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The September House cover art

The September House

Written by: Carissa Orlando
Narrated by: Kimberly Farr
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Publisher's Summary

“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 thoroughly enjoyable, 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.

©2023 Carissa Orlando (P)2023 Penguin Audio

What the critics say

"Kimberly Farr narrates this creepy, mesmerizing story of Margaret and Hal, who purchase their dream home, a beautiful, haunted Victorian.... Farr masters every unique character, alive or dead, in this one-woman show." (AudioFile)

"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)

“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

“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)

What listeners say about The September House

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Great start, fizzles out in middle

You can really predict the ending after reading the plot. There needed to be twists and turns.

Sadly not worth the credit.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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Loved it!

Clever, touching, creepy and funny. If you don’t mind a bit of gore this is an excellent listen with a loveable main character and a strong story!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Slow in the middle but redeems

The beginning sucked me in and I was enjoying it until I came to the middle and it became somewhat repetitive and a bit boring. Fun ending though and all in all worth the read.

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  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

fine

I didn't enjoy this as much as others. I think a lot of that is due to my dislike of unreliable narrator stories, and also because at least one of the twists was glaringly obvious from the moment it was first hinted at, which kind of took away any sense of tension or urgency for me.
The final twist helped. I vacillated between thinking it might go one way or it might go another, and it turned out to go the more satisfying route.
It wasn't bad, really (though the characters were all unlikable and very hard to root for), but it wasn't really for me.

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  • Overall
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Really Enjoyed

Really enjoyed listening. The narrator was excellent. The story was confusing at times, loved the ending.

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

A bit predictable but very good nonetheless

This was a very good haunted house story. The pacing and timing was perfect. The main character was very well developed. It was a bit cliched in spots but not to the point of annoyance or distraction. This book really made me wish I had a Frederica living in my home!

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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September House

easy following. good story for older teenagers. warning: a lot of vulgarity used. I enjoyed the book... L.F.

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