This House Isn't Haunted But We Are

by Stephen Howard

A couple mourning the loss of their young daughter take up an opportunity to renovate a rural cottage on the remote North Yorkshire Moors. However, they can't process their grief as increasingly eerie events unfold. Is it their daughter haunting them or something else?

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Novella, Adult, Contemporary, Mystery, Halloween

106 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 3, 2025

About the author

Stephen Howard (he/him) is an English novelist and short story writer from Manchester, now living in Cheshire with his wife, Rachel, and their daughter, Flo. He was always an avid reader but finally decided that, aged twenty, perhaps he too could write stories people might enjoy. This eventually led to the self-publication of his first novel, Beyond Misty Mountain (2013), inspired by an enduring love of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld series. Beyond Misty Mountain was rereleased in 2020.

Stephen has a Bachelor’s degree in English Literature and Creative Writing from the Open University, gaining First Class Honours. His short fiction has been published by Lost Boys Press, The No Sleep Podcast, Metastellar, and others. Stephen is also a x2 winner of the Northwich Lit Fest short story contest (2022, 2024).

Stephen's released three collections of short fiction, Condemned To Be (Amazon, 2019), Ophelia in the Underworld and Other Melancholy Tales (Alien Buddha Press, 2023), and Little Book of Horrors: Volume I (Amazon, 2024).

A horror novella, This House Isn’t Haunted But We Are, was published April 2025 through Wild Hunt Books as part of their Northern Weird Project. A sci-fi / fantasy novel, An Invincible Summer, is coming through Infested Publishing in late 2026.

Outside of writing, Stephen supports Manchester United and tries to get to Old Trafford when he can, though he does enjoy watching the match in the pub. He is also a keen pub quizzer - you may even have caught his brief appearance on Mastermind in 2017.

Reviews

[Margo Laurie · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Maybe the house is unhappy. Maybe this is how a house cries."

I enjoyed this novella - it has moments of sly humour, compassion and imaginative chutzpah. It starts with a bereaved couple moving into a cottage on the Yorkshire moors. My favourite chapters were those from the perspective of the house - it truly is a character in itself, and seems like such an anxious/neurotic host to the new occupants.

[Adrienne L · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5

Hmm...not too sure about this one. Entertaining and quick, but overall, I must admit I'm disappointed. And that ending...eh. Full review to come.

[Gyalten Lekden · Rating 4 out of 5]

A touching story about loss, companionship, and renewal. There isn’t a whole lot of surprise in the story, the jacket copy lays out the entire plot. Instead of trying to surprise you this story just wants to sit with you, to offer a mirror, or a window, into the most human of experiences. It is impossible to protect yourself from grief and loss, it is a fundamental part of the human condition. Without preaching or proselytizing this story shows how, while all experiences of grief are valid, they are some ways of navigating those experiences that are healthier than others. It is genuine and heartfelt, and while I mentioned not built around surprise it does have a few unexpected moments here and there, keeping the reader engaged and not entirely confident just what any of the characters is capable of and how this might end. Sometimes the prose feels a little underdeveloped, it could use a little finesse on occasion, but, overall, it is direct and emotional, descriptive enough to set the mood and build an atmosphere, inviting the reader in. The narrative shifts across three perspectives, those of the two human characters and the that of the house, and I appreciate the different voicing of each. Both of the human perspectives are written in the first-person present tense, which is a hard tense to use effectively, but it works here. It makes everything happen feel immediate and brings a type of tension and desperation to the prose that works. The house’s perspective is written in the second person which is a smart way to identify the weirdness of this character and the role they play. This is a clever bit of writing, and it drew me in right from the beginning, especially as the story starts with a chapter from the house’s perspective. I do think the ending came a little abruptly and easily, and I wouldn’t have minded that section being filled out a little more, but I think the actual resolution was deserved and satisfying. The topics it explores are exactly what you would expect from a story about a young couple grieving the death of their child, but they are all addressed in interesting ways that make the story feel relevant. It was a one-sitting read for me, and I’m really glad I read it!

(Rounded from 3.5)

[Matt M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I finished this excellent little novella in one sitting. A fresh take on the haunted house(?) story. Howard wrote this one with a lot of heart and emotional depth as the married couple at the center of the story grieve the death of their young daughter. A meditation on grief and how people cope with it in different ways. I love how Howard told this story, with three POVs - first person from Simon and Priya and a second person from the POV of the house itself. Loved it! Check it out.

Thank you to Wild Hunt for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

[thevampireslibrary · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunted house (or is it?.. ) story that is both tender and terrifying, exploring grief with a supernatural backdrop, this has emotional depth and Howard's sincere compassion permeates this heartfelt exploration on healing.

[Ai Jiang]

A big thank you to the author and publisher for an ARC of the novella for a blurb!

THIS HOUSE ISN’T HAUNTED BUT WE ARE explores how grief makes us forget about the present, rendering us aimless, half alive wanderers through parents who have lost a child, and a house who doesn’t want to be alone as it nears the end of its life. A heartfelt supernatural and cosmic story about three broken individuals struggling to heal and finding comfort in each other.

[Beth A · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was taken by surprise when the first chapter was narrated by the HOUSE! I've never seen that before, it was such a unique & fun choice. I enjoyed the story overall, it was well paced for a short story, and didn’t feel bogged down by exposition then rushed at the end. There are some gramatical issues (I'm a picky reader/English teacher who believes good editing should be spotting this!), it's vs its for example, but so many people get this wrong nowadays that it's probably not noticeable for the majority of readers, or wouldn't bother them anyway - it's probably a 'me issue' to a certain extent 😅
I was rooting for the house, there were spooky elements that would work very well on screen, but I imagine it would be a twist about the house on film; I liked the immediate challenge of the house as a character, but it would have worked really well as a twist too. It's something like a ghost/creature feature combo, the characters are relatable and likeable/horrible as they should be, and it's a great work by a new author.

We studied the same degree at the same university according to the acknowledgements, so it's lovely to see the published success of a contemporary - I'm glad he's using it more than I have 😅

[Sophy H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second of the Northern Weird Project bundle I read.

The story arc of this is quite an obvious and simple one but still immensely enjoyable.

A grieving couple takes on more than they can handle maybe when they decide to renovate his aunt's old house in the Yorkshire moors.

The characters are well written with the right amount of contradiction and ambiguity you'd expect to find from a couple grieving the death of their child. The "house" aspect is very clever and actually made me a little sad at the end.

Clever writing of a short story that packs a little mini punch.

[Jamedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review originally on JamReads

This House Isn't Haunted But We Are is an interesting horror novella, written by Stephen Howard, and published by Wild Hunt Publishing as part of the Northern Weird Project. A story that makes a great exploration of grief and healing mechanisms, while also including a weird and fresh approach to the whole sentient house idea, creating a memorable novella.

After the death of her daughter, Simon and Priya move to a remote house in the Yorkshire Moors hoping for a fresh start; however, strange events start happening, complicating that start they were looking for. Howard masterfully alternates between three POVs: Simon, Priya, and the house, in a non-linear way to weave a story around the grief of the pair, their healing process and the house attempts to retain them.

In the case of Simon, we can appreciate how he's refusing to accept the idea of her daughter's death, being more positive towards the house attempts, while Priya is trying to straightforward overcome the pain, understanding that those eerie apparitions are not the answer to her grief, just a false answer. But what stood more with me after the novel is how well written is the alive house POV: how it is unable to grasp what is the problem of this pair at the start, but it's trying to confort them; we actually see how the house develops a bond with the pair, and how even if its attempts are a bit rough, there is a good intention behind them.

This House Isn't Haunted but We Are is an excellent novella, well paced and that masterfully executes its ideas; a great exploration of grief and healing, and also about the perspective of mortality (iykyk). What a banger to kick-off the Northern Weird Project!

[Alora Khan · Rating 4 out of 5]

So there I was, crying over a house

[Sorina · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25
Very creepy, but also heartwarming, in a weird way? I liked it a lot and I will definitely read more by Stephen Howard.

[Marguerite Turley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this little book. What a beautiful look at grief with a haunted house story mixed in. A couple (Simon and Priya) are driven apart after losing their daughter, decide to move to the country into a house that belongs to Simon’s aunt, hoping it would bring them closer together. Stephen created incredibly human characters who were in very different places in their grief cycles. I loved the dual points of view and we even get the house’s point of view thrown in too. This was such an inventive story, and a quick fantastic read. I can’t recommend this enough!

[Becky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was very short, but it still took me quite a bit longer than I would have liked to actually finish it. I think that the bones of this little novella are there, but a bit more fleshing out of some bits, and a bit less repetitiveness in other areas would have suited the story more. As it was, it was good, but I think it could have been better.

I liked the way that this subverted normal "haunted house" stories, but I don't know if I liked the execution.. I like the concept, but the actuality of it was mainly just confusing and weird to me. I would have liked an explanation for why the house was the way it was, and in the condition it was.

I also felt like the timeline and pacing was muddy. From the narrative, it seems like a very short time has passed, but then they mention all of the improvements made via the renovations, and I'm like "When was there time to do these things? How long have they been there?" The setting always being mentioned as misty and dreary and foggy and cold didn't really help depict time passing either.

I didn't get the aunt and cousin... at all. What was their deal? Like, in general. Why are they living the way they do, when it's so different from what Simon remembers? Also, small thing, but there was an error in the book at one point where Priya states that "Tom" is the aunt's nephew rather than "Simon". Tom is her son, not nephew.

And in a similar vein, there were a couple of brain snagging apostrophe issues in the book. Going to the "butchers" instead of "butcher's", and "newsagents" instead of "newsagent's". "Shop" isn't stated, but it doesn't change the fact that the sentence is referring to the narrator visiting an establishment possessed or owned by the butcher or the newsagent. Maybe this is a British to American English translation thing, but to me, it seems right with the apostrophe. Unless it is a shop where you can buy an assortment of butchers or newsagents. Maybe there's a market for it?

The resolution of this book was kind of abrupt and took a not-completely-unexpected turn, but it still felt a bit unsupported. I would have liked a bit more build up to the... acceptance of the situation, as it were. It just seemed to easy.

Anyway, overall, it was a decent story. Strange, but not too dark or scary. Light spooky season reading.

[Robert Welbourn · Rating 5 out of 5]

A short but punchy story, I absolutely adored this. Told from three perspectives - husband, wife, house - this book weaves the three narratives together seamlessly to craft a wonderful, gripping, emotionally wrenching story. The narrative builds to an incredibly satisfying conclusion, and I found myself drawn to these characters very strongly. The use of different perspectives really illuminated things, both narratively and technically. Exceptional book, really, really enjoyed it.

[Andrew · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.0 - The house is hands down the highlight of the novella.

I love how Howard subverted the haunted house trope by having the residents haunted by their daughter's death instead of the house itself.
Don't get me wrong, the house is haunted too, but it's one of the good guys... it's just that it's a house and doesn't quite understand human behavior. :D

As good as the house is, the human protagonists are just as obnoxious. Yeah, they're grieving and that leads to some self-destructive and irrational decisions but here it's just too much.
I'm sorry, but how can you react so chill when an entire dinner magically appears, not to mention the replica of their dead daughter?

This makes it difficult to truly grasp the characters, which is especially noticeable at the end, where their emotional connection to the house and their healing process seem undeserved and rushed.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

I cried. (Positive)

[Mugdha · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's a haunted house novel where we actually care for house.

Grief is central part of it and well written.

Grief isn't something with a plottable trajectory. It's one step forward, two steps back. It's sideways movement. It's feeling stuck in the mid, regression, defeat, victory. It's a gentle thumping one minute, tremendous crashing knocks and carnage the next. It's a lake with a serene surface, pleasant and placid, then a deluge distrubing every square inch of surface. And it's never-ending.

[Siân’s Reading Corner · Rating 5 out of 5]

This house isn’t haunted follows the story of Simon, Priya and the house they move in to as they experience a strange presence in the house. Is it trying to make them leave or does it want them to stay? This is a story filled with moments of saddens, curiosity, fear and a haunting secret waiting to be discovered.

[Willow · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would kill and die for that house.

[Louise T · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird and creepy little book. I loved the 3 different perspectives that the story is told from.
It felt almost slow paced even though the chapters were short and easy to digest. I think this added to a really eery reading experience.
It really captured the couples grief and how both process this in their different ways. It kind of gave me The Country Will Bring Us No Peace vibes.
The ending felt a little quick for me but that might just be the slow burn way of things as I have found with other novels.
Overall this was such an ominous read and packed so much in to such a small read. Definitely one I would reread!
Rating:
4/5 (maybe more? The more I think on it the more I love it)

[Catherine McCarthy]

I flew through this slice of grief horror! A haunted house...or it it? At heart this is a tale of grief and healing. I thoroughly enjoyed it!

[Roberto · Rating 5 out of 5]

This House Isn’t Haunted But We Are is an excellent foray into grief horror at its finest. Short, heartbreaking and with a depth that belies its page count it is a story that will haunt you even after you finish it. The story follows Simon and Priya, a married couple trying to put themselves back together after losing their child, as they move into a new, rural cottage away from their former city life. Odd and unsettling things start to occur almost immediately upon their arrival at their new home and continue as they each grapple with their grief in their own ways while being haunted by their past and quite possibly their new house.

It’s hard to say enough good things about this novella. It is a truly gut wrenching experience as the reader follows Simon and Priya, the loss of their daughter, and their attempts at rebuilding their relationship. The POV rotates between the two main characters but also has portions told from the point of view of The House and whatever entity may be at work there. Stephen Howard does an excellent job of developing truly human characters in a short amount of pages and crafting a beautifully haunting story around them. By including the House as its own character right away he manages to develop that narrative as well and creates true empathy for all three of his characters. I loved the concept that the couple were at least as haunted by their own lives if not more haunted than the house itself. It successfully puts a fresh spin on an old but classic trope in horror and was an absolute pleasure to read. It is fast paced and doesn’t waste any time pulling the reader into Simon and Priya’s life. Highly recommended for anyone looking for something quick but heavy - because the grief in this story is quite palpable.

[C.J. Daley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Huge thanks to Wild Hunt Books for the review copy!

This is a fresh and unique take on the haunted house story. Right off the bat the reader is put in the know that the house isn’t just an ordinary house…but that doesn’t make it haunted. We get these really interesting chapters from the perspective of the house that serve almost as interludes, and I found them to be really decisive storytelling. The whole story speaks to our ability to inhabit and infect a place with our entirety.

In moves Simon and Priya, a recently bereaved married couple. Not only are they carrying their grief as if it’s literal baggage, they are slowly drifting apart like flotsam at sea. They are indeed the ones who are haunted. Can they come to realize what the other needs? Or will the house do it for them?

This was a quick little novella that packed a hell of a punch. The dialogue and introspection both share an incredible emotional depth, and I was really impressed by the polar opposites in Simon and Priya. This author definitely did a deep dive into his characters’ psyche. They grieve and experience like two entirely different people, and even as a married couple, they stretch and grow as separate people. I don’t know how else to explain how reading them felt other than…real.

The house and ending kind of gave me Nestlings by Nat Cassidy vibes, except like in a benevolent, more caring way. Unless you count the conniving aunt and cousin…

https://fanfiaddict.com/review-this-h...

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

First, this is an awesome twist on the haunted house trope, if that's the right word. There's a lot to unpack here in this novella that left me wanting more. The characters and their interactions, their grief and emotions just crawls off of the page and makes you feel it. Stephen Howard has done an absolutely unbelievable job here with this novella, and I really need to get the rest of the Northern Weird collection. Stephen's always been a favorite indie author of mine. Do NOT miss out on This House Isn't Haunted But We are!

[MelissaM · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this. It was an interesting take on a haunted house story and would be a good read for the Week of Weird.

[natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved the House! Something was missing from this story, but IDK what.

[Hannah | Reading Under Covers · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5 rounded up!

Such a creepy (and sweet) story!

[R.M. Hamrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

We bring our own hauntings. I adored and feared the house's POV. Old houses have soul.

[Craig Thomson · Rating 5 out of 5]

A haunted house tale like no other, at times from the perspective of the house itself. Inventive, sad and a beautiful take on grief. gorgeous wee story.

[Rach Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this, loved the concept 🙌