I don’t typically read horror, but in searching to expand my genres, I was given Credenza. I was a little concerned going into this that I wouldn’t enjoy it because I’m terrified of all that goes bump in the night. To my surprise, this was a really enjoyable read, more of cozy horror in my opinion—but that’s probably just me trying to be hopeful during the tame parts. The author's writing style was easy to follow, and the way the story progressed kept me interested enough to finish this in one evening.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this for my honest review.

Thank You NetGalley and Quill & Crow Publishing House for the ARC!

This book had so much wonderful haunted blends and suspense within family drama! The world building is wonderfully eerie and haunted and there's creepy heirlooms at every corner, you can't tell if its haunted or there's something darker looming. The twists and tension always keep you on the edge of your seat. There were just a few things that needed more clarification, but the language itself flowed so well it always kept you interested.

I was able to get this ARC through NetGalley.

Veronica, used to handling things on her own gets thrown into a dark and horrifying reality. When her grandmother dies, she inherits her credenza. Taking it home Veronica plans on making use of it with her daughter Star.

Once she gets it home though, Veronica starts experiencing weird things. Why is she seeing her dead grandmother, why do strange things keep happening at home? Why is her daughter Star hearing whispering coming from the credenza?

This book had me in its claws the ENTIRE read. I couldn’t wait to get home to see how it ended. There were plenty of twists and turns, with some nostalgia thrown in as well. The ending had me floored and wanting to know if anything else evil is to come… I definitely would recommend this book to anyone craving a good dark thriller.

We love a Florida horror story! This was a relatively quick read at 234 pages and had an easy pace that kept me hooked. I enjoyed the complicated matriarchy themes and diving into the back stories of the four women (1 child)'s life. The novel dives into what we pass down our family tree both physically, mentally and spiritually. I love a haunted object, cursed family trope. It was definitely a lighter horror read than I am used to and it didn't get gorey until the end.

This novel took a real turn that I did not see coming. It was interesting enough, but it did leave me wanting after such a big lead up. There were also a few inconsistencies and plot holes that needed plugging.

Thank you NetGalley and Quill & Crow Publish House for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review.

Deliciously creepy, makes me not want to flip furniture ever again.

I love books that have a creep factor attached to perfectly innocuous objects! A monkey doll, a couch? A credenza! Why not?

In my mind, true horror is the one that sneaks up on you while you're busy doing something else and you find yourself distracted from your task, heart racing and hair on end.

Hello, you sneaky piece of furniture!

Enjoy the creepy.

Thank you to Quill & Crow Publishing House, NetGalley & Wendy Dalrymple for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Rating: 4 stars.
Genre(s): horror.

Overall impression: a fast-paced and quirky pink horror novel that revolved around a very unassuming piece of furniture. I really liked the backstory to the credenza and could have easily spent more time going down a rabbit hole to learn about the evil wood that it was crafted from. The rest of the story was exciting and unpredictable, with lots of twists and turns. I found the characters to be really relatable and their reaction to supernatural events to be very realistic. I had a lot of fun reading this!

Tropes:
➵ Single mum
➵ Family heirlooms
➵ Haunted furniture
➵ Evil book
➵ Helpful or harmful ghosts
➵ Mystery men in black
➵ Rituals & human sacrifice
➵ Secrets & betrayal
➵ Flawed characters
➵ Not everything is as it seems
➵ Not everyone survives
➵ Happy-for-now (HFN)

⤷ Plot:
The story was a mix of plot- and character-driven. Veronica inherited an evil piece of furniture from her deceased grandmother and was subject to hallucinations, unsavoury characters and deadly rituals. At the same time, she had to mend broken relationships, be a steady presence for her frightened daughter and redefine her identity as life evolved. There were a few twists towards the end which I wasn't expecting and it had an open 'happy-for-now' ending that left me a bit unsettled (which I don't mind at all in horror books).

⤷ Characters:
Veronica and her family were really interesting and had very complex relationships. Generational trauma and mental illness were unpacked and we got to see the start of the healing process between Veronica and her mother/ex-husband. I found the characters to be very relatable with their flawed personalities, ability to adapt and grow, and responses to supernatural events. There was a lot of depth to the story which made it even more intriguing to read.

⤷ World-building:
The initial setup for the story was really well done and it had me hooked. The first scene showed where the wood came from that was then crafted into the credenza and we got to see some of the early horrors it brought to people through newspaper clippings and flashback/old POV's trickled throughout the story. I wish there was a bit more time spent describing the old days and how the wood actually grew from evil. It was glossed over at one point and I felt like it was a missing part of the story. The world-building did ramp up a lot towards the end and we were confronted with some grotesque scenes involving cannibalism, rituals and sacrifice. It certainly felt like a horror book in the last few chapters!

⤷ Writing:
The story had a great flow and it was a very quick read. I liked that we got to see the different generations cope with the credenza through past POV scenes - it helped build a few of the characters' backstories up and made it easier to understand how they ended up the way they were. I'll definitely read more of Wendy's books in the future.

A short, fun, horror-tinged romp. I love haunted houses, and cursed furniture is adjacent to that so I enjoyed myself with this one. It's nothing groundbreaking, doesn't explain itself very well, and rushes at a breakneck speed to the conclusion - these aren't necessarily bad things, just observations. If you're looking for a creepy, easy summer read, this has got you covered.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC .

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this copy.

I went into this book completely blind. If I’m being honest, I didn’t even know what a credenza was before I started reading, but I figured it out quickly and flew through this short read.

The pros: This book is written well and the creepy scenes did a good job of creeping me out. Veronica is a relatable main character and her story was very real.

The cons: I didn’t find the plot very exciting. I love a good haunted house story, but I don’t know if I’m crazy about haunted furniture. I also would’ve liked more chapters from Grandma Maddie and Karen to build the history. I know not everyone is a fan of multiple POVs, but sometimes they help the story. The ending was rushed and left me with more questions than answers and it’s a bummer that didn’t feel full fleshed out.

With all that taken into account, I still enjoyed the book. It was creative and kept me interested. However, won’t be buying any credenzas in the near future.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for sending me an advanced copy of this!!

At it's core this book is about generational trauma and learning to trust those who may have hurt you in the past. But also TW's for cannibalism, murder, familial trauma, houses burning down, and gore.

A fair amount of this book wouldn't have happened if any character (aside from Star because she is a child) participated in healthy communication methods rather than trying to solve everything by themselves or just ignoring the problem and hoping it disappears and YES I am blaming grandma here. The story would have also resolved so fast if I was in Veronica's shoes, as soon as weird shit started with this credenza I was like "girl you need to burn it. get some salt, some sage, the wholeass pope for a cleanse and then cast this piece of furniture into the fires of Mt Doom."

I felt like a fair amount of the more "supernatural" moments initially involving the credenza didn't have a lot of value because me as the reader was instantly clued in that this thing is bad news and yet with all of the weirdness happening Veronica is just brushing it off, trying to force normalcy and pretend that nothing is wrong even though her sliced open and charred finger is no longer sliced open OR charred.

This story moved at a breakneck pace which when looking at the page-count makes a ton of sense but there are some things that I think deserved to have more time spent with them. Like the book Veronica receives in the mail from an unknown international sender, it appeared and was gone almost within the same chapter.

All in all though I really did enjoy this! I mostly liked all of the characters or grew to like them as the story continued... some of them I grew to hate. But it was really enjoyable and I think if you can enjoy and appreciate a story about generational trauma and Old Gods (though they didn't have much of an appearance) you would enjoy this book.

Y’all. CREDENZA by @wendydalrymplewrites is pink gothic at its absolute finest. When Ronnie, owner of a vintage boutique, and an EXTREMELY relatable parent to her middle school daughter Star, inherits her grandmother’s old credenza, she is NOT READY for the world of evil scary shit that’s about to descend on them. This is a lean and mean cursed object story that moves fast through unease into fear and outright terror, while still very deftly giving us hugely empathetic characters, complex family dynamics, and a ton of supernatural lore too. You really feel for Ronnie and the day to day things she’s struggling with, from paying bills to grappling with how fast her daughter is growing up. And that’s all before the horror starts creeping into their world, building unrelentingly to a truly upsetting crescendo (in a good way!). Many thanks to @quillandcrowpublishinghouse and @netgalley for the arc! CREDENZA is an excellent blend of character and terror, and I insist that you preorder it immediately! The Old Mothers would want you to…..

Wendy Dalrymple snagged my attention with her story in Truborn Press' Punk Goes Horror antho that released earlier this year, and since then, l've been looking to sink my teeth into more of her writing. And Credenza was the perfect venture for such a thing.

Haunted furniture feels like a very niche, specific kind of horror plot that may be limited, but in the right hands flourishes as with Credenza. Veronica inherits a unique piece of furniture from her Grandma Maddie, a large credenza. While it's not much to bat an eye at, weird things start occurring around this piece of furniture including strange dreams, borderline harassing salesmen, and a feeling Veronica can't shake. As events unfold, it's soon realized that there's more than meets the eye with this piece of furniture, an object with much deeper meaning than Veronica could have ever imagined.

I really enjoyed reading this story as Dalrymple elevates what can be a limiting plot into vast, sprawling territory. You may think you know what to expect with haunted furniture, but this particular credenza has much more to offer than general scares. In fact, Credenza is a story full of stomach-churning gore and thought-provoking insight to familial trauma and cycles. Which is so impressive.

This is a solid read, and if you're looking for something haunted, freaky, and unique, I highly recommend picking Credenza up!

3.5 rounded up.

I picked this because, well it’s a cursed piece of furniture! The actual story was different from what I had anticipated and it was a very quick read. There were a few creepy moments and some gore, but it was not revolutionary and the ending was very straightforward. I suppose in my head I had hoped for something a bit sillier like a murderous piece of furniture!

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such an enjoyable emotional journey packed into a quick, easy read. If you’re looking for accessible horror with cursed objects, this is definitely your book. The pacing moves fast, which works perfectly for the story being told.

What really got me were the flashbacks that trace the credenza’s entire lifetime. We get to see it through generations of women in Veronica’s family, all the way back to when it was crafted, and even further back to the actual chopping down of the tree for the wood. There’s something both beautiful and deeply unsettling about following this piece of furniture through time and watching how it affects each generation.

The horror elements hit just right. Creepy enough to give you goosebumps but not so extreme that you’ll be sleeping with the lights on. There’s some gore, but it’s not overwhelming, making this a great choice if you want to dip your toes into horror without diving into the deep end.

The mother-daughter themes and family trauma elements give the story real emotional weight beyond just the supernatural scares. It’s not just about a spooky piece of furniture, it’s about how family secrets and trauma get passed down through generations, sometimes literally through cursed objects apparently!

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing a free ARC of this title in exchange for my review.

Could a horror story about haunted furniture with a pink cover really work? Yes, yes it can, and yes it does! Is haunted furniture actually scary? Yes, it is when it holds onto secrets, whispers threats, stabs people and bleeds! And of course Veronica, a vintage reseller, inherits the haunted furniture. We meet Star, Veronica's daughter, Fernando, Veronica's aunts nurse, and Paul, a furniture dealer - who seems just too interested in said haunted furniture.

While the pacing can be slow, the characters are fun to read and feel real. This is a slow burn, good for fans of haunted house books and home improvement shows.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4 stars. Recommend and encourage you to check out her other books - I know I will!

This was an entertaining read. I haven’t read a lot of books about cursed objects, but I enjoyed this one.

Veronica inherits a credenza from her late grandmother. There is something not quite right about the credenza. Sure, it’s a lovely addition to her decor, but strange and disturbing things have started happening since she brought it home. Could it be cursed?

The story is mainly told from Veronica’s perspective in the present time, with some chapters taking place in the past, exploring the dark history of the credenza.

I loved the supernatural elements in the story. There was just the right amount of creepiness. I liked the main characters and the close relationship that Veronica had with her daughter. I thought the ending was really good.

Overall, this was a quick and fun horror read that I would recommend to fans of supernatural horror, cursed object horror, or pink horror.

I can’t wait to read more from Dalrymple!

I will start this off admitting that I don't LOVE gothic horror in general, but I do love Wendy's writing so I decided to give it a read anyway. Unfortunately, this one didn't really do much for me. I don't feel like the ghosty/haunted credenza bits ever built quite enough tension. Honestly, this book felt more focused on the main character's financial and social situations.

I did love the relationship between Veronica and her daughter Star as well as the complex feelings and dynamics with her ex husband. I also didn't really like the ending/climax of the story it took a turn into a thing that I just really hate.

Over all this book just wasn't for me.

When her grandmother passes away, the assisted living home she was in saves her cherished antique credenza for Veronica Marquette, who has mixed memories of that piece of furniture. Her crazy, estranged mother always claimed it was cursed and used to whisper to her. But now that it's in Veronica's home, strange things occur, making her wonder if somehow the credenza is putting her and her daughter in danger.
An antique piece of furniture, an evil cult, a family of witches and a slew of paranoia. These elements all come together in a sometimes cray-cray, but overall solidly written novel. Though it has a bit of a slow start, once the story really got going it didn't let up till the end. I enjoyed this way more than I thought I would. 4.5 of 5 stars.

3.5 rounded up.

Veronica (“Ronnie”) is a single mother in in her thirties, living in Florida with her young teen daughter. She is struggling to provide a stable, loving home to her child, reckon with her feelings about her formerly drug addicted ex and her mentally unstable mother, trying to keep her small business (vintage items she finds at estate sales, restores and resells) afloat, and now dealing with the grief from the recent death of the grandmother who raised her. When she inherits grandma Maddie’s antique walnut credenza, there is no consideration of reselling an item of such sentimental value. But when sinister and strange events start occurring, a ghastly old book is discovered, and a mysterious stranger makes a generous offer to purchase the sideboard, Ronnie soon finds herself debating whether to let the family heirloom go. But it may be too late to save her little family from the curse it carries.

Credenza is a pretty straightforward cursed object tale, as the title and cover would imply. This is a short and easy read, and I would compare Dalrymple’s writing to cozy horror author Darcy Coates, although with a few more rough edges that could stand to be smoothed over through better editing. There’s nothing really new here, the cursed object playbook is certainly not being rewritten or even offering anything particularly unique in Credenza, but I still found the story engaging enough that I was happy to go along for the ride. It’s a short book too, which is in it's favor. I don’t know how I would feel about 300+ pages of this.

I would recommend it for an easy read to horror fans interested in the cursed object trope, who are looking for something more cozy than disturbing. There was some gore at the end, but nothing too extreme. This was my first book by the author, and I would definitely check out more of her work, probably as one of the palate cleanser books I like to pick up sometimes between more dark and/or challenging reads.

Thank you to NetGalley for a free copy of Credenza in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Net Galley and Quill & Crow Publishing House for providing me a copy to review.

As an avid horror fan, I thought Credenza was a pretty nice short horror read for the summer. It's also not too gorey for anyone who wants to dip their fit into this genre as it's mostly character driven. The horror elements don't really happen until the end of the book. Personally, I would've liked more horror elements sprinkled a little more throughout the book.

I liked the cast of characters in Credenza; I found them quite realistic and relatable. The writing was good, as well as the pacing of the plot unfolding.

Thank you to NetGalley and Quill & Crow Publishing House for providing me a complimentary copy of this book.

Veronica is a struggling, albeit stubborn, single-mother to a 12-year old and an antiques seller. The book begins with an eerie scene back in time where a specific, special tree is being cut down by a young man who is desperate to make money to feed his family. Fast-forward to the present and Veronica's grandmother has passed away and she has inherited an antique credenza that's been in the family for years and a box of her grandmother's belongings. After she brings the items home, she begins to experience strange occurrences in her home and life. She realizes that the credenza might be the common denominator for these strange happenings and she is set on finding out more information about this credenza and the creepy green-clothed covered book she finds in a hidden compartment in one of the drawers.

Okay, I *really* enjoyed this. I devoured this in a whole 24 hours and I am not complaining. Even though the book was on the shorter side, I felt like the pace of the story wasn't rushed, but it unraveled at a good speed. The mystery and the weird occurrences were actually pretty creepy. I love the idea of a haunted piece of furniture that is filled full of suspicious history and suspected evil. My only "complaint," which really isn't a complaint, it's just more unrealistic in my eyes, is how honest Veronica is with her 12-year old Star - I feel like the honesty and the amount of information Veronica shared with Star was a little too much. There were things that Star definitely didn't need to know about and I feel like at her age, Veronica was a little TOO honest and open with her; but I also understand that Veronica didn't have anyone else, what with her mother disappearing when she was young, having a non-existent father figure in her life, no friends, and no family around.

The ending was super satisfying, but I feel like it left off on a cliffhanger, maybe? If so, I am totally looking forward to the next one because I need to know what happens next!