Rating: 3.5 out of 5⭐️
Title: Twelve Nights at Rotter House
Author: J.W. Ocker, Narrated by Matt Godfrey
Published: 2019 (Turner, Audible Audio: Highbridge)
Duration: 7 hrs 47 min
Genres: Horror, Fiction, Paranormal, Mystery, Haunted House
CW: supernatural, murder, violence, sexual references, crime
Goodreads 2021 Reading Challenge: 5/52
Link Here

Hi all, this is my second review in one week! I’m really catching up on my reading. But this week I did something different – I devoured this one as an AUDIOBOOK. And I do not normally listen to audiobooks. Since my commute to work has become longer, I thought this was a good time to start getting into audiobooks again. I definitely prefer cold and hard physical paperbacks or hardcover books over audiobooks any day. And for the longest time, I said I would not listen to audiobooks. But I decided to give audiobooks a fair chance. I’m hoping they grow on me. Maybe you will (hopefully) see me talk about them more often in the future. Anyways, I’m glad one of the first ones I’ve listened to in a long time was this spooky book. This week I finished the horror fiction book, Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J.W. Ocker. I’ve been wanting to read this one for a long time, and I’m glad I finally took the leap to read it.

“Because you trust your house, right? It’s your house. It protects you from the world and, even more important, all the people out there. It sees you naked every day. It knows your sins. It’s the only place where you are your true self. So when that gets corrupted, when that becomes haunted, that’s terrifying” – J.W. Ocker, Twelve Nights at Rotter House

This is the first book I have read by Ocker, and I was not disappointed. Twelve Nights at Rotter House follows travel writer Felix Allsey as he gains access to the supposedly haunted and eerie Rotterdam Mansion, or Rotter House as most call it. In order to boost his writing career and maybe write a book, Felix decides to lock himself in the famous house with a past or Rotterdam Mansion for 13 nights. Felix’s rules are that he must stay in the house the entire time, and sleep during the day and only be awake at night to witness the supposed happenings that go bump in the night. Soon, his best friend Thomas Ruth joins Felix during this paranormal journey. The reader gets to know Felix and Thomas, and the rift that had occurred between them that still affects their friendship. And to this moment, I’m still questioning parts of this fairly wide-spread narrative even though event-wise not a lot happens.

First of all, I loved the conversation and banter between Felix and Thomas. The conversations were honestly one of my favorite parts of this book. Ocker does a wonderful job highlighting the important plot points through their conversations, and keeping the characters seem like relatable persons. The conversations were suspenseful but pretty tame, except for the occasional disturbing twist thrown here and there into the dialogue. The content of this book became pretty dark at a few parts so I do not recommend this one if you’re unsure about horror books in general. The climax though was not as astounding or as masterfully timed as it could have been. The final twist was not very inspired or original, and that would have been fine, but only if the timing was just a bit different. This is definitely a book where I enjoyed the journey more than the destination/ending.

Why should you read this book? If you like suspenseful, haunted house books with witty characters and dialogue, this is the book for you. Honestly, any horror fan should give this book a chance at least. It is one of the better haunted house books I’ve read in a while.

I give this one a 3.5 out of 5!

_Elizabeth

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