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Can a building be inherently evil? With every board, window, and brick that went into building The Williamson Hotel, nestled at the mouth of the Great Smoky Mountains, a dark being was forged. Some say the hotel is haunted, others swear it’s cursed, but nobody knows the truth.
When a team of paranormal debunkers is invited to The Williamson to spend the night and dispel the rumors of its haunting, they think it’s just another routine job. Huntleigh Graves and her friends have investigated many “haunted” locales around the southern United States and proved them all to be fakes. But they had no idea what they were getting into when they agreed to investigate The Williamson.
From the moment they arrive at The Williamson, the team knows something isn’t right. But what starts off as a simple investigation into the paranormal turns into eight hours of horror. Eight hours that not all of them will make it through alive.
Welcome to The Williamson Hotel. We hope you enjoy your stay. Because once you check-in, there is… No Check Out
When a team of paranormal debunkers is invited to The Williamson to spend the night and dispel the rumors of its haunting, they think it’s just another routine job. Huntleigh Graves and her friends have investigated many “haunted” locales around the southern United States and proved them all to be fakes. But they had no idea what they were getting into when they agreed to investigate The Williamson.
From the moment they arrive at The Williamson, the team knows something isn’t right. But what starts off as a simple investigation into the paranormal turns into eight hours of horror. Eight hours that not all of them will make it through alive.
Welcome to The Williamson Hotel. We hope you enjoy your stay. Because once you check-in, there is… No Check Out
205 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 13, 2022
4 people are currently reading
1619 people want to read
About the author
Taylor Fenner
12 books133 followersTAYLOR FENNER is the author of eleven Young Adult and New Adult novels and novellas. Her Young Adult Fantasy Retelling, CURSEBREAKER, was shortlisted for the 2017 Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction, and her standalone fantasy novel, MONSTERS & MIST, is a Literary Titan Silver Book Award Winner and was also shortlisted for the 2021 Ozma Award for Fantasy Fiction.
Taylor is a thirty-something-year-old book junkie who devours books in most genres, although she has a soft spot for thrillers and horror novels.
Taylor lives in Wisconsin with her escape artist cat, Houdini, and a British shorthair cat, Makita, who might have eaten her last owner. Besides writing, by night, Taylor works the night shift as a dispatcher in a possibly haunted police station. When not working on her next novel, you’ll find Taylor traveling or planning her next adventure, watching horror movies - she says classic horror is the best - reading or watching shows about creepy history, indulging in sugary coffee drinks, singing badly along to songs on Spotify in the car, and obsessively planning for Halloween starting in July (it’s never too early). You can follow Taylor on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.
Taylor is a thirty-something-year-old book junkie who devours books in most genres, although she has a soft spot for thrillers and horror novels.
Taylor lives in Wisconsin with her escape artist cat, Houdini, and a British shorthair cat, Makita, who might have eaten her last owner. Besides writing, by night, Taylor works the night shift as a dispatcher in a possibly haunted police station. When not working on her next novel, you’ll find Taylor traveling or planning her next adventure, watching horror movies - she says classic horror is the best - reading or watching shows about creepy history, indulging in sugary coffee drinks, singing badly along to songs on Spotify in the car, and obsessively planning for Halloween starting in July (it’s never too early). You can follow Taylor on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok.
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
January 28, 2023
First, don't read this at night unless you want to be scared and unable to sleep without thinking your house is going to try to hurt you, lol. This story was phenomenal. If you like AHS, The Shining, The Blair Witch Project, Ghost Hunters, or any found footage style then this is for you. LOVED THIS.
January 15, 2023
This was pretty different from what I normally read, but it was fun! Read it if you're a fan of ghost hunters (or debunkers, in this case) and haunted houses. It totally reminded me of AHS Hotel in a really cool way!
January 14, 2023
This book. Oml. I knew going in that Fenner was a talented writer but I was really excited to see how she would do horror.
And I'm so so glad I did! Fenner creates a thrilling tale that leaves you turning pages, dying to see who will survive; if anyone. I love the characters so very much and I was all aboard the ship that Fenner wove in subtly between all the horrors. Plus, the way the ending is written, the book could stand on its own or carry a sequel . . . which I would totally be down for, btw. ;)
If you like horror and creepy, sinister vibes? Read this. Like asap. xD
And I'm so so glad I did! Fenner creates a thrilling tale that leaves you turning pages, dying to see who will survive; if anyone. I love the characters so very much and I was all aboard the ship that Fenner wove in subtly between all the horrors. Plus, the way the ending is written, the book could stand on its own or carry a sequel . . . which I would totally be down for, btw. ;)
If you like horror and creepy, sinister vibes? Read this. Like asap. xD
March 20, 2023
This started off pretty strong. I liked the initial setup of a team investigating a supposedly haunted hotel. And I really liked the chapters from the hotel's point of view. I thought those were easily the most interesting and effective portions of the entire story. I liked how we know from the very first page whether the hotel is haunted or not. Many haunted house books have two hundred pages of creepy things happening and the characters don't know for sure what's going on. In this book, we the reader at least do know the truth.
It was annoying that the characters don't realize earlier on what's happening. Even after things start to go seriously wrong there's still debate between them about what's happening. They just read as stupid during these conversations. There are definitely some major editing issues, as well. My biggest complaint is the ending. This was incredibly unsatisfying and really brought down my rating for the book.
It was annoying that the characters don't realize earlier on what's happening. Even after things start to go seriously wrong there's still debate between them about what's happening. They just read as stupid during these conversations. There are definitely some major editing issues, as well. My biggest complaint is the ending. This was incredibly unsatisfying and really brought down my rating for the book.
July 2, 2023
I love stories about ghost hunting teams and this one was pretty good. Huntleigh and her crew set out to debunk hauntings and are invited to the Williamson hotel to investigate. Once there they start realizing that things aren't going to go the way they planned. There were some spooky moments and the characters and the backstory of the hotel were all done well.
December 28, 2023
This book reminded me of the Cecil Hotel a lot from the vibes it gave. It was a good book. I did appreciate the Mexican Gothic reference.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 20, 2023
This was such a fun short story to read! Not only do I love the backstory of the hotel being built entirely from recycled materials from buildings that were less than desirable themselves, but I was so impressed to find that the hotel in this story has a better backstory / character development than a LOT of other books. Better than some of this story's other characters actually, and there lies the one thing I didn't really like about it: the first two characters from the team that the hotel killed seemed a bit pointless, and their deaths also felt a bit pointless and rushed (the first death made sense, but the next one felt too fast). However, since it happened so fast and then the characters were gone... it wasn't too bad. I do also realize that this is a short story and only so much can be done. My favorite character by far was Orion and I was sad to see him die, though of course it was obvious from the beginning which character it would be that lived.
The ending of this story was also well done. It leaves open the possibility of more, either about the surviving character or about the hotel itself. On the other hand, there's no unanswered questions or disappointments if there's nothing further. If the author did decide to add another installment to the story, I wouldn't hesitate to read it.
On a final note, if you're worried about this being scary or a horror book, definitely don't be. It is about a "haunted" murder hotel, but it's not written in a scary way at all.
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
The ending of this story was also well done. It leaves open the possibility of more, either about the surviving character or about the hotel itself. On the other hand, there's no unanswered questions or disappointments if there's nothing further. If the author did decide to add another installment to the story, I wouldn't hesitate to read it.
On a final note, if you're worried about this being scary or a horror book, definitely don't be. It is about a "haunted" murder hotel, but it's not written in a scary way at all.
Note: I received this book for free through Goodreads Giveaways.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 9, 2025
Premise, great. POV of a different perspective love. The lore, amazing. length eh. Reading this I really enjoyed the POV from watching the characters to newspaper articles, to another very interesting one that you will have to read the book to find out who I'm talking about.
The main characters being part of a paranormal debunking team was very interesting since alot of time we get the "paranormal experts" usually. plus you find out why they are doing this. Now I felt like this could have been fleshed out a bit more. More of the hotels history and more of getting to know the characters so I could pick a favorite and have my fingers crossed that they survived. The parts that were from the mysterious pov and anything involving the history were most definitely my favorite parts. Just needs more of the main characters and who they are because I really didn't care much when they started going through the plot
The main characters being part of a paranormal debunking team was very interesting since alot of time we get the "paranormal experts" usually. plus you find out why they are doing this. Now I felt like this could have been fleshed out a bit more. More of the hotels history and more of getting to know the characters so I could pick a favorite and have my fingers crossed that they survived. The parts that were from the mysterious pov and anything involving the history were most definitely my favorite parts. Just needs more of the main characters and who they are because I really didn't care much when they started going through the plot
January 23, 2023
Not bad. It was a nice, simple and short horror story.
I couldn't really get into the characters, some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy and I thought reading from the point of view of the hotel was a bit silly.
However, the story did keep me interested enough to continue reading. I did want to find out the final outcome of these characters. The addition of the hotel's history/past was a nice touch and I did like its ability to puppeteer corpses.
Overall, if you go into this like you're about to watch one of those cheap horror movies Blumhouse pushes out frequently, you might enjoy this.
I couldn't really get into the characters, some of the dialogue was a bit cheesy and I thought reading from the point of view of the hotel was a bit silly.
However, the story did keep me interested enough to continue reading. I did want to find out the final outcome of these characters. The addition of the hotel's history/past was a nice touch and I did like its ability to puppeteer corpses.
Overall, if you go into this like you're about to watch one of those cheap horror movies Blumhouse pushes out frequently, you might enjoy this.
February 9, 2023
I won the kindle version in a Goodreads giveaway. No Check Out is not a haunted house story. It's a being haunted by a house story. The story has been played out before. Skeptics arrive to a haunted site, and weird stuff happens, etc. But it creeped me out anyway, and I binge read it in a sitting. I loved the Great Smoky Mountains setting and the nods to some famous Tennessee haunted lore. Also, the premise of the hotel being built by repurposed materials from tainted sites is spooky. Overall, it was a fun way to kill an evening at home.
October 12, 2024
(3.5 rounded up) This book was a fun ride. Fast-paced, good horror and a fun format of mixing online content, found footage and the story itself. There was descriptive body horror, classic ghost, possession, dark entities and more. I enjoyed the paranormal show plot device and thought it worked well.
However the haunted hotel is its own character and point of view and it moves in different tenses and at some points seems to have knowledge of things that happen outside of the hotel which didn’t make sense. Without that piece I think this would have been nearly a 5 star read!
However the haunted hotel is its own character and point of view and it moves in different tenses and at some points seems to have knowledge of things that happen outside of the hotel which didn’t make sense. Without that piece I think this would have been nearly a 5 star read!
January 27, 2023
I enjoyed this book for lots of reasons. It was giving Cecil Hotel vibes and AHS: Hotel vibes, which was cool to see confirmed in the Author Notes, that Taylor Fenner was inspired by the Cecil. Loved the take on a paranormal investigation team traveling to and experiencing The Williamson, intermingled with interviews and reports from different sources like blog posts, interviews, videos, and archives of previous mysterious happenings. It was suspenseful and tense. Well done.
January 18, 2023
Not my normal genera to read but I absolutely adored the story!
It isn't your typical ghost story and I loved the twists and turns!
It's just scary enough to sate your horror tooth without creepy around your house at night to avoid spookies.
It isn't your typical ghost story and I loved the twists and turns!
It's just scary enough to sate your horror tooth without creepy around your house at night to avoid spookies.
January 24, 2023
Loved it.
The story of the Williamson was a great read. I loved how the conversation flowed. And I also love how the author bounced to the back story of certain parts to make for better understanding. I'll read more from you.
The story of the Williamson was a great read. I loved how the conversation flowed. And I also love how the author bounced to the back story of certain parts to make for better understanding. I'll read more from you.
February 8, 2023
I won a copy in a goodreads giveaway and this is an honest review.
I was hooked from the beginning and didn't want to put it down. It's a quick read and fun horror story. I felt the ending wasn't quite as strong as the rest of the book, but it was still an enjoyable read.
I was hooked from the beginning and didn't want to put it down. It's a quick read and fun horror story. I felt the ending wasn't quite as strong as the rest of the book, but it was still an enjoyable read.
December 13, 2025
This was pretty different from what I normally read, but it was fun! Read it if you're a fan of ghost hunters (or debunkers, in this case) and haunted houses. It totally reminded me of AHS Hotel in a really cool way!
January 18, 2023
Not what I usually read. But it sure grabs your attention
January 20, 2023
A good haunted house book. The Williamson is one bad b. A three-person paranormal investigation team goes to investigate and spooky stuff happens.
January 25, 2023
Was definitely an interesting book not scary but kinda makes you not want to stay in a hotel like this
February 12, 2023
It was not that great.
February 16, 2023
I loved this book! I couldn't put it down and read it in one night so I got no sleep! I will definitely be checking out this authors other books and would recommend this book to horror fans!
April 1, 2024
Everyone dies way too fast, in not very interesting ways, and talk about a dues ex machina at the end, and it's never even explained. Boo.
February 7, 2023
Things to take in mind while reading this book:
DON’T read it before going to bed
Make sure you know every creak in your house
Never read it alone
Read it on a bright sunny day
The characters……don’t become attached
Believe or don’t believe in the supernatural, your choice
If you can’t stand being frightened to death…..DON’T READ THIS BOOK!
100% Non-Heeby Jeeby Proof
DON’T read it before going to bed
Make sure you know every creak in your house
Never read it alone
Read it on a bright sunny day
The characters……don’t become attached
Believe or don’t believe in the supernatural, your choice
If you can’t stand being frightened to death…..DON’T READ THIS BOOK!
100% Non-Heeby Jeeby Proof
March 26, 2023
Like Rose Red, this 'haunted house' is more than just a building.. it's a nightmare. The kind that fans of dark, creepy, wicked things will enjoy.
So if you're looking for a quick, brutal, crazy sort of story to get lost in.. This will do it.
But be warned—there is no happy ending.
Like a haunting tale told around the campfire—the pace is fast, the atmosphere tense, and the potential for a really killer story is there.. and yet. A lot was packed into a short amount of time. Too much, perhaps, for any one thing to reach its potential. But it was a curiously compelling and creepy read and despite my low rating.. I will be looking forward to more from this author in the future.
So if you're looking for a quick, brutal, crazy sort of story to get lost in.. This will do it.
But be warned—there is no happy ending.
Like a haunting tale told around the campfire—the pace is fast, the atmosphere tense, and the potential for a really killer story is there.. and yet. A lot was packed into a short amount of time. Too much, perhaps, for any one thing to reach its potential. But it was a curiously compelling and creepy read and despite my low rating.. I will be looking forward to more from this author in the future.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews