Happy September! Here is a review for a little horror novel I read a while back. This review was stuck in my draft folder, and when I was poking around, I rediscovered it and thought it would be a good time to post as we get ready for the spooky season.
Synopsis: Haunt Sweet Home by Sara Pinsker tells the story of Mara, a woman in her late twenties who is feeling lost and can’t seem to commit to her goals. She’s in and out of community college, having yet to finish her degree, and has not settled into a career. However, she stumbles upon a job working on a TV show which her heartthrob cousin Jeremy hosts. It’s a show that spotlights recently purchased homes undergoing updates, but with a paranormal spin. And Mara’s job as a lowly PA, and one of the only nonunion employees, is to help manufacture the scares, like by employing fog machines and hiding while making ghostly noises. Along the way, she begins to feel like she’s finally a part of something, all while continuing to suffer from self doubt. And as the manufactured spooks continue, her own personal hauntings creep in.
My Review: Haunt Sweet Home is unsettling without being fully terrifying. I’m not sure if that was the book’s intention, but the clever title and premise led me to expect a more traditional spooky horror, rather than the slowburn psychological horror it turned out to be.
Beneath the spooky surface is a coming-of-age story. The story explores the journey of finding yourself in your late twenties, especially when you’re not meeting society’s or your family’s expectations. Mara seems adrift, struggling to make definitive decisions about her life, and many of the blows to her self-esteem come from feeling like she falls short—both of society’s norms and her family’s creativity, with a grandmother who creates elaborate carvings, and a hotshot cousin who has risen to TV stardom.
I could really relate to Mara in many ways, particularly to her uncertainty and her fear to commit to any one thing or path. To demonstrate this, I will share that Librarianship is actually my second career. I originally went to school to be a teacher. The “what-ifs” that come with taking on a new goal can be uncomfortable and daunting. It’s hard to fully commit emotionally, even after a decision has been made in—your career, relationships, or life. You may still feel like you have one foot out the door. I’m not sure if this is the feeling the author was aiming to evoke, but it’s definitely how I felt as a reader. It felt like, even in her new role on this paranormal TV show, Mara had one foot out the door.
Without giving too much away, I’ll say the reveal at the end felt somewhat out of place, yet it worked for me. I desperately wanted something supernatural to be brewing, and in the end, you find out whether it has been. The lead-up to the reveal was predictable but, in a weird way, also surprising—awkward even. And I liked it! It’s like, I enjoyed feeling like I wasn’t sure how to feel…
This was a unique story, and I both love and fear the idea of a “haunted” house coming to life. Are the manufactured haunts a ruse for something truly supernatural? I won’t give it away here, but I strongly encourage my fellow horror fans to pick it up and find out for yourselves!
My Rating: 4/5 Stars
Pawsitive Reads 