I adore this book! I was a beta reader and now I own the arc in order to write a review! It’s a spiritual cousin to The Haunting of Hill House, the Uninvited, and the Hammer films. Full of Lovecraftian horror, dry British humor, and *lots* of body horror.

The book is about Carrie Rickard, a shattered young woman running away from a bad breakup, and buys a house in a small town in England. But not just any house: a living house that has seen more terrible things than a torture chamber. Also, her neighbor is not what he seems and is the greatest danger Carrie will ever face. Carrie can’t even find relief in the town, because it has its own dark and twisted history. On top of all that, someone is desperate to kill Carrie before she can unravel the town’s many secrets.

This book has everything a horror lover could want. Angry ghosts, cannibals, zombies, werewolves, fate, and immortals. The characters are well developed and engaging (but very few are truly likeable or sympathetic) with the MC being realistically overwhelmed by their circumstances but still strong and determined. Her neighbor, Ricky Porter is a terrible little sh*t who I had a hard time feeling sympathy for even though I think the author wanted me to. For spoilerish reasons, I consider him the main antagonist in the book. There are other antagonists, but they never truly feel like Carrie’s antagonists. They’re people who target Carrie, but not because she’s a true threat. It’s because she’s an innocent who bought the wrong house. Her real struggle is with Ricky and the house itself and I found that part of the story more compelling than some of the other subplots (although I also found some parts didn’t have the emotional beats and resolution they deserved).

The other ‘antagonists’ are terrible and deserve what happens to them, but they’re not as memorable as Ricky Porter, except for maybe Beverly, Ricky’s grandmother. She’s a true evil bitch, haha. My favorite character is Mercy, an immortal with a lot of spunk and a great boyfriend, Jazz as well as her friend, Tina Harris, a mortician and the only character with common sense.

Like all true horror stories, it’s also a terrible tragedy, although I’m not sure if the tragic moments hit as hard as they should. There are wonderful moments of tensions and horror as well and those beats work better than the tragic beats, I think. The plotting is tight, the pacing is good for the most part, and, despite everything going on, resolves itself rather well.

While I love the characters and plot, it’s the world itself that won me over. It’s horrific, fantastic, beautiful, and rich. It *feels* real. Like I could fly to London and stumble upon Pagham (not that I would want to). The history seeps from every page, the monsters aren’t monsters, but really beings who *do* things. The author has thought through how someone would truly live with certain tendencies and how they would adjust to the modern world. The book also goes a great job exploring how trauma people would be if they lived in the center of paranormal activity. It twists you and corrupts you, even if you don’t participate in the horror. Someone you know or are related to most likely has and that stain will never go away. I don’t know if I like or sympathize with the character Guy, but I think he might be one of the most tragic characters in the book.

My *only* critic is that I found how the MC’s character arc to resolve a little unsatisfactory. I can’t say why for fear of spoilers, but I found how her relationship with Ricky ends was a little unrealistic/lacking in resolution. I felt there should have been more to that relationship. The book ends in a very wrapped up manner but that type of ending didn’t feel right for the story itself. But other than that, this is a fantastic little horror story and I can’t wait to read the sequels!