Something Bad Happened Here | Zoe Rosi | Horror | Netgalley Audiobook Review

 

Are you a weekend binge reader or a slow chapter-by-chapter reader?

I’m definitely a slow weekend reader. I read a chapter… then take a snack break… then check my phone… then read another page and suddenly it’s time for tea again. By the time the weekend ends, I’ve made excellent progress — emotionally, not necessarily in page numbers. 📚😄

Name of Book: Something Bad Happened Here

Author: Zoe Rosi

Publisher: Xpresso Book Tours

Publication Date: Feb 17, 2026

No. of Hours: 3 Hours 50 Minutes

Narrator: Andy Stevenson

Format: Netgalley Audiobook

Lost and unmoored after her mother’s death, Carmen drifts from place to place. Moving from one Airbnb to the next, she is a ghost in the towns she passes through—an outsider, never quite belonging.

With her inheritance dwindling away, and determined to stop drifting, Carmen decides it’s time to settle. Time to buy a little house, close the door, and try to rebuild her life.

When she finds a surprisingly cheap property on a nice street, Carmen thinks she’s struck gold, until the estate agent hesitates. The house has a history, she warns. Something unspeakable happened there. A murder so brutal she can barely bring herself to describe it.

But Carmen isn’t easily spooked. The house wasn’t to blame. And a bargain is a bargain. Ghosts aren’t real. Hauntings are just superstition.

Yet, as Carmen turns her key in the lock, a thought haunts her:

What if she’s wrong?

What if walls really do remember?

My Opinion

Something Bad Happened Here by Zoe Rosi is a haunted house story that unfortunately fails to create the eerie atmosphere expected from the genre. I have previously read this author and really enjoyed her work, but this book did not live up to my expectations. The main character, Carmen, often sounded more unintentionally funny than truly devastated, which weakened the emotional impact of the story. Moments that were supposed to feel terrifying ended up feeling odd or even humorous. The suspense never fully builds, and the tension feels inconsistent throughout. The climax also could have been stronger, as it arrives suddenly and feels somewhat abrupt and underdeveloped.

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