This post may contain affiliate links for books we recommend. Read the full disclosure here.
Book: “The Sisters of Crimson House” by Melissa Anderson Sweazy
Publishing Info: Sourcebooks Landmark, September 2026
Where Did I Get This Book: I received an ARC from the publisher
Where You Can Get This Book: WorldCat.org | Amazon | Indiebound
Book Description: Every house has its secrets.
Charley Bryde is miserable in a house filled with magic. The only woman in a long line of famous psychics to not inherit the family gift, she spends her days inside Crimson House, the coveted family mansion in Memphis, Tennessee, living in the shadows of her talented older sister, Miranda. But when a shocking tragedy scatters the Brydes across the globe, Charley is forced to grow up on her own, and fast. As the money runs dry and Charley’s ownership of Crimson House is put at risk, she’s left with no other option; turn the manor into a haunted attraction and start representing the family brand with lies, cons, and expertly read tarot cards to make ends meet.
When a skeptic starts targeting Charley for the fraud that she is, she’ll stop at nothing to save the family legacy. But the skeptics’ arrival cracks something open in Charley that the Brydes wanted to remain buried. Deep. And when Miranda shows up unannounced after eight years away, the two will come to realize that Crimson House, and their own family, hold secrets even the greatest psychics couldn’t foresee. Secrets that will threaten to destroy them.
Review: Thank you to Sourcebooks Landmark for sending me an ARC of this novel!
Gather round everyone, for it is October 1st, and that means that not only is my very favorite month of the year, but that it is time for my annual Horrorpalooza celebration! For those unaware, during the entire month of October and in honor of my favorite holiday, Halloween, I will be reviewing horror and horror adjacent books, saving all other genres for after the holiday has passed. It’s always a fun endeavor for the Season of the Witch, and it’s fun to start things off with a bit of a bang. And therefore I am starting with Melissa Anderson Sweazy’s horror novel “The Sisters of Crimson House”! A Southern Gothic horror/family drama about a family of psychics, the one without any powers, and a reunion between estranged sisters who need to come together to save their loved ones and their legacy against a malicious entity. Like I said, starting off with a bang.
I love stories about psychics and I love family dramas, so there is a lot to like about “The Sisters of Crimson House”. I enjoyed the idea of a faux psychic who comes from an actual line of psychics having to hold a run down house together after tragedy has pulled the family apart. Charley feels a bit like Mirabel in “Encanto”, if Mirabel decided to pull cons on tourists by doing cold readings and tarot cards under guise of her very truly psychic family lineage that she herself never grew into. When actual psychic/sister Miranda returns after running away after their parents deaths (and most of the rest of the family has scattered to the wind), a malicious presence starts to threaten the estranged sisters, and they have to put aside their differences to try and save each other and the Bryde family legacy. I liked the psychic elements of this book, and how Charley is doing her best while powerless, though she too is starting to see things as an entity grows stronger and stronger. Is it particularly scary? I didn’t think it was, though I did like the world building and the magic system at hand. The vibe is also SO Southern Gothic, with family conflicts, a heady Memphis setting, and ghosts galore.
But it’s the relationship between Charley and Miranda as well as the other family members that really bolsters this story. We see their story through both the past and the present, seeing the Bryde women at their most powerful and sought after, as well as seeing Charley as she tries to keep the house and her life afloat after they have lost almost everything and she is the only one left, and has turned to faux psychic readings and parlor tricks to keep the lights on. When the gifted Miranda returns, resentments, secrets, and trauma brim up and the two sisters have to work together through all of the baggage in hopes of saving their home and their legacy (as well as themselves). There is a clear tension between the two, with Charley resentful that Miranda was so loved and then ditched out leaving her to pick up the pieces, while Miranda seems resentful of her gifts that made her a golden child, and they have to overcome their mutual frustrations with each other. It’s a sister story at the heart of it, and found that to be the strongest piece of it. I really liked Charley and found her to be very easy to root for and connect with, and while I didn’t really like Miranda as much I definitely understood her. They were well developed and had clear motivations. I also enjoyed thorn in the side skeptic Sy, who has a bone to pick with the family that may go beyond wanting to expose frauds, but who also has some interesting chemistry with Charley. Can you tell I really liked Charley?
“The Sisters of Crimson House” might not have been as spooky as I had hoped for, but it is still a great way to kick off Horrorpalooza because of the very human aspects of the story of two sisters finding each other again. With some spooky psychic energy to boot!
Rating 7: A sister story with psychic powers, a Southern Gothic flair, and a few menacing spirits, “The Sisters of Crimson House” is perfect for the start of Halloween Season!
Reader’s Advisory:
“The Sisters of Crimson House” is included in the Goodreads article “A Coven of Beloved, New, and Upcoming Witch Books”.
