House of Margins by Tlotlo Tsamaase
There are horrors of the mind, horrors of our world, and horrors of the spirit. This novel confronts them all with an ungloved fist.
I got the chance to read this novel as an Advance Reader Copy (ARC) through NetGalley. Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the early access.
The novel explores the life of a missing young woman named Anaya. Anaya is a writer chosen to participate in a prestigious writing competition where she and several other young women will stay at Gunter Huis—a colonial mansion with a terrifying history—until the winners are selected.
From the first night, it becomes clear that writing a novel under pressure wouldn’t be the biggest challenge these women face, as the house itself turns on them, mixing their desires with the horrific history of the area. In short order, Anaya finds herself disoriented, twisted by the house in ways that leave her near starving and missing time.
This is more than a gripping, creepy horror novel—though it is that, and does the job extremely well. It is the story of pain—generational pain and trauma—that has never been addressed, never been acknowledged, and so it festered and grew until one brave woman says no more.
The story is told through several perspectives that add depth and occasional levity to the novel. The story toggles between Anaya’s sister’s perspective and that of a hot new podcast hosted by one of Anaya’s competitors at Gunter Huis. Within the podcast, you are exposed to Anaya’s story in a physical voice so near to her own it rattles her family. The author uses this vehicle to bring you inside Anaya’s thoughts and experiences in both the physical and spiritual worlds. It is a brutally honest and terrifying journey into atrocities that left a psychic echo in their wake.
I experienced this as an audiobook. I will start by saying that the narrator did an amazing job. I would, however, choose to read this in a physical format or as an immersion read (both audio and physical together) if I had the chance to do it over again. There were a few moments where seeing the layout and physical words on the page would have grounded me as a reader. BUT there are elements of this novel that become quite poetic, and hearing those pieces performed was pretty special.
It has been a few days since I finished this book, and it has left a solid impression. This is certainly one I would recommend to horror readers who crave some depth and social commentary along with their terrifying haunts. This one will not be forgotten.
The book comes out on May 26, 2026. I hope you get a chance to pick it up.