A collection of strange and dark short stories, with the only common theme of an exploration of home - and what that means and how it can not be the idyllic refuse and oasis we crave it to be.

Masterfully crafted stories that surprise you with twists in their prosely paths, and leave you breathless and wondering what the hell just happened. This isn't sledgehammer horroe - rather nails down your spine that reveal themselves to be sharper than you originally thought.

A joy to read, I wolfed them down and wanted more - not that any of the tales left me wanting!

Vanessa Santos’s Make a Home of Me is a stunningly original entry into contemporary horror fiction—unsettling, poetic, and disturbingly intimate. Through a series of interconnected stories, Santos redefines what it means to feel “at home,” exploring how our most familiar spaces can become uncanny, dangerous, and even predatory.

Each story acts like a key turning in a different lock, revealing a hidden room in the collective human psyche: a mysterious dinner party curdles into a grotesque nightmare; a seemingly ideal romance with a single father is slowly unraveled by his daughter’s haunting presence; and a couple’s domestic bliss is undone by something as seemingly mundane as a crying baby next door. From journals soaked in obsession to cryptic notes that fracture a family’s reality, Santos threads these tales with the pervasive terror of losing control in the one place we should feel safest—our homes.

What sets this collection apart is Santos’s gift for atmosphere. Her prose is lush and immersive, often lyrical, yet always carrying a blade beneath the velvet. The houses in Make a Home of Me are never just settings; they are living, breathing entities—indifferent or even hostile to their inhabitants. Whether it’s the slow, almost imperceptible encroachment of dread or a jarring plunge into the grotesque, Santos maintains an impeccable sense of pacing, allowing horror to bloom gradually and organically.

There’s an emotional intelligence here too—grief, alienation, motherhood, and madness pulse just beneath the surface of each narrative. Santos does not rely on shock alone; her horror is existential, psychological, and deeply human. These stories are as much about interior landscapes as they are about the walls and doors that surround us.

Make a Home of Me marks the arrival of a bold new voice in literary horror. Santos doesn’t just write about haunted houses—she writes about how we haunt ourselves. For readers who enjoy the eerie domesticity of Shirley Jackson, the creeping dread of Mariana Enríquez, or the disquieting realism of Carmen Maria Machado, this collection is a must-read.

I have often dwelt on the world that exists in the corner of one’s eye. The unsettling feeling of something lurking just beyond sight. The palpable feeling of something being off. Often the real world provides for enough unsettling emotions that one feels little need to venture into a world of abject horror.
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I very much like horror that hints at something darker. A subtle horror that slowly percolates into one’s mind leaving a trace of dread and angst. ‘Make a home of me’ is a wonderfully creepy set of short stories. I very much like not having stories wrapped neatly, but left frayed at the end so that your own mind can make up its own ending.
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The writing isn’t particularly complex and some of the stories aren’t really even horror but more unsettling. This is probably a very poor comparison, but somehow I had the same sense of enjoyment that I did when, back in my childhood, I would devour countless Goosebump books.
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Since it’s a collection of short stories, some work better than others, but it feels somehow really accomplished. I also couldn’t place the book either in a physical location - I had somehow assumed it would be American, but Dead ink books, an equally interesting publisher is British and there are occasional references. Not that any of this matters but my mind did ponder it.
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I raced through this, in part because it was really very good, and because I had forgot that the archive date was approaching. I made an erroneous error on netgalley by letting a book disappear in the archive. You live and learn I suppose. As ever a big thank you to netgalley for being the bookish middleman and dead inks for publishing it!

I loved this, these creepy stories definitely left me feeling uneasy. A great collection of haunting tales that linger long after you’ve finished reading.

Vanessa Santos' "Make a Home of Me" is the perfect quiet horror collection: just eight stories at the absolutely right length, all easy reads, every one full of creepiness and shuddering terror with minimal gore (practically none) and full of emotional upheavals - exactly what you might need to read before bed, or during a hot summer afternoon. Their common theme, if any, is the undoing of domestic comfort, the collapse of those "places of safety" one craves for after an exhausting day at work, a quarrel with a neighbor, or even the loss of a loved one without warning. Santos deconstructs safe places the way one is supposed to enjoy a cigar: slow draws, enjoying the flavor, and letting the story burn itself out - a slow and deliberate process finely crafted in words most familiar, but with the strangest and the most unsettling of endings!

All nine stories are gems, but five of them stood out for me: "Table Scraps," the opening story, challenges the funeral rituals we may accept as proper and comfortable expressions of honoring the dead; "Emily," probably the best story of the collection, takes the "creepy kid" horror trope and gives it an original spin, reminiscent of "Let the Right One In"'s ending, but with a scary twist; the titular "Make a Home of Me," an outstanding tale of a house leaving notes to the family living inside it (this will probably be most people's favorite, the premise is genius); "As Above, So Below," a spooky story about the arrival of aliens, a tale of quiet sci-fi horror, with an undertone of grief and an atmosphere of quiet indifference; and the majestic "The Wall," about a baby that never stops crying, driving mad the neighbors.. The claustrophobic ending is very well-done, and will make you look twice at noisy newborns.

This is a solid 5-stars collection, and if you enjoy Shirley Jackson or Ray Bradbury prepare for some definite chills!

Make a Home of Me by Vanessa Santos is an anthology that takes all the places that we should be able to feel safe and comforted and turns them into something terrifying. Since it's an anthology, I decided to go through each story and give my impressions!

Table Scraps
Table Scraps is a funeral dinner like no other that will leave you wondering how far you would go to honor the wishes of a loved one. It's visceral and uncomfortable, while also showing the many ways in which grief can take root in a person.

Emily
Emily takes "weird girl" to a whole new level. What starts out as something a bit unsettling quickly ties a knot in the pit of the reader's stomach, and this was one of the scarier entries in the anthology.

Mouthful
Mouthful chronicles the last days of a reclusive artist through her journal entries about the monster she believes is stalking her remote home. I found this one to be quite creepy as well.

Changes
Changes is an eerie and atmospheric look at the way a social situation can change a loved one into someone you don't recognize. So spooky!

Make a Home of Me
The titular Make a Home of Me is about a family plagued by strange notes that seem to be coming from the house itself. This was one of my favorite stories in this book, and it genuinely made me tear up.

As Above, So Below
As Above, So Below shows the effects of an alien invasion confining people to their homes. This was the only story that didn't quite work for me. It was well written, but I didn't find it as spooky as the others.

Riverquick, Saltfresh
Riverquick, Saltfresh is a mermaid story, at its core, but with an eerie sense of foreboding. These are certainly not Disney mermaids!

The Wall
The Wall is the tale of an older childless couple who are being driven mad by the sound of an endlessly crying baby in the house next door, which shares a wall with their bedroom. Very effective, and a lesson in being careful what you wish for.

4.5 stars

Deliciously dark and delightful! I inhaled this collection of short stories and I loved each one. I could have kept reading, one more, one more, one more - obsessed! Vanessa's writing style is perfection, evocative yet consise whilst managing to be all encompassing.

The opening story Table Scraps is about a macabre dinner party organised by a deceased man, seasoned with black humour. When I realised what was going on, I gasped!

We then meet Emily, possibly the most unsettling and eerie child I've read about, she gave me goosebumps. The ending was just spine chilling.

In Mouthful a news story appears about a vanished artist. We are given a glimpse into her journal entries describing a monster living in the woods surrounding her home. Claustrophobic and creepy.

We then go off on a holiday in the story Changes to a quaint seaside town that distorts reality, with a dangerous sense of creeping unease.

The stunning titular story Make a Home of Me made is skin crawling in its effectiveness, a haunted house classic with a unique twist. Genius!

I adored As Above, So Below about a lockdown with no internet, soldiers on the streets and strange lights shimmering in the sky. Reminiscent of the pandemic we lived through with a sci-fi element, this one was very close for comfort!

There is also a very real horror story set in the depths of the sea about sisterhood and loss, grief and guilt. I found Riverquick, Saltfresh chilling and emotional.

We wrap up the collection with The Wall, a nightmarish suburban tale about a baby that won't stop crying, and the gradual drop off into helplessness that some parents may find all too familiar.

An absolute stellar little collection of perturbing stories - definitely not one to be missed! I wouldn't hesitate to recommend this book - solid 5 stars. I'll be thinking about these for a long time!

Make a Home of Me by Vanessa Santos is a tender, lyrical exploration of love, loss, and healing. With poetic prose and raw vulnerability, Santos captures the complexities of relationships and identity in a way that feels both deeply personal and widely relatable. The writing is intimate and emotionally rich, offering quiet moments that resonate.

Each section unfolds like a meditation—on self-worth, connection, and the ache of becoming. While some passages verge on repetition, the overall rhythm and honesty keep the momentum steady. Santos has a gift for distilling big emotions into simple, powerful lines that linger long after the page is turned.

The book closes on a hopeful, grounded note, making the emotional journey feel whole. Make a Home of Me is a beautifully written and quietly powerful collection—an easy 4-star read for those who appreciate poetry that speaks to the heart and the hurt.

4.25 stars :)

A fantastic collection of psychological horror stories that delve into aspects of domesticity, and being trapped in places that should provide us with comfort.

Favourites included Emily, where our main character gets swept up in a new relationship with a single father of a strangely quiet girl, and Changes, which was too short to really give any detail about but follows a young couple on holiday in a remote seaside town.

A couple didn't really work for me (namely Mouthful and Riverquick, Saltfresh), but the rest all gave me the shivers, and all were written expertly with great pacing and not a word out of place. At this point I practically consider myself a horror short story connoisseur, and this collection did not disappoint for me at all.

Ooohhh creepy dwellings this is good. Bite sized stories to creep you out. They're short but highly descriptive and imaginative. Great if you need a quick blast of the macabre.

Thank you so much to Dead Ink Books & NetGalley for the e-ARC!!

4 stars!!

This collection was fantastic for variety! There's so much here that can be a hit or miss but so much to also have something for anyone!

My favourite has to be Table Scraps! What a way to open the collection!

I liked this one so much I'd actually love to read more / longer / novella version of it.

Another I liked but mainly because of the creepy ending was Emily, the middle of the story seemed to drag a little but the imagery of the ending I loved.

Make a Home of Me I loved creepy haunted houses and this one had something unique to it and I loved the writing and this can also be said for the writing in Riverquick, Saltfresh. Loved the writing

So happy to have read this collection and to find a new author I'm definitely keeping an eye for!

3.5/5 rounded up.

This collection of short stories take a look at domestic bliss and kill the lights, exposing a bunch of unsettling stuff underneath.

Whether it’s a crying baby, a missing child, a lockdown, a strange wake…there’s lot to explore here and these tales all build dread and will linger long after you’re done with them. The sound of their claws scratching against the door might well infect your dreams.

There are eight stories here, and I’ve made notes on all of them:

Table scraps: blackest of black humour. The weirdest wake you can ever imagine and a darkly intriguing opener to this collection.

Emily: creepy tale of a creepy kid that belongs to the man our main character has just started a relationship with. A little too long and lost me a bit in the middle, but a strong, dark ending.

Mouthful: journals of a missing artist. Like the found footage element but the content didn’t really grab me.

Changes: sad rather than scary. A couple go for a holiday to a strange town and find they are more different from each other than they thought.

Make a home of me: a truly effective and creepy haunted house story. What would you do if you house started leaving notes for you and your family?

As above, so below: a chilling tale of alien invasion that also feels like an attempt to process that weird time of the covid pandemic. A story full of dread, like a breath being held for the entire thing. Very good.

Riverquick, saltfresh: a haunting tale of grief and guilt and the pull of the sea…even if it means death. Evocative and compelling.

The wall: a tale of madness caused by a crying baby. Brought back plenty of bad memories, so thanks for that!

Overall, an impressive collection that is perfect for a slice of something chilling before bed.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the review copy!

What a fantastic collection of short stories - I wished there was more! I especially loved the story Emily, but think the monster in the woods story fell slightly flat.

Make Me a Home by Vanessa Santos is a collection of unsettling short stories that explore the darker sides of domestic life. From mysterious dinner parties to emotionally charged family dynamics and strange disappearances, each story takes place in what should be a place of safety — the home — but instead turns it into something unfamiliar, even hostile.

While the book is labeled as horror, it leans more into the unnerving and psychologically unsettling than the traditionally terrifying. Some stories succeed more than others; a few fell flat for me, while others—like the story involving Emily, a strangely shy child—were deeply intriguing and left a strong impression.

What stood out most was Santos’s writing style. Her prose is vivid and atmospheric, creating an underlying tension that lingers even when the plot itself doesn’t fully land. She has a talent for crafting eerie environments and emotional undercurrents that feel just slightly off-kilter

Make a Home of Me is a collection of unusual stories by Vanessa Santos. The book is labelled as "horror", but those looking for gore and jump scares would likely be disappointed. The stories here are unnerving and unsettling rather than terrifying. There were some good ideas here; I particularly liked the story about the strange child, Emily. A couple of the tales seemed a bit flat to me (such as the "monster" one), but I have found myself thinking about other storylines in quiet moments, so they must have got under my skin. One "story" is a collection of unconnected vignettes in itself; I would like to see some of these explored further. Overall, a good debut (I would give 3.5 stars if allowed); I would like to read more of Santos' work in a longer format.

Make a home of me was a lovely little macabre collection of shorts stories. Some gruesome, some creepy some downright bizarre! Reminded me a bit of the Eric LaRocca ones.. I really enjoyed it! Nice and short perfect Bank Holiday reading. Each story was a manageable chunk exactly what
I needed for dipping in and out of around the kids.
If you like a little bit of horror in your life I would definitely recommend picking this up!

A solid collection of short stories. As always, one or two which aren’t the best. When the stories shined however, they certainly did shine! I will be thinking about As Above, So Below for a very long time

4.25/5.0

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC copy of this collection of short stories.

I always say this, but reading short stories is always risky because in the same book, some of these stories might feel really good and others might disappoint or confuse you, which makes it hard to then rate the book altogether.

But not in this one, as every story was a great one. So much so, I had trouble pausing my reading. Each story had its own eerie vibe that I enjoyed immensely. From the very start, I was hooked and I went through a spectrum of emotions reading throughout this book. Some stories were scarier, some sadder, but all of them made you feel something.

Make a Home of Me is definitely a collection of short stories I can recommend to anyone that is looking for a quick and easy read in the horror genre. The vibes were truly immaculate and I will, for sure, keep an eye on what Vanessa Santos will write about next.

"Vivid dreams, of mouths with keys for teeth, bitten down on me and unlocking all my doors."

Vanessa Santos's debut collection is set within the houses that are meant to provide us with support and protection. Places we are a part of become something disturbing and unknown to us. Sanctuaries being invaded making the residents into complete strangers.

This was an interesting and unnerving collection of stories based around ones home. A place we feel comfortable and ourselves become estranged, partly due to disturbing events taking place in the present and traumas from the past that stick with us.

These stories were easy to read through. Each one does leave you a little disturbed. The pacing and imagery in each matched the atmosphere of the kind of story being told.

A dark and interesting collection worth exploring

What an excellent debut collection! I thoroughly enjoyed these strange, uncanny stories - very reminiscent of Shirley Jackson and The Twilight Zone which I LOVE. My absolute favourites were the opening story, Table Scraps - even though I figured out what was going on pretty quickly, it still had a massive impact; Emily scared the hell out of me - the ending!!!!; Make a Home of Me, the titular story, is this strange, scary and sad sort of a story that I really like; As Above, So Below - a tense and sci-fi-ish tale, excellent!

I’ll definitely read what Vanessa Santos writes next!