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Sign up todayThe September House
Narrator
Kimberly Farr
This audiobook uses AI narration.
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Length
13 hours 31 minutes
Language
English
Bookseller recommendation
“There is blood running down the walls again. It must be September I have so much to say about this book! Is Margaret's house really haunted or is she mentally ill, as her daughter suspects? Who knows? This is a macabre yet darkly funny story that I could not put down. Gory ghosts, bloody walls, dead children and a missing husband, nothing is off limits once September rolls around and Margaret is down for it! Her house may be haunted but it's her home and she's not going anywhere! This book will definitely be on my TBR every September! ”
— Suzanne • Underground Books
Bookseller recommendation
“Humans really can normalize anything, regardless of whether or not it’s healthy for them to do so. The September House is a masterpiece in Horror, and you know that I do not say that lightly. Margaret has found her dream home, and it’s absolutely perfect. Okay, sure, every September the walls start bleeding and the ghost children return, but it’s her dream home, and it’s not so bad, really. You see, Margaret has learned the rules, and so long as you follow the rules, everything will be fine… (Reader, everything will not be fine). I cannot recommend this book highly enough. There were moments where I sat frozen in fear simply from the anticipation of what might happen next in the novel (and it is incredibly difficult to scare me). There were other moments where I was laughing so hard, tears were running down my face. And then there were the moments where my heart truly broke as I grappled with the horrors of humanity that haunt these pages. The September House was a blistering journey of emotion that I was wholly unprepared for, and of which I loved every second. On the surface, The September House is a haunted house book perfect for fans of Grady Hendrix, where the main character has simply accepted the hauntings. Scratch that surface, however, and it is a deeply moving and tender novel about humanity's (and women in particular) ability/tendency to normalize things that should never be normalized. This is one of the best Horror novels of the year. ”
— Ryan • Gibson's Bookstore
Bookseller recommendation
“Margaret and her husband Hal buy her dream home at a great price! But the beautiful old Victorian harbors a darkness. Every September, the walls drip with blood and the ghosts of past inhabitants appear. Then Hal suddenly disappears. Most people would sell the house and run, but not Margaret. This is HER house and she’s not going anywhere. “The September House” by Carissa Orlando has it all: spookies, unreliable narrator, hilarious dialogue and so many secrets! You HAVE to experience “The September House” as an audiobook. Kimberly Farr’s narration is phenomenal and captures Margaret’s frantic thoughts and exasperation at the ghosts and people around her to perfection!! ”
— Roxy • Dog-Eared Books
Bookseller recommendation
“With fall almost upon us, The September House is a great listen for spooky season! Unique take on the haunted house, with a VERY satisfying needing, 5 stars!”
— Katie • Whitelam Books
Bookseller recommendation
“We fancy ourselves connoisseurs of the ghost story here, but this one flattened us. What the narrator sees is horrific; how people react is infuriating; the unfolding truth about the living family that doesn't really live in the house is... why am I laughing? Why do I keep laughing? Because scene after scene, Kimberly Farr delivers the narrator's hilariously unbelievable lines with enough dry wit to evaporate the Great Lakes. I'm still shuddering, and still laughing, a week later! ”
— Nialle • The Haunted Bookshop
“Why run from a haunted house when you can stay and ignore the ghosts? Just when you thought you'd seen everything a haunted house novel could do, The September House comes along and delivers an eerie, darkly funny, and emotionally grounded book about the ghosts that haunt houses and marriages."– Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House
A woman is determined to stay in her dream home even after it becomes a haunted nightmare in this compulsively readable, twisty, and layered debut novel.
When Margaret and her husband Hal bought the large Victorian house on Hawthorn Street—for sale at a surprisingly reasonable price—they couldn’t believe they finally had a home of their own. Then they discovered the hauntings. Every September, the walls drip blood. The ghosts of former inhabitants appear, and all of them are terrified of something that lurks in the basement. Most people would flee.
Margaret is not most people.
Margaret is staying. It’s her house. But after four years Hal can’t take it anymore, and he leaves abruptly. Now, he’s not returning calls, and their daughter Katherine—who knows nothing about the hauntings—arrives, intent on looking for her missing father. To make things worse, September has just begun, and with every attempt Margaret and Katherine make at finding Hal, the hauntings grow more harrowing, because there are some secrets the house needs to keep.
Carissa Orlando has a doctorate in clinical-community psychology and specializes in work with children and adolescents. In her “day job,” Carissa works to improve the quality of and access to mental health care for children and their families. Prior to her career in psychology, Carissa studied creative writing in college and has written creatively in some form since she was a child. It was only a matter of time before Carissa, an avid horror fan for much of her life, merged her understanding of the human psyche and deep love for storytelling into a piece of fiction.
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Reviews
“Shocking, electrifying, and absolutely original. Carissa Orlando takes us on a journey that moves from savagely funny to terrifying with the turn of a page. It’s an unflinching exploration of the dark things we don’t talk about, and it’s a must read for horror fans.”– Simone St. James, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Cold Cases
“Why run from a haunted house when you can stay and ignore the ghosts? Just when you thought you'd seen everything a haunted house novel could do, The September House comes along and delivers an eerie, darkly funny, and emotionally grounded book about the ghosts that haunt houses and marriages."
– Grady Hendrix, New York Times bestselling author of How to Sell a Haunted House
“Complex and darkly funny, this creepy tale had me laughing out loud one minute and holding my breath the next.”
- People.com
“This utterly original haunted house tale is a joy.”
– Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Margaret is a delightfully well drawn protagonist, sturdy, unflappable, and often dryly funny, but as the narrative unfurls, we learn that the reasons for her strictly regimented behavior are neither simple nor pleasant...The September House is a surprising, engaging debut."
- Vulture.com (Best Books of 2023)
“A rich and wholly satisfying haunted house novel about dark family secrets and patterns of destruction. It will charm you and terrify you and break your heart, often within the same sentence. An exhilarating debut."
- Rachel Harrison, National Bestselling author of Such Sharp Teeth and Cackle
“The metaphor is layered and at times heartbreaking, as secrets held by both a house and a family come to light with terrifying poignancy in this wonderfully eerie debut.”
- Library Journal (starred review)
“Every once in a while, a story comes along that fully upends a genre in the most beautiful way, essentially reinventing the notion of what’s possible within that genre. Now, author Carissa Orlando, a horror enthusiast, has written that very story.”
- Shondaland.com
“A genre-blending masterpiece that is part horror, part complex psychological suspense, and part dark humor, all of it tied together with beautiful prose. It creeped me out in the best possible way.”
– Jesse Q. Sutanto, national bestselling author of I’m Not Done with You Yet
“The September House is a riveting adventure that will grab you by the ankles and drag you down into the pitch-black basement you’ve been warned to avoid.”
- Bookpage
“Simply outstanding. What starts as a slyly funny story about a mild-mannered woman and her very haunted house turns into a chilling examination of abuse and resilience. Somehow, Orlando has crafted a tale that is both macabre and triumphant.
– Mallory O'Meara, National bestselling author of The Lady from the Black Lagoon
"Orlando’s debut is a ghostly psychological tale of victims of unrestrained violence and murder…Offer this to fans of spooky haunted-house tales like Grady Hendrix’s How to Sell a Haunted House (2023)."
- Booklist
“Peel back The Yellow Wallpaper, check out of The Overlook, and say farewell to Hill House... There's a new haunted house on the market and Carissa Orlando is the realtor of our nightmares. You'll never want to leave once you start reading.”
– Clay McLeod Chapman, Author of Ghost Eaters
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