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** I received an ARC for an honest review **
Description
Every suburban street holds secrets and ghosts, but Summerland Place holds more than most. The team from The Red Mullet Hair Salon head to Summerland Place to explore the abandoned houses there, on a prepaid, enter at own risk, explore every nook and cranny team building exercise. They are welcomed by the charismatic Milton, who runs the tours through the cul-de-sac he grew up in. They find houses filled with malevolent ghosts and tragic ones, with memories of family trauma and family meals. All come out changed by what they see, and what it triggers in them. Some will be lost in Summertime, a euphoric state of mind. Georgia, owner of the Salon, thinks she is stronger than any of it. She has no past trauma, no secrets; some would say no heart. She didn’t expect to fall in love. Every instinct tells her not to. And yet she is drawn into the disturbing world of Milton and his mother, as she feels the seductive draw of Summertime ever stronger.
Summary
I recently read the new release Going to Summertime by Australian horror author Kaaron Warren.
Review
Going to Summertime is a dark and unsettling horror novella, skillfully transforming an ordinary suburban setting into a nightmare of ghosts, buried secrets creating a sense of unease that grows stronger during the book.
Warren blends supernatural horror, family trauma, sense of identity into a dream-like quality leading to seductive confrontation of the past. Set within an abandoned cul-de-sac where every house holds its own disturbing history and ghosts, Warren examines when curiosity leads people to never truly escape the past or their own ghosts.
Warren delivers a deeply unsettling piece of Australian horror that turns the familiar suburban landscape into something sinister and unpredictable. This novella demonstrates effectively how ordinary places become frightening, exposing their histories, transforming abandoned houses into repositories for grief, violence and suffering.
One of the novella’s greatest strengths is its central premise. The idea of a team-building exercise involving the exploration of supposedly haunted houses is both unusual and immediately intriguing. The protagonist, Georgia is an interesting focal point for the novella. Her confidence in her own emotional resilience is a good contrast with the vulnerability of the other women she works with but her growing attraction to Milton introduces a layer of unease and unsettling realities as she is drawn deeper into the mysteries of Summerland Place. Here, what began as an unconventional workplace bonding exercise, gradually becomes something far more sinister as the characters discover Summerland Place offers much more than a collection of ghost stories.
The cul-de-sac of Summerland Place, offers an unconventional setting. The abandoned houses are particularly rich and effectively used. Each house has its own atmosphere and history, so exposed that the supernatural elements connect clearly to the human experiences that have occurred within them and the ghosts are so real, the protagonist begins to struggle with what is the past and what is present. Warren creates vivid houses and graphically exposes their bones with the most disturbing revelations emerging from the ordinary domestic life and the secrets people leave behind.
Going to Summertime also explores the relationship between trauma and identity. The ghosts are not simply frightening apparitions but reminders of lives shaped by resentment, anger and unresolved histories. Warren uses these supernatural encounters to examine how the past always influences the present in ways people may not recognise until confronted by it. The tension between fear and attraction gives the story an unsettling psychological edge, where the most dangerous experiences are those we choose and willingly return to.
Conclusion
Going to Summertime is a dark, eerie atmospheric horror novella revealing unease in abandonment of homes, buried histories among characters, and the often uncomfortable past people carry with them. Kaaron Warren combines supernatural encounters with psychological disturbance to create a story that challenges the distinction between the ghosts of the past and the damage it can inflict on living.
A highly recommended read for those who enjoy Australian horror, haunted-house fiction, very unsettling psychological narratives, and the explore of the darker areas of human nature. A truly compelling and disturbing read. Highly recommended!
** This is my personal opinion and does not reflect any judging decisions **
