Epeolatry Book Review: Haunt Sweet Home by Sarah Pinsker
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Title: Haunt Sweet Home
Author: Sarah Pinsker
Genre: Horror/Paranormal
Publisher: Tordotcom
Publication Date:3rd September, 2024
Synopsis: “Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”
When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she’s truly been deceiving and hiding from all along―is herself.
Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself.
Twenty-something Mara is meandering through life, uncertain of her future and unable to commit to a college degree or career. One day, her uncle bungles Thanksgiving dinner and she finds herself on the receiving end of a job offer from her successful cousin, Jeremy. The job entails working as a PA on Jeremy’s reality television show, Haunt Sweet Home, which is one of those renovation shows, but the hook is each house is “haunted”.
Haunt Sweet Home sounds exactly like the type of cheap reality show I would pretend to disdain while secretly bingeing. Fortunately, there is no reason to hide my enjoyment of this book. However, if you come expecting a scary book, you will be disappointed. Haunt Sweet Home is technically a horror novella, and there are spooky moments, but Sarah Pinsker’s novella is more a coming of age than a thriller.
Mara is an engaging protagonist that I found myself rooting for quite easily. If you’ve ever spent any part of your life feeling directionless, like you’re not living up to expectations and are uncertain about where your life is going next, then you’ll find a reason to connect with Mara. Complicating this situation for her is her large, close-knit family, and a successful cousin. From the outside, it’s easy to see that everyone means well, but Mara’s self-esteem is low, and like many young people, she is very self-focused. Overcoming her misconceptions and growing up shape a large portion of the narrative.
Interspersed throughout the novella are scenes straight from the eponymous reality home improvement/ghost hunting show for which Mara works. These scenes add variety and build a bit of tension because, despite the cozy nature of this book, there is a ghost haunting Mara and the set, and the scenes allude to the ghost’s escalating behaviour.
Without spoiling too much, I will say that the origin and nature of the spectre in Haunt Sweet Home was unique and fit the narrative. This is not just a ghost for the sake of having a ghost. Instead, the ghost is integral to both the plot and the theme.
This book may not have been what I expected when I picked it up, but I had a pleasant experience reading it. It’s a fun, sweet little story about a young woman finding herself.
/5
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Melody lives in Ontario, Canada and writes short, dark fiction. She has been published in several anthologies and online publications. In university, she studied Ancient Greek and Roman Studies and often infuses her work with elements of Greek mythology. She also loves reading, embroidery, and martial arts. You can follow her homepage at: https://www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/
Homepage: https://www.blog.melodyemcintyre.com/MelodyEMcintyre.com
Twitter: @evamarie41.
