Review: Tell the Ghosts I’m Gone by Kalynn Bayron
I know that the scary book season might be almost over, but there are plenty of us out there that like the thrillers and ghost stories all year long. So on the eve of Halloween I present to you the scariest YA book I have read in a while, Kalynn Bayron’s Tell the Ghosts I’m Gone, which is available now!
Thank you to the ever generous Bloomsbury Books for the advance copy! Which in no way influences my review below.
Tell the Ghosts I'm Gone
by Kalynn BayronPublished by: Bloomsbury YA
on September 1, 2026
Genres: Contemporary, Horror, Mystery, Paranormal, Thriller, Young Adult
Bookshop, Audiobook Libro.FM
Goodreads
From New York Times bestselling author Kalynn Bayron comes a new horror novel about a group of teens with unique-and potentially deadly-gifts.
Moll, Redd, Agnes, and Ossie are powerful-and dangerous. But they don't want people to fear them. They've spent their lives trying to understand and control their supernatural gifts, trying to help people instead of hurt them.
That's why they offer paranormal investigative services to anyone who needs them. But when the case of a missing young woman brings them to an old (and potentially haunted) Victorian mansion, soon it's the four teens who are in the greatest danger. The secrets they uncover about the paranormal forces inhabiting the house may shed light on the darkness that exists at the edge of their powers and finally help them gain control-if they can make it out alive.
For Fans of:
Queer Found Family
Ensemble Cast
Ghost-hunting and Spiritualist Lore
Thrilling Supernatural Mystery
Review
Tell the Ghosts I’m Gone was literally so scary I had to take my time reading during the daylight hours. I mean I am a scaredy cat but I also enjoy the scares. This had the vibes of the TV adaption of The Haunting of Hill House scary levels! Especially since the haunted house that kicks off the main plot here is in itself super scary! But it is also perfect for fans of Supernatural and Ghost Hunters.
This group of teens have supernatural gifts, and have all found a home together with a witch who helps bind them to keep them safe from their gifts as well. Moll who is basically the leader because it is her home with her mother, absolutely loves the found family they have made together, well except for Ossie since his gift is being able to control rodents…nah just kidding she considers him family, loves him like a little brother. Moll is pathokinesis, she can see people’s light which she can also manipulate to change their moods or even cause their death. Redd can influence your actions, can make you forget, including your breathing, ahhh! And then there’s the sweet Agnes who is a real psychic- full mind reading capabilities.
Since they feel their special gifts give them an advantage they decide to start a paranormal investigation group, and Portland is very much haunted, so business should be booming. When the requests start coming in, the group is excited…and then they end up at an old mansion, where a local teenager has recently gone missing, and the more they look into the mystery the more they find out about themselves.
The house is full of liminal spaces and weird sounds, ghostly encounters, and blueprints that make no sense. What’s even scarier is that the more they group digs into what’s going on the deeper the mystery goes, which leads Moll to the ghost of the witch whom she admired, studied, and who was a very prominent person in the Portland history. But there is always more to the story…and Moll discovers way too much.
You will have to read it to find out more, because I am already afraid I said too much! Just know that I was scared, I was thoroughly enjoying this read, and my mind was satisfied. Then I immediately started my re-watch of Hill House and dialed up the newly released Backrooms for more weird horror-esque liminal spaces!
**And since I was asked when I was sharing that I was reading this book, if you have an issue with rodents this one isn’t for you. And if you like your horror without really any romance, this is one is for you!
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