I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
A Box Full of Darkness by Simone St. James Published by Berkley on January 20 2026
Genres: Adult, ghost story, Horror
Pages: 352
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A multilayered horror story set in a dangerous town, A Box Full of Darkness expertly mixes carefully drawn characters, emotional relationships and ghostly terrors.
“This was Fell, the town of graves where they shouldn’t be and a missing girl’s shoes placed neatly outside her dorm room door. Fell, which had swallowed my little brother whole like a ravenous monster, like a great white whale…Fell was where your childhood night terrors had a taste and a smell.”
A Box Full of Darkness takes place in the same creepy town as Simone St. James’s The Sun Down Motel—Fell, New York—but you don’t need to read it to enjoy her latest. This book has literally everything I look for in a good haunted house story: real, authentic relationships among the characters, a carefully constructed mystery, several really good twists, and a truly unsettling house with plenty of secrets. I loved this book, and I will be making it a priority to go back and read The Sun Down Motel sometime this year.
The story revolves around three adult siblings who shared a traumatic childhood and are now barely speaking to each other. Violet works as a house cleaner—cleaning out the houses of people who have died. She lost custody of her fourteen year old daughter Lisette after a stint in a mental hospital, and her ex has turned Lisette against her. And oh yeah, Violet also sees ghosts, the reason for her mental breakdown. Dodie is a hand model in New York City. And Vail is a volunteer investigator for an organization that interviews people who have seen or had close encounters with UFOs.
One day Violet gets an ominous phone call from the landscape company that cares for their parents’ old house in Fell, a house they inherited. A young boy spotted in front of the house has a message for Violet: “Come home.” Violet immediately contacts Dodie and Vail. The boy is their dead brother Ben, and the three Esmes will do anything for him, even go back to the home that caused them so much grief as children.
Violet, Vail and Dodie arrive at the house and sense Ben’s presence, but there’s something evil lurking there as well. What really happened the day that Ben disappeared? Who is the entity named Sister that has been haunting Violet for years? And what do their recurring nightmares have to do with what’s happening?
This is a very character focused horror story, and I loved the way Simone St. James depicts the awkwardness of adult siblings getting together again after years apart. The story alternates among all three siblings’ points of view, so the reader gets to know each one intimately. Violet’s story is especially emotional because of the strained relationship she has with her daughter. Everyone thinks she’s a terrible mother, and even Violet admits it isn’t her strength, but it was tough to read about nonetheless. When you peek beneath the surface of Violet’s past, you begin to sympathize with her and understand her choices. Lisette makes an appearance about halfway through, and I loved how her relationships with the Esme siblings changes and grows.
I also loved the way Violet, Vail and Dodie become closer over their shared experience at the Fell house. All three have been keeping secrets from one another, but those barriers start to break down as things in the house become more dangerous and they have no choice but to trust each other.
Ben is probably the biggest question mark in the story, since the driving mystery is “what happened to Ben?” He disappeared during a game of hide and seek in the house when he was six years old, and literally just vanished. All three siblings feel responsible in some way, so reuniting in the house years later is a way for them to heal. Or so they think. At first, they sense Ben’s benevolent presence in the house—his old toys, stored in boxes the attic for all these years, are strewn around the attic floor, as if Ben had recently been playing with them. But something much more sinister also lurks there, and Violet, Vail and Dodie must delve into the past for answers. There are some truly terrifying scenes in A Box Full of Darkness. St. James masterfully builds the tension in such a way that the reader doesn’t realize they’ve fallen into a nightmare until it’s too late. I love stories where the house in question has a long history of terror and heartbreak, and Fell House is one of those unforgettable places.
And I can’t end this review without mentioning the town of Fell itself. Fell is one of the most unsettling places I’ve ever read about, a town of missing kids and inexplicable deaths. Bad things happen to people who live there, but there’s also a weird sense of belonging if you stay too long. I do hope Simone St. James revisits this town in future books, because I just can’t get enough of the eerie atmosphere.
But as good as the horror was, I loved that the author ends her story on an upbeat note. It’s the characters, after all, that elevate this from just another haunted house story, and it was nice to not only have closure, but to see all three Esme siblings, as well as Lisette, moving on with their lives. If you read and loved Christina Henry’s The Place Where They Buried Your Heart or Carissa Orlando’s September House, you will love this too.
Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.
I have this one on pre-order; it comes out in the UK later this month. I’ve only read one of her short works and I have a couple of her novels on my TBR, but this sounds particularly good!
I hope you love it!
Not the point of this story at all but the first thing I noticed is that these siblings have such a variety of jobs! But I love that the story alternates among all three of them. I love different points of view! Also good to know the author ends the story on an upbeat note. It doesn’t have to be all doom and gloom, right?
I noticed that too, the odd jobs, I think that’s one reason I loved this. It’s so unusual and creative.
This is such a beautiful review!! I can’t believe I haven’t already read something by this author. You and Lynn are amazing PR for these books and I know they’re not really my cup of tea but I am still curious all the same!!
Thank you Susy! Lynn and I are definitely on the same page with this one:-)
Love your review! Can’t wait to read this. Will probably treat myself of a reread of Sun Down Motel just for fun beforehand.
I’m excited to read the Sun Down Motel, since it’s mentioned in this book!
I still haven’t tried anything by this author! I keep hearing such good things. This sounds terrific, especially the focus on the characters.
She’s such a good writer, I’m always blown away by how good her books are:-)
Another one on the list of potential gifts for my wife, ahaha. Sounds genuinely creepy.
Yes! She would probably love this author.
Glad you enjoyed it Tammy. It’s not a genre I read often.
Her books are mysteries but they’re also ghost stories.
Great review. I enjoyed this one so much and loved reading your thoughts.
Lynn 😀
Thanks Lynn:-)
I’m so happy to see that you gave this one 5 stars. She’s one of my favorite authors, and I am very much looking forward to reading this one. 😀
I hope you love it too:-)
Wow this sounds incredible. The town sounds like the perfect setting for a horror story and its kind of making me think of the setting of It in a way. The characters sound wonderfully complicated too and I love how unusual their jobs are. Plus that quote that you’ve used to start this review off is divine. I’m definitely going to have to check this one out sometime and truly cant believe I haven’t tried anything by this author yet. Lovely review.
Thanks Charlotte! I think you would love her books. I also recommend The Books of Cold Cases.
Nice! Sounds like one I’d like to try, and I do happen to have the audiobook for The Sun Down Motel so I look forward to trying that one, too.
Oh cool. I’ll be curious to hear your thoughts, I really want to read The Sun Down Motel this year:-)
Almost forgot I snagged an audio review copy of this and it got lost in the huge list of other books coming out this month. It sounds amazing! I am definitely reading this one next!
This sounds very good! I’ve wanted to read this author. Great review!
Another author whose books I’ve never heard anything bad about, and I still need to read!
Yay! I love seeing you give this 5 stars. I love Simone St. James, and everyone hating on Murder Road (which I happened to love) had me a little nervous for some reason. I didn’t realize this was set in the same town as The Sun Down Motel. That’s excellent.