The Babysitter Lives
- Downloads：2891
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2022-08-31 11:21:37
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Stephen Graham Jones
- ISBN：1797133136
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
Reviews
Molly
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 This was fantastic。 As usual， some of the "rules" of Stephen Graham Jones' horror goes over my head - ie the shadow places or whatnot， the logic of it all， the ending。 I think I was expecting something more "classic slasher-s" because of the title。 But I freaking loved it。 It was so brutal and just got under my skin the way his writing always does。 When Tia in Charlotte's body killed her dad - oh my god。 When Charlotte had to basically remove the skin of her arm - I almost threw up。 I assume the This was fantastic。 As usual， some of the "rules" of Stephen Graham Jones' horror goes over my head - ie the shadow places or whatnot， the logic of it all， the ending。 I think I was expecting something more "classic slasher-s" because of the title。 But I freaking loved it。 It was so brutal and just got under my skin the way his writing always does。 When Tia in Charlotte's body killed her dad - oh my god。 When Charlotte had to basically remove the skin of her arm - I almost threw up。 I assume the ending was Charlotte finding herself in some sort of loop？ But was her mom gone now？ I think I have to re-listen to the last bit but。。。fantastic。 Hell， I'll round it up to a 5。 Although the scene of Mr。 Willbanks masturbating will haunt me forever。Oh！ And I can't remember the exact working but for some reason I really loved the quote that said "If a babysitter's worst fear is the stranger being in the house then an Indian's worst fear is being white on the inside。" I don't know。。。it stood out。 。。。more
Sheena
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second book for spooktober finished！！i really liked this one， a little confusing at some points otherwise i think i would've rated this 4 stars？ enjoyed it anyway。 thank you katie for recommending it！！ second book for spooktober finished！！i really liked this one， a little confusing at some points otherwise i think i would've rated this 4 stars？ enjoyed it anyway。 thank you katie for recommending it！！ 。。。more
Janet
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3。5 ⭐ - rounded up because I generally love SGJ's writing。To borrow a phrase from another reviewer: this book is House of Leaves meets Caroline in audio book form （but with the addition of body horror and 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️）Though the narrator was awesome， this book would have been better served in print。 I will definitely re-read it if/when that happens。IMHO not all books are suited for listening。。。 especially those that don't follow a strict chronological sequence or those without any discernable chapte 3。5 ⭐ - rounded up because I generally love SGJ's writing。To borrow a phrase from another reviewer: this book is House of Leaves meets Caroline in audio book form （but with the addition of body horror and 🕷️🕷️🕷️🕷️）Though the narrator was awesome， this book would have been better served in print。 I will definitely re-read it if/when that happens。IMHO not all books are suited for listening。。。 especially those that don't follow a strict chronological sequence or those without any discernable chapter breaks， such as this one。Don't get me wrong， I love audio books。 But， I primarily listen to them while driving and I found it too distracting to have to constantly jump back to re-listen to something in order to figure out where in the house Charlotte was or to catch some subtlety in the plot。 。。。more
Iskra
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3。5⭐️
Em H。
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If you love haunted house stories， I think you'll like this。 It gave me echoes of House of Leaves and SGJ's novella Mapping the Interior， as well as the texts Jones mentions in the acknowledgements。 This story follows Charlotte， an Indigenous， queer teen who arrives at 8PM， the night before Halloween， to watch twins while their parents go out on a date。 It becomes clear relatively quickly that the house isn't all it seems to be。 I will say: I do wish this had a physical release， as well。 It's di If you love haunted house stories， I think you'll like this。 It gave me echoes of House of Leaves and SGJ's novella Mapping the Interior， as well as the texts Jones mentions in the acknowledgements。 This story follows Charlotte， an Indigenous， queer teen who arrives at 8PM， the night before Halloween， to watch twins while their parents go out on a date。 It becomes clear relatively quickly that the house isn't all it seems to be。 I will say: I do wish this had a physical release， as well。 It's disorienting and confusing at times to try and follow what's happening in the house。 There's an argument to be made that that's on purpose， but I still wish I could do an immersion read of the physical text with the audio to try and visualize it a bit more clearly。 It's timey wimey and wibbley wobbley and that can be hard to follow。 I'm hoping a reread will help with that， because oh man do I want to reread this ASAP。 As with every SGJ book I've read， I love the main character。 Charlotte is such a well rounded， complicated character。 I rooted for her and just wanted the best for her throughout the story。 Sure， at times， I was like ma'am I do not think that's what you should do right now。 But， isn't that just how these stories go？ We always think we know what we would do in horrific situations and well at the characters in the books or on the screen for not following what we deem to be the "correct" path to survival。 I also really enjoyed a character we see later on。 I'm going to be vague， but oh man。。。She was a trip。 （view spoiler）[ Like。。。Tia。。。running into the shadow world with your mother's head？ Ma'am。 （hide spoiler）] I can see some readers being upset about the open ending， but I loved it。 As soon as I saw there was only a minute left of the book， I just sat there with an open mouth like this is how the book is going to end？！ I wasn't expecting it， and I love it for that。 。。。more
Matthew Condello
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This one didn’t quite do it for me。 I love Stephen Graham Jones， but this one felt like a struggle to get through and the pay off didn’t feel entirely worth it。 There’s a lot of to like here and some clever ideas but Charlotte was the only character that felt real to me and it felt like it was much longer than it needed to be。
Paul Preston
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I love audiobooks and I listen all the time but I found this to be too complicated to follow。 Half the time I was confused as to what was going on and where I was in the house。 Maybe that’s just me。🤷♂️
Auđur
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Uffff where to start with this one 🤔 This book is only available as an audio book。 And I think this book is way to complicated to be only available in that form。 At times I felt like I had missed something and I needed to go back and that can be hard in this format。 That said I think the author wanted you to feel lost at times and for me that is all good and well as long as you bring me back home before the end of the book 📖 But when this book ended I felt like the author had left me in the wood Uffff where to start with this one 🤔 This book is only available as an audio book。 And I think this book is way to complicated to be only available in that form。 At times I felt like I had missed something and I needed to go back and that can be hard in this format。 That said I think the author wanted you to feel lost at times and for me that is all good and well as long as you bring me back home before the end of the book 📖 But when this book ended I felt like the author had left me in the woods lost with no way home。 。。。more
Stephanie Linnell
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I'm a big fan of this author and have really enjoyed all of the books I have read from him （The Only Good Indians being one of my favorite horror books）。 I liked this book as well， though I really wish that it had been released in eBook and/or physical format as well as I am not a big audiobook reader。 I did like the narrator and I really liked Charlotte as a main character。 I gave this 4/5 stars。 I'm a big fan of this author and have really enjoyed all of the books I have read from him （The Only Good Indians being one of my favorite horror books）。 I liked this book as well， though I really wish that it had been released in eBook and/or physical format as well as I am not a big audiobook reader。 I did like the narrator and I really liked Charlotte as a main character。 I gave this 4/5 stars。 。。。more
Miss Maureen
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Creepy from 30 minutes in。 What a writer。 Audiobook only？ Perfect for me。 I just download， put my earbuds in and go about my day。 Plus， at night， I love having a great narrator read me to sleep。 But， this book is definitely a daytime listen。
Caleb Finley
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LEAPIN' LIZARDS Stephen Graham Jones is such a unique author in the horror genre。 He finds a way to manipulate the atmosphere of the plot and take you down a terrifying rabbit hole of unknown terror。 In 'The Babysitter Lives，' Jones tells the story of Charlotte， as she watches the Wilbanks twins。 What is supposed to be an easy babysitting gig quickly turns into a time and space-altering few hours of non-stop confusion， spider eggs， and a house that harbors secrets that can kill。 I am so glad thi LEAPIN' LIZARDS Stephen Graham Jones is such a unique author in the horror genre。 He finds a way to manipulate the atmosphere of the plot and take you down a terrifying rabbit hole of unknown terror。 In 'The Babysitter Lives，' Jones tells the story of Charlotte， as she watches the Wilbanks twins。 What is supposed to be an easy babysitting gig quickly turns into a time and space-altering few hours of non-stop confusion， spider eggs， and a house that harbors secrets that can kill。 I am so glad this came out when it did， as it's a perfect launch into the spooky season！ The classic trope of the babysitter is done so well and it will definitely make you think twice before babysitting again。 'The Babysitter Lives' is only available on audio and the performance by Isabella Star LaBlanc was so fantastic。 。。。more
jayda
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stephen graham jones is my favorite horror author for good reason。 so gross and twisty and spine-chilling with great social commentary and terrifying body and insect horror。 this story is only available as an audiobook， and i think that format works perfectly。 this is a unique take on a haunted house story and the writing is so visual and atmospheric。 it's so easy to get sucked into the story， even if you don't always know what's going on。 definitely pick this up if you want a creepy queer nativ stephen graham jones is my favorite horror author for good reason。 so gross and twisty and spine-chilling with great social commentary and terrifying body and insect horror。 this story is only available as an audiobook， and i think that format works perfectly。 this is a unique take on a haunted house story and the writing is so visual and atmospheric。 it's so easy to get sucked into the story， even if you don't always know what's going on。 definitely pick this up if you want a creepy queer native horror。 。。。more
Linda Brinkley
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 Listened to Mongrels last week and just finished this one。 Loved it。 Marked as spoilers because I just wanted to say that I love a weird house story （but that was not what I was expecting， and I love being surprised！）。 Would love to see the animation of special effects of the injuries on the other side。 Loved the narrator。 Anyway， great， like all the other SGJ works！ Score 1600。Will it ever be a physical book？
Rachelle Renee Kirby
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Excellent fresh take on the haunted house/ ghost story。 I love Stephen Graham Jones！ Such a unique voice。
Paulette Brown
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I loved this book。 I usually don’t like audio books because my mind tends to drift but this was great。 So vivid， I could picture every horrible detail。 This would make a great movie。 I will admit that although the audio was great I would like to have this story in book form。
Kirk
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Creepy， crazy， mind-blowing horror。
KAY
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Well that was unsettling。 Will have nightmares for a while。 I didn’t even fully understand it but I’m scared。Side note: we need more queer rep in horror 👏 👏 👏 maybe less spider eggs in mouths though 🤮
Lindy Ryan
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A twisty， winding horror to unfold the night before Halloween， with a fresh take on babysitter stories and the horror of caring for someone else's children。 A twisty， winding horror to unfold the night before Halloween， with a fresh take on babysitter stories and the horror of caring for someone else's children。 。。。more
Heather
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Another bizarre and uniquely disturbing adventure。 True to Stephen Graham Jones' fashion。 Another bizarre and uniquely disturbing adventure。 True to Stephen Graham Jones' fashion。 。。。more
Genevieve Paquette
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I want to give this a three， but I've given worse books a three。 So four， even though I don't mean it。One: the author used the word "tracked" （as in， her eyes tracked the。。。 ） more times than I could count and that really should have been caught by an editor。 It's not a common turn of phrase so when it was overused， here， it stood out and was distracting。 Two: The ending was a huge bummer and kind of a "ugh， really？ really？ of cooourse you went there。。。" The writing was great （apart from using " I want to give this a three， but I've given worse books a three。 So four， even though I don't mean it。One: the author used the word "tracked" （as in， her eyes tracked the。。。 ） more times than I could count and that really should have been caught by an editor。 It's not a common turn of phrase so when it was overused， here， it stood out and was distracting。 Two: The ending was a huge bummer and kind of a "ugh， really？ really？ of cooourse you went there。。。" The writing was great （apart from using "tracked" every ten minutes）， the story was compelling。 The protagonist was easy to root for。 The way the house was haunted and how it behaved was innovative and genuinely scary。 The ending， though。 What's the opposite of satisfying？ Not just unsatisfying， but like。。。 you're left feeling sad， but in a bad way not a cathartic way？It actually reminded me of the final episode of the Mighty Max cartoon。 Because I'm that old， haha。 But no， seriously， they end pretty much the same way。 。。。more
Zach Low
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"It's a cosmic mix， the classic haunted house story combined with the traditional slasher setting， but with body horror touches。 It's hyper violent， but since it's SGJ， there's a big old heart that's pumping all that blood。 It's a little bit Jackson， it's definitely a little bit Stephen King， it's kind of a cosmic gumbo。 It almost moves to the beat of （uniquely modern， totally singular， POLTERGEIST on acid） jazz。" - Santa Claus "It's a cosmic mix， the classic haunted house story combined with the traditional slasher setting， but with body horror touches。 It's hyper violent， but since it's SGJ， there's a big old heart that's pumping all that blood。 It's a little bit Jackson， it's definitely a little bit Stephen King， it's kind of a cosmic gumbo。 It almost moves to the beat of （uniquely modern， totally singular， POLTERGEIST on acid） jazz。" - Santa Claus 。。。more
Kieran
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2。5 I love SGJ but this was way to confusing for me。 Maybe I could of enjoyed it if I knew how much of a head scratcher it was going to be。 There were some legitimately scary parts。
Nikolas Robinson
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In The Babysitter Lives， Stephen Graham Jones tackles the haunted house theme with the same unique style and flair readers have come to expect。 When Charlotte arrives at the Wilbanks' house to babysit their twin six-year-olds， she has no idea she's walking into a place more dangerous and horrifying than anywhere else she's been。 In what could be described as House of Leaves meets Stranger Things， Jones weaves a disorienting tale that leaves the reader questioning what's real just as much as the In The Babysitter Lives， Stephen Graham Jones tackles the haunted house theme with the same unique style and flair readers have come to expect。 When Charlotte arrives at the Wilbanks' house to babysit their twin six-year-olds， she has no idea she's walking into a place more dangerous and horrifying than anywhere else she's been。 In what could be described as House of Leaves meets Stranger Things， Jones weaves a disorienting tale that leaves the reader questioning what's real just as much as the narrative forces the same confusion on Charlotte。Charlotte， Ron， and Desi are not alone in the house， and there's a depth to the shadows and dark corners that threatens to swallow anyone who ventures into the dark spaces without caution。Ultimately， the story succeeds in being a unique and tense haunted house story， capturing the highest stakes on a small scale。 The natures of reality and identity are questioned in a big way， but Jones isn't satisfied simply leaving us with questions。 He wants to delve into the how and why of it all。 Jones forces us to think about everything happening through the lens of Charlotte's analysis and the horrors of the past she's forced to witness。This might be my second favorite story from the author， following the masterpiece that was The Only Good Indians， and with good reason。The narration provided by Isabella Star LaBlanc combines with Jones's writing to make Charlotte feel like a real girl。 She's smart， funny， and thoroughly out of her depths but too stubborn to give up。 The supplemental material from Jones himself adds a nice touch， touching on his inspirations and what he hoped to accomplish with The Babysitter Lives。 I'd say he was more than successful。 。。。more
Marie Aitchison
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SGJ is one of the most creative horror voices out there。 I think this may be my favorite of his books， yet。 It really goes off the rails toward the end， but it adds to the horror and shock factor。 I could not guess where this story was going to go and loved the haunted house aspect。 What a strange and disturbing novel…it takes place on Halloween so it’s perfect for this the weeks leading up to the spookiest night of the year！
Karen Dandurant
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When you think of babysitter horror， it is - the person calling is in the house。 This was way worse， and so much better。 I loved this so much。 Read it if you dare。
Katie T
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A little hard to follow at times， but a very unique take on a house of horrors。
Fleeno
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Charlotte is spending her Friday night babysitting Dessie and Ronnie for the first time。 She figures it will be an easy gig， the 6 year olds will be in bed by 9 and then she can study for the SATS。 The house is new but unsettling。 There are sounds， a creepy jack in the box， and the children keep talking about their other mother who shows them secret passageways through the house。 When Charlotte （stupidly） asks the kids to show her one of the secret passageways she ends up stuck in another versio Charlotte is spending her Friday night babysitting Dessie and Ronnie for the first time。 She figures it will be an easy gig， the 6 year olds will be in bed by 9 and then she can study for the SATS。 The house is new but unsettling。 There are sounds， a creepy jack in the box， and the children keep talking about their other mother who shows them secret passageways through the house。 When Charlotte （stupidly） asks the kids to show her one of the secret passageways she ends up stuck in another version of the house， where headless women roam the halls， a giant lizard is trying to eat her， and her girlfriend Murphy turned into a jester before disappearing into the bowels of the house。 This was a creepy book！ Even before the house moved sideways there was a creepy undertone， from the pervy father to the odd children。 Charlotte is desperate to prove she is a good babysitter but the the whole time I was thinking， just shove those kids into bed and stop talking to them （which is why no one wants me to baby sit their kids）。 This is very horror movie like， it reminded me of an 80s slasher horror， though it's probably more amytiville horror than slasher。 At the moment this is only available via audiobook which is unfortunate as there were some parts in 'the other house' that got a bit confusing and I would have liked to read。 It was a good narration though and this my third SGJ book。 I have to say， I think I'm a fan。 。。。more
Djrmel
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Fantastic narrator kept me listening to an all horror， little story narrative。
Becky Spratford
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Audio only！ 3 words that describe this book: disorienting， character centered， original haunted houseThis is a terrifying story of a haunted house but a super original haunted house。 Charlotte is a great character。 Is this an actual haunted house story or is Charlotte， strong Charlotte who is trying to manage being Native and a high achiever and gay and do it all- is it finally too much。 This story is gripping， the horror elements immersive and compelling。 I don’t want to give any details away b Audio only！ 3 words that describe this book: disorienting， character centered， original haunted houseThis is a terrifying story of a haunted house but a super original haunted house。 Charlotte is a great character。 Is this an actual haunted house story or is Charlotte， strong Charlotte who is trying to manage being Native and a high achiever and gay and do it all- is it finally too much。 This story is gripping， the horror elements immersive and compelling。 I don’t want to give any details away but this is a haunted house with a backstory and it can eat people。 The trippy storyline and looping of time and space is the key。 It could have been a gimmick but it all works。 And the ending is horror perfection。 Readalikes: If you liked MAPPING THE INTERIOR you will love this。 Haunting of Hill House， A Head Full of Ghosts， and if you are willing to read something longer- THE CHANGELING by LaValle。 。。。more
Myreads
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