Horror Annotation: The September House


Author: Carissa Orlando

Title: The September House

Genre: Horror

Publication Date: September 5, 2023

Number of Pages: 344 pages

Geographical Setting: New England (US)

Time Period: present day

Series: N/A


Plot Summary: 

Margaret and her husband Hal have found the perfect home, a beautiful Victorian house priced below market value, and know it will be the perfect place to settle and grow roots. Living on Hawthorn Street is as pleasant as the home’s outside façade, at least during eleven months of the year. Every September, the brutalized previous tenants of the home make their spectral presence known, with blood pouring from the walls, echoing screams through the night, and the terrifying threat of something down in the basement.

After several years, the threat of another September looming drives Hal out of the house, but Margaret stays, devoted to her house and her life there, determined to see past the ghostly quirks. When their daughter Katherine learns of her father’s disappearance, she stages an investigation, not knowing the truth about the house and its ghostly inhabitants. September is already underway, and with each discovery comes more paranormal behavior, pulls to the basement, and the risk of secrets coming to light.

Subject Headings:

Haunted house—Fiction, Horror, Supernatural, Family Violence

Appeal:

Characterization: The primary characters, Margaret and Katherine are multifaceted individuals, haunted in their own right even without  the actual hauntings of the house.

Language: With vivid imagery and descriptive language, the home, its activities, and especially the inhabitants are vividly illustrated from Margret’s perspective.

Perspective: Unlike many in the genre, The September House is told from the perspective of someone who is not a skeptic, but is comfortable and unyielding to elements that would typically cause terror. [Partial spoiler] Margaret’s descriptions of gory, axe-murdered apparitions as simply unappetizing to look at sometimes offer a fresh, interesting narrative perspective.

3 terms that best describe this book: multi-layered, gruesome, compelling

Relevant non-fiction works:


American Murder Houses by Steve Lehto, The Demonologist by Gerard Brittle, and Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin Dickey all tell stories of hauntings and homicides reminiscent of the hauntings in The September House. Whether readers believe in the paranormal or not, the stories told in these non-fiction works may be of interest to those who enjoyed The September House.

Relevant Fiction Works:


Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House is a gothic horror novel, set in a similarly secluded house believed to be haunted. Readers who enjoyed The September House may wish to look back at an older, heavily influential novel within the genre.

It Will Just Be Us by Jo Kaplan: Kaplan's novel is also set in a haunted house, and the elements of discovery, dread, and the unveiling of secrets previously left untouched are present in both works.

How to Sell A Haunted House: Also released in 2023, Grady Hendrix's novel hosts a similar dark humor to The September House.


Comments

  1. Brenda NorrisFebruary 19, 2024 at 11:45 AM

    I would like to read this book. I love haunted houses, and it would be interesting to read from the point of view who is not a skeptic. I think your reviews on fiction and non-fiction are really good.

    ReplyDelete

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