The Manor of Dreams

The Manor of Dreams by Christina Li, 352 pages

After years of solitude in her secluded mansion, Oscar-winning Chinese American actress Vivian Yin has died. Her daughters and granddaughter have arrived at their matriarch's home for the reading of the will — and so has the daughter of Vivian's longtime housekeeper, to whom the actress leaves the house. Upset at this unexpected turn of events, Vivian's daughters are determined to keep the house that they believe should be theirs, and all interested parties refuse to leave until the others do. But after just a few days in the house, odd things are happening — strange noises and visions, unexplained injuries and anger, and perhaps most disturbing, plants and soil seem to be growing into the house at a rapid pace, grabbing at the temporary residents and then disappearing again.

Based on the description of this book, it felt like it should be a spooky gothic horror novel, full of generational trauma and atmospheric creepiness. Unfortunately, while it had a lot of the ingredients, it didn't seem to be fully mixed and baked. With rare exceptions, the five modern characters were kinda bland and hard to distinguish, though the flashbacks to Vivian's youth were more vibrant and compelling. It was also lacking in the uneasy atmosphere that's necessary in horror novels, especially gothic haunted house tales. So the idea and the individual elements were good, but the execution was just OK.

*This book will be published May 6, 2025.

A House with Good Bones

 A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher, 247 pages.

Although she's upset about her archeological dig being delayed indefinitely, archaeoentomologist Sam isn't upset to spend some time visiting her mom. Even if that does mean going back to the house she grew up in, which previously belonged to her late grandmother (a real piece-of-work) and is in a middle-of-nowhere suburb with no cell service. However, it soon becomes obvious something is wrong. Her kind and generous mother seems terrified of something she won't talk about, all of the walls have been painted beige, and there's not a single insect in the her grandmother's prized rose garden. As the ominous events keep adding up, Sam may have to start believing in things she can't imagine. 

This was a pretty neat little horror novel. The tension kept building slowly, in a way that was almost palpable by the climax. One of my only complaints was that it felt like the tension broke almost as soon as I was really starting to feel it. T. Kingfisher's characters are, as always, great. I would definitely recommend this for someone looking for a haunted house book that isn't too scary. 

Haunted to Death

 

Haunted to Death by Frank Anthony Polito (2024) 294 pages

Peter and his fiancé, JP, host a hit reality TV show called Domestic Partners, where they find and restore old houses in a Detroit suburb. JP's background as an actor helps, as does Peter's background as a writer. Their current project is to restore an old manor home that has been vacant for many years. 

Fiona Forrest has just turned 25 and learned the manor is now hers. Her parents were heirs to a fortune, but unhappy in marriage. They had hosted a Halloween party 25 years ago, when her mother turned 25, and her mother fell (or was pushed) to her death from a balcony during the party. Not long after that, her father and his second wife were killed on their honeymoon. Fiona was raised by her nanny and her husband, and not told about her background until recently.

Now, Peter and JP and their crew are at the manor, and weird things keep happening. Some vandalism and some ghostly sightings have caused some injuries and some near misses. Is the place haunted?

A funny novel written with a share of suspense in a zippy style.

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

 The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan, 320 pages.

After her mother dies, Sana and her father move to Akbar Manzil, a once grand house on the coast of South Africa that has slowly deteriorated into apartments for people who are fading away. The house wants to keep it's own sad secrets, and it's happy to keep the stories of it's residents as well. But Sana is not content to let the past lie, and her poking into the past of the first residents finally begins to loosen the stagnation that has gripped the house for nearly a century, just as poking into the lives of her new neighbors shakes them from their own stagnation. 

This is a beautiful book, but it is very difficult to describe. The lyrical, thoughtful prose reminds me quite a bit of The Starless Sea (a personal favorite of mine), while the plot reminds me a bit of the 80's movie *batteries not included. It's a coming-of-age plot wrapped up in a story that's a little too gentle to be a haunted house story and a little too ominous not to be. The fantasy elements were much less prominent than I expected from the description, putting this more in the realm of magical realism than true fantasy. Ultimately it's a book centered on the concepts of community and family, both where they are strong and where they fail. I would recommend it wholeheartedly, and I'm excited to see what else this author has to offer. 

(Kara beat me to writing about this book here last week, but I wrote out the whole summary anyway because I had a lot to say)

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years

The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years by Shubnum Khan, 308 pages

In 2014, teenaged Sana moves with her father into a decrepit old house that has been remodeled into decrepit apartments. The rest of the residents are elderly and have no idea (or any curiosity about) who lived in the house before, why it was built, or anything related to the sprawling manor's history. But Sana's curious enough to go exploring, and she slowly unravels the history of a young woman who lived there nearly a century before. 

Told in alternating timelines between Sana's present and the first years of the manor, The Djinn Waits a Hundred Years is a meditation on grief, love, jealousy, and being an outsider. It's a captivating story full of flawed characters and literal hauntings. I hesitate to say more, but I will heartily recommend the book. It's absolutely excellent.

How to Sell a Haunted House

How to Sell a Haunted House by Grady Hendrix (2023) 417 pages

Louise learns that her parents have died in a car crash, and comes back to Charleston, SC for the funeral, fully expecting to fight with her brother, Mark, whom she deems spoiled, selfish, and unreliable. Mark has hired someone to empty the house so that they could put it on the market. Louise is aghast at his decision to do that without consulting her, and she calls off the crew. But when she goes into the house, the creepiness hits her hard: Hundreds of dolls are in the house, as well as puppets that their mother had made. Very weird things happen which she tries to rationalize away. Later, Louise and Mark can no longer rationalize what happens after they are attacked by the toys, as well as by an imaginary animal Mark had created in his youth.

Their mother, Nancy, was the creator of the puppets, and had even had a Christian puppet ministry for some years. The trigger for the eeriness seems to lie in her childhood and with her family. The house had been in her family when she was a child.

The creepy factor is high in this book! It's not my usual style novel, having grabbed it quickly, thinking in error that the haunting had to do with old memories. By the time I had properly read the blurb on the dust jacket, I decided to plunge in anyway. Quite a trip.