The Stranger Upstairs by Lisa M. Matlin

A social media influencer with a secret past buys a murder house to renovate, but finds more than she bargained for behind the peeling wallpaper in this gothic psychological debut.

Sarah Slade is starting over. As the new owner of the infamous Black Wood House—the scene of a grisly murder-suicide—she’s determined that the fixer-upper will help reach a new audience on her successful lifestyle blog, and distract her from her failing marriage.

But as Sarah paints over the house’s horrifying past, she knows better than anyone that a new façade can’t conceal every secret. Then the builders start acting erratically and experiencing bizarre accidents—and Sarah knows there’s only so long she can continue to sleep in the bedroom with the bloodstained floor and suffer the mysterious footsteps she hears from the attic.

When menacing notes start appearing everywhere, Sarah becomes convinced that someone or something is out to kill her—her husband, her neighbors, maybe even the house itself. The more she remodels Black Wood House, the angrier it seems to become.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it, her sense of reality. Though she desperately clings to the lies she’s crafted to conceal her own secrets, Sarah Slade must wonder . . . was it all worth it? Or will this house be her final unraveling?

Published by Bantam
on September 12, 2023

Review:

I may have made a mistake reading this book right after September House. I was hoping, at the very least, for a creepy mystery, but in the end, it left much to be desired.

The novel follows the journey of Sarah Slade, who recently purchased the infamous Black Wood House, a location known for a tragic murder-suicide. Sarah sees this as an opportunity to revamp her lifestyle blog and escape the troubles in her marriage. She’s hoping that once she’s renovated the house, her influencer status will have improved, she’ll have money in her pockets, and her marriage will be headed in a more positive direction.

As she starts renovating the house, strange events begin to occur. Ominous notes appear around the house, strange footsteps can be heard walking around in the attic, and why do all of her neighbors seem so hostile toward her? While all of these things are addressed in the book, I felt a little let down by all of it.

One of the biggest issues I had with the book was the characters. I didn’t like any of them. I’ve said before that I love an unreliable narrator. Sarah is definitely unreliable – and she lets you know off the bat that she’s unreliable because she keeps telling us how she’s an awful person. I don’t need my narrator to tell me what a piece of shit they are. If I’m going to spend 4-5 hours of my time with you, I want to figure that out on my own while maintaining a little bit of empathy for you. I want to not trust you, but also understand where you are coming from. I want to root for you but feel conflicted about it. I never felt that way about Sarah. After the first few chapters, I already disliked her, and she never did anything to redeem it. Her actions and choices throughout the story are often inconsistent, making it difficult to empathize with her. The supporting cast feels equally underdeveloped, and I was never fully clear on any of their motives – or maybe I was just hoping for something a little more deep.

There was also a lack of focus in the storytelling, which made it difficult for me to remain engaged. The murder-suicide case is supposedly at the center of the plot, according to the synopsis, but ends up feeling like a mere backdrop to Sarah’s personal struggles, and since I hated Sarah, I didn’t really care what happened.

The scattered narrative and shallow character development hindered the story. The twists were underwhelming, and the final reveal was a huge disappointment. It left me wondering what the point of any of it was.

I had high hopes for this one – or at least hopes for an engaging mystery, but sadly, I didn’t get what I’d hoped for. While the concept of a haunted house and a protagonist on the brink of unraveling holds potential, the execution just wasn’t there.