> Skip to content
[]
Play sample
  • Published: 2 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593599976
  • Imprint: Bantam Dell
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $38.00
Categories:

The Stranger Upstairs

A Novel




Most people wouldn’t buy an infamous murder house to renovate for fun . . . but Sarah Slade is not most people.

“This debut novel deftly explores our shadows—the dark parts of ourselves we don’t want others to see. I couldn’t stop reading.”—Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat

Most people wouldn’t buy an infamous murder house to renovate for fun . . . but Sarah Slade is not most people.
 
“This debut novel deftly explores our shadows—the dark parts of ourselves we don’t want others to see. I couldn’t stop reading.”—Julia Bartz, New York Times bestselling author of The Writing Retreat

A POPSUGAR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR

A therapist and self-help writer with all the answers, Sarah has just bought a gorgeous Victorian in the community of her dreams. Turns out you can get a killer deal on a house where someone was murdered. Plus, renovating Black Wood House makes for great blog content and a potent distraction from her failing marriage. Good thing nobody knows that her past is as tainted as the bloodstain on her bedroom floor.

But the renovations are fast becoming a nightmare. Sarah imagined custom avocado wallpaper, massive profits, and an appreciative husband who would want to share her bed again. Instead, the neighbors hate her guts and her husband still sleeps on the couch. And though the builders attempt to cover up Black Wood’s horrifying past, a series of bizarre accidents, threatening notes, and unexplained footsteps in the attic only confirm for Sarah what the rest of the town already knows: Something is very wrong in that house.

With every passing moment, Sarah’s life spirals further out of control—and with it her sense of reality. But as she peels back the curling wallpaper and discovers the house’s secrets, she realizes that the deadly legacy of Black Wood House has only just begun.

  • Published: 2 July 2024
  • ISBN: 9780593599976
  • Imprint: Bantam Dell
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 288
  • RRP: $38.00
Categories:

About the author

Lisa Matlin

Lisa M. Matlin is the author of The Only One Who Knows and The Stranger Upstairs. She was a guitarist in a rock band before switching from songwriting to story writing. She lives in Melbourne, Australia, with her dogs. She’s probably rewatching The Walking Dead right now and trying not to laugh at her own jokes. Matlin is a passionate mental health advocate and your dog’s number-one fan.

Also by Lisa Matlin

See all

Praise for The Stranger Upstairs

  • “Matlin hits all the classic notes of the gothic horror genre in her debut thriller… A spooky, pulse-pounding sleep-robber.”Booklist; "The ultimate spooky season read!" —Layne Fargo, author of They Never Learn
  • “Creepy, crafty, and packing some deliciously dark surprises, The Stranger Upstairs is a dizzying spiral into madness that kept me guessing to its final pages.” —Taylor Adams, author of The Last Word
  • “A fast, fun, gasp-inducing read.” —Kate Quinn, New York Times Bestselling author of The Diamond Eye