These Walls Remember by Del Sandeen
Berkley (August 18, 2026)
Reviewed by Haley Newlin
Del Sandeen became a horror author to watch after her previous release, This Cursed House, which was a personal favorite of mine among 2024 horror book releases. With her new release, These Walls Remember, Sandeen has further established herself as a master of gothic horror. The way she utilizes historical details and settings to reflect grief and trauma is effective and evocative. Perhaps this is why I find her work so profound and unforgettable. 
In These Walls Remember, estranged sisters Delilah and Mickie inherit a house in Savannah, Georgia, left to them by a mysterious relative their family only discussed in secret and with judgment. They quickly discover that 724 Hartford Street, like many places in Savannah, Georgia, has a haunting history that dates back to the house’s construction at the turn of the twentieth century. As the sisters and Delilah’s daughter, Joy, attempt to repair the home and ready it for the market, their own grief and disregard of Aunt Haddie’s warning—Do not go into the attic—awakens and releases an angry presence.
The first thing Sandeen accomplishes in These Walls Remember is establishing the atmosphere, weighed by a nearly tangible load of grief and a haunted history. Right from the start, you know you’re in for a haunted house story, but with that historical flair Sandeen is becoming known for, it’s so much more than that. This novel is about the way grief manifests and swells when left unattended and abandoned. Lewis grieves for his wife and daughter, Mickie for her lost husband, Delilah for a decision stolen from her, and Joy for her friend and the relationship she wished she and her mother had. The variations of grief made it feel as though each character represented a different stage and manner of overcoming (or succumbing) to grief.
Sandeen expertly reflected the trauma of the characters in ghostly sightings, one in the attic that I will never forget (I won’t say anything but poor Mickie), in symbols like the candles with flames that never extinguish, and a grim mantra that lingers heavy over both the reader and the novel’s characters: “Death comes in threes.”
As I mentioned, readers will know that they’re in for a haunted house story right away. But what makes These Walls Remember a top read of the year for me is the way in which Sandeen explores the repercussions of historical trauma, specifically violence, historical and ancestral erasure, and dehumanization of the Black community in the South. The opening sequence is both infuriating and heartbreaking and clings to the reader as the death toll increases and the house claims more victims.
I think there’s something to be said about a horror book that doesn’t flinch at the unsavory and ugly parts of American history. American history itself is quite horrific. So, yes. You’ll find ghosts here. Angry spirits. Disturbing deaths. All the ingredients horror fans crave, but what you leave with is much more–hopefully, a greater understanding of the systemic, economic, and social challenges that have plagued the Black community since the dawn of our country. These Walls Remember is an important read that should be on every horror fan’s radar. Del Sandeen, I thank you again for taking readers through this story with plenty of scares and shock, but embedding unforgettable lessons in empathy, grief, and community.
A six-star read for this reviewer.
