All the characters are great: the two children are definitely a fun addition to the story (and this is coming from someone who cannot stand kids). Evie was wonderful, and I really did believe the romance that developed between her and Marin. But Marin, the main character, is really the one who stole the show for me. I mean, come on: a young girl riddled with constant dread and anxiety, always anticipating the worst-case scenarios, finding an odd comfort in horror stories, and slowly discovering that she's sapphic as hell? Did I meet McCauley at age 17 and then promptly forget about that encounter while she went off and wrote an entire novel about me? I related to Marin so much, and it made it really easy for me to become deeply invested in the story from the very beginning. I loved following her on her journey and watching her grow as a person. This novel was simply incredible. Once I started, I couldn’t put it down. It was advertised as a novel for those who are fans of The Haunting of Bly Manor, one of my favorite horror TV shows (albeit I love Hill House more), and the inspiration was very clear. The slow unraveling of all the mysterious secrets held by the family, and the confines of their secluded property, left me hooked until the very end. While, at times, I felt the story was getting too similar to Bly Manor, I can happily say the uniqueness of this story shines through. The “slow burn” nature of the gradual horrors unfolding was done perfectly, and I think the Bly Manor writers would be equally impressed. Given that this story was compared to one of my favorite shows, I had high expectations, and this novel exceeded them. Marin sees animals who are critically, even fatally, injured limping around. At first she isn’t sure whether they’re dying or if something else is happening to them. Several birds in this state end up in her room. Haunting by Bly Manor meets Shining with “the return of living dead” vibes: this brilliant and extra creepy gothic horror novel scared the living daylights out of me! Days after a tragedy leaves Marin Blythe alone in the world, she receives a surprising invitation from Alice Lovelace, an acclaimed horror writer and childhood friend of Marin’s mother. Alice offers her a nanny position at Lovelace House, the family’s coastal Maine estate.

The Haunting of Bly Manor meets House of Salt and Sorrows in award-winning author Kyrie McCauley’s contemporary YA gothic romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love. McCauley skillfully wrangles haunting atmosphere, anticipatory tension, and macabre humor to cultivate a slow-boiling thriller couched in a decades-old mystery. The sweet connection between Marin and Evie is solid and affirming, providing levying contrast to occasional moments of gruesome imagery and outright horror." — Publishers Weekly Completely compelling thriller featuring crime journalist Molly Cates (heroine of THE RED SCREAM and UNDER THE BEETLE’S CELLAR). Fanatic gun lobbyists and vigilantes plot to blow up the Texas Senate, but are overheard by a homeless bag lady – and Molly’s the only person who believes her McCauley’s writing is as gorgeous as her story is gruesome, filled with a creeping dread that gets into your bones and holds you in thrall. All the Dead Lie Down is the best sapphic horror I’ve read in years.' — Erica Waters, author of The River Has Teeth and The Restless Dark This has it all: a slow burn sapphic love story, an agonizingly delicious build of tension, creepy children, reveals that made me gasp out loud. A gothic love story meets gothic horror story, with expert pacing, dark family secrets, and a twisted reveal I didn't see coming.' — Katrina Leno, author of Horrid and You Must Not Miss

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There was not a single moment or character that I didn’t enjoy as I raced through this book anxious to see how it ends and that was refreshing after a bit of a slump. I think the plot moved along nicely allowing this organic build to the climax and there isn’t a question I feel was left unanswered as I finished which I was a bit worried about as I went along as sometimes books or shows that try to capture that unnerving dread tend to do in the final beats. The biggest downside to this novel is sort of a byproduct of my own relationship with horror: I read a lot of horror books and watch a lot of horror movies, and I mentioned this in a previous review, but grief is a very common theme to explore within the genre. It's usually done well, but because I've seen so many different iterations of it, an author has to do something really unique for a book about grief to truly win me over. Sometimes grief is only a small part of a book, and there are other elements that build the story, which allows it to be an exceptional reading experience regardless. But All the Dead Lie Down really is all about grief and death, so I needed it to do something I've never seen before. And sadly, I don't think it hit the mark. This in no way makes it a bad book; it just makes a little less memorable in the long haul.

Chilling, convincing, powerfully entertaining, this is suspense writing at its best as crime journalist Molly Cates is dragged into the desperate underworld of the homeless, threatened by vigilantes and brought face to face with the violence in her own past. The characters really hooked me into the story, too. It’s a very predominantly female cast. I think the only male named characters are the Lovelace girls’ father and a neighbor man who kind of looks out for danger in the woods. The younger sisters are mischievous and odd. It’s easy to tell they’re lonely and grieving, and that they’re keeping some kind of secret. I liked the push and pull feeling of the relationship between them and Marin, who feels drawn to them because of their sorrow and loneliness but wary because they can be capricious and cold. A great way to start off spooky season early! (If I'm being honest, I've been in a spooky mood all year, but let's say that this is my official entryway into Halloween-time).Since her mother’s recent tragic death, 17-year-old Marin Blythe is all alone in the world, without a place to live or any money to support herself. A lifeline comes through an invitation from famous horror writer Alice Lovelace, her mom’s old childhood friend, who offers Marin room and board in her remote house in Maine in exchange for taking care of her younger children, Thea and Wren, while she finishes her latest novel. But from the moment she arrives, Marin notices something is off at Lovelace House, from Alice’s strangely disconnected behavior and the kids’ increasingly unkind pranks to the house’s secret corners and the dead, mutilated animals that appear everywhere. It’s only when Evie, Alice’s beautiful teen daughter, comes home from school that Marin slowly finds the answers she is looking for and starts to fall in love—just as events spiral out of control. This gothic story merges horror and a lovely queer romance with a helping of the fantastical in what is ultimately a story about grieving, secrets, and belonging. Marin’s yearning for a place to belong informs most of the narrative, which starts off with her as the outsider looking in but shifts as she slowly but surely carves her way into becoming part of the family in unexpected ways. Main characters are cued White.

In the heat of the Texas summer, there are few cool places for the homeless to hide. Cow Lady guards her patch with grim ferocity, until one evening, when strange men arrive and talk of guns and gas.

Some scholars have argued that the poem can be read as exploring the experience of a traumatized Union Soldier during the American Civil War. Read more in this article published at White Heat, a blog run by Dartmouth college. I loved the whole plot for all its detailed descriptions and inter-relationships between the characters. Also, you might be thinking that there are not many twists, but I can assure you the second half is filled with them. What's more to adore? a secret fondness budding between two poles apart characters. I liked the dark, endlessly creepy vibes. It definitely has that edge-of-your-seat, something-really-bad-is-about-to-happen kind of feeling all the way through the book. I feel like ALL THE DEAD LIE DOWN left me with a lot of questions. Not in the sense of the story seeming unfinished– I liked the end a lot. It just left me with a lot of questions about how to weigh out someone’s motives versus the outcomes of their choices. Molly’s also following the passage of a bill which will legalise the carrying of hidden weapons. She’s against it, but the gun lobby is rich and resourceful; it’s bound to get through. The senators don’t know that a faction of extremist vigilantes believe that the bill will work against them, and that the right to bear arms is more important than any other, including the right to live ...

BLY MANOR meets MEXICAN GOTHIC in this haunting romance about a dark family lineage, the ghosts of grief, and the lines we’ll cross for love.

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Cow Lady realises that their plot against the State Senate is in deadly earnest, but she can’t see why she should do anything about it. What’s anyone ever done for her? Who’d believe her, anyway? Only the journalist covering the lives of her baglady companions – Molly Cates. As Marin tries to untangle the mystery around the Lovelace estate and the complicated history between her mother and Alice Lovelace, she also meets a girl her age, and a tenuous romance develops between them. I loved the sweetness of that love against the darkness of the rest of the story. Conclusion Macabre yet somehow cozy, All the Dead Lie Down is perfect for readers who enjoy charmingly disturbing children and grand old houses full of secrets. A great book to curl up with on a dark night.' — Kendare Blake, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Three Dark Crowns