In this spine-tingling, atmospheric “nail-biter of a novel” (Shelf Awareness), a woman returns to her hometown after her childhood friend attempts suicide at an alleged haunted house—the same place where a traumatic incident shattered their lives twenty years ago.

Few in sleepy Sumner’s Mills have stumbled across the Octagon House hidden deep in the woods. Even fewer are brave enough to trespass. A man had killed his wife and two young daughters there, a shocking, gruesome crime that the sleepy upstate New York town tried to bury. One summer night, an emboldened fourteen-year-old Clare and her best friend, Abby, ventured into the Octagon House. Clare came out, but a piece of Abby never did.

Twenty years later, Clare receives word that Abby has attempted suicide at the Octagon House and now lies in a coma. With little to lose, Clare returns to her roots to uncover the darkness responsible for ruining their lives.

A “spellbinding horror story, where the terror comes not from ghosts, but from the haunted places we find within ourselves” (Elizabeth Brundage, author of The Vanishing Point), Beneath the Stairs is perfect for fans of Jennifer McMahon, Simone St. James, and Chris Bohjalian.

Jennifer Fawcett grew up in rural Eastern Ontario and spent many years in Canada making theatre before coming to the United States. She holds an MFA from the Iowa Playwrights Workshop. Her work has been published in Third Coast Magazine, Reunion: The Dallas Review, Storybrink, and in the anthology Long Story Short. She teaches writing at Skidmore College and lives in upstate New York with her husband and son.

Jennifer Fawcett's profile page

"Jennifer Fawcett's Beneath the Stairs had me from the very first page. Tense, surprising, and utterly gripping, I loved this book!"

Karen Dionne, author of international bestsellers The Marsh King's Daughter and The Wicked Sister

"A book I would easily recommend . . . it is monstrously engaging. I would describe it as a “beach read” for fans of horror — good to pick up and set back down, draws you back and makes you care, but doesn’t linger in the way some really disturbing horror does. Perhaps a reason for that is its relatively sunny ending, something rare in its genre. [Beneath the Stairs] different kind of horror novel — not one that is disturbing, but one that ends with catharsis and closure. It hurts you and scares you and holds you, but then lets you go. And sometimes, that is just the kind of novel you need."

The Michigan Daily

“A spell-binding horror story, where the terror comes not from ghosts, but from the haunted places we find within ourselves. A thoroughly engrossing and compulsive read.”

Elizabeth Brundage, author of The Vanishing Point

"Are you always on the lookout for a rich, mystery-riddled haunted house novel for grown-ups? Me too. Jennifer Fawcett's Beneath the Stairs is that book. A thrilling, thoughtful, character-driven crucible that reveals the ways childhood fear clings to us, shapes us, but can also show the one way out of our adult darkness."

Andrew Pyper, author of The Residence and The Demonologist

“In Beneath the Stairs, Jennifer Fawcett explores the lasting impact of childhood trauma in this metaphysical story about a house with buried secrets. An enthralling debut by a gifted storyteller!”

Wendy Walker, author of Don't Look for Me and All Is Not Forgotten

"Do not do what I did and read Beneath the Stairs in a house alone in the woods. It was creepy from the very first scene. Author Jennifer Fawcett makes an electrifying debut with her atmospheric story. Not only a ghost story, but it is also the exploration of friendships and those “lost to time,” girls trapped in childhood history, haunted by people and events."

The Montecito Journal

"A novel brimming with menace and secrets, a haunting story of friendship and old betrayal that I devoured in one sitting. Fawcett delves into the complicated ties of teen girls against the backdrop of a small town and a strange house’s sinister history. Atmospheric, cleverly constructed—the past meets the present in this gripping debut."

Karen Brown, author of The Clairvoyants and The Longings of Wayward Girls

"A poignant haunted house tale about guilt, grief, and the nightmares of adolescence that follow us into adulthood. Fawcett delivers genuine scares in this chilling, mesmerizing debut."

Rachel Harrison, author of The Return

"[Beneath the Stairs] reminds readers how easily a thought becomes a truth, how quickly a dream becomes a nightmare, and how unknowingly we ourselves can become haunted houses. . . . Fawcett’s debut is both incredibly suspenseful and immersive. A word of caution to readers: leave the light on."

Library Journal

"Beneath the Stairs is an audacious debut. With plotting as intricate and wild as the Hill House adaptation, it'll keep you guessing until the very end."

Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors