When seventeen year old Billy Hassler’s best friend Spivey inherits a small island off the New England coast with an old house and a boat the boys think their last summer before college is made. No parents, no police, just parties and good times ahead! But the island has a dark past and comes with rules that must not be broken as the boys soon find out.

The atmosphere of the novel soon changes from summer sunshine to chilling darkness and stormy seas and the sense of evil and foreboding is palpable. What the group of teens don’t know is that the evil presence haunting the island has affected generations and is still hungry for more. JD Barker’s writing notches the eeriness and tension up to maximum but themes of friendship, loyalty and sacrifice keep it real for Billy, Spivey and their friends.

I did however, feel the book the book was overly busy with a lot of ideas, which sometimes weakened the flow and suspense, and felt it could have been a tad shorter with some of the themes more streamlined to make them stronger and even creepier. Even so, there was sufficient clever creepiness to keep me entertained and I enjoyed the way Barker worked in some local history.

You think you’ve read every haunted house story out there? Think again.

This creepy story from J.D. Barker flips the haunted house trope on its head. It’s not ghosts or demons lurking upstairs—it’s something way more personal, and way more disturbing. The main character knows exactly what’s in the attic… and he put it there.

It’s pretty fast paced and super unsettling in the best way. There’s that classic horror tension—creaky floors, a locked door, weird noises—but what makes it really stick is how much of it messes with your mind.

3.75 stars. An isolated island, a mysterious house, crazy teenagers, and an evil presence. I started out very much intrigued by this creepy, suspenseful story, but had trouble staying with it as it got more and more into supernatural horror. I have enjoyed many of J. D. Barker’s previous books, but this one wasn’t one of my favorites. I would recommend it, however, to fans who are into this genre as it is a well written, horrific thriller . . . just not my cup of tea.

Straight away the setting is creepy, an old mansion full of history on an island near the coast of New Hampshire. Billy and his friends are heading off to college and want one last summer of fun, but very quickly the atmosphere goes from drinking, partying and long summer nights to darkness, danger and having to look over their shoulder.
Thank you to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press, Simon & Schuster for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A chilling supernatural thriller that blends psychological horror and coming-of-age story. Seventeen-year-old Billy and his friends try to uncover the dark secrets of an inherited mansion on a nearby island. An enchanted summer turns into a nightmare when they discover an ancient evil in the house.

The atmosphere is eerie and claustrophobic and has a certain gothic vibe to it. This was a gripping read and kept me on the edge of my seat until the final, chilling page.

When Billy’s best friend, David Spivey, inherits a house on a secluded island across from their sleepy town, it looks like they’re set for the perfect summer before they go off to college. But as they dig into the island’s past, they begin to become aware of an ancient malevolence that has influenced generations of their predecessors, and their perfect summer quickly descends into a terrifying nightmare.

I’ve read and enjoyed a few of J.D. Barker’s books before, and this one did not disappoint. Something I Keep Upstairs is atmospheric, creepy and very well-written, with an original and well-rounded plot. The story is based on a real island, with a true mysterious history (though perhaps not quite as menacing as the one Barker has created here) and I think that really helped to anchor the story in reality. Despite revolving around a malicious entity, spirits and ghosts, something about it felt very real.

The only area I couldn’t entirely get on board with was the motives behind some of the characters’ decisions. Alesia and Matty were driven by pure greed – I get that – and I could understand Spivey’s motivations, even Kira’s to some extent when things had progressed out of her control. What I couldn’t understand was why Izzie, Chloe and Kira got involved to the point of no return, when there didn’t seem to be much reason or benefit for them to. They obviously agreed to do some really dark things pretty early on, and I couldn’t really get to grips with that. My assumption is that their history with the island made them somehow predisposed to make they decisions they made, but I found it frustrating.

On the whole, this is a really eerie and intricate horror story, well worth a read for fans of mysteries and paranormal horrors.

EXCERPT: My name is Billy Hasler.
When I was a kid, my best friend's name was David Spivey. I haven't said that name aloud in nearly eleven years. It's been at least nine since I'd last written it down, and I have mixed feelings about putting it on paper here. I've been told I should though, so there's that. They tell me it will be good for me, but I can't help but wonder if they really mean it will be good for them.
A lot of people want some kind of closure from me. Honestly, that's a big ask. I'm still waiting for my own closure to come.
I've been told that if I continue to keep all this to myself, bottled up inside, the pressure will build and one of these days I might just . . .
Kablooey!
Okay, that's silly. But that's what the doctors tell me.
That's what my mom tells me.
That's what my remaining friends tell me.
Most certainly the police. Their visits aren't as frequent as they used to be, but they still come around. Mundie gave up. Sandy Lomax has long since retired, but that's never stopped the latest fresh-faced officers on our small force from knocking on my door.
'Hey, I read the file and I was wondering if you could spare a few minutes to talk about Chief Whaley, those kids . . . '
I tell them enough to make them go away.
Just enough to make them understand that the sponge has been squeezed dry by many hands before them, and I have nothing left to give.

ABOUT 'SOMETHING I KEEP IN THE ATTIC': For a haunted house to be born, somebody has to die.

In the sleepy coastal town of New Castle, New Hampshire, seventeen-year-old Billy Hasler's life is about to take a terrifying turn. When his best friend David Spivey inherits a mysterious house on a nearby island, it seems like the perfect place to spend their final summer before heading off to college. No parents. No police. No responsibilities.

As they dig into the island's dark past, they awaken an ancient evil that has influenced generations. What begins as an innocent summer adventure quickly descends into a nightmare.

MY THOUGHTS: Do the dead know they're dead?

That question is doing my head in, but it is an important question in the context of Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker.

The more I think about this read, the more I find to like about it. Initially I had trouble connecting with both the storyline and the characters - there's a very YA feel to it. The main characters are sixteen and seventeen years old - that's a long way back in my rear-view mirror. And not a lot happened in the first half of the book. I wasn't getting chills or tingles in my spine and, to be quite honest, I was feeling quite disappointed.

But after the halfway point, the tension ramps up quite considerably. I still didn't get the tingles and the hairs on the back of my neck were resolutely flat-lining, but it certainly became a whole lot more interesting. I knew that no matter how it ended, it wasn't going to be good (for the characters).

There are still some things I don't understand, and I am tempted, at some near point in the future, to give this a second read. Knowing what I now know, I think I will get a lot more out of this read and I will probably find the answers to those questions. This is also one of those very rare instances where I think I would have benefited from reading the author's note BEFORE I read the book.

I was extremely blessed to be able to combine reading with listening to Something I Keep Upstairs and I definitely preferred reading Something I Keep Upstairs to listening to it. This is no reflection on the narrator. Michael Crouch does a superb job of the narration, and I have no complaints on that front. I just think that more of the creep factor came through the written words.

As an aside, the next pet I get, I am going to name Emmerson, and there will be a note on my fridge which readsDon't forget to feed Emmerson.

⭐⭐⭐.7

#SomethingIKeepUpstairs #NetGalley

MEET THE AUTHOR: As a child I was always told the dark could not hurt me, that the shadows creeping in the corners of my room were nothing more than just that, shadows. The sounds nothing more than the settling of our old home, creaking as it found comfort in the earth only to move again when it became restless, if ever so slightly. I would never sleep without closing the closet door, oh no; the door had to be shut tight. The darkness lurking inside needed to be held at bay, the whispers silenced. Rest would only come after I checked under the bed at least twice and quickly wrapped myself in the safety of the sheets (which no monster could penetrate), pulling them tight over my head.

I would never go down to the basement.

Never.

I had seen enough movies to know better, I had read enough stories to know what happens to little boys who wandered off into dark, dismal places alone. And there were stories, so many stories.

Reading was my sanctuary, a place where I could disappear for hours at a time, lost in the pages of a good book. It didn’t take long before I felt the urge to create my own.

I first began to write as a child, spinning tales of ghosts and gremlins, mystical places and people. For most of us, that’s where it begins—as children we have such wonderful imaginations, some of us have simply found it hard to grow up. I’ve spent countless hours trying to explain to friends and family why I enjoy it, why I would rather lock myself in a quiet little room and put pen to paper for hours at a time than throw around a baseball or simply watch television. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes I want to do just that, sometimes I wish for it, but even then the need to write is always there in the back of my mind, the characters are impatiently tapping their feet, waiting their turn, wanting to be heard. I wake in the middle of the night and reach for the pad beside my bed, sometimes scrawling page after page of their words, their lives. Then they’re quiet, if only for a little while. To stop would mean madness, or even worse—the calm, numbing sanity I see in others as they slip through the day without purpose. They don’t know what it’s like, they don’t understand. Something as simple as a pencil can open the door to a new world, can create life or experience death. Writing can take you to places you’ve never been, introduce you to people you’ve never met, take you back to when you first saw those shadows in your room, when you first heard the sounds mumbling ever so softly from your closet, and it can show you what uttered them. It can scare the hell out of you, and that’s when you know it’s good.

Barker resides in coastal New Hampshire with his wife, Dayna, and their daughter, Ember.

DISCLOSURE: Thank you to Hampton Creek Press, Simon & Schuster for providing an e-ARC and RB Media for providing an audio ARC of Behind A Closed Door by J.D. Barker for review. Both formats were delivered via NetGalley. The audiobook is well-narrated by Michael Crouch. All opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own personal opinions.

Such a different take on the haunted house trope. I was completely unsettled while reading this book. There was so much pain in this book caused by Emerson. This Emerson was not even a person, just an entity that was old as time. Yet the power he offered was so strong that people were willing to do whatever requested of them. So many ‘tokens’ were given to the island some knowingly others without knowing the consequences of their actions. This story was really horrific. The cycling of the house would be unbelievable by anyone who had not been exposed to the house. Once exposed , there was no turning back. Billy had things the worst. Because he was kept out of the pact made by his friends Billy would soon be placed in a situation where nobody would believe his story. The end leaves us wondering if Billy chooses the offer.

Something I Keep Upstairs starts with an intriguing setup — an isolated island, a mysterious house, and a group of teens spending one final summer together before everything changes. The eerie atmosphere and slow-build suspense were definitely strong points, and I was drawn in by the promise of uncovering something dark and otherworldly.

That said, I found it difficult to stay fully immersed. There were quite a few characters introduced early on, and I struggled to keep track of who was who. On top of that, many of them felt a bit flat or unlikable, which made it hard to really connect or care about what happened to them.

Still, the setting was evocative and the premise held my interest enough to keep me reading. It’s a solid read for fans of supernatural thrillers with a nostalgic, summer horror vibe.

Thanks to Hampton Creek Press and NetGalley for this ARC.

It appears that other than the 4MK Thriller series (which I loved and devoured), I have a hard time connecting with Barker's books. I had high hopes for this one from reading the synopsis alone. However, once I started it I realized it was going to be a completely different reading experience than anticipated. I had a very difficult time connecting with any of the many characters in the story due to how incredibly unlikable they all are. I think whereas Barker was going for suspense and horror, it was just too convoluted leaving me confused and frustrated. Not my favorite.

Just finished and a lot to unpack. My head is spinning. In the beginning I was not sure if this was a horror story or just plain creepy. Then it became more supernatural to me. Regardless I loved it. There were enough snippets along the way to keep me guessing what was going on and where it was going. Being from new england and loving history, I especially enjoy it when they are part of the story. The story brings in Increase Mather who is related to author Sanantha Mather. You should check out her books. The ending was not what I was expecting but made sense based on the rules.

"𝑭𝒐𝒓 𝒂 𝒉𝒂𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒉𝒐𝒖𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒐 𝒃𝒆 𝒃𝒐𝒓𝒏, 𝒔𝒐𝒎𝒆𝒃𝒐𝒅𝒚 𝒉𝒂𝒔 𝒕𝒐 𝒅𝒊𝒆."

Inspired by a real haunted house and historical events, Something I keep Upstairs toes the line between what is real and what we'd rather not know. It was interesting to read the author's note at the end that gave a fascinating context to how the story came about.

This falls into the supernatural thriller genre with an urban legend vibe. It leans more towards YA than most of Barker's works but the creepy factor is definitely there. A remote island with a forever changing house, ghosts and too much silence. Initially it seems quite straightforward but the plot becomes complicated very quickly as we learn more about the island's dark history and the house's chilling and haunting background story.

The middle felt a bit muddled for me, but the growing sense of unease more than made up for it. If you like haunted houses and ancient evil or simply craving for a good spooky tale then definitely pick this up. The book published on May 13.

Thank you @simonandschuster, Hampton Creek Press @jdbarker_authorand @netgalley for the digital ARC to read and review.

I like this author! I love a good spooky island and house. I enjoyed the book but I guess I am not 100% into the occult and such. Bummer for me but a good book overall!

I love J.D Barker. Great author. For the life of me I had a really difficult time with this one. I thought I’d love it as I like most of his books. There were a lot of characters that I had a hard time keeping track of.

Thanks NetGalley for this ARC

Billy Hasler opens the book with telling the reader that he is finally going to write down what happened more than 10 years ago, when he and some of his friends embarked on an adventure they later rather wished they hadn’t.

Billy’s best friend Spivey suddenly inherits a small island with a large old house on it. It belonged to his grandmother and it comes with a rather disturbing list of rules he has to keep to be able to live there, should he want so. Well, what teenager wouldn’t be over the moon? A whole island! A big house to invite your friends for the summer and have parties! However, Spivey, Billy and their other friends, among which Kira, Billy’s girlfriend and some assorted classmates, are still young teenagers and obviously they cannot fathom what could go wrong when they don’t stick to the rules.
What starts off as a bit of a strange story quickly becomes a very dark, dangerous and haunting one. Apparently the island and the house come with a dark, dark past, a past that already had its influence on the parents of Spivey, Billy and the others. Soon, things get out of hand and although Billy tries to keep his calm, events spin out of control due to the machinations of other friends.
It's pure horror at it’s best and as a good horror story it also has its sad moments, moments when you cannot think but how evil people can become when they hope to get everything they’ve always wanted without doing something for it.

Absolutely stunning and memorable, including the end!

Thanks to Hampton Creek Press and Netgalley for this review copy.

This was a solid, unsettling haunted house story. It was a bit slow at the beginning but it picked up about ⅓ of the way in and really kept my attention from then on. I went in to this book completely blind, so I will admit it was not what I was expecting at all. I don’t typically gravitate toward supernatural books, but I didn’t dislike it at all! The author’s note at the end was also excellent and really added to the story! I’ve read multiple J.D. Barker books and definitely look forward to reading anything he writes in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for an eARC in exchange for my honest review!

Something I Keep Upstairs is a ghost story that is based on a real story. It is creepy and it kept me up late reading a few nights. However, it is missing the author’s usual gonzo uniqueness. I loved She Has a Broken Thing Where Her Heart Should Be, a much better horror novel by the same author. It would be hard for anyone to top the sheer weirdness of that title. Sadly, this book, while serviceable, suffers by comparison. 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with an advanced review copy.

I really love J.D. Barker’s stories. A favorite of mine is A Callers Game! Sooo good!
Something I Keep Upstairs by J.D. Barker was soooo good!
Barker expertly builds suspense throughout the story, layering in twists and turns that leave readers questioning.
The pacing is fast, with a well-structured plot that maintains tension, making it hard to put the book down once you start.
Overall, Something I Keep Upstairs is a compelling, dark, and twist-filled thriller that fans of psychological suspense will thoroughly enjoy. It’s a gripping read that lingers long after you’ve turned the last page.

This book was creepy!!! Definitely paranormal horror as well as thriller and mystery. Although it felt really long, I enjoyed picking this one back up each time. The other painted a very eerie story that raised more questions than I could wrap my head around. Definitely recommend this!

I received this book from Hampton Street Press on NetGalley… it did not disappoint!

Creepy house, friendship, sneakiness, lies, teenage love, being closely watched by the cops, murder, ghosts - this book has it all. Based in New Castle, New Hampshire, this story follows the life of Billy Hasler. His best friend inherits a creepy island house, and that’s when strange things begin to happen for Billy and his friend group.

I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars because I have never read anything like it. I enjoyed not being able to predict where the story was going. I actually almost put this one in my DNF list. It took me a very long time to actually get into the story. Slows burn for me. BUT the last few chapters I felt made it completely worth it! I will absolutely be reading more books by this author.