Review: The Haunting Season

I got a beautiful Kindle Paperwhite for Christmas (with an awesome two year warranty thanks Aunt Jill!) and I have gone literally book crazy on Amazon.  Literally, it's starting to become like crack to me, but I just don't care.  Well, while I was on this little shopping spree (yay gift cards!) I came across Michelle Muto's new book The Haunting Season.  I read her first book, The Book of Lost Souls, right after she released it about two years ago, and I really liked her style!  So it was a nice reunion when I discovered that The Haunting Season was just released.  So first I want to start off with the blurb:

Be careful what you let in…

Siler House has stood silent beneath Savannah’s moss-draped oaks for decades. Notoriously haunted, it has remained empty until college-bound Jess Perry and three of her peers gather to take part in a month-long study on the paranormal. Jess, who talks to ghosts, quickly bonds with her fellow test subjects. One is a girl possessed. Another just wants to forget. The third is a guy who really knows how to turn up the August heat, not to mention Jess’s heart rate…when he’s not resurrecting the dead. 

The study soon turns into something far more sinister when they discover that Siler House and the dark forces within are determined to keep them forever. In order to escape, Jess and the others will have to open themselves up to the true horror of Siler House and channel the very evil that has welcomed them all.

I really wasn't expecting this book to be scary.  Sometimes blurbs lead you to believe that the book you just bought will be scary, but they really aren't.  This blurb is deceptive because this book is freaking scary.  I'm not lying, I actually read half of it before going to bed and I kept dreaming about ghosts in the walls.  I am one of those individuals who has to physically see the scary event to have it infiltrate my dreams, but dang this book really accomplishes it.   The Haunting Season has all the ingredients to make a good horror novel, and the way Michelle Muto creates a plot that makes it a great horror novel. The idea of a possessed house is something that I feel is used a lot in paranormal lore for horror, and creating something original and truly scary with this idea is a great feat, one that I feel is achieved in The Haunting Season.  

The characters in The Haunting Season are completely different and simultaneously likable.  Jess is someone I would hope to act like in tense situations.  She looks for the positive in situations, and tries not to take anything at face value.  But, I mean if I were in a haunted house I know I would be freaking out like Allison "the girl possessed."  At parts of the book I wanted to yell at her, "You are being RIDICULOUSLY dramatic" but I probably would be freaking out right along side her.  Gage's backstory was really interesting, and he definitely grew on me while I was reading.  At first I wasn't really sure what to make of him, but I genuinely liked him by the end of the book.  Bryan, the last of Jess' peers was adorable.  You couldn't help but just love him during his scenes.  Now, I must get to the Siler House.  Michelle truly makes the house a character in the book, and it is a creepy one.  Nothing will make you feel paranoia like knowing a house is keeping tabs on where you are and what you are doing.  There are of course more characters in the book that are truly terrifying, but what fun would it be if I revealed them to you? *cue evil laugh*

The Haunting Season is well put together and satisfying.  I think it sticks to the horror genre well, and the ending really surprised me.  It's not often that I am surprised at the end of a book, and this one legitimately got me.  Did. Not. See. It. Coming.  Michelle Muto in my opinion is proving herself to be a great paranormal story teller.  I honestly am really excited to see what else she has up her sleeve.  I definitely could see this story on the big screen.  It should be made into a huge horror movie in my opinion, because if the book scared the crap out of me; I can only imagine what would happen if I saw this in movie form.  If you are a fan of ghosts, campfire stories, goosebumps, or things that go bump in the night this one is definitely for you.  

Oh Yeah Count:
5/5