Classic haunted house horror with real and fake oculists, atrocity driven spectral hatred and horror above horror bosses abusing the workers to satisfy the patrons. But anything novel remains in the subtext further down than i felt like seeking. ( )

I picked up this book because it was part of Rebellion Publishing's $0.99 ebook sale, and because I'd read another of Monette's Kyle Murchison Booth short stories in Uncanny Magazine and enjoyed that story immensely. I figured another of Monette's stories in this series would be a great addition to my Halloween reading—and I was right! But I'm very glad I didn't try to read this just before bed. Much better for me to read this one in the daylight.

First of all, this is a perfect book for the season. It's a tale of ghosts and a haunted house and séances, perfect for the Halloween season (even if I personally never picked up on what time of year this was supposed to be). The house is creepy, several of the side characters are creepy, and by the end I found myself almost dreading the return to the house along with the protagonist. (Though of course, I knew there would be a return even when he hoped he could stay away.)

The part I liked least was some of the side characters' attitudes. Both Booth's superior at the museum and a few of the séance guests were just too icky for me to like them much. Still, that's not to say that they weren't believable. The nastiness of some of the guests, and the office politics that led to Booth being there at all... those are all to realistic to me. I didn't need to like them, though; I liked Booth well enough to more than make up for the handful of unpleasant side characters, and there were a few of other characters (like Alexis and the clueless Miss Parrington) who were also enjoyable to read about.

All told, though, this is the perfect level of creepy book for me. It gets scary, but not too scary. There is peril, but not that much peril. I was never in doubt that the protagonist would make it out of the house alive, though there was just enough menace in the house that I wasn't so sure about any of the side characters. I enjoyed the book enough that I immediately picked up Monette's The Bone Key, a collection of Kyle Murchison Booth short stories. I'm sure this book is one I'll re-read for future Halloween-time creepiness... though I'll try to remember to read the second half in the daylight and not at night. ( )

pretty good haunted house novella. i liked the fastidious archivist narrator. and i love Sarah Monette as a writer, but this was off her beaten track in fantasy (and mine), and therefore others may well give it a higher mark. ( )

A return to the adventures of Kyle Booth Murchison, who is ordered to help catalog a private library in order to give him an excuse to dissuade the museum’s great patron from supporting the occultist living in that house. But the house has many dangers. It was the same kind of creepy as the earlier stories, although it’s pretty sad that Murchison doesn’t seem to acquire any more chutzpah. ( )

It's so fun to be back in Booth's world, reading another quite long (for Booth) story about him! The set-up for this story is tropey and fun, and Booth's lack of a desire to be anywhere near it are so typical, poor man. The cast is also intriguing and enjoyable, and the mystery is quite good (as they always are with Monette). Monette is one of the few horror authors I can tolerate, since I don't care for horror, and while this skates close to my squicks, the writing is so good that it surmounts any issues there. Booth is wonderful as ever.

Overall, this is an excellent addition to this story universe that goes well with all the other Booth stories, though you can very easily jump into this fresh if you wish (but I would highly recommend reading "The Bone Key" first). I hope to see more! ( )