4-4.5 stars

Here's the thing, folks: if you're looking for a super scary tale for fall, this probably ain't it. Personally, I like to read atmospheric, spooky novels at night during the fall, but if it's too scary I can't read it before bed. I am who I am. However, if you like a mild to moderate creep level in your fall reads, with a heavy focus on grief, trauma, and mental health, you've come to the right place.



At first glance, [b:Horrid|50358142|Horrid|Katrina Leno|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1579613001l/50358142._SY75_.jpg|70471341] has the typical traits of your average horror novel-a creepy old house, small town with big secrets, family loss-but that's kind of where the similarities end. Katrina Leno choses to deviate from the status quo and deliver a tale of gut churning, relatable storytelling; instead of focusing on jump scares and tangible monsters, we receive a healthy dose of family dysfunction, mental health disorders, generational trauma, and a rage-fueled grieving process of the loss of a loved one. That's not to say that there isn't a paranormal aspect to this book, there is, but it felt so rightly dwarfed by these real struggles that my heart grew three sizes like the Grinch's did on Christmas morning. I think I'm going to leave it here, but if you're looking for an atmospheric, thought-provoking YA horror novel, please give this one a try.

Content Warnings:

Death of a parent, pica (specifically regarding the ingesting of paper, hair, and rose petals), death of a child, death of a sibling, bullying, past child abuse, past brief animal harm, teen alcohol consumption.