Despite an initial straightforward style, Upstairs builds suspense with every step, carrying readers through a great setting, into a fantastic third act. Nothing too hardcore here, this is an old-fashioned spook-show, and all the better for it.

A nicely creepy haunted island tale about teens who discover there's more to the house Spivey inherited than any of them expected. It's meant to be a fun last summer before college but it turns into something else. This does feel YA for a long time but it's clever enough to keep you reading. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. For fans of the genre.

An extraordinary blend of supernatural horror and isolated island mystery! The novel's focused on a group of teenagers unravelling when one of them finds himself the caretaker of his late grandmother's house on a small island off the coast of a New Hampshire town (New Castle, a real place). The premise is quite straightforward, but the plot gets very complex very fast, as one revelation succeeds another, relationships collapsing one after the other, mysteries and creepy events multiplying continuously.

I should stress that, although the story is very intricate and occasionally even too complicated for its own good (often the characterization suffering as a result), it never ceased to keep me entertained and hooked to the page. There are several themes to hold anyone's interest - family issues, betrayals among friends, teenage love, scary basements, young witches, bizarre rules, mysterious deaths, people missing, small town conspiracies, demonic offerings - but it's the house's background story itself, chilling, haunting, irreverent, twisty, full of moments of brilliance, that shines through all the dense prose and the unexpected revelations. Every hundred pages or so the reader learns something new about that house's backstory, and it's always something eerie, awful, weird and strange.

The book's brimming with nifty ideas. For example, I found the notion of "Project Poltergeist" (create a haunted house on purpose) hugely exciting, and I could easily imagine it supporting an entire book on its own; yet it's just one part of the novel, one brilliant idea among many others the author has come up with to enhance this labyrinth of a story. Another is using the "post-credits" format to bring closure to the tale - it made for a really moving ending!

I love supernatural horror, and this book more than satisfied my craving for a good, spooky tale. First time I read this author, and will definitely keep an eye out for his next book. Highly recommended!

J.D. Barker always keeps me excited and immersed. I felt completely hooked by the creepy atmosphere and danger that lurks throughout

Something I Keep Upstairs
J D Barker
Wow! This story was rich and complex with very vivid imagery. In the beginning, Billy, Kira, Spivey, and Matty gave me real Outer Banks (Netflix series) vibes. Their story flowed effortlessly and I definitely became emotionally attached to Billy’s character in particular as he seemed to be a sweet natured, protective and very intelligent friend/boyfriend and son. The deeper the characters and the story developed the more engrossing it became, weaving history seamlessly with present day and becoming more incredible as it goes. I personally wanted a different ending but I can understand why the author went the direction he did and overall this was an excellent read and I would say this is equally a perfect beach read or spooky season read whichever you prefer! Many thanks to @jdbarker_author @netgalley and Hampton Creek Press for the ARC🖤

Billy's friend Spivey inherit's an island off the coast of New England. There are rules to live or stay there. Full of menace, this is an excellent haunted house/island novel that grips you. Good characters that some you root for. Well written and to me has a Stephen King vibe to it. I would highly recommend this book. Thanks to Hampton Creek Press and Netgalley for this review ARC.

This was such an intriguing book! There were so many different twists which kept you wondering what could possibly happen next!
You have to have some imagination to appreciate the mystery of this island and the stories surrounding it. There were several times when it all seemed unbelievable and made up. But then again the story kept pulling at you wanting you to read more.
The author also gave us the background for the story at the end of the book. Read this only if you want to really scare yourself. And check out the links too!
I would definitely read more from this author.
Enjoy!

WHAT DID I JUST READ 👀👀👀

But ok for real, that was a unique, twisty concept of a haunted house, and I am here for it! It was creepy, it was twisted, and kept me guessing till the end. This would actually make one heck of a creepy movie too! Loved the story of friendships, love and sacrifice. Nothing was what it seemed and I didn’t want to stop reading to see what came next! My only complaint was it was a tad long, but the destination was worth the journey!

Thank you NetGalley and Hampton Creek Press for my ARC in exchange for my honest feedback!

Okay, this one's pretty creepy. I'm not a huge fan of the paranormal just because I have to put my "scientific" brain on hold; on the other hand, I can't totally discount the possibilies. I guess what that means is I got quite a kick out of this book once I decided to just go with the flow.

It starts off innocently enough; after his grandmother dies, teenager Billy Hasler's best friend David Spivey inherits her Wood Island home off the coast of New Castle, New Hampshire (apparently granny wanted to bypass her daughter, David's mother). What a great place to hang out, the boys assert as they gather friends together for some pre-college partying.

But in books like this, nothing is as it seems. To be sure, the house isn't; and all too soon, it becomes evident that none of the people associated with the house aren't, either. There are quirky house "rules," appearances, disappearances and reappearances and tons of things that go bump in the night - all signaling a danger that no one understands nor want to believe.

But this story isn't mine to tell - it's for other readers to discover just as I did. And once I get my head back to some semblance of normal I'll thank the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to get creeped out by way of a pre-release copy. If "yikes" is your style, don't hesitate to give it a go.

Billy’s friend Spivey just inherited his grandmother’s house, perched on a lonely New England island that once belonged to the Coast Guard. Sounds cool, right? Remote, mysterious, and-of course-there are rules. But rules are made to be broken, and that’s when the real trouble starts. What begins as a little mischief quickly spirals into something far more menacing.

I’ll be honest: the first half of the book didn’t totally hook me. It read a bit like a YA novel, and the characters felt pretty flat at first. Not much really happens for a while, but then-bam!-things take off fast, and I was suddenly invested. Once the story hits its stride, it’s a tense ride right to the end. A few questions remained unanswered (or maybe I was just overthinking it), but the major plot points wrapped up neatly.

One of my favorite parts? The author’s note. It dives into the real-life inspiration behind the setting. It added a whole extra layer of eerie authenticity that made the book even creepier in retrospect.

If you’re into supernatural horror that leans more on suspense than gore, this is a solid pick. It's a spooky escape that blends folklore vibes with modern ghost story energy.

This story is told by Billy Hasler, his best friend Spivey inherits an island home from his grandmother Geraldine. Billy retells of the summer their group of friends spend out at the mysterious island home, which they believe to be haunted. Upon arrival they discover a list of rules:

1. The entity must never be sold. All items found on or within the entity are considered property of the entity. Can only be borrowed, loaned and returned.
2. Tokens of less than 16 years of age will be considered property.
3. Don't answer the phone
4. Watch the pilot light
5. anyone here at sunset must stay until sunrise
6. Never lock doors
7. Emerson must be fed...

Things get very strange, locals go missing, past secrets are revealed. The house takes on an entity of its own and get really dark and gory.

" that island, the house, that place, it will give you whatever you want, money, fame, love, friendship, health-but it also takes. It's not shy about carving out its pound of flesh in return. It's like there's a scale and if Emerson give you something, something of equal value must be given to him in return". Pam

Entertaining, mysterious, dark and very eerie. Keeps you wanting to find out more the whole way through. It does get repetitive just after 80% in, I found it really stretched on. Could have been shorter IMO. The ending was not my fav. characters were ok, loved the occult history sprinkled throughout. Loved the Brigadoon references, I adored that classic. Overall 3.5/4 stars. great book!

Thank you Simon & Shuster and Net Galley for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

Well that was not what I was expecting. I’ll admit I have debated over my rating. I seriously debated this book being a DNF solidly up until I reached 67% . At that point, I was like might as well keep going.
I will say that the last bit was much better and probably the only thing that saved this book from a not so great rating.
The characters in this book are wholly unloveable. Whaley might be the only exception to that along with Benny. And I’m not sure I can explain how messed up the ending is without spoilers.
If you asked me if I would re-read this book I would not. But am I mad I read it? Also no. So I’ll say a solid 3.5/5 stars for that last 33% of the book.
I received an ARC of this title, all opinions are my own.

Something I Keep Upstairs
by J.D. Barker
Pub Date: May 13 2025

Something I Keep Upstairs is a story about a haunted house on an isolated island just offshore. A chiller, set in a sleepy New England town, which follows a group of teenage friends that begin to party, things change from fun in the sun to shadows, darkness, and danger. Something had been lurking and waiting and now it has been awakened. A very, very dark tale. A great ghost story I highly recommend if you like ghost stories!

Many thanks to #SomethingIKeepUpstairs #NetGalley #HamptonCreekPress and #SimonAndSchuster for providing me an E-ARC of this scary ghost story!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. Wow, this was quite the ride, let me tell you! Trying to unravel the secrets of the house, whose dead, whose alive...what is happening here?! As it is with every other JD Barker book, this one was amazing! Well written, good character development, the plot was great. There were some bits throughout where I felt it dragged a bit but it quickly picked back up. Definitely would recommend.

Something I Keep Upstairs by JD Barker was terrifyingly amazing!

I went in completely blind, I just saw JD Barker was the author and knew I'd love this book.

I know him from the 4MK Series and Behind Closed Doors, so I was expecting a thriller and not a 'chiller', as the book clearly states.

This story had so many layers and had me scratching my head and wanting to put my Kindle in the freezer(IYKYK). At one point, I took a two week break from the story because I was scared 😱

If you want to read a scary story that will make it hard to sleep at night(in the best way), I highly recommend you add this to your TBR!

This was my first book by this author and while I liked the book it didn’t have me in edge as I thought it would. The overall story was good, Spivey inherited a home when his grandmother passed away. Him and his friends spend the summer there before taking off to college. There is an eerie feel to the story. Would recommend.

This one’s hard to rate—I didn’t hate it, but I can’t say I really liked it either. There was a lot going on ... at times it felt like too many layers piled on at once. I often found myself confused or unsure where the story was heading. That said, the writing itself was beautiful. Barker’s descriptions were so vivid—I could easily picture the scenes, especially the eerie atmosphere of the island and the house. I just wish the plot had been a little more focused or grounded. It felt like the book was trying to be too many things at once.

Interesting concept and strong writing, but overall it left me feeling a little lost.

This was an absolutely amazing story. a group of friends, a haunted house/island, ghosts, rules and how not to break them...because if you do...Emerson must always be fed! Amazing!

This was something totally different from J D Barker. As the book progressed from teens doing what teens do to a seemingly impossible delve into the supernatural and witchcraft I wasn’t even sure if it was something I wanted to continue. I honestly felt it was becoming more and more bizarre, which it definitely was and had trouble taking it seriously. However, J D Barker is one of my favourite authors and I wasn’t going to give up on this lengthy book. The story revolves around Spivey inheriting Wood Island, situated just off the New Hampshire coast. He invites his friend Billy who narrates much of the book and they excitedly visit the island, discovering a well kept home with all mod cons and luxuries. However, there are rules and once rules have been broken there is no going back. The story continues with many local characters and their families who all become entwined in this increasingly involved and unlikely story. I read on until the end and it was this explanation from the author that did make me check and think twice but no, you had me there for a minute, I just bow to J D Barker’s exceptional imagination. Probably. It is worth a read of course and if you like the supernatural genre, all the better, you will absolutely love it. Cynical people will hopefully enjoy this well crafted story.

If horror is your staple reading diet you will revel in the dark taste of this supernatural horror story. As a whole, a very, very cleverly plotted story.
There is a much in the initial part of this story that I felt was filler, and while in character wasn’t needed. So for me one star lost. However, the pace, reveals and horror soon ramp up, and I found myself hooked and page turning at speed. Thank you to Hampton Creek Press/Simon and Schuster and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.