A chilling classic from the ’70s, Robert Marasco’s ‘Burnt Offerings’ is my latest read of 2025.

I picked up a secondhand copy from one of my favourite local bookstores. Having seen it featured in Grady Hendrix’s ‘Paperbacks from Hell’, I’d wanted to read it for a while.

The novel follows the Rolfe family, desperate to escape another summer in the Bronx. It seems like a dream when they discover a countryside mansion available to rent for a low price. The only catch? The elderly Mrs Allardyce comes with the house. She always stays in her room; the Rolfes only need to bring her three meals daily. But no one ever sees her. And as the summer wears on, the house changes the family in unsettling ways.

As an avid fan of ’70s and ’80s horror – Stephen King, James Herbert, and the like – I adored ‘Burnt Offerings’. It has everything I want from the genre: dark characters, a creeping sense of dread, and a wild storyline. Its 200–300 pages flew by like the classic King novels I devoured as a teenager.

Uncomfortable, creepy, and entertaining, ‘Burnt Offerings’ is a must-read if you like horror.