#carissa orlando

[onlymethateverwas]

reading ‘the september house’ is like. her husband was abusive so she learned to find ways around his rage so she could survive. her house is haunted so she learned to live around the ghosts. but the husband can’t deal with a house that can control him. whereas margaret can handle a haunted house because she’s survived an abusive marriage, her husband can’t stand the house because he’s never had to deal with being abused and beaten. what happens when your house is abusive.

[thereadingchallengechallenge]

Review: The September House by Carissa Orlando Rating: 5/5

This is the kind of horror book I love - the kind I've tried to write for myself. A beautiful haunted house, an array of fantastic ghosts, and a protagonist with a weary demeanour who becomes oddly comfortable with the strange things happening around them.

There's a grim whimsy to The September House that feels sort of cozy in a discomfiting sort of way that I couldn't get enough of and I just loved how Orlando managed to build and keep the tension for such a long, and incredibly satisfying, denouement.

I never quite knew where this book was going, even though I knew hints were being dropped for me to pick up and puzzle over. I delighted in it all coming together, and had to remind myself to be sad, before I actually felt sad. So many wonderful, unusual emotions came out of me while I read this book. 

I would recommend this to anyone who loves a good haunting story and I will 110% be keeping an eye out for whatever Carissa Orlando writes next!  

[haveyoureadthisbook-poll]

[bangbangwhoa]

books I’ve read in 2023 📖 no. 128

The September House by Carissa Orlando

“I had grown accustomed to solo trips through hell over the years. It seemed counterintuitive to invite company.”

[shxpeshifterr]

[headinbookishclouds]

The September House by Carissa Orlando

September House genuinely disturbed me. It’s an unsettling story that is ultimately about a woman determined to stay in her house regardless of what she has to endure. Even if the walls bleed red during September, even if there are ghosts that seem intent on terrifying her, even if there is a presence in the basement that reeks of evil. Margaret and her husband Hal have always been without roots so when the perfect opportunity comes by to seize the most perfect gothic house, the both of them are thrilled, until September arrives. Margaret understands how to work the house but Hal does not and cannot take the house any longer, leaving abruptly. Their daughter Katherine discovers he left, insists she come home and that is when things start to fall apart for Margaret.

Before that happens, we get an understanding of how Margaret learned to live with the eeriness and the hauntings. The almost blasé tone that Margaret further cemented how she had come to an understanding about her house. This in turn leads to a good understanding of her character. She lives by rules and understands them. This is in contrast to her husband Hal, who is missing. Hal wanted to leave and did but did so without any communication. That’s one of the big mysteries of the book. Hal is never present in the book but his character is demonstrated with flashbacks. He provides a good contrast to Margaret. Both of them are compelling characters and Margaret’s narration about the book was almost comical. Her lacklustre indifference to the shenanigans of the house made this book even better. If I were in that same situation, I would have left the first September.

Of course, there are always exceptions to rules and the basement is the exception to Margaret’s rule. It is always boarded up for a good reason. The basement and its terror is the reason I got creeped out immensely. The other ghostly characters were also an interesting addition as well.

I need to talk about the ending as well! I have read a lot of horror/psychological thriller books and usually they always tend to end the same way. It looked like the author was heading down that route and I was so disappointed but she turned it around super quick.

Overall, the book is a great read!

See my review on GR!

[princessofbookaholics]

reading this before september ends 🎃

[bookcoversonly]

Title: The September House | Author: Carissa Orlando | Publisher: Berkley (2023)

[ohtheylovetolietoyou]

“Things don’t happen all at once, of course.

They start gradually, changes occurring imperceptibly.

You barely notice the differences, and once they make themselves known, they seem so small that you easily accept them, adjust your life in a minuscule way.

Everyone can make minuscule adjustments.

Then there’s another change, a bigger one, but you can still adjust so easily. No problem, really.

Then another change, another adjustment, and so on and so on— and before you know it, you’re living a life that by all accounts should be unrecognizable but to you is just normal. Your life is that of a stranger’s, but it doesn’t bother you at all.” —Carissa Orlando, the September House

[absurdsoutherner]

October reads! Highly recommend The September House. Answers the question: what if you combine haunted houses and female rage?

[fictional-worlds-are-exquisite]

no spoilers but the end part of the september house started to crush me because i thought it was about to play into a dumbass trope and i was so sad. but then the book was like SIKE JUST KIDDING THIS IS HORROR BABYY and i was like PHEW thank FUCK.

[onlymethateverwas]

yeah no we love persisting in a haunted house being an allegory for living with abusers you can’t escape

[wort-schaetzchen-blog]

Rezension: Carissa Orlando, The September House

Carissa Orlandos Debütroman The September House ist ein ungewöhnlicher Haunted House-Roman, der klassische Horrorelemente mit psychologischer Tiefe und schwarzem Humor verbindet. Mit einer fesselnden Erzählweise und einer untypischen Protagonistin hinterfragt der Roman gängige Muster des Genres und bietet zugleich eine beklemmende, emotionale Geschichte.

Margaret und ihr Ehemann Hal haben sich ihren Traum erfüllt: ein wunderschönes, altes Haus, das all ihre Wünsche erfüllt. Doch jedes Jahr im September verändert sich das Gebäude. Blut tropft von den Wänden, Geister erscheinen, und unheimliche Geräusche erfüllen die Räume. Während Hal mit der Situation nicht klarkommt und das Haus verlässt, arrangiert sich Margaret mit dem übernatürlichen Spuk und bleibt. Sie entwickelt Routinen, um mit den paranormalen Erscheinungen zu leben. Doch als ihre Tochter Katherine nach ihrem verschwundenen Vater sucht und ins Haus kommt, lässt sich die Wahrheit nicht länger verdrängen – und der Horror eskaliert.

Orlando erzählt die Geschichte aus Margarets Perspektive und setzt dabei auf einen trockenen, fast lakonischen Stil. Dieser steht in starkem Kontrast zu den grausamen Geschehnissen im Haus und sorgt für eine unheimliche, bisweilen groteske Atmosphäre. Durch Margarets nüchterne, oft humorvolle Erzählweise wirkt die Handlung umso beklemmender, da der Horror als Teil eines Alltags dargestellt wird, den sie nicht infrage stellt.

Die Autorin arbeitet mit klassischen Elementen des Haunted House-Genres – dunkle Gestalten, blutige Wände, geisterhafte Erscheinungen – doch die eigentliche Spannung entsteht durch die psychologische Dimension der Geschichte. Margaret ist keine typische Horrorroman-Protagonistin: Statt zu fliehen oder gegen das Übernatürliche zu kämpfen, nimmt sie es als gegeben hin. Ihr Verhalten lässt Raum für Interpretationen, insbesondere in Bezug auf ihre Ehe und die Frage, was Menschen bereit sind zu ertragen, um an einer vertrauten Situation festzuhalten.

Neben den offensichtlichen Horrorelementen behandelt The September House tiefere Themen wie häuslichen Missbrauch, Traumabewältigung und die Dynamik familiärer Beziehungen. Margaret und Hals Ehe ist von Anfang an von einer unausgesprochenen Spannung geprägt, die sich im Laufe der Handlung weiter verdichtet. Margarets Akzeptanz des übernatürlichen Schreckens spiegelt ihre Haltung in der Ehe wider – sie erträgt, rationalisiert und passt sich an, selbst wenn das bedeutet, sich in einer albtraumhaften Umgebung einzurichten.

Die Beziehung zwischen Margaret und ihrer Tochter Katherine bringt eine weitere Ebene in die Geschichte. Während Margaret sich an den Horror gewöhnt hat, betrachtet Katherine die Situation mit objektivem Entsetzen. Ihr Versuch, die Wahrheit ans Licht zu bringen, treibt die Handlung voran und führt zu einer Konfrontation, die nicht nur das Übernatürliche betrifft, sondern auch lange verdrängte familiäre Konflikte.

The September House ist mehr als ein klassischer Spukhaus-Roman. Carissa Orlando nutzt die bekannten Motive des Genres, um eine tiefgründige Geschichte über Trauma, Anpassung und Verdrängung zu erzählen. Die unkonventionelle Erzählweise, die komplexe Protagonistin und die geschickt dosierte Mischung aus Horror und schwarzem Humor machen das Buch zu einem herausragenden Beitrag zum modernen Horrorroman.

[ademella]

Currently reading

[madlovenovelist]

#bookporn #coverlove

One of my most recent buys – I’m in the mood for something spooky and this looks like the ticket! I seem to be on a bit of an unintentional reading bint with creepy houses or haunted mansions… can you recommend a good horror novel about a malevolent house, I’d love to add it my my collection?

[libraryleopard]

Adult horror novel

When married couple Margaret and Hal move into their dream home–an old Victorian home sold for a surprisingly low price–they soon discover that every inch of the the house is stuffed with hauntings that reach a fevered pitch every September

Margaret, however, is unwilling to leave her dream home and decides to stick it out

After four years in the house, Hal leaves abruptly and Margaret finds herself fielding questions about his absence from her daughter while trying to hide the hauntings from her and the hauntings grow more harrowing