Book Review: "Just Like Home" by Sarah Gailey

At the moment, I am still riding the high of modern horror and in this modern psychological horror, though it did not seem like my thing to begin with, I can definitely tell you that it is really quite good. It may not have been my favourite read of the year, but it definitely was not a bad attempt at new-age horror. It had some qualities of 1970s and 1980s horror paperbacks with an essence of psychological thriller. I enjoyed it, though I would not be looking deeper into something that probably is not there. It was not that scary or that deep, but it is an enjoyable light horror read for anyone looking for some particularly good themes and a readable writing style which is both atmospheric and sensory.

“She was a Crowder. She’d finally gotten a taste of the thing that lived under the bed, and she wouldn’t rest until she’d gotten her full.”

Vera has not been back to her family home in a long while and though her mother wasn't the best person on earth (or even close for that matter), she is dying and Vera goes home to take one last look - whether in spite or love you will have to read to find out. Vera's father was an infamous serial killer and since all that is now over, the mother has been renting out some of the room to various people, some more malevolent and annoying that others. Choosing to endure this for a short time, Vera starts to notice weird differences in the home, in her mother and in various shifts in the atmosphere.

But, under the bed, around the corners and especially at night - Vera starts to realise that maybe she isn't alone, not really anyway. The house starts to scare, talk and whisper and the night comes with weird and frightening happenings as Vera tries to work out what is truly going on here. The pace is controlled brilliant and tense moments are slowed right down so that the reader can savour it, feel it and absorb all of that atmosphere. Through the gothic, the gore and the ghosts - Vera tries to make sense of her past and more importantly, of her present. With a twist that will make you realise that not all haunted houses are alike, the tension is brilliantly written into this modern novel of ghastly intention.

One of the only pitfalls I would say that this novel has is that it doesn't get deep enough into any of the concepts. It could have done with being about 50-60 pages longer to go into more depth about how and why the house is the way it is, or even more focus on the father would have been a good idea. The body horror in the book could have had a little bit more description and I am sure that the readers would not have minded. There is some real depth to be dealt with and the book doesn't really flesh that out.

Another part is the ending which I felt was a little bit rushed. This happens a lot with modern horror novels though so it might be a trend and I just don't enjoy it. I like a drawn out ending where I have all the jigsaw pieces begin to fit together. But much like the ending to Just Stay Away, this novel instead chooses a good twist, but shuts the novel off before I can really savour what has happened. It doesn't wind you down, the ending is just given to us. Again, another 50 pages or so and the ending could have been something really meaningful. Though it was a good ending, it deserved a real send-off, but it didn't get one.

All in all, it is a good popular horror novel for fans out there that love to be creeped out, grossed out and everything in between. It feels more like a psychological thriller in places but definitely has the correct atmosphere for a good, creepy haunting. It may not be frightening, but it is chilling, which is hard to do when you have so much story. Though I didn't love this book, I definitely liked it and it made for some good light reading in between my usual requests for deep and terrifying horror.