House of Monstrous Women is terrifying from start to finish, navigating monstrous frights amidst the horrors of living under an authoritarian regime where every step could be your last. At the root of the book is an examination of fear and its many forms. Fear of being alone in a crumbling house, fear of never succeeding where your parents couldn’t, fear of not having the family you so hope for. All of these fears are wound together by a game that seems simple on the surface but turns into a horrifying journey of self discovery for each of its characters. Part haunted house story, part paranormal horror, House of Monstrous Women is, at its core, an examination of a world where women aren’t allowed to live the lives they want and what it means to fight for the life they want to live. It’s powerful, horrifying, and thought-provoking until the final sentence.

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A Few of My Favorite Things

A Truly Epic Haunted House

I love a good haunted house story, especially when the house has a mind of its own. From the first moment Josephine walks through the doors, every piece of the house feels wrong. It’s twisted and confusing, winding about through endless doors, filled with dirty rooms and broken things all piled there by past generations now disappeared. Bugs are crawling in every nook and cranny, there’s a sickly sweet smell mixed with rot, and the creepiest servants imaginable are around every corner. It’s a truly haunted house, and all of that happens before we really get to see under the covers. This is a brilliant setting and it only gets creepier as the game begins and the house really shows its true colors. 

The Promise of a Future

This was the most brilliant part of the book. All four of the characters are here to play a game and, if they win, they can wish for the future of their dreams and receive it. They all have something they’re desperate for and so far life has beaten them down and cornered them into arriving at the house’s front door. Everyone is desperate to change the path they’re on and it makes the stakes of the game incredibly hight. Throw in a few curses, a few rules that don’t seem fair, and endless servants who are essentially zombies chasing them at every turn, and it’s a high adrenaline chase that spans the later half of the book. 

The Paranormal Horror of It All

I’m a big fan of paranormal horror, especially if it’s done well, and this book gets it right in every scene. It starts with little things – bugs and nightmares about creatures eating your flesh, unease woven within every interaction inside the walls of the house. As the story unravels, so too do the paranormal aspects until Josephine is running between undead, endless insects, and a final monster that is epically horrifying to imagine. Everything is tied together by a mysterious spirit that has its tendrils in the generations of women born to this family and getting away from it seems impossible. There are so many gross elements alongside physical and mental discomforts, making it the perfect paranormal horror.