Editorial Content for Play Nice
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Reviewer (text)
There is a blurb found on the cover of Rachel Harrison’s latest book, PLAY NICE, that refers to her “feminist horror novels.” I think this is extremely limiting and downplays the fine name she has made for herself within the horror genre, regardless of her gender.
PLAY NICE is primarily about a trio of sisters living in the wake of their mother Alex’s recent death and the allegations they grew up with about her being abusive, mentally unstable, and subjecting them to unwanted supernatural elements while growing up in their Connecticut home. Only the youngest sibling, Clio, is willing to attend her funeral. Clio's sisters and remarried father are against it and still harbor much resentment toward her.
"Rather than the expected battle of good vs. evil or human vs. demon, we get to experience a family finally coming together via shared memory as they realize who they really are and who they're supposed to be."
As she pays her respects, Clio learns that Alex never gave up ownership of the infamous “haunted” house they were raised in, and it has now been left to her. Clio, who has little to no memory of what occurred there, visits the house and begins renovating it before deciding whether or not to put it back on the market. While there, she comes across a copy of the nonfiction work that permanently scarred her family and allegedly details the events that drove Alex mad: Demon of Edgewood Drive: The True Story of a Suburban Haunting.
If you're like me, you'll get a very strong AMITYVILLE HORROR vibe from this. Like that book, the fictional one in PLAY NICE has long been debated as to whether or not what is depicted in it ever happened. Clio reads it with equal horror and delight, and readers get to enjoy passages from it throughout the story. You can clearly see why Alex's family forced her into estrangement and tried to minimize the damage to Clio. The problem is that Clio gets more resentful of this and opens up her mind to Alex’s plight, even as she begins to interact with a presence in the home that may have always been attached to her as well as to her mother.
The sale of a haunted house, or a house where any prior tragedy may have occurred, is a cliché in the real estate world, but it is not played for laughs by Harrison. Instead, Clio does her own research. Her only support during this troubling time is a former neighbor who may know more than he lets on about her mother and the inherited property.
Each of the events from the present and the past are depicted realistically and remain unsettling without being terrifying or distracting in any way. This sets up the plot for a final act that provides unexpected outcomes and leaves some matters unanswered in an effective way. Clio believes that she has serious decisions to make lest she end up like her mother --- giving in to despair and letting her mental and otherworldly demons win.
What I found most surprising about PLAY NICE, especially in the final act, is that Harrison stays away from convention. Rather than the expected battle of good vs. evil or human vs. demon, we get to experience a family finally coming together via shared memory as they realize who they really are and who they're supposed to be.
Teaser
Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents' messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped her of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house. After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house-flipping content. But as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims.
Promo
Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents' messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped her of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house. After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house-flipping content. But as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims.
About the Book
A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author of BLACK SHEEP and SO THIRSTY.
Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents' messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped her of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.
After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house-flipping content. Only as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, a sinister presence in the house manifests, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.
Audiobook available, read by Alex Finke and Natasha Soudek
