A novella with an interesting twist on haunting, and an amusing satire on “reality” TV

On the set of a kitschy reality TV show, staged scares transform into unnerving reality…

“Don’t talk to day about what we do at night.”

When aimless twenty-something Mara lands a job as the night-shift production assistant on her cousin’s ghost hunting/home makeover reality TV show Haunt Sweet Home, she quickly determines her new role will require a healthy attitude toward duplicity. But as she hides fog machines in the woods and improvises scares to spook new homeowners, a series of unnerving incidents on set and a creepy new coworker force Mara to confront whether the person she’s truly been deceiving and hiding from all along — is herself.

Eerie and empathetic, Haunt Sweet Home is a multifaceted, supernatural exploration of finding your own way into adulthood, and into yourself.

What if a fake reality show about haunted properties ends up… not so fake? In Sarah Pinsker’s latest novella, a newly-hired production assistant ends up right in the middle of a haunting, while still trying to figure out who she wants to be and what kind of life she wants. It’s an engaging story that feels a little like house-hunting during an episode of Supernatural. I enjoyed this.

Mara is in her twenties, and struggling to figure out her place in the world. She’s been bouncing around between jobs, college, and homes, all the while struggling to feel like she belongs anyway. When an opportunity arises to get her foot in the door of the entertainment industry, she takes it, thinking it will at the very least be a decent job for a short while. Navigating the strange world of television, and keeping her connection to the show’s star mostly a secret, Mara takes to the job — setting up “evidence” of hauntings and other spooky happenings on the reality show. Every so often, she gets a helping hand from another, mysterious assistant — one who seems especially gifted at enhancing the effects intended on scaring the guests on the show. They form a bond, and are unnervingly similar in certain ways…

It’s a little difficult going into much detail without spoiling the story. What I will say is that Pinsker has a gift for writing characters and evoking spooky (but not cliché) atmosphere. The story is tightly told, and while I would have liked to spend more time with the protagonist and in her world, I think the novella is just the right length — it told a complete story, never felt rushed, and developed Mara very well. There’s also some good satire of the television/entertainment industry, which I always enjoy. The “mechanics” of the haunting that Pinsker develops were a stand-out element for me: it’s an interesting twist on some classic mythologies, but the author adds a couple of original elements that set it apart.

This is the first book by Pinsker that I’ve read, and it certainly won’t be the last; I look forward to reading more of the author’s work in the future. (I’ll start with the award-winning A Song for a New Day.)

*

Sarah Pinsker’s Haunt Sweet Home is out now, published by TorDotCom in North America and in the UK.

Follow the Author: Website, Goodreads, Instagram, Twitter
Review copy received via NetGalley