A Book A Week

From an early age, we’re taught to fear the dark. Sure, most of us outgrow it, but I’d be lying if I said I don’t flick on my phone’s flashlight when navigating the darkened halls of my home—just in case. There’s a thrilling uncertainty in the night, where the darkness toys with our better judgment, daring us to see monsters in what daylight would reveal as perfectly ordinary. In her latest novel, Something in the Walls, Daisy Pearce preys on this universal fear, crafting a chilling tale of childhood nightmares, witchcraft, and the things that go bump in the night. 

Fresh out of school and with a wedding on the horizon, Mina is eager to take the next step in her life. With a degree in child psychology, she’s ready to put her studies to use, but with little hands-on experience, finding a job proves more complicated than she expected. After all, who would entrust their troubled child to a complete newcomer? Stuck in limbo, waiting for her career to take off and her marriage to Oscar to begin, Mina finds her only real outlet in attending a local bereavement group, where she continues to grieve the loss of her brother years after his passing.

It’s at one of these meetings that Mina meets journalist Sam, who offers her an unexpected opportunity. He’s chasing a story about thirteen-year-old Alice Webber, a girl who claims to be haunted by a witch. And she has the chilling stories and disturbing evidence to back it up. Her family is desperate for answers but lacks the means to hire a top expert. They can, however, afford Mina.

For Mina, the job is a chance to gain crucial experience. For Sam, it’s an opportunity to document a bizarre and unsettling case firsthand. But as Mina immerses herself in Alice’s world, she quickly realizes she may be in over her head. The girl’s symptoms are growing more disturbing by the day, and the deeper Mina digs, the more she begins to question whether Alice’s affliction is psychological...or something far more sinister.

I was instantly drawn into the eerie atmosphere of Something in the Walls. In the novel's opening, Pearce wisely employs a less-is-more approach, allowing the mere possibility of something sinister lurking beneath the surface to drive much of the suspense. I received an audiobook copy from the publisher, and Ana Clements’ narration hit all the right notes for this unsettling story.

The setup had all the makings of a classic horror tale: a small town with a dark history, a family struggling to find a logical explanation for their child’s strange behavior, and breadcrumb clues hinting at the true terror lurking beneath the surface (or, in this case, behind the walls). But as I ventured deeper into the novel, I found the horror’s impact diminishing. It’s a classic case of my imagination conjuring far more unsettling possibilities than what the story ultimately delivered.

Lulls in pacing and a glaring unresolved plot point further dampened the novel’s effectiveness. Yes, there’s plenty of creepiness to be found, and I seem to be in the minority of readers on this one. Still, Something in the Walls left me more intrigued by the possibility of discovering something lurking in the shadows than by what it actually revealed in the end.

For more information, visit the author's website, Amazon, and Goodreads. 

(2025, 16)