A Guest in the House by Emily Carroll

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/5

Sapphic haunted house horror with gorgeous art and colouring.

I bought this book because of the cover and because I love graphic novels. I had no idea what I was getting into, which I highly recommend, so I won't reveal too much about the beats of the story.

I love our main character, who is in her early 30s, in a larger body, unconfident and in a passionless marriage. She often slips into daydreams, which are represented in an abstract cosmic burst of colour against her ordinarily black and white life (and black and white panels).

Since we're following through our main character's point of view, there is an aspect of unreliability, between what she knows to be true, what is a daydream, and what are lies told to her. I love this growing dread and uncertainty in a story.

The illustrations are amazing. The idea of flipping between black/white for the 'real world' and cosmic colour bursts for her paranormal experiences adds to the impact of the storytelling. I love that the panels are all different shapes and sizes depending on the action in the story. We get a lot of big, expansive images of nature and seclusion that help to ground the story.

Since I live close to where this story takes place (cottage country Ontario), I was able to recognize the unique culture of living full time in cottage country, the landscape and the nature. It really added something special to see my sense of home reflected back through a book.

This book is best read at the end of a dock, while your lover watches you from under the water.