Turn Off the Light - by Jacquie Walters (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

Two women living centuries apart are bound by the same dark secret in this haunting novel that "upends everything you think you know about ghost stories" (Jennifer McMahon, author of The Winter People).

"A delightful twist on both the haunted-house and beach-read genres." --Carissa Orlando, author of The September House

The Devil enters through doors left open...

On the isolated Eastern Shore of Virginia, Edith is a healer, a woman of knowledge--and a woman watched. Shadows move where they shouldn't. Whispers creep through the dark. Terrified she has opened her home to the Devil, Edith makes a desperate choice.

Claire doesn't believe in ghosts--until she returns home to care for her dying father and finds her childhood house... listening. As one sleepless night bleeds into the next, she becomes convinced something is stirring beneath the floorboards. Something that has waited a long time to rise.

Is the house haunted? What compels this lurking darkness? As the danger mounts, Edith and Claire will discover they'll need each other to survive. But they are separated by four hundred years. And time is running out for them both.

Review Quotes

"Edith's sections are vivid and full of mystery . . . [and] readers will acutely feel how well Walters captures the reality of Claire caregiving for an elderly parent while also raising a young daughter. Recommended for fans of supernatural horror."--Booklist

"Atmospheric, suspenseful, and so well written. I've never read a thriller quite like this before."--Hildur Knútsdóttir, author of The Night Guest

"A delightful twist on both the haunted house and beach-read genres, Turn Off The Light will keep you guessing, turning pages, and cheering on the heroines until the very end!"--Carissa Orlando, author of The September House

"A wonderfully written thriller."--Daisy Pearce, author of Something in the Walls

"After her phenomenal debut Dearest, Walters delivers a visceral horror that weaves two timelines four hundred years apart into one stunning, unexpected collision. The scares hit hard, but it's the threads of humor, womanhood, and fierce female friendship that make this unforgettable."--C. J. Cooke, author of The Last Witch

"Dark, smart, and hypnotic, Walters' sophomore novel is its own kind of enchantment. Turn Off the Light slips between centuries with the assurance of a writer in full command, from a contemporary haunting to a 1600s witchy fever dream. A spiritual successor to The Haunting of Hill House, it delivers that same slow-creeping dread that nestles right under your skin. If garbage disposals didn't scare you before, they're about to."--Stephanie Wrobel, author of The Hitchcock Hotel

"Part thriller, part supernatural tale, Turn Off the Light upends everything you think you know about ghost stories. Jacquie Walters shows us how the past, present and future are entwined, how a house can hold memories, and how it's possible for two women, centuries apart, to save each other. A haunting and unforgettable read!"--Jennifer McMahon, author of My Darling Girl

"A fast-paced and frightening debut that explores the nightmares of new motherhood, with plenty of twists and scares."--Rachel Harrison, bestselling author of Black Sheep

"A raw and challenging rumination on motherhood and inherited trauma. Compassionate and compelling, Walters is a talent to watch."--Sarah Langan, author of Good Neighbors and A Better World

"Shockingly original and genuinely disturbing, this brilliant horror novel will hit way too close to home for millions of women."--Kirsten Miller, author of The Change

"Walters threads the past and present together with precision and dread. Turn Off the Light is a chilling, time-twisting story that crawls under your skin and stays there--unsettling, relentless, and impossible to forget!"--Marie Still, author of Bad Things Happened in This Room

Praise for Dearest

About the Author

Jacquie Walters is the author of Dearest and an Emmy-nominated writer who has sold five pilots in the last three years. She is currently adapting Melissa de la Cruz's bestselling book series Blue Bloods for television and has placed projects at Apple TV+, ABC Network, Paramount Plus, iTV, CJ Entertainment, and others. In all, she has written and produced over 100 episodes of television. Walters graduated from the Novel Writing Program at Stanford University and is passionate about layered mysteries, psychological anomalies, and characters with everything to hide. She lives in Los Angeles with her husband, two children, and beloved Golden Retriever.