Halloween is less than a month away. It’s about this time every year that I start frantically Googling horror movies I haven’t seen and listing scary books to read in October. This year I dove into a Halloween read early. Technically, There’s Someone Inside Your House is only being released in October – just in time for the big night – but I was lucky to receive an advance copy.

This is Stephanie Perkins’ (Anna and the French Kiss) first attempt at horror and I devoured every page. It’s a teen slasher right up there with Scream Queens and Scream.

Makani Young has a secret. A bad one. Bad enough to see her flee her old life in Hawaii and relocate to a small town in Nebraska where no one could possibly know what she did. Life in Osborne may be boring, but at least it gives Makani an opportunity to piece her life back together under the watchful eye of her grandmother. She makes new friends, and develops a crush on the weird pink-haired loner that works at the grocery store. Everything seems to be going okay, until the lead in the school play is brutally murdered in her own home. Then another kid is killed, and another.

The killings turn Osborne upside down as fingers are pointed, curfews are put in place, and the press arrive in droves. Not only is a killer on the loose, but Makani worries her own days are numbered. With police and reporters asking questions, it’s only a matter of time till her own secret is revealed.

There’s Someone Inside Your House is as gripping and gory as it gets. Author Stephanie Perkins doesn’t hold back on the grisly details as the killer slices up his victims. But it’s the relationship between the two romantic leads that kept me turning the pages. Makani and Ollie are both outsiders with dark pasts, which makes their blossoming romance more compelling than the serial killer angle. My personal highlight was when the couple start making out at the back of the cafeteria, while everyone else’s heads are bowed in silence for the victims.

It’s a daring, compelling read, with interesting characters and enough jump scares to keep even the most hardened horror fans happy. This book is also set firmly in the here and now and tackles tough topics like teen gender identity and social media shaming, with sensitivity and a pro touch.

I highly recommend adding it to you Halloween read pile.

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