Malice House by Megan Shepherd
Horror/Fantasy/Magical Realism
384 Pages
Published by Hyperion Avenue (4th October 2022)
Purchase from | Booktopia | Fishpond AU* | Dymocks | Amazon AU | Amazon US | Amazon UK |
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
When Haven Marbury goes back to Malice House after her father’s death, all she’s expecting is a laborious mission of clearing out a lifetime that belonged to her father – a painfully successful author. What she’s not expecting to find is a hidden manuscript title “Bedtime Stories for Monsters” a seemingly unknown and unpublished work, written in her father’s own hand. Initially she wonders what the manuscript would be worth on its own, but after some thought she wonders if she could combine her own art with the manuscript, bringing it to life in a father daughter collaboration that would hopefully help launch her failing art career into the stratosphere. Haven knew how popular and sought after the manuscript would be, but she never imagined how many people would be dying to get a hold of it. From the strange book society in town that her father was a member of – The Ink Drinkers; her strange neighbour who likes to burn things in his backyard at 3am; the appealing barista who makes a living from selling literary wares, both real and forged; as well as whoever has been trying to break into Malice House. On top of this, the ramblings of her father’s dementia addled brain are beginning to seem as though they had some truth to them, strange noises throughout the house, strange smells, and odd things seen out the corner of the eye. When a strange creature appears under Haven’s bed, and gruesome murders begin to take place, Haven can’t help but wonder whether she’s losing her mind, just as her father did, or whether there’s much more to Malice House and Bedtime Stories for Monsters, than meets the eye. What secrets was her father hiding? And will Haven uncover them in time to stop whatever’s happening?
Malice House is one of those Bookstagram made me buy it purchases, and I was not disappointed. The cover caught my eye as I was scrolling through my feed, something about the dreary seascape overlayed with bright orange text just grabbed my attention, and it’s a book cover that I still find myself gazing at like a crazy person. Initially I didn’t realise it was a horror novel, but after reading the synopsis I was sold and purchased it as soon as I could. This was one of those books that I thought I knew how it would play out, but it turned out to be something totally different to what I expected, and it worked.
When Haven goes back to Malice House to clean out the home after her father’s death, she finds a manuscript in the attic that she knows has never been published. Having escaped an abusive marriage and taken off, she could use any money that she can possibly find, so the manuscript becomes a beacon of hope for her. As she’s a flailing artist who is struggling to get her art career off the ground, the thought crosses her mind that she could illustrate the manuscript, making money from the publication as well as being able to showcase her work next to a Pulitzer winning author’s story. And seeing as she’s his only next of kin, there’s no red tape that she’ll have to battle her way through to do it. This story was one that built a slow atmosphere of isolation and dread. Haven is very alone, she hadn’t seen her father in a long time and she has no friends or family to reach out to. I feel like Shepherd did a fantastic job of really illustrating how alone and desperate Haven was, and I sympathised greatly with her. I could feel the excitement at the manuscript’s discovery and the possibility that it brought with it. I felt the kick in the guts when her fantastic idea was shot down. And I truly felt the fear and isolation that coalesced around Haven when she was in Malice House alone. Shepherd really set the scene with her descriptions, so much so that I felt like I could smell the sea air, the dirt, and the briny smell that accompanied the monster under Haven’s bed. The monsters were also very well written, while physically they may not all have seemed like something to fear, it was their abilities that made them terrifying. The way that the Uncle character could manipulate someone’s mind, taking away their free will, and the way that the Witch could alter one’s reality, making escape impossible. I do admit, that for some reason, I had a weird soft spot for Pinchy, and I really liked the character of The Harbinger, being able to get to know him through Bedtime Stories for Monsters was something I was not expecting when I started the book, but I’m super intrigued by his character, as well as the other monsters, and I’m hoping that should this be followed up with a sequel at the very least, we do get to see these characters some more and get to delve deeper into them.
The story is one that has a book within a book. Not only does Haven find this magical unicorn of a manuscript, but we also actually get to read it. Throughout the book, Bedtime Stories for Monsters is peppered between chapters of Haven’s story. So not only did Shepherd write Malice House, but she also wrote all of these other short stories on top of that. She created the characters in Haven’s story, of which I thought were fantastic, but she also created the monsters from Armory’s manuscript. I enjoyed the character of Haven a lot, she’s trying to find her feet and work out where her life is headed after leaving an abusive marriage, while simultaneously trying to clean out her father’s entire life. She’s got no cash, and she writes summaries of obscure and obscene horror movies for a guy she’s never met, on the internet. I really enjoyed the character of the bookstore barista, and I developed a soft spot for her instantly, as well as Haven’s interesting neighbour. The Ink Drinkers were suss from the get-go and I never really liked any of them, if I’m honest. I feel like it really says something when I liked the monsters from the manuscript more than The Ink Drinkers.
The story was an interesting one and while there were definitely horror elements to it, I feel like it would also fit in as a dark fantasy, possibly magical realism kind of mesh. I wasn’t expecting it to be anything but horror, but I feel like the amalgamation of these genres all worked super well together to create an interesting story that was unlike anything I’d ever read before. This book was way different than what I was anticipating it to be, and it worked out so well. There were many times that I was reading before bed, because of course I was, where I actually felt really creeped out by different situations and characters. Nothing is as it seems and you need to expect nothing and everything all at once. This was an absolute page turner for me and I’m looking forward to seeing if we get a book two, I’m super interested to see where the story goes and what happens to Haven as she continues to unravel the mysteries and secrets that are hidden deep within her family line.
*= Read Book. Repeat earns commission on purchases made through these links at no extra cost to you.
Read Book. Repeat 