I do have a mixed relationship with the work of Christina Henry.
Previously I’ve read some of the spins of established properties, such as Peter Pan, Sleepy Hollow and Alice in Wonderland; with mixed results.
When she gets it right, she is truly one of the best modern genre authors out there – and I’m happy to report that The Place Where They Buried Your Heart might be her finest work (that this reviewer has read) to date.
While we’ve all read or watched some kind of haunted house story, this story makes the house itself some kind of sentient being that has a taste for human flesh – especially children.
We follow the tortured Jess, who loses both her brother and her father in quick succession to the house’s desires, but after a spell without any disappearances, she returns to her hometown to try to end the evil once and for all.
You really feel the heartbreak from Jess, as she feels incomplete without two members of her family, coupled with an absent mother.
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart stretches across many years, as we see Jess’ life changes and fate take its course, but is it simply fate or is the house guiding her to her destiny and one final showdown.
Henry perfectly realises this character, and her tortured and desperate psyche. The best part is you are never truly sure how this will end, which will keep you plowing through chapter after chapter.
This is a different kind of haunted house story, one that will get under your skin and really make you feel the horror and despair on the page.
One of the best horror reads of 2025 has arrived.
The Place Where They Buried Your Heart by Christina Henry is available from 4 November 2025 in various formats from Titan Books.
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