'The Haunting Between Us' by Paul Michael Winters
- Reed
- Oct 31
- 3 min read
Author: Paul Michael Winters
Rating: B+
Vibe: A sweet, spooky YA romance that balances ghostly thrills with tender first love. It's earnest, hopeful, and refreshingly unafraid to be exactly what it is—a feel-good horror story for gay teens who deserve to see themselves as the heroes.
Cameron Walsh has spent most of his life avoiding the Crimson House—the creepy Victorian mansion across the street where the White Lady roams and where he nearly lost his leg as a kid. So naturally, when the new owners pull up with their moving truck, Cameron's luck ensures that the brooding, handsome boy stepping out of the car is about to move into the most haunted house in Port Townsend, Washington. Hugo Cruz and his dad flip houses for a living, running from grief after losing Hugo's mother. They have no idea what they've walked into. Cameron does. And despite every instinct telling him to stay away, he's drawn back—not just to the house, but to Hugo.
What follows is a ghost story, a mystery, and a first-love romance all wrapped into one. The Haunting Between Us doesn't pretend to be something it's not. It's young adult. It's sweet. It's got some sappy moments and a few narrative conveniences. And I loved it anyway.
Paul Michael Winters balances three very different tones here—supernatural horror, tender romance, and mystery thriller—and pulls it off without letting any one element completely overshadow the others. The haunted house is genuinely creepy. The romance between Cameron and Hugo is tentative and authentic in that very specific first-love way. The mystery has a nice twist at the end. It's not a laugh-out-loud funny book, but there are cute moments sprinkled throughout, especially with the friend group. And that friend group—Cameron's ghost-hunting best friend Abby, the psychic Chloe, and her girlfriend Maya—gives the story a warmth and sense of community that grounds the scarier elements.
Yes, the romance is convenient in places. But honestly? It's okay for a book not to be gritty. It's okay for a YA romance to be sweet and sappy and earnest without tearing the characters apart for drama. Cameron and Hugo's relationship is tender and tentative in a way that feels true to first love—the uncertainty, the excitement, the way you're figuring out what this even is while you're in it. I found it lovely.
If you're looking for high spice or a more adult take on gay romance, this isn't it. But if you want a YA story with likeable, relatable characters and a spooky haunted house, this delivers. And for young gay readers especially, I think this book does something important: it shows them it's okay to be gay. Yes, you'll encounter people who don't understand or who are outright terrible. But there are also people—friends, chosen family, supportive adults—who will love you and stand by you. That message, wrapped in a fun ghost story with a sweet romance, is worth a lot.
Books like this didn't exist when I was a teenager—or at least, they didn't exist in any library I had access to. I can't help but think about what it would have meant to read something like this at fifteen. The Haunting Between Us is the kind of book I'd hand to a gay teen without hesitation. It's age-appropriate, it's hopeful, and it doesn't shy away from the fact that being gay can be hard—but it also insists that you're not alone.
