The Room in the Attic by Louise Douglas

Happy publication day! And it comes in the perfect month of the year for thumps and bumps in the night and all things creepy. 

The story hooked me from the beginning with Louis visiting the old insane asylum turned boarding school in the present as a real estate developer and encountering a terrifying apparition he remembers well from his childhood at the school. He and fellow misfit Isak attended All Hallows in 1993 while renovations are being done.  They are assigned a room in the West wing where they hear strange sounds coming from the attic room above. When Louis investigates the noise,  he finds a rocking chair moving on its own which he at first believes is the draft from the chimney. But that can't explain the sound of tiny running feet...

In 1903, a boat drifted to shore carrying an unconscious woman and a young girl.  When it's determined that the woman is in a coma and will need long term care,  she and the child are sent to All Hallows asylum. Emma Everdeen, a nurse at the asylum, is assigned to be the child's caregiver until her mother is well. To keep the child safe from the asylum patients,  she and Emma are locked in the attic room. But everything isn't as it seems when the girl's mother wakes up.

Part mystery,  part paranormal,  and all creepy,  this story will have chills creeping up your spine and have you looking over your shoulder at every noise. I love stories about old haunted buildings and the asylum setting was perfect for that. The ending seemed abrupt though and I wish we found out what eventually happened to the property and the old buildings.

I received an advance reader copy of this book through NetGalley. The views and opinions expressed in this review are completely my own and given voluntarily.