Book Review: The Spite House by Johnny Compton

About the Book

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money—it’s not easy to find steady, safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you.

When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The owner is looking for proof of paranormal activity. All they need to do is stay in the house and keep a detailed record of everything that happens there. Provided the house’s horrors don’t drive them all mad, like the caretakers before them.

The job calls to Eric, not just because there’s a huge payout if they can make it through, but because he wants to explore the secrets of the spite house. If it is indeed haunted, maybe it’ll help him understand the uncanny power that clings to his family, driving them from town to town, making them afraid to stop running.

My Review

I do love a creepy haunted house story! And this one was a delight… I wasn’t familiar with the concept of a spite house before this book, so didn’t initially know what everyone was talking about until I turn to Google – but what a brilliant concept to work into a haunted house tale!

This book had it all – creepy crawly unexplainable events, mysterious backstories, a blurring of the lines between life and death, curses, near misses and narrow escapes, and the love of a family underpinning it all. Compton has crafted a delightful tale that sent shivers up my spine and kept me furiously turning pages to see what would happen next…

I really enjoyed exploring the familial relationships here, and the way they did not play second fiddle to the underlying ghost story. Rather they were an essential part of everything that was going on, and I really think it made the story feel richer than your traditional ghost or haunted house story. I’m a sucker for great characterization and the combination of protective and fearful instincts in opposition to a never ending sense of curiosity about what was *really* going on was very dynamic.

I thoroughly enjoyed this one!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for my obligation-free review copy.