REVIEW
I have read three books by McMahon now, and loved every single one. She is quickly becoming one of my favorite horror authors. The way she writes her stories so you're not completely sure if there actually is something supernatural going on, or if it is all in the characters head, leaves me guessing until the very end. This one was no different.
I sometimes find myself annoyed when main characters of horror novels are moms to young children. As someone who is childfree, I find myself having a difficult time relating to these characters, and sometimes sympathizing with them. Many times, they are moms and only moms. They don't seem to have hobbies besides drinking copious amounts of wine (not a character fault in my opinion unless it's drinking to "escape" their lives which are described as miserable) and being suspicious of everyone around them. This, much to my enjoyment, was different. Alison had a fantastic personality, she had hobbies, an artistic career, friends, and wasn't escaping nightly to go drink. I found myself relating to her in that we both love Halloween and don't much care for Christmas. She was a great perspective to read from because she was easy to root for, and didn't make overly dumb decisions.
I loved reading about her backstory. Not that she had a fantastic childhood in anyway, but because it gave the necessary insight to why her character behaved the way she did. If there was one insufferable character besides her mother (who you were supposed to despise) it was her husband. I get that some people are over-the-top upbeat and have a constant optimistic attitude, but that would drive me insane. Reading about Alison's family life wasn't boring. In fact, the pacing throughout the book was fairly consistent, with only a few times where I was wanting more exploration into things. I also loved the bait-and-switch at the end, because I truly didn't see that coming. There's many things I love about McMahon's writing, but her endings are always on point.
I highly recommend not only this book, but this author to those that like their horror with good stories attached. This was never in-your-face scary, but more of an eerie, unsettling feel. Nothing was every quite "right", if you know what I mean. I will definitely make my way through her backlist prior to her next release.
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