KILLER HOUSE PARTY

High school friends must survive a haunted graduation party.

When valedictorian Arden’s perfect future—a private college that guarantees medical school admission—is derailed because her feuding, divorced real estate agent parents spent her tuition money on Bucktown’s notoriously haunted house, the Deinhart Manor, she’s devastated. All she’s ever wanted was to dismantle the fatphobic and racist medical system that works against people of color like her (Arden is Black and Puerto Rican). Luckily, her two best friends, Remi and Maddy May, have a money-making plan to save her college dreams: charging admission for a graduation party at the spooky, abandoned manor. White queer Remi can’t wait to see her crush at the party; bilingual Mexican American Maddy May has a complicated relationship with her drama club co-star, the Romeo to her Juliet. The celebratory mood quickly changes once the teens realize the house won’t let anyone leave. Teaming up with her former fling, Nathaniel, a Black science geek, Arden and her friends work together to figure out why the manor wants to keep everyone inside. In her latest, Anderson revamps the haunted house narrative while weaving in complex characters whose bonds and hope for the future can save them all. Vivid descriptions contribute to the palpable suspense as the pace builds and the stakes rise.

A hauntingly beautiful take on a classic horror story that will leave readers’ skin crawling in the best way possible.