The first third to half of this was intriguing - a strange girl, her hovering mother, an urban-legend like secret following them. The references to 2000s music and pop culture were fun for the nostalgia, but weren't overbearing. The second part of this felt a bit too long and meandering though. I'd say it's an inoffensive light horror with some fun nostalgia. I haven't read Dead Eleven from this author, but I might check it out on audio.

I'd recommend this if you're new to horror or want something a little lighter. This has some creepy scenes, but is overall pretty mild. I'd also recommend this if you like urban legends, small town dynamics, and 2000s nostalgia (computers, music, pop culture).

If you liked the computer elements of this and want something more fast paced, I'd recommend Such Lovely Skin by Tatiana Schlote-Bonne

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an advance copy for review.

✨This was such a unique book with an original premise that really delivered. The storytelling is fast-paced, sharp and engaging, and I really enjoyed the inclusion of mixed media elements that brought a palpable sense of disquieting realism to these pages. It’s the perfect mix of nostalgia, paranoia and existential dread. Horror – but make it wistful fun.

✨Perhaps my favorite part of this book was the trip down early aughts memory lane. The author delivers his thrills and chills against the backdrop of the dot-com boom of the late 90s and early aughts and includes references such as that discordant dial-up squawk, “You’ve got mail,” Napster, burning CDs, Ask Jeeves, chat rooms, web journals, early coding, The Blair Witch, The Matrix, all the late 90’s and Y2K music and so much more. Readers will certainly feel the need to throw on some low-rise jeans, a crop top and click play on that Ricky Martin CD because you’re Living La Vida Loca. Just don’t open any attachments because dark forces are lurking behind your screen.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Early 2000s nostalgia
✨Small town dynamics
✨Horror lite
✨Mixed media formats
✨Urban legends
✨October and Halloween settings

Mood: Meh
Current Jam: Everybody Hurts by R.E.M.

2.5 stars rounded up

Man, this was a really mixed bag for me. This really read like an (admittedly too long) urban legend that ends exactly how you think it will. I didn't think the 90's references were too much but I will say they did lose their charm after a while. And while the first half of the book is really strong and incredibly compelling, the second half drags and meanders to its contrived point.

The thing about the ending is once you learn exactly what happened, I feel like the author works too hard to explain it and overexplains it and then it stopped being scary. Honestly it was scary how silly the explanation was. I don't want to spoil anything for you if you want to read this but the bit about the videos embedded just kinda made me roll my eyes for some reason. Not because some kids looked at some messed up videos, as someone who looked at rotten dot com every morning before school I'm not saying I don't get why kids would look at weird stuff on the internet, it's just incorporating it further than that was dumb. We also get the classic "So and so, speak english!" when someone is talking about computers and nothing annoys me more than that. They're already "speaking english", what you mean is "I don't understand, can you elaborate?" Or maybe "Can you dumb it down for me?" The person literally just said words like "encrypted", "patterns", "data", and "algorithms".

Which leads me to my next point. Most of the characters were pretty insufferably stupid, Piper most of all. I get that computers are new at the time setting of this book and the average person didn't know a lot about computers yet. But it wasn't that, it was everything. I feel like everything everyone said to Piper was met with a blank look. Horror movies? I'm a scaredy cat, don't know 'em. Computers? I just know how to log in to AOL and that's it. The library? Oh idk, I just work here so I can hike every weekend. It's like anything that COULD be of assistance to her , she just shrugs and says "Idk".

Last question, what happened to Sam??? We just, never hear about him again and I would like to know?

Overall I think the premise is very good and from what I know about the author is he's gone viral on r/NoSleep a couple of times so I think I spy the issue. I think the author is used to short stories and is still trying to find his footing pacing wise with novels. I think he'll get there. I might recommend trying something not set or about the 90's yet, it might be reheating leftovers at this point but that's just my opinion. And obviously the most direct comparison here is The Ring which I'm going to read to round out July so I'm super interested to see how a book set in the (late) 90's compares to a book written in the (early) 90's.

Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

A horror story set in the early 2000s?? This was made for me! I struggled with the pacing at certain parts - other than that, zero complaints. What a concept and what an execution! This would be the perfect book for spooky season, but it's so good I don't even mind that I read it in the middle of summer!

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Jimmy Juliano for providing me with a complimentary digital ARC for 13 Months Haunted coming out August 12, 2025. The honest opinions expressed in this review are my own.

I’ve read another book by this author. So I was excited to receive this directly from NetGalley. I enjoy spooky horror books. I liked the first half of the book. But then it felt like it wasn’t going in a direction that I enjoyed. So I wasn’t a fan of the ending. I would check out other books by this author.

13 Months Haunted by Jimmy Juliano, for me was a no-brainer I really enjoyed Dead 11, and after reading the summary for this book I was all in. It’s 1998 in librarian Piper has found the perfect apartment right in front of the woods the perfect job as a librarian And is loving a happy life with her best buddy her dog Ripper. when she goes to the local school to tell the kids about the horror story contest for Halloween she finds it weird that there’s a new girl in class who seems to have a constant companion who she soon learns is her mom Susan. there was just something about Avery that keeps drawing Piper‘s attention and when she tells Piper she’s already written stories for the contest Piper has no idea the impact they will have. She’s already not a horror fan herself but she figures it’s children and children stories what could be the harm and then she reads Avery’s. It would’ve been fine has she not heard rumors that where they lived before something haunted their home and even killed Avery sister and her dad and this made the story about her sister that much weirder. she’s been walking the woods behind her house for months but it isn’t until after reading the story that she feels followed and watched the whole time her and ripper are on their daily excursion outside. that same day at school she stopped a boy named Shane from bullying Avery but she doesn’t think it’s him or his dad and her opinion is confirmed when on her way home she happens to be the only witness to Shane’s death. He fell down the stairs but not just fell down the stairs when she saw him he had a black mass hovering over him but this is just the beginning and the more she gets to know Avery and her mom the less she believes they’ll all make it to the ending. Piper is the last person to help someone with the paranormal problem but too soon learned the problem is it all paranormal and this is when she calls in her brother who I absolutely love by the way. He had such a great personality and I loved him and Piper‘s back-and-forth and the ending is just as different as the plot this is holy original something that looks like is going to be a characteristic of Mr. Giuliano and his riding style like Mr. Mars with thrillers I do believe we have a very talented unique rider in this author. I will absolutely be waiting with bated breath for the next book and cannot wait to see the TV show that’s being made about dead 11 if you enjoy horror with original plots, then you’ll absolutely have to check out this book. I have been reading some really bad books and it seems this one absolutely made up for that. #NetGalley, #TheBlindReviewer, #MyHonestReview, #JimmyGiuliano, #13MonthsHaunted,

13 Months Haunted makes great use of the vibe in the immediate pre- and post-Y2K time period. Otherwise, this is a serviceable, occasionally mildly derivative, thriller.

Thank you Dutton for my gifted copy!

The internet has been a dark place since its birth. But in the early naughts, it was truly the digital Wild West. It was equal parts fascinating and horrifying. I saw things I had no business seeing at ten years old. I had no business being in public chat rooms asking A/S/L in the dark of night on the family computer. Something about those late nights, early mornings, red-cheeked from giggle fueled adrenaline, feels so clandestine. It made the internet feel like this dirt crusted rag. It was a scary place. Forward or you’ll have bad luck, forward or the witch will capture your soul, forward or, forward or, forward or you’ll die. The internet was a threat to my then undiagnosed OCD and anxiety lol. I forwarded every damn thing, just to be safe.

The nostalgia of 13 Months Haunted f*cked me up. We start off with this man, Anders, writing his college thesis, and then after the first chapter we are transported to October 2000. It continues that way until the epilogue, when we’re hurtled back to the present day. I had to shake my head to clear the fog, because I truly was living in 2000 again, living in fear of being forwarded a chain email.

I truly thought Dead Eleven was lasting, but 13 Months Haunted might haunt me more (ha) than that mailbox scene from Dead Eleven (IYKYK). This book was entrancing. It felt like I was infected with a computer virus or something. 😏 Jimmy Juliano proves he is in the league of great modern horror writers, and I will beg, plead, and forward any chain mail required to read what he writes next.

This book started out and drew me in. However, this is the second book written by the author that I have read and I am not sure this author is for me. The writing style did not continue to hold my attention and was a little too slow burn.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the copy. Piper Lowery is a library clerk in small town Wisconsin. As part of her library duties, she is in charge of a writing contest for the local middle school. She meets Avery, a new student who’s different from the others. Avery won’t touch technology, her mother follows her everywhere, and there’s rumors of witchcraft. I really enjoyed 13 Months Haunted. There were plenty of creepy scenes, but it kept me guessing throughout the book as well.

OKAY JIMMY, I SEE YOU.

13 Months Haunted was everything I didn't know I needed and more: endless nostalgic Y2K references, creepy scenes that made my skin crawl, and librarians as a main character. Not to mention it being set in my home state of WI which was truly just the cherry on this late 90's, early 2000's cake. I am so, so glad I got my hands on an early copy and can't wait to see everyone loving it too come August.

Big thank you to Netgalley for my kindle early copy, and Dutton books for my physical copy!

Creepy and atmospheric!

13 Months Haunted tells the story of Piper, Library Clerk, as she befriends year 8 girl Avery and her mother Susan.
Very soon, it becomes clear that there’s something very wrong and disturbing about Avery. After reading Avery’s Halloween writing contest entry, Piper is creeped out and intrigued. Perhaps the rumours about Avery are true, and she is possessed.
Before long, Piper is too involved to step away.

So the first half of this book had me hooked and creeped out, so much so, that I stopped reading at night or while I was alone!

Through the back half of the book, as everything unfolded and I learnt how Avery came to be possessed, I was a little less creeped out but really invested in how things were going to go. However that epilogue really got me!!!

Full of nostalgia that most people in their 30’s would get a kick out of, this was a captivating horror, turned a little sci-fi horror. For lovers of “The Ring” and “Stranger things.”

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Dutton Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I had pretty high hopes for this, considering Dead Eleven was one of my favorite horror books of 2023. I'm happy to say that 13 Months Haunted exceeded my expectations!

Juliano has this gift for not just using a decade as the setting, but making you *feel* like you're back in that time. 13 Months is peppered with music, fashion, TV, and Internet references that brought me right back to my childhood, but it never comes across as if he's trying to hard. His prose is also extremely accessible, which can almost come across as YA, but instead just makes for a pleasant, fast-paced read.

Like Dead Eleven, 13 Months has its creepy moments, but it's the kind of horror book you can recommend to non-horror readers and horror fiends alike. I'm a sucker for analog horror, so that definitely worked for me. And the plot ties up nicely, but not too neatly.

Overall, 13 Months Haunted is simply a great horror book. It's everything I love about the genre. I can't wait to read more from Juliano.

13 MONTHS HAUNTED started off, to me, promising and meeting my expectations: absurd, intriguing, creepy, fun, and atmospheric.
But after the first 1/3 it all started to fall flat to me. Maybe I wasn't in the right mood for such a story, maybe the tropes ended up being too clichéd for my personal taste. Maybe my expectations were too high?
Or even maybe this book works better (for my personal taste, at least) on audio? It felt too long and repetitive in some chapters, mostly in the second half.
The truth is: all the excitment and uniqueness I had felt while reading this author's debut novel, Dead Eleven, failed to happen twice with this one.
I'm sure some other readers will enjoy this book much more than I did, and one day I'll try give it a second chance by listening to the audiobook. But for now it was a little disappointing to me.

It read younger than expected, almost like YA horror with a few mature themes tossed in. I wanted more depth, more bite. Still, the atmosphere was solid, and there were a few unsettling images I won’t forget.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC

Thanks to NetGalley and Dutton for this ARC!!

This was a very good horror book and I liked it, even if I usually don't read horror, I try to go out of my comfort zone, I really enjoyed this story and the media add-ins, the creepiness and the eerie atmosphere and vibe of the setting. It made me stop a few times and yell at the characters for doing stupid things... :) but it was a great read in total, the only thing i think wasn't needed was the start and the end, the Anders part, but it added a little bit of a journal-esque part to the whole story

DNF @ the 50% mark
Getting to the halfway point, I felt like nothing happened after the first initial turning point of the story. Piper’s speculation and inner turmoil was like a hamster reel, “I saw this and I saw that and what does it mean?”
Wash and repeat. The first half dragged and it was really hard for me to get into. I didn’t care for the writing style and because the story didn’t hook me in the first 50%, I couldn’t come to care about the characters. And while I love books that are based in the 90s, I felt like the nostalgia was being shoved down our throats with no actual relevance to the story. I was excited by the premise, but the execution wasn’t for me, which is such a bummer. There’s an audience for this book. I’m just not the one.
Thank you to Dutton Books and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

5⭐️

This book was filled with all the nostalgia I could need for the early aughts. Between dial up internet, Napster, Ask Jeeves, The Blair Witch Project and Piper's live journal, it definitely took me back to the good 'ole days before I had to work for a living and the only thing I had to worry about was how many viruses I put on the family computer downloading Mambo Number 5.

The horror in this also felt reminiscent of R.L. Stine and Are You Afraid of the Dark. I can remember the fear surrounding Y2K and a computer virus potentially killing people is so fitting for the time. I loved how hard Piper worked to investigate things and how innocently she believed everything she found. The haunting occurring in a time before the internet was filled with hoax's and conspiracies was such a great choice and kept me on the edge of my seat.

Slight spoiler but for anyone worried about Ripley; he's the goodest boy and he makes it through just fine!

Thanks Netgalley and Dutton for providing this ARC to me!

13 Months Haunted was such a wild, creepy ride—in the best way possible. It hooked me right from the beginning with its eerie atmosphere and slow-building dread. Each chapter pulled me deeper into the mystery, and I constantly felt like something was lurking just out of sight.

What I loved most was how unpredictable it was. Just when I thought I had a grasp on what was happening, the story would take another chilling turn. The concept was so unique, blending psychological horror with supernatural elements and a creeping sense of paranoia that kept me on edge.

The main character’s descent into the unknown felt believable and haunting, and there were so many moments where I had to pause just to absorb what I’d read. The pacing dipped a bit in a few spots, but overall, I was totally immersed.

It’s not your typical haunted house story—it’s more disturbing, more layered, and definitely lingers in your mind after you finish. I wouldn’t recommend reading it late at night, but I’d absolutely recommend it to anyone who loves horror with depth. A solid 4 stars from me!

It's a strange, nostalgic, and slightly askew narrative. This book was deeply unnerving. The sense of dread that permeated the story as it advanced was unmistakable.