This is the review I’ve been dreading, and putting off for a few days. Why? Because I’ve talked to three different people who’s opinion I trust and value, and they all loved this book. The first of those three was the one who got me excited enough to want to read it. In fact, had they actually had a copy in their bookstore, I would have bought it right then and there.
Unfortunately, now that I’ve read it I can only say I’m not a fan.
Let’s talk the negatives first. Unfortunately, for me, there’s a lot of them.
I’ve said this before, and I’ll repeat it here: I don’t need characters that I love. Not at all. But I do need a character that I can at least root for. The closest I came to with that was the severely mistreated Hanna. The rest…primarily Ila and Alice here, have virtually no redeeming qualities whatsoever. And yes, I realize part of that is the hold that Albion has on them…but much of it is them.
I get having self-loathing characters. That can actually make for a great story, even if they don’t find their way out of that. The story can be about the fact that they’re their own worst enemies, or enablers, or whatever. Again though, for that to happen, there must, in fact, be a story.
Which leads to my second complaint: the utter lack of story. What I experienced was the introduction of these two characters, the detailing of a couple of parties and a meeting, a lot of other stuff (I’ll get to that in a moment), then them going back into the house.
That’s mostly it (yes, I’m oversimplifying, but it’s close). Oh, and by the way, virtually none of this is horror in the classic sense. Is there horror in what they’re going through? Yes. But that’s more of a general fiction horror.
And finally, what about that “other stuff”? Okay, well, that other stuff is a lot of screeds or scenes of facism, self-loathing, rape, demeaning fantasies captured on video, and…lots and lots and lots and lots of editorializing of facism and racism and LGBTQ+ (especially trans) issues. Far far far too much of that.
But, before you think it’s all bad, honestly, it’s really not! Almost all scenes involving the house, when the author could get out of their own way and actually focus on the horror?
There.
Was.
Horror.
And it was good.
The house, Albion, is a lurking, malevolent presence throughout the run of the novel, and its spellbinding. Granted, Rumfitt’s taking most cues from Shirley Jackson’s Hill House, but still, it’s quite good.
Here’s the thing, for me: Sex absolutely has its place in horror, and when done well, it can elevate a scary thing to a terrifying thing. Sexuality can add an additional element of terror, because sexuality is part of the person, they can’t change who they are, but when they come up against forces that don’t understand it, or hate it, or fear it, there a complex conflict that can happen, and it can work for horror.
However, when the novel swaps out a meaningful plot for a few scenes of horror interspersed with a lot of preaching? …and I don’t care if the preaching is about trans rights, gays, politics, guns, slavery, bad movies, religion, or freaking pineapple on pizza, it’s still preaching…and preaching has no place in a novel.
Authors can absolutely get their points across within the confines of the story. No need to stop all forward motion, suspend all story elements, and just run a screed on their important issue of choice.
So, to sum up: when the horror was there, it delivered and delivered well. But the majority of the book did not focus on the horror. It focused on the message.
And that, to me, is why this novel ultimately failed.
