This book was simply..... weird. I think a large part of why I found it so strange is because it is a novella so there is absolutely nothing about this story that is fleshed out to its true potential.

Let's begin with the house. I'm still not sure what the heck was going on here. Random things seem to change, but they are so slight (except for the flowers in the basement) that at first people don't notice them? A new carpet in the hallway, or a photograph hanging where there wasn't one before. There were other things that happened as well (such as voices and apparitions), but I'm going to discuss them a bit later on when I get to the overall plot.

Then we have the characters'. First we have Seth and his mother. We know that his mother is suffering from dementia and that due to her erratic behaviors neither of them are well-liked in the quiet town of Stillwater. In fact, Yanna seems to be the only person in the entire town who shows any kind of compassion towards them. But of course her sister Gina, who also happens to be a high ranking member of the police department loathes them causing her and Yanna to argue like a pair of high-schoolers for seemingly no reason. Oh, and Seth and Yanna are able to trauma bond a little bit over losing someone close to them, and they seem to have crushes on each other. Do you see what I mean? It's hard to even care about these characters when we know so little about them.

And finally, the plot. This was probably the most confusing piece of it all because the synopsis says that this book "takes readers on a dark and supernatural descent into loss, grief, and coming face-to-face with the memories that haunt us" except, it doesn't. Yes Seth and Yanna have both experienced grief and loss in their lives, but the house doesn't reflect any of that. Instead it focuses on something else that tragically happened in the house in the past that wasn't resolved. None of the "memories" the house shows them has anything to do with them, or their losses.

At the end of the day, for me, this book didn't deliver on what it promised, but I think that is more because the author needed more time to really bring this idea to life. They have a solid and descriptive writing style and enough plot points that I hope in the future they decide to revisit this idea, not only fleshing everything out more, but also adding more horror elements as right now, I would call this one more a psychological thriller than a horror.

DISCLAIMER: I received a complimentary copy of this novel from the publisher. This has not affected my review in any way. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are 100% my own.

This was a pretty middle of the road read for me, I didn’t love it but I also didn’t dislike it. I enjoyed this take on the haunted house trope. It definitely had its scary moments! The scene where we find out the meaning behind the flowers was my favorite!

I know this was a short novella, but I wish there was a bit more meat on the bones to the characters. I didn’t feel connected to Seth or Yanna so I wasn’t as invested in the overall story.

Thank you so much for the ARC!

The Flowers at Flood House is a gorgeously eerie, slow-burning novel that wraps you in its damp, dreamlike atmosphere and doesn’t let go. J.J. Walker crafts a story that feels like wandering through a house filled with locked doors and forgotten memories—lush, haunting, and brimming with emotional undercurrents.

From the first page, I was drawn in by the quiet tension and lyrical prose. The house itself is a character—weather-worn, half-submerged in water and history, holding secrets in every creaking floorboard. But what really captivated me was the emotional landscape: grief, guilt, and the strange beauty of how people come apart and knit themselves back together.

Walker’s writing is richly textured, full of sensory detail that made me feel the chill in the walls, the heaviness in the air. It’s gothic, yes, but in a deeply intimate way—more about emotional hauntings than literal ones (though there are shadows here that linger). The characters are complicated, deeply flawed, and utterly human.

If you love novels that blend gothic mystery with literary introspection—stories where the past bleeds into the present, and the setting is soaked with metaphor—The Flowers at Flood House is a must-read. It’s quietly devastating, beautifully written, and impossible to forget.

Actual rating: 3,5 stars

The Flowers at Flood House is a well-paced and engaging novella that benefits from its short format. However, while it’s categorized as horror, it never quite reached the level of creepiness I was hoping for and felt more like a thriller.

What stood out most was the fresh take on the haunted house trope, tying the supernatural elements to memory and trauma in a thoughtful way. The concept was compelling, and J.J. Walker’s writing style was strong throughout.

That said, the characters could have used more depth. With a bit more development, they might have left a stronger impression and elevated the emotional impact of the story. Still, I had a good time with this novella and would recommend it to anyone looking for a quick, atmospheric read with a unique twist on classic horror tropes.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This book was described as a novella that offers a new twist on the haunted house, but I don’t feel like it ever got around to that twist. The couldn’t connect with the characters or the emotions they were feeling—I felt the whole time like I was being told they were scared or sad but the feelings weren’t flushed out the way they should be for a book that focuses on grief and pain.

I want to thank After Dusk Press and NetGalley for giving me access to this book for my review.

Melancholy. That’s how I felt reading this. A good twist on a haunted house book. I read in one sitting. I’ll read more from this author.

This one really peaked my interest when I read the description so I had to request it and it did not disappoint

A story of suspense and sadness. I was really gripped and wanted to read it all to see how it played out. It was beautifully written and once again the perfect length. This was a strong 4 star for

Seth and his mother who is suffering from dementia, move to Flood House to have a fresh start. When dried flowers appear in the basement, he learns there is more to Flood House than they bargained for.

I loved this up until the ending. The haunted house vibes, slowly learning what had happened years ago, a mysterious disappearance - everything was intriguing and well paced.
I didn't fully get the friendship between the two main characters, I wish it showed a bit more of that. Also, the ending felt a bit rushed and unsatisfying.
Overall a great novella for the spooky season.

I rated this 3.5/5 rounded up to 4 stars.
Thank you to NetGalley and After Dusk Press for the ARC!

3.75 stars

Seth's mom suffers from dementia. As her full time caretaker, he settles them at Flood House, hoping the small town remoteness will bring her peace. But as night falls, she gets angry and agitated. There's a strange man in the house, she cries. She doesn't like him. She doesn't like the dried flowers he hangs from the rafters. Even as Seth tries to calm her, and explain that there is no one there, he sees motion from the corner of his eye and smells petals in the air.

This is a short novella, coming in at 88 pages on my phone, set in the same general world as Waxwing Creek, although the stories are entirely separate, and you can absolutely read one without the other. Like Stephen King's Derry, Walker's Hunt has bad energy. A similar malevolent miasma crops up in THE FLOWERS AT FLOOD HOUSE set in nearby Stillwater.

The brevity of this work for and against it. I found it a little harder to connect with. Things moved so quickly, I didn't feel the closeness between Seth and Yanna that the text was telling me was there. But as the story progressed, I found I liked the snapshot style. It complimented the theme of memories, how they can be traitorous and one-sided, exaggerated moments that don't show the whole picture of events. As more happened (and A LOT happened for such a short page-count), it felt like I was slotting each scene into a larger album. This is a different take on a haunted house that I would love to see explored more.

I look forward to more from this author!

This was a nice fast paced read. I enjoyed how nice the story was for it being so short. Nothing felt rushed or thrown together. I like how Yanna is helping the house deal with its trauma in an unconventional way. This was an arc read for me but I would definitely recommend it to others.

*spoiler alert*

This is an enjoyable quick horror read - it has whatever that indefinable quality is that makes you want to read on. It utilises some tropes of the genre (a creepy house, a Ouija board, ill-advised hitchhiking) in an intelligent way and with some original touches. I really liked the imagery of the flowers (the story cleverly subverting the way flowers are associated with beauty/kind gestures), and the idea that the house itself had been traumatised by what had gone on there in the past. I also liked that the story suggests answers to the mysteries it poses, rather than leaving the reader in the dark.

I felt the most vivid characters and scenes were those with Joseph and Debra (perhaps because they tap into really visceral fears, such as kidnapping). If I have a minor criticism it's that I'd have liked the other characters, such as Yanna and Gina, to be rounded out a little more - I would happily have read a slightly longer version of the story which gave a bit more room for this.

Many thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC

I received an arc from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I absolutely devoured this! I don’t think I’ve ever read such an emotional and atmospheric novella and it read so much like a fever dream that I could literally smell what was happening! This is definitely one to read!

The Flowers at Flood House is a quietly haunting novella that delivers a surprising emotional punch in under 100 pages. The story opens strong, immediately drawing you into the mystery of Flood House and the strange events Seth and his mother are experiencing. The characters are introduced quickly but with just enough depth to make them feel real, especially Yanna, who’s grappling with her grief while trying to help Seth make sense of the unexplainable happenings at Flood House and the events with his mother.

This is a fresh take on the haunted house genre; moody, a little strange, and just grounded enough to leave you wondering what’s real. The imagery is vivid, and while a few questions remain by the end, they only add to the atmosphere. I’d absolutely read a full novel set in this world.

With thanks to the author, After Dusk Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this eARC.

Whilst horror and more gothic sort of novels are not usually the genres I lean towards, there was something about the cover of this book that pulled me in and then with the description and knowing it was a novella, an even more intriguing notion!

This little book packs a punch, knowing that it is short we come into the details of the story quickly. Seth has moved to a small town with his mother who has fallen into the hands of dementia. Hoping for a quiet life, he comes up against small town mentalities and more ‘noise’ than he could have ever expected in the old ‘flood house’.

Seth and his mother start to hear things, then even more worrying, seeing things. The house changes, things get rearranged, items show up out of nowhere, they find the basement ceiling filled with hanging / drying flowers. What on earth could be going on?
The book has been written with great detail, with all spaces and places easily created in the mind's eye, especially with the visual of a man being shot and his body exploding into flowers.

What sounds like a normal haunted house narrative, actually delves into memories. How a place can take on grief, trauma and stories of it’s own. The house being as much of a character in the novel as the others.

The biggest issue I have with this, is that it is a novella and not a fully realised novel. Though it is a quick and captivating read, you miss the build-up of characters, the foray into their innermost thoughts, their purpose, what drives them. I can see this working as a fully realised novel quite easily.

2.5/5 stars

Flowers at Flood House is a decent haunted-house novella that was pretty enjoyable, but colours perfectly within the lines and does nothing to push the genre. The story centers a man who’s moved into an old house in a quiet, backwater town to take care of his elderly mother suffering from dementia. After a series of strange and disturbing events, he begins to believe the house to be haunted, and calls on his friend Yannah to help him get to the bottom of things.
Because the mothers dementia is so specifically mentioned in the description and set up in the initial pages, I expected it to play a much bigger part in the story than it did. In fact, I think the story would’ve been virtually no different if dementia wasn’t mentioned at all in the story. That being said; I think it was a missed opportunity not to lean into this plotline more, as I think it would’ve set it apart from your average ghost-story, which this ended up feeling like.

Many thanks to After Dusk Press for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Thanks J.J. Walker and After Dusk Press for this ARC.
Repetition and memory are themes I will always lean towards when choosing fiction. Is this why I loved this novella so much, perhaps? Or perhaps it was the elegant prose, the relatable characters. Who knows? Suffice it to say, The Flowers at Flood House was hard to put down. This is not your average haunted house story.
When Seth brings his ailing mother to Flood House, he begins to notice things in the house seem to change of their own accord, and not only that, the house seems to replay its memories over and over. Is it trying to tell him something, or just trying to understand its own trauma?
The image of a man being shot and exploding into flowers was one I will not forget soon.
My only drawback was that this was too short; the story would have made an excellent full-length novel.

Thank you to NetGalley and After Dusk Press for the eARC. All thoughts are my own!

I went into this novella expecting a classic haunted house story. What I got instead was an exploration of memory, grief, and fear, and how the soul of a place can be experienced through the history within its walls. Flood House seeps off the page to surround you as you experience the traumatic events that left very real scars on not only its inhabitants, but the house itself. As the story progresses, the house beings to emerge as a character, as if the house itself is the narrator. I LOVED this aspect of the story. Walker’s prose is haunting and atmospheric, and while I wanted to spend just a little more time with them, the human characters feel very real and relatable, especially as Seth and Yanna are both trying to overcome their own personal tragedies.

The only drawbacks for me were the pacing toward the end—it seemed just a bit too quick—and that, while Walker does an incredible job of setting the tone, I found myself wanting more of Flood House’s memories. Overall, I really enjoyed this novella—I’d classify it more as thriller than horror, but it’s definitely one to add to your TBR!

First I would like to thank the Author and NetGalley for the opportunity to experience this book. I truly appreciate it.

This book was really interesting. The story follows a man who moves his mother, suffering from dementia, into a new house in an attempt to give her a better quality of life. But as the house seems to whisper its dark secrets, the boundaries between past and present blur in unsettling ways.

However, the true hook of the story lies in the supernatural element. After the mother's death, the protagonist, along with his close friend, begins to experience strange phenomena in the house, witnessing vivid memories from its past. These glimpses into the home's history reveal disturbing and tragic events.

Overall, The flowers at Flood House is a gripping and haunting read, perfect for fans of both psychological drama and supernatural thrillers.

A surprisingly hopeful twist on the haunted house novel. This short novella packs a punch in a hundred pages. The genre bending plot keeps readers engaged and turning pages!

An intriguing and original take on the classic haunted house genre, supported by an emotionally resonant human core.

Flood House, a secluded and neglected home in the quiet town of Stillwater, was meant to provide Seth Dorsey with a quiet respite to care for his ailing mother. But after Seth discovers the basement of the house has been inexplicably filled with bouquets of hanging flowers, he is forced to acknowledge that something is amiss in Flood House.

The Flowers at Flood House offers a moving exploration of grief and memory. Walker’s prose is spare and emotive, and manages to wring an impressive amount of subtext out of each carefully crafted metaphor. This efficiency of this subtext is evident throughout, and the themes of remembrance and loss are pervasive as the characters grapple with their memories - those which have become foundational to their personalities, and those which have withered and faded like untended flowers.

Each character feels messily human, and their struggles with the losses in their lives read as relatable and genuine. However, with multiple characters jostling for the spotlight, readers may find themselves struggling to forge strong connections. The upside of these competing perspectives, however, is that the momentum of the story rarely falters - even if one character is at rest, another is making moves and progressing the action. That said, there is a notable momentum shift in the latter half of the narrative, with the introduction of a major new perspective, potentially leaving readers on unsure footing. In terms of economical storytelling, the opening chapter might have been better utilised to hint at this development and provide readers with a more substantial mystery to chew on throughout the slower ‘set up’ chapters.

While the story is satisfyingly concluded within the novella format, the characters and concept are so rich that this left me wishing it were longer in a good way. The Flowers at Flood House is a worthy entry into the grief-horror genre and, at a brisk 100 pages, well worth picking up.

Thank you to NetGalley and After Dusk Press for providing this digital reviewer copy, in exchange for my honest opinion.