WHEN GHOSTS CALL US HOME

An amateur horror movie star returns years later to the haunted house where the film was shot, hoping to get answers and resolve her fears.

Sophia Galich was 12 when her older sister, Layla, made her the unwilling star of Vermillion. Cashore House’s reputation is haunted by the film’s startlingly realistic and disturbing footage, combined with the dark lore surrounding the tragic fate of a well-known Russian ballerina who died there in the 1930s, both of which make it a cult favorite among V-heads. These ardent fans believe everything in the film was true and claim that viewing it leads to paranormal experiences. Sophia, however, chooses to believe it all was fake, accepting the reassurances her sister gave her about special effects. Two years ago, Layla mysteriously vanished; eager to find her, Sophia, now 17, agrees to play the lead in a documentary that includes an on-site reenactment. She’s convinced the house holds the answers to her sister’s disappearance and the question of whether Vermillion’s ghosts are just memories of her fears, or if she was—and still is—embroiled in a demonic game of identity, possession, and death. An intricate paranormal backstory imbues the book with robust terror that may provoke readers to wonder whether it’s all real. The artful weaving of ghostly horrors with the off-kilter creepiness of films and fandoms creates multiple layers of fear in this deeply unsettling page-turner. Main characters are cued white.

Haunting, intense, and eerily spooky.