“ It’s clear that psychology is her passion, and she really brings it into The September House in a unique way.“
The Stats
- 342 pages
- Published 2023 (Berkley)
- Horror
- Haunted House
- Paranormal
- Mental Illness
“When it wasn’t horrible, it was almost lovely”
SYNOPSIS
Margaret has been looking for her dream home her whole life. Bouncing from place to place with her family, renting but never really buying, she’s finally ready to settle down. Her daughter’s all grown up, and as a couple of empty nesters, her and her husband are finally ready to foot the bill for their dream home. So, when they come across a Victorian mansion on Hawthorn Street (and at a surprisingly reasonable price), she’s sold.
Except, the house comes with a little bit of an unexpected secret: ghosts. Dozens of them. And, every September, things get worse. The walls drip blood. Birds fly into their windows. The basement emits a mysterious smell. Most people would run. They would move out. Sell the house. But, Margaret is not most people.
On their fourth year owning the home, Margaret’s husband decides he’s had enough. He leaves abruptly, leaving calls unanswered. With no clear answer of where he’s gone, Margaret’s daughter returns home hoping to figure out where her dad went and bring her dad home–except it’s the beginning of September and it’s only a matter of time before everything breaks loose.
The September House is a haunted house story at its finest, exploring themes of mental illness, the paranormal, and harrowing secrets that readers will rush through the pages to uncover.
Let’s Talk Haunted Houses
When people think of horror, they think of ghosts and haunted houses…it’s only natural. I mean, when I think of horror, I think of dismemberment and gore, but I digress.
Haunted house stories have been around for as long as we have. Legends about haunted houses have been told for centuries, even before the written word really existed. The first official documentation of a haunted house story is reported to be from around 61-112 CE when a letter described a haunted villa in Athens. Philosopher Athenodorus allegedly moved into the house sometime later where he was surprised to find a ghost (an old man bound in chains). It turned out that the man had been buried in his courtyard haphazardly, and once given a proper burial–everything was fine. But, the old man in chains spawned a revolution of haunted house stories that range anywhere from The Haunting of Hill House (now turned into a major TV series) to The Shining, to even Monster House–which took over movie screens in 2006.
Honestly? I think the haunted house spiel is a little overdone and I’ve yet to find a haunted house book that’s really wowed me. I did enjoy The Spite House (you can read my full review here), which has a unique take on the trope, but overall? There’s not really a lot of haunted house lore that *does* it for me, if you catch my drift.
That is, until I came across The September House.
What Makes The September House Unique?
The September House might be my favorite haunted house story I’ve ever read. In fact, it might be one of my top horror books right now, despite it’s low scare factor.
Although this novel doesn’t go for the traditional eerie, gothic plotline of most haunted house novels–that didn’t turn me off. Orlando instead turns to dark humor and relatability, which makes the story SO uniquely realistic.
In the author’s bio, we learn that Carissa Orlando’s day job (when she’s not writing) is in the mental health field, where she holds a doctorates degree in clinical-community psychology. Impressive. It’s clear that psychology is her passion, and she really brings it into The September House in a unique way. Each of the characters here seem to have something a little bit off, but it’s hard to really pinpoint whether it’s the house that’s causing the behavior, or whether it’s the character’s personalities.
So, if we’re looking at character’s individually, here’s a few things that the reader finds out early on:
Margaret
- Finds safety in rules
- Panics when she leaves her house
- Sees “pranksters” aka ghosts–and they mostly appear to her and not her husband
- Struggles to find the “right” thing to say/struggles with empathy
- Limited Interest (she paints)
- Struggles to make friends (she has one)
Katherine
- Explosive anger
- Avoidant, struggles to connect
- Temper Tantrums
- Potential Relationship Problems
- (we do know that she’s in therapy and taking medication for something)
Hal
- Avoidant
- Actually lacks empathy (instead of lacking the words, like Margaret)
- Impatient and angry
- Fragile self-esteem
- Unhappy/Depressed
So, from this list, we can kind of theorize that Margaret may be on the Autism spectrum, Katherine might be a child of an emotionally abusive parent, and Hal…well, might be the emotionally abusive parent. He seems to have all of the signs of narcissism. As someone who has 100% zero psychology training, take this with a grain of salt because my interpretation of the DSM-5 to our characters has absolutely zero importance to your motivation to read.
Okay–this being said–as Orlando as character building all of these mental health issues up to our great crescendo in the plotline, she also has Margaret calling our ghosts “pranksters” instead of well, ghosts. I think she says the word “ghost” once in the entire storyline. So, it’s a very believable turn of events when Katherine thinks that her mother is clinically insane. Heck, even the reader starts questioning.
“When needs must, the devil drives.”
Beware, there’s spoilers incoming here. When we get to that final last quarter, when the police show up and everything goes haywire, it’s impossible not to be on Margaret’s side as the women in the story stand together against the abuse in their lives: Margaret and Katherine from Hal, and Fredricka and Edie from Master Vale.
HOWEVER, a smart reader can pretty much figure out exactly what’s going to happen in the twist at the end because of the book’s easily identifiable foreshadowing. The reader quickly identifies what happens to Hal through the clues, which kind of makes the ending a little…lackluster.
My Overall Thoughts
As far as haunted house books go, The September House is one of my favorites I’ve read. Despite what other readers have said, I liked the campy humor that was peppered throughout, and I enjoyed Orlando’s unique vision adding mental health to the story–it’s something we haven’t seen before in this way.
I also really loved the way that Orlando shared little characteristics about each of the ghosts and their lives. It’s really difficult to have so many characters in a book like this and give us an accurate vision of what each character looks like–and she did that. She also personified the house in a real way that brought it to life for the reader, which I deeply appreciated.
That being said, I was frustrated that there weren’t as many surprises here as I expected. While the reader is expecting “finding Hal” to be the plot of The September House, our plotline instead becomes finding out whether Margaret is clinically insane or not, and whether her daughter is going to find out about the ghosts. There are too many clues as to what is *really* happening and I’d like to see Orlando trust her reader a little more in her next book. Give us a shot! I promise we’ll impress you.
Overall, this is a 4.5 star read for me. Will I recommend this book? Absolutely. You can bet I texted every one of my reader friends the minute I finished this, and I’ll be recommending it for a while. Orlando is an author to watch.
Looking for more great reads? Check out some recommendations here:
A House with Good Bones by T Kingfisher
The Shadow of The Gods by John Gwynne
Exquisite Corpse by Poppy Z Brite
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