Leanne Olson

by Johnny Compton, narrated by Adam Lazarre-White

Releasing February 7, 2023 from Macmillan Audio

This book completely got under my skin.  Johnny Compton’s debut is confident and creepy as heck.

The best horror novels to me are ones that make me care about the characters. At the heart of The Spite House is Eric Ross and his two daughters, Des and Stacey.  They’re on the run from a secret in their past, and desperate for money to start over.  Eric is a determined, caring father and his bond with the brave and resourceful girls feels so realistic it pulled me into the story immediately.

Eric is offered money to stay in a haunted house, of course, and takes this potentially life-saving opportunity.  He’s smart and cautious, and I love that he doesn’t deny what’s happening or make stupid choices.

The house itself is a Spite House — a house built not for love, but for revenge (after this book I may have spent waaay too much time online chasing down fascinating stories of spite houses).  

I won’t spoil what’s actually happening in the house, but it’s creepy and sad in the way the best haunted houses are.  The protagonists are a Black family and there’s some strong social horror elements in the house’s history and their family’s history.

Adam Lazarre-White is the perfect narrator for this book.  His voice is warm and pulled me into Eric’s head (though the book is written in third person, Eric is the main protagonist) in a way that made me care about the family immediately.  I love that he doesn’t overact or try to do overly feminine voices for the girls or other female characters in the book.  He lets the listener experience the story themselves.

I loved this book.  The Spite House is one of my new favourite haunted house books. I loved the audiobook so much that when I got in from a hike with three hours left in the story, I cleaned my kitchen and reorganized my home office just so I could finish it (I loathe cleaning).

🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my review copy of this audiobook.