‘The September House’ Review – A Modern Haunted House Story That Explores The Cycles Of Trauma And Violence

On the surface, Carissa Orlando’s The September House seems like a pretty standard haunted house story. And, to be fair, you get all of that. There are plenty of ghosts hanging around, blood dripping down walls, and disembodied screams. You name it, it’s here. But The September House isn’t really that kind of story. Instead, it dives far more into ideas of mental health, abuse, alcoholism, and cycles of violence. Unfortunately, the combination of supernatural weirdness and dark, gritty emotional truth doesn’t always work perfectly. For as scary and thrilling as the book is, it’s also occasionally frustrating and meandering. But The September House is never anything less than compulsively readable – a page-turner in the truest sense of the word.

A Very Modern Haunted House Story…

When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the strange Victorian house four years ago, they thought they’d finally found their dream home. And, for a bit, they were right. Until their first September, however, when the moaning and screaming started. And the blood oozing down the walls. And the random, oftentimes violent apparitions that kept appearing. Each September, the hauntings got worse and worse – until Hal finally had enough, and left. Now, Margaret’s daughter, Katherine, visits, trying to figure out where Hal disappeared to – and if he’s even still alive. But it’s the middle of September, and it’s up to Margaret to protect Katherine from the house’s horror – and from the secrets she’d desperately like to keep Katherine from discovering.

On the one hand, The September House is a page-turner of a thriller. It’s horrific in all senses of the word. From the gruesome appearances of the ghosts to the horrific ways they originally died, even to the more emotional kinds of horror. It’s just a spooky, spooky read; a quick-paced, gut punch of a book. The kind of read where you just want to keep reading, even if it’s fairly obvious where the story’s heading. Orlando does an excellent job of really delving into the house’s weirdness. Her more comedic prose acts as a lovely counter to the story’s darker elements; a nice bit of comic relief. Fans of classic haunted house stories are sure to dig the first half of the book, in particular. But the whole thing is just a lovely, modern take on a haunted house story.

…That Takes a Look at the Cycles of Violence and Abuse

Where the book stumbles a bit is in its second third, where it delves into the meatier, emotional themes. Orlando plays with the idea of the cyclical nature of violence – both in the house’s hauntings and in Margaret’s personal life. For all of her adult life, Margaret’s lived through cycles of violence and abuse. She’s lived through her husband’s recurring alcoholism and the violent outbursts that came with it. It’s a neat idea, and Orlando explores it pretty well. The problem is that it just kind of feels out of place in a book like this. On paper, it makes sense. But in practice, it hews a little too close to that age-old trope in ghost stories of the protagonist having some kind of a mental breakdown, with the “haunting” being nothing more than a delusion. And those kinds of haunted house stories are often the least interesting ones.

In fairness, the mystery of Hal’s disappearance and whether or not Margaret’s just seeing things is a good one. Orlando writes it well, it’s paced well, it’s full of twists and turns, and it gets wrapped up in a genuinely satisfying way. It just makes for an unusual combination in a haunted house story. Especially in the middle third of the novel, where it seems like Orlando’s leaning hard toward the idea of everything being in Margaret’s head. It’s interesting enough. But it’s also kind of a letdown in some ways. The ending, for as good as it is, doesn’t entirely erase those feelings – but it does come relatively close. Some people are gonna dig it, and some people probably won’t. It’s easy to see what Orlando was going for, but it doesn’t entirely come together as a cohesive whole.

Final Thoughts

At the end of the day The September House is a bit of a mixed bag It’s a well-written, page-turner of a book. Compulsively readable, spine-tinglingly horrific, and emotionally satisfying. It’s just that the combination of all of its disparate parts clash as often as they sing. In fairness, though, the book’s final third is superb and almost makes everything come together. But that middle third’s gonna prove quite divisive. The September House is easily worth a read, but its ultimate success is largely gonna depend on what you want out of a haunted house story. If you’re looking for something more concretely supernatural, you might feel a bit disappointed. But if you’re looking for a meaty, in-depth exploration of the cycles of abuse and violence, mixed with some classic, Exorcist-style thrills, then The September House is right up your alley.

The September House is available now in hardcover, ebook, and audiobook formats from Berkley/Penguin Random House.

DISCLAIMER: A review copy of The September House was provided by the publisher. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.