A woman must confront the evil that has been
terrorizing her street since she was a child in this gripping haunted
house novel, perfect for fans of The Last House on Needless Street and
Tell Me I'm Worthless.On an otherwise ordinary street in Chicago,
there is a house. An abandoned house where, once upon a time, terrible
things happened. The children who live on this block are told by their
parents to stay away from that house. But of course, children don't
listen. Children think it's fun to be scared, to dare each other to go
inside.
Jessie Campanelli did what many older sisters do and dared
her little brother Paul. But unlike all the other kids who went inside
that abandoned house, Paul didn't return. His two friends, Jake and
Richie, said that the house ate Paul. Of course adults didn't believe
that. Adults never believe what kids say. They thought someone kidnapped
Paul, or otherwise hurt him. They thought Paul had disappeared in a way
that was ordinary, explainable.
The disappearance of her little
brother broke Jessie's family apart in ways that would never be
repaired. Jessie grew up, had a child of her own, kept living on the
same street where the house that ate her brother sat, crouched and
waiting. And darkness seemed to spread out from that house, a darkness
that was alive—alive and hungry.
I received this ARC from the publisher in exchange for an honest and voluntary review. I was in no way compensated for this review.
I've been a longtime fan of Christina Henry's books and when I saw this stunning haunted mansion type cover for The Place Where They Buried Your Heart, I was immediately hooked! Didn't need to know anything about it, I was hooked!
This was not your typical haunted house story, it was still very frightening, but the evil entity wasn't 100% clear. Yes, there was something fishy going on at the house across the street, but the clincher is, it's the abandoned house across the street that has been empty for years. No one lives in in, no one has ever wanted to buy it since "the incident" from some years back. The story gets told in a set of flashbacks and memories from our heroine's, Jessie, childhood and the event that torn her family apart.
When she was a young teenager she offhandedly dared her younger brother, Paul, to go into the McIntyre house. He went in with two of his friends, but he never came out and his friends were left scarred by whatever happened in there. They claimed the house ate her brother. There was a search but no one ever found a trace of Paul again.
As the years went by, Jessie's parents were irrevocably changed by what had happened to their son. They grew distant from Jessie and she grew distant from them. Nothing was ever the same again.
We then get a time jump to the later years with Jessie being an adult and with a son of her own, and still the house stands. Terrible things continue to happen where the house was at the center of it all. Jessie along with three of her neighbors have become sort of sentinels trying to keep people away from the house but for all of their efforts tragedy and horrors continue to come from that house.
This book was so good! It was just the perfect kind of creepy haunted house to read at this time of year. There were so many unknowns in this book. We were treated to flashbacks that helped to paint the picture. Time was never what one would call current, as you will note section headers that give you years that are all in the past.
We do get an answer of sorts as to why things are presented in this way. I don't want to spoil things by explaining. It might be off putting to read something in this format, but I thought it helped the story to flow together and paint a rather clear--and spooky--picture. Jessie underwent a lot through her early years and into adulthood. The girl could never seem to catch a break, but she never gives up either, making her a woman worth rooting for!
The ending was spectacular! Things are resolved in a very profound way that fits for a paranormal ghost story. While I might have had a few more questions as to all the how's and why's, I feel like with stories like these, we aren't meant to get all the answers and neither are the characters. We do get some explanations though that were very eye-opening to say the least.
If you're looking for a horror read filled with evil entities and haunted houses that just won't die, then be sure to pick up Christina Henry's The Place Where They Buried Your Heart! For remember, the Spooky Season lasts all year round with the right books!
Overall Rating 4.5/5 stars
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart releases November 4, 2025
