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Bad Things Happened in This Room
Bad Things Happened In This Room is a chilling psychological horror that descends into madness where the walls whisper, and secrets are buried in the garden; perfect for fans of Carissa Orlando and The Yellow Wallpaper, exploring motherhood, grief, and the thin line between reality and delusion.
In this haunting psychological horror, Willow’s life has become a fever dream, her days lost in a twisted loop where time no longer flows as it should. Is she held captive by her husband Liam’s iron rules—or by the insidious darkness of her own mind?
Her only connection to the world beyond her walls is a young girl named Sarah, whose unexpected visits to Willow’s garden spark a glimmer of hope. But as cracks form in her carefully controlled existence, horrifying truths seep through, twisting the familiar into something sinister. The floral wallpaper peels back to reveal haunting messages carved into the walls, and the house itself pulses with malevolent life.
When Sarah suddenly vanishes, Willow is forced to confront the dark shadows of her past and the horrors lurking within her fractured psyche. The question is Willow truly a prisoner of her home, or of her own mind?
Some doors, once opened, can never be closed. And some truths are better left buried in the garden.
In this haunting psychological horror, Willow’s life has become a fever dream, her days lost in a twisted loop where time no longer flows as it should. Is she held captive by her husband Liam’s iron rules—or by the insidious darkness of her own mind?
Her only connection to the world beyond her walls is a young girl named Sarah, whose unexpected visits to Willow’s garden spark a glimmer of hope. But as cracks form in her carefully controlled existence, horrifying truths seep through, twisting the familiar into something sinister. The floral wallpaper peels back to reveal haunting messages carved into the walls, and the house itself pulses with malevolent life.
When Sarah suddenly vanishes, Willow is forced to confront the dark shadows of her past and the horrors lurking within her fractured psyche. The question is Willow truly a prisoner of her home, or of her own mind?
Some doors, once opened, can never be closed. And some truths are better left buried in the garden.
291 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 16, 2025
62 people are currently reading
42736 people want to read
About the author
Marie Still
3 books436 followersMarie Still, bestselling thriller and horror author, torments her characters from Tampa Bay. She also writes women's fiction under Kristen Seeley. Her novels include My Darlings (currently in development as a television series with Amazon MGM Studios), Bad Things Happened in This Room, We're All Lying (named by Buzzfeed as one of the most anticipated mystery/thrillers of 2023), and Beverly Bonnefinche is Dead (a Silver Falchion Award finalist).
Off the page Marie can be found attempting to corral her three mostly friendly cats for a cuddle, surviving the affection from her very cuddly 150 lb Rottweiler, or keeping up with her four children.
Kristen Seeley on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Find her on:
Instagram: instagram.com/mariestillwrites
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariestillwrites
Facebook: facebook.com/mariestillwrites
Sign up to receive book updates and extras: https://mariestill.com/newsletter
Off the page Marie can be found attempting to corral her three mostly friendly cats for a cuddle, surviving the affection from her very cuddly 150 lb Rottweiler, or keeping up with her four children.
Kristen Seeley on Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
Find her on:
Instagram: instagram.com/mariestillwrites
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@mariestillwrites
Facebook: facebook.com/mariestillwrites
Sign up to receive book updates and extras: https://mariestill.com/newsletter
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 270 reviews
May 31, 2025
This psychological horror novel felt like a real nightmare and had me questioning everything! It is dark, chilling, emotional, mysterious, sad, tense and terrifying! I read a lot of horror books and I will say that this one freaked me out, in a good way of course. I love a good horror book, there just aren’t many that actually scare me. This book is not for the faint of heart and is very creepy. It is more of the psychological aspect of this horror book that frightened me the most. It has an excellent build up and the plot was very well executed. This is a fast paced read that I found to be thought provoking, captivating and entertaining. It is intense! It may make you feel claustrophobic, as it did me. This author really brought this book to life in the most creepiest, craziest way imaginable!
“Bad Things Happened In This Room” centers around Willow Hawthorne, who has a fractured mind. She is trapped in her own house and is haunted by a past of hers that she struggles to remember. I give this horror book a 5 out of 5 stars!
I think anyone that loves extreme horror and can handle the trigger warnings would enjoy this book! Content warnings include Body horror, domestic abuse, miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, mental health deterioration, infant mortality, death of a parent, insects, manipulation, gaslighting, drugging and suicide.
Thank you to NetGalley, author Marie Still and Rising Action Publishing Co. for this electronic ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review and feedback. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This book is expected to be published on September 16, 2025!
“Bad Things Happened In This Room” centers around Willow Hawthorne, who has a fractured mind. She is trapped in her own house and is haunted by a past of hers that she struggles to remember. I give this horror book a 5 out of 5 stars!
I think anyone that loves extreme horror and can handle the trigger warnings would enjoy this book! Content warnings include Body horror, domestic abuse, miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, mental health deterioration, infant mortality, death of a parent, insects, manipulation, gaslighting, drugging and suicide.
Thank you to NetGalley, author Marie Still and Rising Action Publishing Co. for this electronic ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review and feedback. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.
This book is expected to be published on September 16, 2025!
October 12, 2025
A dark, twisted tale of psychological horror, Bad Things Happened in This Room was as poignant and emotionally resonant as it was chilling. Sure to send plenty of spine-tingling nightmares my way tonight, the creepy haunted house setting alongside of Willow’s increasingly fractured mind was pitch black and extreme in every sense of the word. I promise you, this was no lightweight novel of just barely there horrors. Oh no. It was packed full of eye-popping triggers and scenes that chilled me to the bone. Honestly? I found myself muttering “WTF?!” for a large chunk of this novel, all while ripping through the pages in order to learn exactly what on earth was going on behind the dread-fueled foreboding and constant unease.
You see, as much as I was utterly addicted to finding out whether this unreliable narrator was being gaslit or was actually losing her mind, the depth of the terrors within these pages might’ve been just a step too far for this horror newbie. From explicit body horror to nightmarish scenes with oodles of creepy crawlies, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to need to sleep with the lights on. That being said, the conclusion almost completely made up for my initial discomfort. A total mind-f*** of a twist, my jaw dropped in the best possible way. After all, even a super sleuth like myself didn’t see this one coming even the tiniest bit. Psychologically on-point as it wrapped up every single plot line in the story, Ms. Still deserves a standing ovation for this absolute humdinger of an ending.
All said and done, this slow descent into madness was as uncomfortable as it was brilliant. A fever dream of a premise that was filled with lyrical prose, the paranoia and fear rippled off of the pages like no other novel that I’ve ever read. Mixing together B.A. Paris-like domestic suspense with Stephen King-level terrors, it was one of the most original plots that I’ll probably ever find. After all, it delivered the fear with just a bit of confusion. Keeping me on the back foot throughout, I guarantee that you won’t be able to figure this one out before the epic last-minute revelation. So if you’re looking for a gut-punch of a read sure to scare you but good, you needn’t look any further because you’ve found it right here. Rating of 4 stars.
SYNOPSIS:
In this haunting psychological horror, Willow’s life has become a fever dream, her days lost in a twisted loop where time no longer flows as it should. Is she held captive by her husband Liam’s iron rules—or by the insidious darkness of her own mind?
Her only connection to the world beyond her walls is a young girl named Sarah, whose unexpected visits to Willow’s garden spark a glimmer of hope. But as cracks form in her carefully controlled existence, horrifying truths seep through, twisting the familiar into something sinister. The floral wallpaper peels back to reveal haunting messages carved into the walls, and the house itself pulses with malevolent life.
When Sarah suddenly vanishes, Willow is forced to confront the dark shadows of her past and the horrors lurking within her fractured psyche. The question remains: is Willow truly a prisoner of her home, or of her own mind?
Some doors, once opened, can never be closed. And some truths are better left buried in the garden.
Thank you to Marie Still and Rising Action Publishing for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: September 16, 2025
Content warning: body horror, domestic abuse, miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, mental health deterioration, infant mortality, death of a parent, insects, gaslighting, drugging, suicide
You see, as much as I was utterly addicted to finding out whether this unreliable narrator was being gaslit or was actually losing her mind, the depth of the terrors within these pages might’ve been just a step too far for this horror newbie. From explicit body horror to nightmarish scenes with oodles of creepy crawlies, there’s no doubt in my mind that I’m going to need to sleep with the lights on. That being said, the conclusion almost completely made up for my initial discomfort. A total mind-f*** of a twist, my jaw dropped in the best possible way. After all, even a super sleuth like myself didn’t see this one coming even the tiniest bit. Psychologically on-point as it wrapped up every single plot line in the story, Ms. Still deserves a standing ovation for this absolute humdinger of an ending.
All said and done, this slow descent into madness was as uncomfortable as it was brilliant. A fever dream of a premise that was filled with lyrical prose, the paranoia and fear rippled off of the pages like no other novel that I’ve ever read. Mixing together B.A. Paris-like domestic suspense with Stephen King-level terrors, it was one of the most original plots that I’ll probably ever find. After all, it delivered the fear with just a bit of confusion. Keeping me on the back foot throughout, I guarantee that you won’t be able to figure this one out before the epic last-minute revelation. So if you’re looking for a gut-punch of a read sure to scare you but good, you needn’t look any further because you’ve found it right here. Rating of 4 stars.
SYNOPSIS:
In this haunting psychological horror, Willow’s life has become a fever dream, her days lost in a twisted loop where time no longer flows as it should. Is she held captive by her husband Liam’s iron rules—or by the insidious darkness of her own mind?
Her only connection to the world beyond her walls is a young girl named Sarah, whose unexpected visits to Willow’s garden spark a glimmer of hope. But as cracks form in her carefully controlled existence, horrifying truths seep through, twisting the familiar into something sinister. The floral wallpaper peels back to reveal haunting messages carved into the walls, and the house itself pulses with malevolent life.
When Sarah suddenly vanishes, Willow is forced to confront the dark shadows of her past and the horrors lurking within her fractured psyche. The question remains: is Willow truly a prisoner of her home, or of her own mind?
Some doors, once opened, can never be closed. And some truths are better left buried in the garden.
Thank you to Marie Still and Rising Action Publishing for my complimentary copy. All opinions are my own.
PUB DATE: September 16, 2025
Content warning: body horror, domestic abuse, miscarriage, stillbirth, infertility, mental health deterioration, infant mortality, death of a parent, insects, gaslighting, drugging, suicide
August 13, 2025
What an absolute mind fuck this is and I don't say that lightly.
Willow, is trapped in her home by her husband, Liam. Her only salvation is that of her garden. They have a routine. The same thing every day until the days start to bleed into one another. Until time seems to slip away all together. Is Liam her savior or her captor?
Then there is Sara a young girl that keeps visiting Willow in her garden. When Sara suddenly goes missing Willow spirals down the rabbit hole in what can only be described as a fever dream of absolute despair.
What is real? What is imagined? You'll have to read this to find out.
First things first, this book won't be for everyone. This story is pitch black. The anxiety and suffocation Marie Still puts her readers through is unrelenting yet I couldn't bare to put this down. My need to know what was happening far surpassed my need for comfort. Another thing that I'm going to mention is that many may find this book repetitive because we only have Willow narrating and her thoughts are utterly insane (or are they?) and being in her head for 300 pages could be exhausting for many. I, on the other hand, was fascinated.
And then that ending: GUT. PUNCH. 👊
This psychological horror novel will not only horrify you but it will guarantee to break your heart. Absolutely outstanding if you dare to read it. 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co. for my complimentary copy.
Willow, is trapped in her home by her husband, Liam. Her only salvation is that of her garden. They have a routine. The same thing every day until the days start to bleed into one another. Until time seems to slip away all together. Is Liam her savior or her captor?
Then there is Sara a young girl that keeps visiting Willow in her garden. When Sara suddenly goes missing Willow spirals down the rabbit hole in what can only be described as a fever dream of absolute despair.
What is real? What is imagined? You'll have to read this to find out.
First things first, this book won't be for everyone. This story is pitch black. The anxiety and suffocation Marie Still puts her readers through is unrelenting yet I couldn't bare to put this down. My need to know what was happening far surpassed my need for comfort. Another thing that I'm going to mention is that many may find this book repetitive because we only have Willow narrating and her thoughts are utterly insane (or are they?) and being in her head for 300 pages could be exhausting for many. I, on the other hand, was fascinated.
And then that ending: GUT. PUNCH. 👊
This psychological horror novel will not only horrify you but it will guarantee to break your heart. Absolutely outstanding if you dare to read it. 5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co. for my complimentary copy.
September 25, 2025
A quick, anxiety inducing, confuzzling read.
The blurb described a book of a missing child and a woman losing a sense of reality. While both of those were part of the novel, what we really got was a fever dream. The entire novel is told through the eyes of Willow, who is evidently not well, which makes it very difficult to follow what is going on. It did make me anxious though, so there’s that. Not even the ending could redeem this one for me.
Unfortunately, that’s all I have to say about it. Based on the ratings, I do believe I’m yet again an outlier so as always, please check out all the fabulous other reviews.
The blurb described a book of a missing child and a woman losing a sense of reality. While both of those were part of the novel, what we really got was a fever dream. The entire novel is told through the eyes of Willow, who is evidently not well, which makes it very difficult to follow what is going on. It did make me anxious though, so there’s that. Not even the ending could redeem this one for me.
Unfortunately, that’s all I have to say about it. Based on the ratings, I do believe I’m yet again an outlier so as always, please check out all the fabulous other reviews.
September 16, 2025
Sooo you know it’s good when you mutter WTFFFF 😳 is going on! 😂 Over and over! Hands down 5 stars!! ⭐️ Thank you @mariestillwrites @risingactionpublishingco for my gorgeous gifted copy!! 🥰
Pub date is 9/16/25! 🥳🥳
Just going to say that after reading my first @mariestillwrites earlier this year.. I needed more!! My Darlings blew me away!So I couldn’t wait to read this and it delivered..😍
I am a sucker for a fever dream book and this had my name written all over it. 😉
Willow is living in her parents house.. well now her house… with her husband Liam…and something really is INSANELY wrong. What?! 🤔🤷♀️I don’t even know.. but get the hell out of that house Willow. 😳
I guarantee… you will NEVER guess where this is going in a million years. Dark.. disturbing.. incredibly entertaining. That being said.. this is TW galore. Not going to post them because.. well you know.. spoilers.
Pub date is 9/16/25! 🥳🥳
Just going to say that after reading my first @mariestillwrites earlier this year.. I needed more!! My Darlings blew me away!So I couldn’t wait to read this and it delivered..😍
I am a sucker for a fever dream book and this had my name written all over it. 😉
Willow is living in her parents house.. well now her house… with her husband Liam…and something really is INSANELY wrong. What?! 🤔🤷♀️I don’t even know.. but get the hell out of that house Willow. 😳
I guarantee… you will NEVER guess where this is going in a million years. Dark.. disturbing.. incredibly entertaining. That being said.. this is TW galore. Not going to post them because.. well you know.. spoilers.
August 26, 2025
Holy crap, this book is a ride! From page one it had me questioning everything: what’s real, who’s lying and if anyone in this story (honestly, including even me) was actually okay.
The atmosphere stinks of paranoia. Willow’s sanity is constantly called into question but not a single character feels reliable. Not the side characters, not the narration, not even the house itself.
The setting feels alive. Like it’s watching, reacting, pulling the strings… And the whole thing feels suffocating and claustrophobic.
This was a psychological nightmare in the best way possible. I had a few theories, sure, but the plot twisted and unraveled and still managed to blindside me. My jaw was on the floor more than once, especially with the way Liam treated Willow.
It’s a dark book. It’s sad and it’s confusing too. And it’s, above all, compulsively readable. The mental health spiral was written in a way that felt disorienting, drafting me right into Willow’s unraveling. In the end I was as unsettled and haunted as she was. And that’s honestly what I wanted from Bad Things Happened In This Room.
You’ll enjoy this book if you’re into:
💬 Unreliable narrators
🏠 Domestic suspense
🧠 Psychological spirals
😵💫 Unsettling endings
A thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.
The atmosphere stinks of paranoia. Willow’s sanity is constantly called into question but not a single character feels reliable. Not the side characters, not the narration, not even the house itself.
The setting feels alive. Like it’s watching, reacting, pulling the strings… And the whole thing feels suffocating and claustrophobic.
This was a psychological nightmare in the best way possible. I had a few theories, sure, but the plot twisted and unraveled and still managed to blindside me. My jaw was on the floor more than once, especially with the way Liam treated Willow.
It’s a dark book. It’s sad and it’s confusing too. And it’s, above all, compulsively readable. The mental health spiral was written in a way that felt disorienting, drafting me right into Willow’s unraveling. In the end I was as unsettled and haunted as she was. And that’s honestly what I wanted from Bad Things Happened In This Room.
You’ll enjoy this book if you’re into:
💬 Unreliable narrators
🏠 Domestic suspense
🧠 Psychological spirals
😵💫 Unsettling endings
A thank you to the author, the publisher and NetGalley for providing me a copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased and honest review.
October 30, 2025
Trapped in a house where the walls whisper, and secrets fester beneath the garden soil, Willow Hawthorne teeters on the edge of reality and delusion.
This is a mind-fk of a book! You will be so confused (which I love) and asking yourself WTF is going on? This is creepy, unnerving, and a fever dream-mind-bending horror tale.
Once again, I recommend you going in blind. Sorry, not sorry. But for me, those make for the best surprises! I highly enjoyed it and so grateful for my copy!
If you haven’t read a @mariestillwrites novel, you’re missing out!
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
This is a mind-fk of a book! You will be so confused (which I love) and asking yourself WTF is going on? This is creepy, unnerving, and a fever dream-mind-bending horror tale.
Once again, I recommend you going in blind. Sorry, not sorry. But for me, those make for the best surprises! I highly enjoyed it and so grateful for my copy!
If you haven’t read a @mariestillwrites novel, you’re missing out!
4.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August 16, 2025
Apologies to the author and the publisher, but this was exhausting to read, and thoroughly repetitive and confusing. There's a reason "The Yellow Wallpaper" is the length it is. This book is the reason.
June 24, 2025
Review to come … LOVEDDDD! I didn’t think I could love this author and her writing any more than I already did but BAM! She did it again! #ad much love for my advance copy!
#ad much love for my advance copy @mariestillwrites + @risingactionpublishingco #partner
𝕭𝕬𝕯 𝕿𝕳𝕴𝕹𝕲𝕾 𝕳𝕬𝕻𝕻𝕰𝕹𝕰𝕯 𝕴𝕹 𝕿𝕳𝕴𝕾 𝕽𝕺𝕺𝕸
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱᴇꜱ: ꜱᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 𝟣𝟨, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟧
“𝒜 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈. ℋ𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝑜 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈,” (p. 9).
^ to be checked against finished copy
“𝒜 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓊𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃,” (p. 146).
^ to be checked against finished copy
Something happened to Willow - but her memory is hazy, fragments lost to time. She never leaves the house. Her best secrets? Buried deep in the garden. The house is her only friend now. Its walls, its floors - they whisper to her. But who is the man living with her? Her husband, Liam. And is it him keeping her here… or is it herself? Can she really trust this house?
I loved Marie Still’s last book, and she’s back at it again! Bad Things Happened in this Room is mind-bending, claustrophobic, and an utterly addictive story. You won’t be able to put this one down. Be prepared to spiral right alongside Willow.
You’ll have absolutely no idea what’s going on - but you won’t be able to stop reading. The writing feels different from her previous book, but I ended up loving it just as much. I would say it’s more poetic in a sense. I was so invested in Willow’s unraveling - desperate to figure out what was really going on.
And I’ve never related to a character more - which might sound strange if you’ve read it, but it’s true. Only difference is… my garden is made of shelves and books.
Bad things happened in this room. But what really happened in this house? On this property?
You’ll have to read it to find out!
I feel any TWs will ruin this precious little book. I’m sure you can find them somewhere if you’d like to check before reading tho.
𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖:
✓ Laughing when nervous
✓ Defrosting face
✓ Knocking on door / being punched in the face (I died) 😂😂🫣
👏🏻 Loved those acknowledgements! Stay petty & competitive for life 💁🏼♀️
#ad much love for my advance copy @mariestillwrites + @risingactionpublishingco #partner
𝕭𝕬𝕯 𝕿𝕳𝕴𝕹𝕲𝕾 𝕳𝕬𝕻𝕻𝕰𝕹𝕰𝕯 𝕴𝕹 𝕿𝕳𝕴𝕾 𝕽𝕺𝕺𝕸
ʀᴇʟᴇᴀꜱᴇꜱ: ꜱᴇᴘᴛᴇᴍʙᴇʀ 𝟣𝟨, 𝟤𝟢𝟤𝟧
“𝒜 𝓅𝒾𝒸𝓉𝓊𝓇𝑒 𝒾𝓈 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒽 𝒶 𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓊𝓈𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈. ℋ𝑜𝓌𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇, 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝒽𝒶𝓉 𝑔𝑜 𝓊𝓃𝓈𝓅𝑜𝓀𝑒𝓃 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓂𝑜𝓈𝓉 𝒾𝓂𝓅𝑜𝓇𝓉𝒶𝓃𝓉 𝑜𝓃𝑒𝓈,” (p. 9).
^ to be checked against finished copy
“𝒜 𝓃𝑒𝑒𝒹𝓁𝑒 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝓇𝑒𝒶𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓋𝑒 𝓈𝑒𝓌𝓃 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓌𝑜𝓇𝒹𝓈 𝓉𝑜 𝓂𝓎 𝓉𝑜𝓃𝑔𝓊𝑒 𝒶𝑔𝒶𝒾𝓃,” (p. 146).
^ to be checked against finished copy
Something happened to Willow - but her memory is hazy, fragments lost to time. She never leaves the house. Her best secrets? Buried deep in the garden. The house is her only friend now. Its walls, its floors - they whisper to her. But who is the man living with her? Her husband, Liam. And is it him keeping her here… or is it herself? Can she really trust this house?
I loved Marie Still’s last book, and she’s back at it again! Bad Things Happened in this Room is mind-bending, claustrophobic, and an utterly addictive story. You won’t be able to put this one down. Be prepared to spiral right alongside Willow.
You’ll have absolutely no idea what’s going on - but you won’t be able to stop reading. The writing feels different from her previous book, but I ended up loving it just as much. I would say it’s more poetic in a sense. I was so invested in Willow’s unraveling - desperate to figure out what was really going on.
And I’ve never related to a character more - which might sound strange if you’ve read it, but it’s true. Only difference is… my garden is made of shelves and books.
Bad things happened in this room. But what really happened in this house? On this property?
You’ll have to read it to find out!
I feel any TWs will ruin this precious little book. I’m sure you can find them somewhere if you’d like to check before reading tho.
𝕄𝕖𝕞𝕓𝕠𝕣𝕒𝕓𝕝𝕖:
✓ Laughing when nervous
✓ Defrosting face
✓ Knocking on door / being punched in the face (I died) 😂😂🫣
👏🏻 Loved those acknowledgements! Stay petty & competitive for life 💁🏼♀️
Want to read
June 7, 2025Hello from Iceland! It brings me so much joy to see many of you enjoying Willow's story as much as I enjoyed writing it.
PSA for Netgalley readers, the file is corrupt, and the publisher is working diligently with Netgalley to correct it. If your file has weird spelling errors that start bad and turn into gibberish as the book goes on, you are one of the lucky recipients of a corrupted file.
You can contact me at mariestillwrites@gmail.com or reach out to the publisher through NG to get a working file.
PS this is told from Willow's POV (not a child), a dark psychological horror descent into madness (please do check content warnings)
PPS if you could give this review a like to float it to the top, that would be much appreciated.
I couldn't be doing what I love without the support of all of you, and I will be forever grateful for every reader who picks up my books from their overflowing TBRs.
XOXO
Marie
PSA for Netgalley readers, the file is corrupt, and the publisher is working diligently with Netgalley to correct it. If your file has weird spelling errors that start bad and turn into gibberish as the book goes on, you are one of the lucky recipients of a corrupted file.
You can contact me at mariestillwrites@gmail.com or reach out to the publisher through NG to get a working file.
PS this is told from Willow's POV (not a child), a dark psychological horror descent into madness (please do check content warnings)
PPS if you could give this review a like to float it to the top, that would be much appreciated.
I couldn't be doing what I love without the support of all of you, and I will be forever grateful for every reader who picks up my books from their overflowing TBRs.
XOXO
Marie
April 10, 2025
Holy crap, 𝐁𝐚𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐇𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐨𝐨𝐦 by Marie Still is such a wild ride! Like you genuinely don’t know what’s real, who’s lying, or if anyone is okay, including yourself. From the very first chapter, the story grabs you by the throat and throws you headfirst into a psychological spiral that only gets more twisted as you go. The FMC’s sanity is constantly called into question, but what really messes with your head is that literally 𝘯𝘰 𝘰𝘯𝘦 feels stable: not the side characters, not the narration, not even the damn house. The setting feels alive, like it’s watching, reacting, maybe even manipulating what’s happening, and that adds this eerie, almost claustrophobic vibe to the whole thing. It’s a mind-bending, paranoia-fueled horror/thriller that leaves you questioning everything by the end … and I mean 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨.
** 𝙈𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙖𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨. 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚!
(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮.)
** 𝙈𝙮 𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙫𝙞𝙚𝙬 𝙤𝙛 𝘽𝙖𝙙 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙃𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙚𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙣 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙗𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙 𝙤𝙣 𝙢𝙮 𝘽𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝘽𝙡𝙤𝙜 𝙘𝙡𝙤𝙨𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙖𝙩𝙚, 𝙖𝙨 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙖 𝙗𝙞𝙩 𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙡𝙮 𝙩𝙤 𝙥𝙤𝙨𝙩 𝙙𝙚𝙩𝙖𝙞𝙡𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙪𝙜𝙝𝙩𝙨. 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙮 𝙩𝙪𝙣𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙖 𝙙𝙚𝙚𝙥 𝙙𝙞𝙫𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙘𝙚 𝙞𝙩’𝙨 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚!
(𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘔𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦 𝘚𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭, 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢𝘯 𝘈𝘙𝘊 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘢 𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘢𝘮.)
June 3, 2025
4.5 stars
✨✨✨Did I just hallucinate?! ✨✨✨
I feel like I didn’t read Bad Things Happened in This Room, I feel like instead I just had the most horrifying hallucination. Or like I just woke up from a wicked nightmare that was erratic, unstable, and completely terrifying.
This book is top tier unreliable narrator psychological horror and extremely unique!! Willow is one of (if not THE most) unreliable narrators of all time. This book is fast-paced, crazy, confusing, psychotic, dark, creepy, twisted, thought provoking, heartbreaking, and chilling all at the same time!
Bad Things Happened in This Room is an astonishingly dreadful, out of sorts, harrowing, and gloomy book and I loved it!! 👏 Even though the ending made me SO SAD! You will just have to read this one and see for yourself!!
✨Definitely be sure to check out the trigger warnings on this one first though.✨
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is expected to be released September 16, 2025.
✨✨✨Did I just hallucinate?! ✨✨✨
I feel like I didn’t read Bad Things Happened in This Room, I feel like instead I just had the most horrifying hallucination. Or like I just woke up from a wicked nightmare that was erratic, unstable, and completely terrifying.
This book is top tier unreliable narrator psychological horror and extremely unique!! Willow is one of (if not THE most) unreliable narrators of all time. This book is fast-paced, crazy, confusing, psychotic, dark, creepy, twisted, thought provoking, heartbreaking, and chilling all at the same time!
Bad Things Happened in This Room is an astonishingly dreadful, out of sorts, harrowing, and gloomy book and I loved it!! 👏 Even though the ending made me SO SAD! You will just have to read this one and see for yourself!!
✨Definitely be sure to check out the trigger warnings on this one first though.✨
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free ebook copy in exchange for an honest review. This book is expected to be released September 16, 2025.
July 17, 2025
I’ve read so many haunted house / paranormal books lately im having the best time 😆 these are definitely perfect reads for spooky season if you want to read them closer to October 🙏🏻
“Bad things happened in this room” definitely gives fever dream vibes, the narrator is unreliable to the extreme and the plot is dark, twisty and a little disturbing 🫣
This can absolutely be a one sitting read, you will find yourself fully immersed in the intensity of the writing. I read this book at night time and let’s just say I was totally creeped out 😂.
You will question everything you know with the psychological horror themes that seep under your skin. There is some mystery and some emotional components that blend seamlessly into the overall genre,
I definitely recommend the read if you want to experience something that will stick with you for a while after you’re done reading.
Thank you to Rising Action Publishing #partner for the #gifted copy!
Publishes on: September 16th
“Bad things happened in this room” definitely gives fever dream vibes, the narrator is unreliable to the extreme and the plot is dark, twisty and a little disturbing 🫣
This can absolutely be a one sitting read, you will find yourself fully immersed in the intensity of the writing. I read this book at night time and let’s just say I was totally creeped out 😂.
You will question everything you know with the psychological horror themes that seep under your skin. There is some mystery and some emotional components that blend seamlessly into the overall genre,
I definitely recommend the read if you want to experience something that will stick with you for a while after you’re done reading.
Thank you to Rising Action Publishing #partner for the #gifted copy!
Publishes on: September 16th
May 4, 2025
4.25 stars - thank you to the author for an early copy!
Publishes September 16th
This book’s vibe kind of reminded me of the woman in the window mixed with the last house on needless street but not necessarily for the reasons you’d suspect. A shut-in character struggling mentally and an outside situation forcing her to face her own demons. I could absolutely see this as an A24 film.
It was haunting, weird, confusing in an intriguing way, and filled with devastating grief and loss. A fever dream of a story with an unreliable narrator and I definitely recommend.
Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjArKM8P/
Publishes September 16th
This book’s vibe kind of reminded me of the woman in the window mixed with the last house on needless street but not necessarily for the reasons you’d suspect. A shut-in character struggling mentally and an outside situation forcing her to face her own demons. I could absolutely see this as an A24 film.
It was haunting, weird, confusing in an intriguing way, and filled with devastating grief and loss. A fever dream of a story with an unreliable narrator and I definitely recommend.
Video review: https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZTjArKM8P/
Read
September 19, 2025DNF @ 33%
Okay I think if I stuck with this it would have given me some kind of crazy twist but bitch there’s only so much delusion I can take.
The woman is crazy. She just runs barefoot through her garden while hallucinating talking to children and eating insects.
Her husband Liam is sus. I’m sorry but if my wife made meatloaf 2x in a row bc she doesn’t know what day it is, I would throw a table too. So, is he really wrong? Idk.
Okay I think if I stuck with this it would have given me some kind of crazy twist but bitch there’s only so much delusion I can take.
The woman is crazy. She just runs barefoot through her garden while hallucinating talking to children and eating insects.
Her husband Liam is sus. I’m sorry but if my wife made meatloaf 2x in a row bc she doesn’t know what day it is, I would throw a table too. So, is he really wrong? Idk.
May 28, 2025
This book feels like a fever dream you can’t tell what’s real or fake throughout the entirety of this book and you are left confused in a good way. The devastating grief Willow goes through is truly horrifying even though I knew where all the craziness was heading I did not expect the last few pages, those really surprised me.
Willow's life is a constant loop of controlled existence, marked by the strict rules of her husband Liam and the unsettling nature of her surroundings. Her only connection to the outside world is a young girl named Sarah, whose visits to Willow's garden offer a glimmer of hope. However, as cracks appear in Willow's reality, sinister truths begin to surface, revealing haunting messages on the walls and a malevolent presence within her house. When Sarah suddenly disappears, Willow is forced to confront her past and the dark secrets that threaten to consume her. The central question is whether Willow is a prisoner of her home or of her own fractured psyche
Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
Publication date : Sep 16, 2025
Willow's life is a constant loop of controlled existence, marked by the strict rules of her husband Liam and the unsettling nature of her surroundings. Her only connection to the outside world is a young girl named Sarah, whose visits to Willow's garden offer a glimmer of hope. However, as cracks appear in Willow's reality, sinister truths begin to surface, revealing haunting messages on the walls and a malevolent presence within her house. When Sarah suddenly disappears, Willow is forced to confront her past and the dark secrets that threaten to consume her. The central question is whether Willow is a prisoner of her home or of her own fractured psyche
Thank you NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co for the ARC in exchange for my honest review
Publication date : Sep 16, 2025
September 9, 2025
Thank you to NetGalley and Rising Action Publishing Co. for providing an ARC of Bad Things Happened in This Room by Marie Still in exchange for honest feedback.
I usually enjoy stories where the main character is potentially spiraling into madness, but this one just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The first quarter of the book was more confusing than mysterious or haunting - I spent way too much time just trying to piece together what was actually happening, which made it difficult to connect with the characters or feel invested early on.
By about the 40% mark, I had a strong suspicion that the ending was heading toward Shutter Island vibes. The middle stretch felt repetitive, just circling the same beat over and over until the very last few chapters when the twist landed and simply confirmed my theory.
While the premise was intriguing, the execution left me wanting better pacing and a little more excitement and surprise.
I usually enjoy stories where the main character is potentially spiraling into madness, but this one just didn’t quite hit the mark for me. The first quarter of the book was more confusing than mysterious or haunting - I spent way too much time just trying to piece together what was actually happening, which made it difficult to connect with the characters or feel invested early on.
By about the 40% mark, I had a strong suspicion that the ending was heading toward Shutter Island vibes. The middle stretch felt repetitive, just circling the same beat over and over until the very last few chapters when the twist landed and simply confirmed my theory.
While the premise was intriguing, the execution left me wanting better pacing and a little more excitement and surprise.
October 2, 2025
Reading this book felt like a fever dream steeped in grief. You sense from the start that something terrible has happened and you even have an idea of what it might be, but the details remain elusive. The haze is compounded by our deeply unreliable narrator, leaving you unsure of what’s real and what isn’t. The story tackles a heavy subject, making it an undeniably sad read. By the end, the truth comes into focus and all the loose threads are tied up.
I did have some issues, mainly that the story went on for too long and it could have been condensed. Still, this was a poignant psychological horror story that explored grief and guilt.
I did have some issues, mainly that the story went on for too long and it could have been condensed. Still, this was a poignant psychological horror story that explored grief and guilt.
October 29, 2025
Bad Things Happened in This Room honestly felt like a fever dream. Half the time I didn’t know what was real and what was imagined and by the end I was still kind of confused about what actually happened. I went into this expecting something dark and scary, but it’s really not that at all. It’s more sad and heavy than anything and deals with loss and postpartum depression. Overall it was okay but just not for me.
April 15, 2025
Holy paranoia! This is a mind bending, fever dream of claustrophobia, confusion (in a good way) and a reality questioning story. Yes-all of it. When I first started reading it, I was so intrigued, a bit lost and immediately attached to Willow, our MC. Still gets you in her hooks and does not let go. I thought I knew where this was going but I was so wrong. The ending…oh my god. I had to sit for several minutes after, staring into space and contemplating the scenario. I am being vague on purpose because I don’t want to give spoilers. This is one you need to go into blind BUT please check triggers. I don’t usually say anything but the triggers in this can be extremely sensitive to some people. I’m shooketh!
November 22, 2025
"I am getting angry enough to do something desperate."
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wall-Paper
Bad Things Happened in This Room is a non-stop strange and disorienting nightmare. Gets old after the first third of the book.
Personally, I preferred the author's previous work: My Darlings. These are the only two Marie Still novels I've read and I would definitely consider reading more of her books.
Related Works: The Yellow Wall-Paper, The Wife Upstairs, Carrie, The Yellow Wallpaper: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Seminal Work on Gender and Mental Health, A House with Good Bones, The Once and Future Me
Favorite Passages:
This a psychological horror with dark themes and disturbing scenes.
Please note, if you prefer your horror not to contain elements of child loss, this may not be the book for you.
______
I'm constantly letting those mind-spiders in to weave their webs of paranoid thoughts.
_______
"Willow, love, have you been eating flowers again?"
_______
Where he sees filth, I see a trail of white pebbles, then a trail of breadcrumbs to help two children abandoned in the forest by their parents find their way home.
_______
I lower my chin to my chest and think of everything I'd like to do to him, most of which end with him buried in our backyard.
_______
A minute, an hour, a year passes. It's hard to tell. I'm not in my living room; I'm in my head in another life. Happy. Peaceful.
With them.
_______
Steam curls from the mug at our scarred kitchen table, where fragments of family dinners linger, phantom versions of ourselves visible only from the corner of one's eye. You must be paying attention, or you'll miss them.
_______
I used to move through the world solid, certain, whole. Now light passes through me like echoes of who we were, endlessly repeating our meals. Strange, how memory works: I can't recall when my skin became so translucent, but I do remember the weight of being unbreakable. Each day, I promise myself that I'll find myself again. Day after day after day, I fail.
Still lost in my thoughts, a glint of metal catches my eye. A knife left on the kitchen counter, its blade gleaming in the morning light. Like a moth to flame, I answer its calling, wrapping my fingers around the handle, savoring its weight in my palm. The silver has been polished to perfection. A distorted version of myself stares back from the blade.
Do it, my reflection mouths.
I nod because I understand. The doppelganger's head doesn't move. A sparkle dances in her eyes, but it could be the light reflecting off the metal.
_______
The dead can't speak, so I won't be able to answer. He'll step over my body, sprawled on the rust orange and must yellow floor, with my organs spilling from a gash opened by my own hands and pour himself a glass of water from the sink.
_______
Memories remain a flash in the corner of my eye and a whisper in my ear, a conversation down a hall too long for me to make out the words, a child's laugh from somewhere upstairs, phantom fingers strumming a guitar.
Disappointment sits heavy in my gut.
_______
"Your flowers look pretty today." Her voice is so high-pitched that it's a note in a song, hovering between ugly and beautiful.
_______
"Eat any more bugs today?" she asks.
_______
I've slept through the morning, my dreams haunted by visions of dying mother trees and decomposing forests.
_______
Routines seduce you, drawing you in until you're so comfortable that you move like a puppet controlled by invisible strings. The routine becomes the puppeteer, pulling you through each practiced motion.
Have my strings been snipped?
_______
Red drops fall into the bathtub one by one. Each crimson drip is a bud, as they hit the watery canvas, they bloom into painted flowers. More plops and the flowers are ruined, replaced by lazily spinning swirls.
I lift a hand to my nose, then take it away to study my blood-covered fingers.
_______
Someone, an earlier me, has been locked inside my mind. She's been rattling the chains that bind her, begging me to listen.
_______
Reality is always slipping through my fingers while I drown in details that don't matter.
_______
I push myself away from the door wearing the suit of flesh of that woman who I may or may not have been.
_______
The house is a memory keeper; this basement is its vault.
_______
Some truths deserve their chains.
_______
Face pressed against years of stories trapped in timber.
_______
The trees eat Sarah whole. One bite, and she's gone.
_______
I can no longer use my dreams as an excuse for my entire life.
_______
Orbs dance in front of my vision. A thick film coats my vision. The spiders have been walking around my skull again, weaving their sticky webs. Sneaking things in and stuffing them deep in the folds of my brain. The room smells of spices and earth. The walls speak in rushed tones.
- Charlotte Perkins Gilman, The Yellow Wall-Paper
Bad Things Happened in This Room is a non-stop strange and disorienting nightmare. Gets old after the first third of the book.
Personally, I preferred the author's previous work: My Darlings. These are the only two Marie Still novels I've read and I would definitely consider reading more of her books.
Related Works: The Yellow Wall-Paper, The Wife Upstairs, Carrie, The Yellow Wallpaper: Charlotte Perkins Gilman's Seminal Work on Gender and Mental Health, A House with Good Bones, The Once and Future Me
Favorite Passages:
This a psychological horror with dark themes and disturbing scenes.
Please note, if you prefer your horror not to contain elements of child loss, this may not be the book for you.
______
I'm constantly letting those mind-spiders in to weave their webs of paranoid thoughts.
_______
"Willow, love, have you been eating flowers again?"
_______
Where he sees filth, I see a trail of white pebbles, then a trail of breadcrumbs to help two children abandoned in the forest by their parents find their way home.
_______
I lower my chin to my chest and think of everything I'd like to do to him, most of which end with him buried in our backyard.
_______
A minute, an hour, a year passes. It's hard to tell. I'm not in my living room; I'm in my head in another life. Happy. Peaceful.
With them.
_______
Steam curls from the mug at our scarred kitchen table, where fragments of family dinners linger, phantom versions of ourselves visible only from the corner of one's eye. You must be paying attention, or you'll miss them.
_______
I used to move through the world solid, certain, whole. Now light passes through me like echoes of who we were, endlessly repeating our meals. Strange, how memory works: I can't recall when my skin became so translucent, but I do remember the weight of being unbreakable. Each day, I promise myself that I'll find myself again. Day after day after day, I fail.
Still lost in my thoughts, a glint of metal catches my eye. A knife left on the kitchen counter, its blade gleaming in the morning light. Like a moth to flame, I answer its calling, wrapping my fingers around the handle, savoring its weight in my palm. The silver has been polished to perfection. A distorted version of myself stares back from the blade.
Do it, my reflection mouths.
I nod because I understand. The doppelganger's head doesn't move. A sparkle dances in her eyes, but it could be the light reflecting off the metal.
_______
The dead can't speak, so I won't be able to answer. He'll step over my body, sprawled on the rust orange and must yellow floor, with my organs spilling from a gash opened by my own hands and pour himself a glass of water from the sink.
_______
Memories remain a flash in the corner of my eye and a whisper in my ear, a conversation down a hall too long for me to make out the words, a child's laugh from somewhere upstairs, phantom fingers strumming a guitar.
Disappointment sits heavy in my gut.
_______
"Your flowers look pretty today." Her voice is so high-pitched that it's a note in a song, hovering between ugly and beautiful.
_______
"Eat any more bugs today?" she asks.
_______
I've slept through the morning, my dreams haunted by visions of dying mother trees and decomposing forests.
_______
Routines seduce you, drawing you in until you're so comfortable that you move like a puppet controlled by invisible strings. The routine becomes the puppeteer, pulling you through each practiced motion.
Have my strings been snipped?
_______
Red drops fall into the bathtub one by one. Each crimson drip is a bud, as they hit the watery canvas, they bloom into painted flowers. More plops and the flowers are ruined, replaced by lazily spinning swirls.
I lift a hand to my nose, then take it away to study my blood-covered fingers.
_______
Someone, an earlier me, has been locked inside my mind. She's been rattling the chains that bind her, begging me to listen.
_______
Reality is always slipping through my fingers while I drown in details that don't matter.
_______
I push myself away from the door wearing the suit of flesh of that woman who I may or may not have been.
_______
The house is a memory keeper; this basement is its vault.
_______
Some truths deserve their chains.
_______
Face pressed against years of stories trapped in timber.
_______
The trees eat Sarah whole. One bite, and she's gone.
_______
I can no longer use my dreams as an excuse for my entire life.
_______
Orbs dance in front of my vision. A thick film coats my vision. The spiders have been walking around my skull again, weaving their sticky webs. Sneaking things in and stuffing them deep in the folds of my brain. The room smells of spices and earth. The walls speak in rushed tones.
October 15, 2025
I could see giving this a (generous) 2 stars as a “Yellow Wallpaper” ripoff but noooo. Are people using the DSM as a creative writing prompt generator?! Picking a disorder at random and then coming up with a whole story based on the name alone? There was so much actively harmful misinformation. I should have bailed, but I was convinced the author was going to pull off this brilliant eleventh hour meta subversion (spoiler: she did the opposite).
January 20, 2025
A deliciously unhinged story that keeps you guessing at every turn. This dark and gripping fever dream written with Still's intense prose and vivid imagery will have you questioning your own sanity as you try to untangle the real from the impossible.
September 28, 2025
Bad Things Happened in This Room by Marie Still was my very first introduction to this author, and I’m so glad I picked up this book!
From the very first page I was completely hooked, and it never let me go. Marie’s writing style is detailed, immersive, and keeps you gripped with exactly what you don’t yet know and can’t quite figure out. This is psychological horror at its best.
The story is told entirely from Willow’s perspective, which makes the reading experience incredibly intense. She is such a well-crafted character: everything she thinks, feels, and goes through hits hard. Her emotions, her delusions, her fears—you feel it all. The combination of her thoughts and the grim storyline made this book claustrophobic and suffocating in the best way. I simply couldn’t stop reading; every page pulled me deeper in. You start questioning what you’re reading, and for me, that was such a brilliant experience.
Towards the end, the pace picks up significantly, with twists and turns coming one after another. The plot twist hit me like a bomb—I was left reading with my mouth wide open, while at the same time my heart broke into pieces from both horror and sorrow. The epilogue literally gave me chills. What an incredible and dark conclusion!
This book was an intense and unforgettable reading experience. It grabs you by the throat and never lets go. I definitely want to read more from Marie!
One small note: I would recommend checking the trigger warnings beforehand, because this story is heavy and it really gets under your skin. But if you love dark, psychological horror that cuts straight to the bone, this is an absolute must-read.
From the very first page I was completely hooked, and it never let me go. Marie’s writing style is detailed, immersive, and keeps you gripped with exactly what you don’t yet know and can’t quite figure out. This is psychological horror at its best.
The story is told entirely from Willow’s perspective, which makes the reading experience incredibly intense. She is such a well-crafted character: everything she thinks, feels, and goes through hits hard. Her emotions, her delusions, her fears—you feel it all. The combination of her thoughts and the grim storyline made this book claustrophobic and suffocating in the best way. I simply couldn’t stop reading; every page pulled me deeper in. You start questioning what you’re reading, and for me, that was such a brilliant experience.
Towards the end, the pace picks up significantly, with twists and turns coming one after another. The plot twist hit me like a bomb—I was left reading with my mouth wide open, while at the same time my heart broke into pieces from both horror and sorrow. The epilogue literally gave me chills. What an incredible and dark conclusion!
This book was an intense and unforgettable reading experience. It grabs you by the throat and never lets go. I definitely want to read more from Marie!
One small note: I would recommend checking the trigger warnings beforehand, because this story is heavy and it really gets under your skin. But if you love dark, psychological horror that cuts straight to the bone, this is an absolute must-read.
September 8, 2025
BAD THINGS HAPPENED IN THIS ROOM by @mariestillwrites
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ARC review • pub date 09.23.25
I admit…. I’m not a big horror fan, but ‘tis the (spooky 👻) season, and I LOVED her last book - My Darlings - so you bet I applied for an ARC of her newest book & I’m so thankful for my signed copy!
Willow is trapped in a house where secrets are buried just beneath the grass and the walls whisper to her. She is stuck halfway between reality and delusion. Is she held captive by her husband Liam, or by the darkness of her own mind? Her only friend is a young girl named Sarah, who visit’s Willow’s garden occasionally. Cracks start to form in the floral wallpaper of her home, and haunting messages are revealed — Sarah suddenly vanishes and Willow must face the darkness alone.
This book is deep & dark and you need to go into it with the mindset that everything is not how it seems. It felt a bit repetitive at first, but I urge you to stick with the story because everything comes together at the end. It’s truly a heartbreaking story 💔 Marie Still put her heart and soul into this one!!
Add to your spooky tbr immediately 🖤
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
ARC review • pub date 09.23.25
I admit…. I’m not a big horror fan, but ‘tis the (spooky 👻) season, and I LOVED her last book - My Darlings - so you bet I applied for an ARC of her newest book & I’m so thankful for my signed copy!
Willow is trapped in a house where secrets are buried just beneath the grass and the walls whisper to her. She is stuck halfway between reality and delusion. Is she held captive by her husband Liam, or by the darkness of her own mind? Her only friend is a young girl named Sarah, who visit’s Willow’s garden occasionally. Cracks start to form in the floral wallpaper of her home, and haunting messages are revealed — Sarah suddenly vanishes and Willow must face the darkness alone.
This book is deep & dark and you need to go into it with the mindset that everything is not how it seems. It felt a bit repetitive at first, but I urge you to stick with the story because everything comes together at the end. It’s truly a heartbreaking story 💔 Marie Still put her heart and soul into this one!!
Add to your spooky tbr immediately 🖤
September 22, 2025
WOW. It's been a long time since a book fucked with me like this. I may have ditched work this afternoon to finish reading because I couldn't get these characters out of my head. It was driving me crazy!
Willows character was SO. WELL. DONE. I was slapped in the face with so many different emotions.
I do not have the words to describe just how much I loved this book. The ending made my jaw drop!
Bad Things Happened In This Room is unhinged and highly entertaining.
Absolutely blown away by Marie Stills writing. For me, this is her best book yet!
My thanks to Rising Action for this gifted copy.
Willows character was SO. WELL. DONE. I was slapped in the face with so many different emotions.
I do not have the words to describe just how much I loved this book. The ending made my jaw drop!
Bad Things Happened In This Room is unhinged and highly entertaining.
Absolutely blown away by Marie Stills writing. For me, this is her best book yet!
My thanks to Rising Action for this gifted copy.
August 25, 2025
4.5 ⭐rounded to 5
Oh my word! What an absolute psychological nightmare this was! I felt trapped and anxiety rising whilst reading it and I couldn’t work out what was happening until the end.
As this book is full of twists and purposely confusing events, I won’t comment too much on the storyline, but rest assured that you will feel the same feeling of disorientation as the main character, whilst she tries to piece together her fragmented memory in what feels a nightmarish ground hog day, although when the days do change, it’s not always with a positive outcome.
I absolutely loved the way this book made me feel and I commend the writer’s skills, being able to evoke such an authentic feeling of dread with expressions like “The spiders have been walking around my skull again, weaving their sticky webs. Sneaking things in and stuffing them deep in the folds of my brain”.
I did feel the spiders running in the main character skull and mine, muddying thoughts and memories.
And keeping up with the story, the ending is such a perfect culmination of dread that leaves the reader astonished, hopeless and anguished.
Please check the trigger warnings as there are several.
Thanks to the author and NetGalley for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
Oh my word! What an absolute psychological nightmare this was! I felt trapped and anxiety rising whilst reading it and I couldn’t work out what was happening until the end.
As this book is full of twists and purposely confusing events, I won’t comment too much on the storyline, but rest assured that you will feel the same feeling of disorientation as the main character, whilst she tries to piece together her fragmented memory in what feels a nightmarish ground hog day, although when the days do change, it’s not always with a positive outcome.
I absolutely loved the way this book made me feel and I commend the writer’s skills, being able to evoke such an authentic feeling of dread with expressions like “The spiders have been walking around my skull again, weaving their sticky webs. Sneaking things in and stuffing them deep in the folds of my brain”.
I did feel the spiders running in the main character skull and mine, muddying thoughts and memories.
And keeping up with the story, the ending is such a perfect culmination of dread that leaves the reader astonished, hopeless and anguished.
Please check the trigger warnings as there are several.
Thanks to the author and NetGalley for a copy and this is my honest opinion.
October 9, 2025
Sad, confusing, weird. It was a spiralling, surreal nightmare of a read and I kind of guessed at the ending, so that helped me put the events into better perspective.
Not a huge fan of grief horror or unreliable narrators, but that’s just my opinion. Horrifying in a tragic and depressing way.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Rising Action for a copy!
Not a huge fan of grief horror or unreliable narrators, but that’s just my opinion. Horrifying in a tragic and depressing way.
Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Rising Action for a copy!
September 4, 2025
3.5⭐️ idk!?? this was weird. wanted more from the ending because the book seemed to go in circles so much during the middle. thanks netgalley for an early arc!
September 18, 2025
Marie Still's Bad Things Happened in This Room emerges as a devastating psychological horror that transcends the boundaries of genre fiction to become something far more profound—a haunting meditation on grief, maternal loss, and the terrifying fragility of the human mind. This latest offering from the author of We're All Lying and My Darlings represents Still's most ambitious and emotionally complex work to date, delivering a narrative that burrows deep beneath the skin and refuses to let go.
The novel follows Willow Hawthorne, trapped within the confines of her own home and mind, where reality bleeds into delusion like watercolors in rain. Still crafts a protagonist whose unreliable narration becomes both the story's greatest strength and its most unsettling element, forcing readers to navigate a labyrinth of truth and fiction alongside a woman whose grip on reality has been systematically eroded by unimaginable loss.
The Architecture of Psychological Terror
Still's mastery lies in her ability to transform the domestic space into something genuinely menacing. The house itself becomes a character—breathing, whispering, bleeding with secrets. The floral wallpaper that Willow obsessively studies serves as both metaphor and catalyst, its thorny vines literally and figuratively ensnaring the protagonist. Still's prose here is particularly luminous, describing how the pattern "comes alive" and wraps around Willow until she becomes "the light, and the water, and the carbon dioxide keeping the wall flowers alive."
The garden, ostensibly a place of beauty and growth, reveals itself as something far more sinister. Still's handling of this space is masterful—each flower planted becomes a grave marker, each bloom a memorial to loss. The author demonstrates remarkable restraint in revealing the garden's true nature, allowing dread to accumulate like soil over buried secrets.
Three Pillars of Terror
Temporal Displacement: Time becomes elastic and unreliable, with Willow losing entire days or experiencing the same moments repeatedly
Gaslighting Dynamics: The systematic erosion of Willow's reality through manipulation and control
Maternal Horror: The devastating exploration of pregnancy loss and its psychological aftermath
Character Development Through Fragmentation
Willow Hawthorne stands as one of the most compelling unreliable narrators in recent horror fiction. Still presents her not as a simple victim or villain, but as a complex woman whose reality has been shattered by repeated trauma. The introduction of Sarah, the neighboring girl who visits Willow's garden, provides moments of genuine warmth that make the eventual revelations all the more devastating.
Liam's character functions as both husband and monster, shifting between caring partner and sinister manipulator in ways that keep readers constantly questioning what is real. Still's portrayal of domestic abuse is particularly nuanced, showing how psychological manipulation can blur the lines between protection and imprisonment.
The Literary Ancestry of Feminine Horror
Still consciously places her work within the tradition of feminine psychological horror, directly referencing Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" as an epigraph. This connection is more than mere homage—it establishes a literary lineage that includes works like Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" and more contemporary offerings like Carmen Maria Machado's "Her Body and Other Parties."
The floral wallpaper becomes Still's yellow wallpaper, a visual manifestation of psychological deterioration. However, where Gilman's narrator finds liberation in madness, Still's Willow finds only deeper imprisonment. This inversion demonstrates Still's sophisticated understanding of the horror genre's evolution and her willingness to subvert reader expectations.
Prose Style and Atmospheric Construction
Still's writing exhibits a poetic quality that elevates the material beyond standard genre boundaries. Her descriptions of Willow's dissociative states are particularly powerful, using language that mirrors the protagonist's fractured mental state. Sentences fragment and flow like consciousness itself, creating an immersive reading experience that places readers directly inside Willow's deteriorating mind.
The author's handling of time and memory deserves special recognition. Past and present blend seamlessly, creating a narrative structure that mirrors trauma's impact on memory formation. This isn't merely stylistic flourish—it serves the story's thematic concerns about how grief can trap us in perpetual cycles of loss and remembrance.
Themes That Cut Deep
The Price of Maternal Loss
Still explores pregnancy loss with unflinching honesty, never diminishing the reality of this experience or treating it as merely plot device. Willow's multiple miscarriages are presented with devastating authenticity, showing how such losses can accumulate and compound over time. The garden serves as both memorial and prison, a place where grief takes physical form.
Isolation as Psychological Weapon
The novel examines how isolation can be weaponized, turning protection into imprisonment. Willow's confinement to the house begins as recovery but transforms into something more sinister. Still demonstrates how caring concern can mask controlling behavior, and how victims can become complicit in their own captivity.
Reality as Contested Territory
Perhaps most powerfully, the novel explores how reality itself can become a battleground. When memory fails and perception proves unreliable, what constitutes truth? Still offers no easy answers, instead inviting readers to question their own assumptions about reliability and trust.
Minor Criticisms in Service of Greater Praise
While Bad Things Happened in This Room succeeds magnificently in most regards, some elements feel occasionally heavy-handed. The revelation of certain plot points relies perhaps too heavily on dramatic irony, and some of the more surreal sequences, while atmospherically effective, sometimes feel disconnected from the story's emotional core.
Additionally, the novel's ending, while thematically appropriate, may frustrate readers seeking more definitive closure. However, this ambiguity serves the story's exploration of fractured reality and may be precisely the point Still intends to make.
Final Verdict: A Garden Worth Entering
Bad Things Happened in This Room stands as Marie Still's finest achievement to date—a work that uses horror's familiar trappings to explore profound questions about grief, reality, and the limits of human endurance. The novel succeeds both as genre entertainment and literary exploration, offering readers a deeply unsettling experience that lingers long after the final page.
Still has crafted something genuinely special here: a psychological horror that respects both its characters and readers, never exploiting trauma for mere shock value but instead using it to illuminate deeper truths about human suffering and resilience. This is horror at its most meaningful—not content merely to frighten, but determined to understand what makes us afraid and why.
For readers willing to tend this particular garden, Bad Things Happened in This Room offers rewards that bloom dark and beautiful, rooted in soil rich with authentic human emotion. Just remember: some flowers are worth the thorns, and some truths are worth the terror of discovery.
The novel follows Willow Hawthorne, trapped within the confines of her own home and mind, where reality bleeds into delusion like watercolors in rain. Still crafts a protagonist whose unreliable narration becomes both the story's greatest strength and its most unsettling element, forcing readers to navigate a labyrinth of truth and fiction alongside a woman whose grip on reality has been systematically eroded by unimaginable loss.
The Architecture of Psychological Terror
Still's mastery lies in her ability to transform the domestic space into something genuinely menacing. The house itself becomes a character—breathing, whispering, bleeding with secrets. The floral wallpaper that Willow obsessively studies serves as both metaphor and catalyst, its thorny vines literally and figuratively ensnaring the protagonist. Still's prose here is particularly luminous, describing how the pattern "comes alive" and wraps around Willow until she becomes "the light, and the water, and the carbon dioxide keeping the wall flowers alive."
The garden, ostensibly a place of beauty and growth, reveals itself as something far more sinister. Still's handling of this space is masterful—each flower planted becomes a grave marker, each bloom a memorial to loss. The author demonstrates remarkable restraint in revealing the garden's true nature, allowing dread to accumulate like soil over buried secrets.
Three Pillars of Terror
Temporal Displacement: Time becomes elastic and unreliable, with Willow losing entire days or experiencing the same moments repeatedly
Gaslighting Dynamics: The systematic erosion of Willow's reality through manipulation and control
Maternal Horror: The devastating exploration of pregnancy loss and its psychological aftermath
Character Development Through Fragmentation
Willow Hawthorne stands as one of the most compelling unreliable narrators in recent horror fiction. Still presents her not as a simple victim or villain, but as a complex woman whose reality has been shattered by repeated trauma. The introduction of Sarah, the neighboring girl who visits Willow's garden, provides moments of genuine warmth that make the eventual revelations all the more devastating.
Liam's character functions as both husband and monster, shifting between caring partner and sinister manipulator in ways that keep readers constantly questioning what is real. Still's portrayal of domestic abuse is particularly nuanced, showing how psychological manipulation can blur the lines between protection and imprisonment.
The Literary Ancestry of Feminine Horror
Still consciously places her work within the tradition of feminine psychological horror, directly referencing Charlotte Perkins Gilman's "The Yellow Wallpaper" as an epigraph. This connection is more than mere homage—it establishes a literary lineage that includes works like Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House" and more contemporary offerings like Carmen Maria Machado's "Her Body and Other Parties."
The floral wallpaper becomes Still's yellow wallpaper, a visual manifestation of psychological deterioration. However, where Gilman's narrator finds liberation in madness, Still's Willow finds only deeper imprisonment. This inversion demonstrates Still's sophisticated understanding of the horror genre's evolution and her willingness to subvert reader expectations.
Prose Style and Atmospheric Construction
Still's writing exhibits a poetic quality that elevates the material beyond standard genre boundaries. Her descriptions of Willow's dissociative states are particularly powerful, using language that mirrors the protagonist's fractured mental state. Sentences fragment and flow like consciousness itself, creating an immersive reading experience that places readers directly inside Willow's deteriorating mind.
The author's handling of time and memory deserves special recognition. Past and present blend seamlessly, creating a narrative structure that mirrors trauma's impact on memory formation. This isn't merely stylistic flourish—it serves the story's thematic concerns about how grief can trap us in perpetual cycles of loss and remembrance.
Themes That Cut Deep
The Price of Maternal Loss
Still explores pregnancy loss with unflinching honesty, never diminishing the reality of this experience or treating it as merely plot device. Willow's multiple miscarriages are presented with devastating authenticity, showing how such losses can accumulate and compound over time. The garden serves as both memorial and prison, a place where grief takes physical form.
Isolation as Psychological Weapon
The novel examines how isolation can be weaponized, turning protection into imprisonment. Willow's confinement to the house begins as recovery but transforms into something more sinister. Still demonstrates how caring concern can mask controlling behavior, and how victims can become complicit in their own captivity.
Reality as Contested Territory
Perhaps most powerfully, the novel explores how reality itself can become a battleground. When memory fails and perception proves unreliable, what constitutes truth? Still offers no easy answers, instead inviting readers to question their own assumptions about reliability and trust.
Minor Criticisms in Service of Greater Praise
While Bad Things Happened in This Room succeeds magnificently in most regards, some elements feel occasionally heavy-handed. The revelation of certain plot points relies perhaps too heavily on dramatic irony, and some of the more surreal sequences, while atmospherically effective, sometimes feel disconnected from the story's emotional core.
Additionally, the novel's ending, while thematically appropriate, may frustrate readers seeking more definitive closure. However, this ambiguity serves the story's exploration of fractured reality and may be precisely the point Still intends to make.
Final Verdict: A Garden Worth Entering
Bad Things Happened in This Room stands as Marie Still's finest achievement to date—a work that uses horror's familiar trappings to explore profound questions about grief, reality, and the limits of human endurance. The novel succeeds both as genre entertainment and literary exploration, offering readers a deeply unsettling experience that lingers long after the final page.
Still has crafted something genuinely special here: a psychological horror that respects both its characters and readers, never exploiting trauma for mere shock value but instead using it to illuminate deeper truths about human suffering and resilience. This is horror at its most meaningful—not content merely to frighten, but determined to understand what makes us afraid and why.
For readers willing to tend this particular garden, Bad Things Happened in This Room offers rewards that bloom dark and beautiful, rooted in soil rich with authentic human emotion. Just remember: some flowers are worth the thorns, and some truths are worth the terror of discovery.
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