As someone relatively new to the horror genre (I know, shocking considering I own a fantasy and horror bookshop), I feel like you can’t go wrong with a haunted house type horror, especially with great stories such as The Haunting of Hill House and The Shining becoming favourites within the genre.
There’s something about the possibility of your own environment not being safe that we all love to read about. Because who wouldn’t want to read about a dark energy and odd happenings in old houses, only to spend the whole night thinking there’s a creepy figure in the corner of your room watching you sleep, only to find out it’s the clothes you’ve been avoiding putting away all week haunting your to-do list.
That’s what drew me to The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty. I was curious about the premise; how many people have dead things in their house for us to notice it anyway? It turns out there’s a lot of things that can be classed as dead, as I discovered while reading this.
The House That Eats the Dead starts with the classic family moves for a quiet suburban life, the dotting mum and career driven dad wanting to create a safe haven for their two children. It doesn’t take long for Claire, the mum, to realise something isn’t quite right as fresh food and flowers dry up, eggs are hollow and many other unexplained things that make her feel like she’s crazy.
Soon, Claire realises the house is hungry, it eats everything that once was alive. Leaving only her and her husband, the owners of the house, remembering these things ever existed. Claire, in a moment of weakness, realises she can exploit the house’s power which leads to her and the house forging a fragile bond. But as its hunger intensifies and Claire starts to lose control, she fears who else might be drawn to her home and what sinister appetites they’ll bring.
This book had me absorbed into its pages from the first chapter, my guesses of where it was heading and who was the villain changing with every turn. Doty has taken the haunted house story and put a fantastic character driven spin on it that will have you routing for something unexpected by the end. The decisions made by the characters are built up and presented in such a way that I found myself almost understanding and permitting them no matter how morally grey or outright bad they were.
The character development is empowering in a way, as we see Claire become closer to the house and to rediscovering who she really is. Embracing her darker side and even her past to some extent.
If you’re looking for a good domestic horror that takes the haunted house trope and puts a twist on it, then look no further, The House That Eats the Dead by Max Doty has you covered.
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