I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
This Cursed House: A Novel by Del Sandeen Published by Penguin Random House, Berkley on October 8, 2024
Genres: Fiction / African American & Black / Historical
Pages: 384
Format: ARC
Source: NetGalley
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Goodreads
One of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2024
One of Crime Reads' Best Gothic Novels of 2024In this Southern gothic horror debut, a young Black woman abandons her life in 1960s Chicago for a position with a mysterious family in New Orleans, only to discover the dark truth: They’re under a curse, and they think she can break it.
In the fall of 1962, twenty-seven-year-old Jemma Barker is desperate to escape her life in Chicago—and the spirits she has always been able to see. When she receives an unexpected job offer from the Duchon family in New Orleans, she accepts, thinking it is her chance to start over.
But Jemma discovers that the Duchon family isn’t what it seems. Light enough to pass as white, the Black family members look down on brown-skinned Jemma. Their tenuous hold on reality extends to all the members of their eccentric clan, from haughty grandmother Honorine to beautiful yet inscrutable cousin Fosette. And soon the shocking truth comes out: The Duchons are under a curse. And they think Jemma has the power to break it.
As Jemma wrestles with the gift she’s run from all her life, she unravels deeper and more disturbing secrets about the mysterious Duchons. Secrets that stretch back over a century. Secrets that bind her to their fate if she fails.
Story Locale: 1960s New Orleans
Review
Del Sandeen’s This Cursed House isn’t your typical haunted house story. Sure, there are creaking floorboards and things that go bump in the night, but the real monsters here aren’t just supernatural – they’re the ghosts of America’s troubled past.
Set in the 1960s, the story follows a young Black woman who trades the familiar streets of Chicago for a mysterious gig down South. She thinks she’s signed up to be a tutor for the Duchon family. She’s wrong. Dead wrong.
What makes this debut special is how Sandeen turns the haunted house trope into something fresh and unsettling. The house itself breathes with dark history, its walls practically sweating with secrets. But it’s the way she weaves racism, colorism, and identity into the horror that really gets under your skin. Think Get Out meets The Haunting of Hill House, with a dash of Southern Gothic spice.
Yes, some readers will likely find parts of the story predictable. But most will probably agree – including me – that Sandeen’s atmospheric writing and bold tackling of uncomfortable truths make this debut impossible to put down. If you like your horror with a side of social commentary and a main course of “holy crap, what was that noise?” – this one’s for you.
