The House Where Death Lives

by Alex Brown, Nova Ren Suma, Gina Chen, Traci Chee, Linsey Miller

Overview

A dance to the death. A girl who’s just as monstrous as H.H. Holmes. A hallway that’s constantly changing—and hungry. All of these stories exist in the same place—within the frame of a particular house that isn’t bound by the laws of time and space.

Following in the footsteps of dark/horror-filled YA anthologies like His Hideous Heart and Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, and Netflix’s ground-breaking adaptation of The Haunting of Hill House, this YA speculative fiction anthology explores how the permanence of a home can become a space of transition and change for both the inhabitants and the creatures who haunt them.

Each story in the anthology will focus on a different room in the house and feature unique takes on monsters from a wide array of cultural traditions. Whether it’s a demonic Trickster, a water-loving Rusalka, or a horrifying, baby-imitating Tiyanak, there’s bound to be something sinister lurking in the shadows.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9798890030122
Publisher:	Page Street Publishing
Publication date:	08/06/2024
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	32,936
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 1.40(d)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Alex Brown (she/her) is a queer biracial Filipino American writer who loves to root for the final girl—especially if she’s a monster. She is also the co-creator of The Bridge, a haunting, folklore-filled narrative fiction podcast that’s had over 1,000,000 downloads to date! Alex has a story in the Indie Bestselling YA Folk Horror anthology, The Gathering Dark and is co-editing Night of the Living Queers, a YA Horror anthology. Alex lives in Los Angeles with her partner and their two chaotic cats. Alex’s YA Comedy-Horror debut, Damned If You Do, was published in fall 2023.

Editorial Reviews

05/27/2024

In this speculative fiction anthology, which spans genres and cultural traditions, Brown (Damned If You Do), who also contributes, gathers 16 horror writers—including Traci Chee, Rosiee Thor, and Justine Pucella Winans—to tell grisly tales about a haunted house from the perspectives of residents and visitors alike. Selections are set in individual areas of the house and grounds—love frees a ghost from an attic purgatory in Courtney Gould’s gripping “Good Morning, Georgia.” In Sandra Proudman’s futuristic, escape room–esque tale “Smartmonster,” which takes place on the second floor, strangers struggle for survival in a deadly AI-controlled gauntlet that leads them through myriad hidden passageways. Downstairs, sisters sacrifice greatly to save each other in Liz Hull’s aching “After Midnight,” while “Mirror, Mirror” by Nora Elghazzawi, also set on the second floor, follows a djinn that preys on vanity from the mirror it’s trapped in. Themes of love, loss, and transition are woven throughout simmering romances and expansive adventures, which come together to build a collection of Haunting of Hill House–inspired tales that is cohesive, reflective, and satisfying. Ages 14–up. Agent: Renee Nyen, KT Literary. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

"Loss and grief of various kinds are at the core of each story in this engaging volume. Will make readers lock their doors, turn on the lights, and cover every mirror in the house."

—Kirkus Reviews

"Themes of love, loss, and transition are woven throughout simmering romances and expansive adventures, which come together to build a collection of Haunting of Hill House–inspired tales that is cohesive, reflective, and satisfying."

—Publishers Weekly

"[A] superb ensemble of nightmarish stories about demons of all kinds. [...]Compellingly horrifying."

—Shelf Awareness

“Eerie and poignant, The House Where Death Lives is a bewitching collection—a striking, shivery tribute to warm hands, cold claws, and broken hearts.”

—Ann Fraistat, bestselling author of A Place for Vanishing and What We Harvest

From the Publisher

2024-05-17
Sixteen authors conduct a haunted tour of a house that forces us to look at the ghosts we don’t want to see.

In this collection, readers take a journey through stories that are divided into sections: “Attic,” “Down the Stairs,” “Second Floor,” “First Floor,” and Grounds.” The stories, which are rooted in various folkloric and mythological traditions, are by a diverse range of authors, including newer voices and well-established fan favorites, such as Traci Chee and Nova Ren Suma. Some of the standout entries include Courtney Gould’s “Good Morning, Georgia,” which plays with perception as two teenage girls communicate through a vanity mirror; Kay Costales’ “Cradle and All,” in which the Tiyanak, a blood-sucking creature from Filipino mythology, appears to a girl who’s haunted by a loss; and Nora Elghazzawi’s “Mirror, Mirror,” which introduces readers to a djinn who will prompt them to question what they’d be willing to give up to get what they want. Equally strong are Gina Chen’s “Like Mother,” which describes a deal with a demon and a commentary on the traumas, losses, and legacies of the immigration experience, and “In Deep” by C.L. McCollum, focused around a murky pond at a B&B where heartbreak and revenge thrive. Loss and grief of various kinds are at the core of each story in this engaging volume.

Will make readers lock their doors, turn on the lights, and cover every mirror in the house. (Horror anthology. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews