e-Audio, 07:15:18
Narrated by: Katie Beudert
Release Date: September 30, 2025
Published by: Bloomsbury Publishing
Read from: October 14-16, 2025
Stand-alone
Source: Audible App Left over Credit (I received a free ARC from the publisher via the ALA conference. I read it in tandem with the audio. This did nothing to influence my review)
Content Warning: Arachnids
For Readers Interested In: ARC, Audio, Audible, Horror, Sparkly Cover, Middle Grade (MG), Paranormal horror, 2sLGBTQ+Stonewall Honor-winning author Justine Pucella Winans returns with a middle grade horror about a haunted house and the stories we tell when real life gets too scary.
The only thing worse than having ghost hunters for parents is having fake ghost hunters for parents. Luna Catalano would know. Her moms are influencers who use their pretend psychic powers and interior design skills to turn spooky old houses into ghost-free modern homes—not that there were any ghosts in the first place. It’s bad enough her moms’ job means they have to move all the time, but just once, Luna wishes there was an actual, for real haunted house.
When they move yet again, Luna isn’t expecting much. But this new place feels…different. Things start out innocent enough—flickering lights, strange noises—but this ghost is playing for keeps. And if Luna doesn’t find a way to stop it, she and her moms might end up haunting the house themselves.
With the help of her next-door neighbors, a cute girl Luna definitely doesn’t have a crush on, and a mysterious woman who seems to know a lot about the home, Luna starts to piece together who exactly this ghost is. But not everything is as it seems. And in order to save her family, Luna will have to get the story right before everything goes completely wrong.
*MY THOUGHTS*
This was so much fun! I loved the writing style and the stories interspersed throughout the actual story. It just makes the story so much more fun that way. This book came as a surprise to me for whatever reason lol I really enjoyed both Haunted HGTV books lol
Ok so the main thing I liked about this was the stories that were from that house. The reason the house was haunted was because there were so many different things that had happened in the past. That house had a long history. And just when Luna let her guard down, things start happening and she needs to know what she’s in for. So she researches the house. And finds way more than she thought she would. There’s a girl who tells her about everything she wants to know. And those stories are like little asides in the book. Like their own little chapter. And I just thought it was so cool! Winans has real chops to write a story within a story. And even more so to write A COUPLE stories within a story. The amount of backstory this story had was crazy good. I really enjoyed that part.
The main character could have used some work tho lol Luna was so meannnnn! There were so many times I wanted to yell at her. I mean I get it, she was doing important work by telling on them, but I really wish she would have talked to them at first? And everything else, like the talking back, and yelling, without ever talking to them? It just seemed so mean. And like I get that she’s a teen, but like she was so extra lol She was so aggy sometimes lol But I get it. She had to be for some reasons, but still.
The spooky factor of this was pretty good. I think it would work to scare a MG reader. Especially the ending and the plot twist. I didn’t know what I was expecting, but that got even me! So I just know this is going to be a hit for the kiddos, not only around Halloween, but for any kid who wants to be scared throughout the year!
This was a lot of fun! I want to talk so much more about the ending, but I can’t without spoiling it, so I need y’all to read it! Let me know if you saw it coming or you were as shocked as me! So go read it and tell me what you thought about this Haunted HGTV story!
Overall, I give this
