The House of Last Resort - Golden Hits it Out of the Park Again!
“From their place below, among the dead, the lost ones can see only as far as the rats can see. But they are patient, and so they wait. And they let the rats run.”
A couple moves from the US to a small town in Italy, moving into a run down but beautiful old home. Tommy has grandparents and a cousin here, deep family roots that go back generations. His wife Kate is excited to grow their own family here and embrace a slower and happier life. But from the second they move into their new home, strange sounds and shadows plague them. A door they’ve never noticed before opens up into an annex at the back of their house filled with strange belongings. As they dive into the history of the house, and the catacombs below the town, a terrifying past comes to light and soon Tommy and Kate find themselves in over their heads.
The House of Last Resort, the newest release from iconic horror author Christopher Golden, hits shelves January 30th.
“Well,” Kate said. “That was fucking weird.”
Here’s what I loved:
This is very much a slow burn book which feels appropriate for the setting. Tommy and Kate have moved to Becchina to escape the fast paced hustle of America, and much like the married couple, the reader is also treated to a slow moving luxurious story until our third act. Then things move FAST. The tension that’s built is really clever, the hints of things happening in the background, pieces of the real history dropping like puzzle pieces, until you’re all but slapped in the face by the climax as Tommy and Kate fight for their lives. I thoroughly enjoyed the full ride.
I loved the discussions on families in this book. Tommy has a complicated relationship with his mother, and in-turn his father had a difficult relationship with his parents. It’s a great reflection on how far we’re willing to go to protect our family, good or bad, and the damages that can come from this inter-generationally.
There’s also a lot to be said about religion vs the church in this story as well which I greatly enjoyed reading and reflecting on. I can’t share too much about this part as it becomes major spoiler territory, but Kate is written as a great sound board for these matters.
There was some really genuinely terrifying moments in this book, especially in our final arc involving rats and corpses and dark tunnels….I may have spent the rest of the night convinced I was seeing rats and shadows out of the corner of my eye.
Overall, I think The House of Last Resort brings something really unique to the haunted house genre and breathes a breath of fresh air into the possession genre as well. Massive thank you to St. Martin’s Press for sending me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Pick up a copy for yourselves on January 30th, or better yet – pre-order now!
“She had been deeply unnerved, even frightened, but the morning always came, no matter how frightened the dark might have made her.”
