Paynes Hollow was great. It is definitely an original horror novel, and one I can see myself reading again and again every autumn for years to come. It's absolutely the perfect mix of suspense, atmospheric spookiness, supernatural horror, haunting thriller, paranoia, and mystery all wrapped up into one novel.

The supernatural elements were phenomenal. I loved the take on the Legend of Sleepy Hollow, plus the other bits of folklore woven in. Made for such a chilling read. So did the paranoia and fear of our main character, Sam. Armstrong did an amazing job drawing me into this story. I was so connected to Sam that I was on the edge of my seat with each twist and turn as she finds out secrets about her family cottage. I want to say this was one of the most immersive horror books I've ever read. Armstrong is a master at the eerie descriptions that truly bring the frightening aspects of the story to life. There is so many other things I loved as well! From well done twists and reveals, to realistic and intriguing characters, I can't say enough good things about this book. Even the ending was 10/10 for me!

This is really one of my favorite horror books ever, if that wasn't clear. I recommend it to anyone who loves being scared and wants a good read to leave you a little uneasy to go to sleep. If you've read Kelley Armstrong's other horror novels and enjoyed them like me, you have to give this one a read as well. It's her best one yet! I really believe that everyone looking for the perfect spooky October read needs to get The Haunting of Paynes Hollow!

When her grandfather dies, Sam doesn't even want to go the funeral, much less the reading of the will. Sam's grandfather was not a nice man to her, or much of anyone else. Past family tragedies will do that to the members of the family. But, she promised her aunt Gail, so she goes. Also, if she doesn't attend the reading, it won't be read, and the greedy members of the family want it read. After the reading the stipulations make it hard for Sam to comply, but, also do to family obligations, she agrees to comply. But, since it's her awful grandfather, it will not be easy to survive, especially when things that seem impossible start happening, things that cannot be real, but they are. Haunting and surreal...

Kelley Armstrong is always an automatic request/read for me. She weaves family trauma, ghostly terror, and buried secrets into a story that had me holding my breath. The lakefront setting is vividly eerie, and the creeping dread built with every page. A must-read for fans of supernatural horror.

Armstrong absolutely hit this one outta the park. Such a riveting and evocative read. Compelling characters, bold setting and a fresh take on a familiar story.

The Haunting of Paynes Hollow was an extremely enjoyable read that drags you into the plot. I couldn’t put the book down as I had to know what was going on.

when Sam was a kid she thought she saw her dad burying the body of a local boy her age. cue family falling apart and now to get the money for her inheritance her grandfather in his will she has to go back to the family land / cottage for a month to “learn the truth.”

things i think this succeeded in / people will like
-fast paced, get emotionally connected to the characters easily and the events going on

general
-this bordered thriller a little more than horror at times, especially at the end

dislikes
-the beginning i wished we got some more details or dialogues scenes than the convenient jump a few days ahead
-at times sam seemed dumb lmao but granted i’d probs do dumb stuff too in her shoes if i think im seeing stuff from folklore