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Deadly Occupants

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A haunted house tour on Halloween night with three of her college best friends takes a twisted turn as Blair barely escapes with her life. The night may have ended…but the horrors are just beginning.

Soon after, their own home seems to come alive, making them question if they’re truly alone. As the paranormal activity rises to a fear-filled high, Blair discovers that the house isn’t the only thing haunting her…but also her past.

Now, Blair faces the challenge of solving the devastating mystery, or risk succumbing to the same torturous fate.

404 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 10, 2024

943 people are currently reading
18448 people want to read

About the author

Mads Rafferty

9 books2,873 followers
Never in a million years would I have thought my life would look like what it does today. If I told my younger self that I not only love to read but that I write books for a living … well let’s just say we would be attending her funeral. Books will forever hold a special place in my heart. At the age of nineteen, I immersed myself in the world of fiction and was lucky enough to be dragged out of a dark abyss. Books have been there for me through thick and thin, helping shape the person I am today and I hope for some, my books will do the same. In whatever capacity that may be.

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5 stars
1,043 (24%)
4 stars
1,848 (43%)
3 stars
1,055 (24%)
2 stars
261 (6%)
1 star
88 (2%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 881 reviews
Profile Image for Emily Michelle.
194 reviews1,439 followers
August 29, 2024
I have been in a reading slump for WEEKS and I think this book finally pulled me out of it! I read this in under 24 hours and seriously couldn’t put it down 😍 I did guess the ending of the book but I still enjoyed every second of it and I definitely wasn’t expecting that epilogue!! 😳 add this to your TBR immediately!!
Profile Image for Miranda.
307 reviews6,166 followers
October 7, 2024
I LOVED THIS! I can't remember the last thriller I read that had my heart rate spiking. I stopped halfway through just to explain to my husband the plot so I could talk about it!

It was slow moving until around halfway through, and then I COULDNT put it down!!!
Profile Image for Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!).
717 reviews321 followers
December 1, 2024
”Secrets don’t stay buried with the dead”.

Deadly Occupants is a great, paranormal, horror/thriller, with all the Autumn/Fall vibes 👻🍂. Even if it is a tad predictable, it will manage to pull you out of a reading slump with its fast pace. Think Pretty Little Liars meets Paranormal Activity.

Blair, and her three best friends; Phoebe, Evie and Violet, go on a Haunted House Tour for Halloween. After they leave there, having experienced some spooky goings-on, the home that these best friends live in together whilst they are at college also appears to be haunted. She also meets a new potential boyfriend, the popular hockey-star jock on campus, Xavier.
But are ghosts the only things that Blair has to look out for?

4 Stars
Profile Image for Chloe Clark.
144 reviews6 followers
August 21, 2024
I was lucky enough to get an ARC of this book and I truly ATE it up. 4.5 stars all the way!!

Read in under 24 hours, super gripping, spooky vibes! I am SUCH a scared girlie and don’t watch any horror films 😂😭 but when I see this as pretty little liars X paranormal activity I was intrigued!

I don’t want to spoil this book for those who will read it but I’ll say there are some things you see coming and others that completely shock you! This is the perfect book for halloweeny/thrillery lovers and also would be the BEST palette cleanser as well (which is what this book was for me!)

The writing truly captivates you and it’s even better that it’s written in first person!

Well done Mads, and I can’t wait to read your other books as your writing is amazing 🥰
Profile Image for steph ⋅˚₊ 𐙚 ྀི (on hiatus).
204 reviews160 followers
October 3, 2024
3 ★

main thoughts:
The book wasn’t necessarily bad I would say it’s a decent thriller it could have been way better though and i definitely think my younger self would have loved it more then I did currently. I think if I hadn’t predicted the plot twist from the start it would have impacted me more as a reader because when it was revealed I was like “omg I knew it” but I wasn’t really shocked like I would have liked to be. I think the author made it pretty obvious from the start because there was one character who I could tell was suspicious and I just couldn’t get over it. Maybe my detective skills just appeared and that’s why it was easy for me to guess😭

The vibes of this book still fit the spooky theme which I enjoyed and I loved the suspenseful parts, but I was not expecting romance to get thrown into this book that I didn’t really care about it imo. I would say on the plus side that this book was really easy to read I wish some more stuff happened at times, but my eyes were pretty much glued to my kindle the whole time😆

I do also want to add that this book definitely reminds me of younger audiences and sometimes the writing and dialogue got to be a bit cringe and questionable especially when things from this generation were mentioned that I had to force myself to ignore😃 so keep that in mind before you decide whether to pick this book up or not.

•*⁀➷

characters:
I don’t really feel like talking about each one individually, but I’m glad that these characters all had each others back even know they’re going to need various amounts of therapy. It was refreshing to see that everyone had each other no matter what happened.

extra:
in conclusion I would say I didn’t hate this book but I didn't love it and it was easy to read but there’s still some problems to it and I wish the plot twist was shocking. I still had a pretty enjoyable time regardless though👀 but it’s not one of those books that I will remember and say it changed my life.

pre review:
I have lots of different thoughts🫣 rtc

pre read:
it’s spooky season🍂🎃 the summary of this book sounds fun so I hope I have a good time, I have my fall ambience going and I lit a candle and got my fuzzy socks on so I’m ready for all the fall vibes🤭
Profile Image for Kendall.
204 reviews80 followers
September 4, 2025
DNF @pg132

From the first chapter this book had me hooked! But the further I read the more I just wasn’t vibing with it. This is marketed as suspense thriller. Paranormal activity meets pretty little liars, but I didn’t really get much of either to be honest. There was no suspense to me. Nothing to keep me on the edge of my seat. Instead what I got was mostly romance with an MMC that was talking like he wanted to be in a fantasy book.

I didn’t really vibe with any of the characters and I could honestly see the plot twist coming from miles away
Profile Image for mads.
187 reviews42 followers
September 27, 2024
4.25!!⭐️
I’m actually so amazed by how much I enjoyed this because I normally do not like scary stuff! But this was SO GOOD and addicting. I will say, normally I can guess plot twists in thrillers, but I honestly didn’t guess this one. Mads def had me fooled🫣 I also loved the friendships in this story :’)

this is a perfect read for spooky season!👻
Profile Image for Chelsea Brianne.
116 reviews5 followers
October 7, 2024
This one ended up being a skim/DNF. The premise is good, but the writing style is so immature and just badly done that it was painful to read.
Profile Image for Rebecca.
274 reviews9 followers
September 9, 2024
Deadly Occupants by Mads Rafferty 👻

I will be so honest here and say I’m a lil scaredy cat and don’t ever read anything remotely paranormal/scary esque.

But Mads, I don’t know what you put in your books cause I ate this up! It was absolutely brilliant.

Its marketed as PLL meets Paranormal Activity and it definitely delivered that way.

I was holding my breath, on the edge of my seat and panicking for pretty much the whole book 😂 And boy did I not see it coming (once you’ve read it you’ll know)

This book could hands down be a movie or tv show that I probably wouldn’t watch cause like I said, scaredy cat 😭😂

Easy peasy 5⭐️ no doubt about it!
Profile Image for Daria.
142 reviews5 followers
September 20, 2024
Dnf 80 pages in.
More of a tiktok, teenage, highschool romance than horror.
Not my cup of tea.
Profile Image for MelCreepsItReal.
77 reviews23 followers
September 29, 2024
YES MADSSSS YESSSSS!!!!!
I
ATE
THIS
UP!!!!
Please write more books like this 👏🏻🙌🏻👏🏻🙌🏻
Profile Image for cassi.
229 reviews35 followers
October 15, 2024
Rating: 4.5 stars⭐️✨
Recommend: yes , yes, and yes.
Genre: Paranormal mystery horror

Spoiler free synopsis:
Blair goes on a haunted house tour with her group of besties Halloween night and it ends up taking a turn for the worst, and she leaves worse then she came in. Soon after their house becomes haunted and strange things keep happening. She ends up finding out the house isnt the only thing out to harm her….

Spoiler free review:
This gives such heavy pretty little liars energy in the best way possible. Highly recommend this one to anyone who loves a group of girls concurring unknown hauntings. Perfect for spooky season !
Profile Image for Penny 📚.
32 reviews6 followers
September 10, 2024
I was lucky enough to have received an ARC copy of this book, thank you so much Mads for giving me this opportunity to review your book, and to find a 5 star read 🫶🏼
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I ate this book up! If you want a book to get you out of a reading slump and to have you wanting more and more, Deadly Occupants is for you!

It is a paranormal thriller, with lots of twists and turns that are engaging, making you not want to put the book down! I loved the plot in this book, more so because I have a fascination with all things paranormal and supernatural, and the thriller aspect was the finishing touch!

I loved all aspects of the storyline, and how everything was coming together and connecting by the end. Though I had predicted the plot twists, I did not predict the way they would come about and it had my jaw dropping!...

I liked the finale of the book, again another jaw dropper, and how all plot points weren't left unanswered. It was the perfect way to conclude the story!

If Mads plans to write additional thriller books in the future, you can count on me to add them to my tbr ASAP! Her writing and how she makes the story flow is very engaging and easy to read. There was never a dull moment throughout the book either. I loved it :)

Thank you again Mads for gifting me with the ARC copy 🫶🏼
April 19, 2025
.° ༘👻⋆💀₊˚ෆ

𝟚.𝟝 𝕤𝕥𝕒𝕣𝕤

💀 𝕥𝕙𝕠𝕦𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕤💀

This was SO mid. It was entertaining but the writing was like not good. Also most of the characters were lowkey annoying.

💀 𝕡𝕝𝕠𝕥💀

Do the dead ever stay dead? Or are the shadows something to fear?
A haunted house tour on Halloween night with three of her college best friends takes a twisted turn as Blair barely escapes with her life. The night may have ended...but the horrors are just beginning.
Soon after, their own home seems to come alive, making them question if they're truly alone. As the paranormal activity rises to a fear-filled high, Blair discovers that the house isn't the only thing haunting her...but also her past.
Now, Blair faces the challenge of solving the devastating mystery, or risk succumbing to the same torturous fate.

💀 𝕔𝕙𝕒𝕣𝕒𝕔𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕤 💀
Blair: She was SO annoying but I also felt really bad for her. Like her whole family died and then her house gets haunted. She just can’t get a break

Violet: She was lowkey a slay

Phoebe: She annoyed meeeeee. Like why are you being so rude about your house being haunted? It’s not your friends fault it is

Evie: The ONLY character that didn’t annoy me at all. She was amazing

.° ༘👻⋆💀₊˚ෆ
Profile Image for Sally.
448 reviews8 followers
September 15, 2024
I was lucky enough to read this as a beta read, and let me just say upon my reread I was still so so so entertained??? Like that never happens to me, this book is so fun, and I actually enjoyed it so much, it’s also a relatively short book so you can definitely read it in under 24 hours ( you won’t be able to put it down ) It’s so fast paced, and the characters are so well mapped out, overall it’s just a brilliant paranormal romance/thriller and I so thoroughly enjoyed it, would definitely recommend!
Profile Image for Maja (majareads)  Milocanovich ☕️.
119 reviews180 followers
September 17, 2024
3.5 stars! I can’t give it much less because I had SO much fun up until 70%! It really was entertaining and felt like an old school 80/90’s movie, super fun stuff!
But, it “ended”, or unraveled in SUCH AN EXPECTED WAYYY :/ I was sure it won’t be that because it was so obvious from the get go & I really hoped it would go a different route.. sadly, very underwhelming ending and seemed rushed & not at all thought out.
Too bad!
As I said, the first half and then some - enjoyed myself a lot.. but would I recommend it? With it now being done, probably not. :/
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Sanne ☀️.
103 reviews2 followers
October 3, 2025
This was not a good book, and it could have easily been 150 pages shorter.

I fell for another BookTok recommendation, as I was exited about the idea of reading an easy and spooky book to start the Autumn season.

Although the thriller aspect had me a bit unnerved. There were a lot of plot holes.
Why would she end the book without wrapping up the ghost part of the story? It literally ends with the ghost saying “hello, Blair.” It felt like a cheap and easy way out.
Besides that, it was quite predictable that Isabella did not kill herself. And honestly, I was not surprised that Xavier was the one who stalked and killed her.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Lex ✿.
295 reviews87 followers
October 28, 2024
4⭐️

this one was spooky and super fun to read 👻

i’m not one to read books involving paranormal things happening because ya girl gets spooked quite easily. but i actually really enjoyed this. i went in solely for the spooky vibes and had an easy time with it. super fast paced, gives off pretty little liars vibes in a way too!

while there was a subplot of romance and it was very predictable in the end, i must admit the beginning hooked me right away 🙂‍↔️ i found myself always wanting to know more and genuinely creeped myself out a few times when reading about the house and whatever was haunting the girls. it was perfect for spooky season!
Profile Image for Hanna.
130 reviews6 followers
May 6, 2025
Another 400 page book that should have been 200 pages. So so much filler, overly reliant on dialogue and incredibly predictable.

However, the suspense parts were good. It pushed me through the story and saved this from being a 1 star read.

Please, even if you self-publish, invest in editing. Have people really look through and cut back on the fluff. It's easy to get lost in the flow of writing, but having a couple other eyes look through afterwards and really determine what is important to the plot/subplots, is invaluable.
Profile Image for Jess Morrison.
25 reviews
September 23, 2024
Thought I’d get myself in the spooky season mood with a book and this did not disappoint!! Pretty little liars vibes 100% which I LOVE!
Profile Image for Charlotte Massey.
83 reviews159 followers
September 19, 2024
I loved this one & could NOT put it down!! The perfect book to get into spooky szn 👻🤍
14 reviews2 followers
October 9, 2024

The short version: don’t bother.
The long version: I came here looking for a spooky Halloween-y book and the first chapter was so promising! Then everything quite literally goes to hell from there.
This is a pathetic romance book disguised as a thriller, and as a huge fan of both genres I can honestly say it doesn’t hold a candle to either of them. This book is simply not worth your time, not when you want a spooky Halloween book and she spends chapter upon chapter describing how his lips feel, how she can’t take her eyes off the piece of skin he shows when his t-shirt slides up a notch, how they snog in every single corner they can find. You get their dates described in excruciating detail and then guess what?! You get the same thing again as she debriefs at home with her friends!
This read like how a 14 year old would write, I’m sorry, there’s also a lot of repetition happening in the book and a lot of inconsistencies, most of the time the author doesn’t even know where the hell she’s going with this (eg. they’re playing paintball and then afterwards as they’re full of paint from head to toe they walk into a restaurant to eat and then climb in the car?)
The “twist” at the end is the world’s most predictable, low effort, no imagination twist I’ve ever read.
Over all…. Yeah, no.
No idea where all the good reviews come from, this book is shit lol
Profile Image for chlosreads.
179 reviews27 followers
August 26, 2024
Thank you to Mads for blessing me with the ARC copy of this book. I feel so lucky! You have created such an incredible story and I was so hooked that I completely devoured it 😍

Deadly Occupants is literally the PERFECT thriller, also incredible for spooky season time hehehe. I truly did not expect any of the plot twists, I was shocked with each one. No matter how spooky it was, I genuinely could not put it down (even when I was so scared reading it at night!!). This is such a well written story and I really loved the characters. It was not only a thriller but a story about love, friendships, and growth ❤️

I could not recommend this book enough. Please please please read it AS SOON AS it comes out on September 10th! 🫶🏼
Profile Image for Izzy.
311 reviews10 followers
October 26, 2024
Oh fuck this was GOOD! Absolutely amazing. I kinda had a feeling about some of the plot but was definitely blindsided by everything else going on that it overshadowed it. This was good! Creepy af, I definitely felt like I was watching a movie.
Profile Image for Thao Gabriel.
82 reviews54 followers
August 12, 2025
4.75 stars

Oh my goodness! This book was such a page turner and perfect for the spooky season. This was our book club pick for the month and I am obsessed! This is a mixture of Pretty Little Liars and some paranormal activity. I am NOT a huge fan of scary things (funny bc thriller books are my fav) and was worried about reading this, but it wasn't too scary. I was able to sleep still LOL

This book takes place in a college town and focuses on 4 girls who are roommates. They started experiencing weird things around the house -- unexplained missing items, moving objects, electrical issues, etc. That's all I'll say because I don't want to include any spoilers :)
Profile Image for Amber J (Thereadingwitch).
1,178 reviews86 followers
March 3, 2025
I honestly loved this book. If I had to sum it up, I’d call it a paranormal thriller—it definitely delivers on both. Some parts genuinely scared me, especially when I made the mistake of taking a shower right after reading the shower scene.

It has a few slow moments, and I was a little confused at first by how things started, but it’s absolutely worth sticking with. Such a great read!
Profile Image for Fatima.
895 reviews351 followers
October 24, 2025
A good popcorn entertainer, but reads like an amateur ghost story.
Profile Image for Lilly.
227 reviews59 followers
October 7, 2024
This was such a fun spooky read! I honestly wasn't sure about it at first, but I trusted the reviews that it got better and I'm so glad I stuck with it!

This book feels like Pretty Little Liars x Paranormal Activity x Scream. Deadly Occupants centers around a group of four college students who, after having a scary paranormal experience at a haunted house on Halloween night, start to notice unexplained things happening in their own home. Throughout this book, we follow from the POV of our MC, Blair, but the other characters are so well-developed too. While this does have a YA/college student feel to it (given the age of the characters), I still found this so fun to read and the age demographic just worked so well for this story.

I think if this premise intrigues you, you'll probably like this book--perfect for spooky season!
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