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annaonthepage's review
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
I loved this right up to the end, which is cut mercilessly short. I feel a bit cheated by the story ending where it does. It doesn't sit right with the incredible build-up that's been crafted to that point. Otherwise this is a stunningly atmospheric gothic ghost story that doesn't shy away from darkness and ambiguity. I was really invested in Abby as a character and her journey.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Mental illness, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse
jessereadsthings's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
2.0
Beautiful art, but the story didn’t quite work for me. It felt incomplete in its story telling and overall I think it need just a bit more time to explore the characters and to truly pull off the ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Gore
Moderate: Domestic abuse
Minor: Suicide
iamblueraspberry's review
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
This book was beautifully chilling. It drew me in and left me changed. Stunningly well done.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, and Gore
Minor: Domestic abuse
blep's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Fuck me emily Carrol satiates my hunger for horror so well
Content Warnings
Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder
loyddl's review
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Body horror
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Domestic abuse and Suicide
jenmtnbike's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Grief
otterno11's review
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
“A haunting is like anything else in life. Impossible to prepare for. So it’s better not to have expectations.”
Emily Carroll’s latest affecting, eerie graphic novel A Guest in the House is her most chilling yet. I’ve rarely felt literal chills while reading a comic, but Carroll certainly builds them up here. Grounding her phantasmagorical ghostly tale in the familiar mundanity of a quiet northern lake town sometime in the ‘90s makes the horrors that fill the pages all the more startling. Carroll is an expert at evoking visceral human emotions and imbuing them with an ominous power, and A Guest in the House accentuates this.
Abigail, an emotionally subdued, self effacing young woman newly married to an older widowed dentist, is struggling to adjust to her new life, especially engaging with her new stepdaughter Crystal. Under the surface of her placid, passive exterior, her personality surges with a vibrant, if unsettling fantasy life. Despite the prosaic appearance of her life, it is a house of secrets and the presence of Sheila, her husband’s first wife and Crystal’s mother, looms large over the lakehouse Abby spends so much time alone in. Soon, Abby comes to interact and build a relationship with Sheila's presence in the house, a relationship by turns enticing and menacing
and the boundaries between the real and the other begin to blur, for both Abby and the reader.
Carroll illustrates the mundane details of Abby’s daily life - the grocery store, the wall harp, the dock - in a static black and white, while her dream experiences are shown in lurid reds and blues, a striking and effective way to convey this disquieting atmosphere, especially as the ambiguity of Abby’s understanding becomes more evident. Full of strange and surreal touches that accentuate this uncertainty, as the tension mounts, we find ourselves unsure where Abby’s dreamworld ends and its reality begins.
All in all, there is a lot going on under the surface of this story, from Abby’s anxieties and sexuality to the stifling nature of her small town at the end of the conformist 20th century, that makes it all very open to interpretation in a provocative and rewarding way, especially its shocking and sudden ending. An intricate and terrifying puzzle, Carroll’s lush artwork and pacing make A Guest in the House a gripping story that is best read during the day.
Emily Carroll’s latest affecting, eerie graphic novel A Guest in the House is her most chilling yet. I’ve rarely felt literal chills while reading a comic, but Carroll certainly builds them up here. Grounding her phantasmagorical ghostly tale in the familiar mundanity of a quiet northern lake town sometime in the ‘90s makes the horrors that fill the pages all the more startling. Carroll is an expert at evoking visceral human emotions and imbuing them with an ominous power, and A Guest in the House accentuates this.
Abigail, an emotionally subdued, self effacing young woman newly married to an older widowed dentist, is struggling to adjust to her new life, especially engaging with her new stepdaughter Crystal. Under the surface of her placid, passive exterior, her personality surges with a vibrant, if unsettling fantasy life. Despite the prosaic appearance of her life, it is a house of secrets and the presence of Sheila, her husband’s first wife and Crystal’s mother, looms large over the lakehouse Abby spends so much time alone in. Soon, Abby comes to interact and build a relationship with Sheila's presence in the house, a relationship by turns enticing and menacing
and the boundaries between the real and the other begin to blur, for both Abby and the reader.
Carroll illustrates the mundane details of Abby’s daily life - the grocery store, the wall harp, the dock - in a static black and white, while her dream experiences are shown in lurid reds and blues, a striking and effective way to convey this disquieting atmosphere, especially as the ambiguity of Abby’s understanding becomes more evident. Full of strange and surreal touches that accentuate this uncertainty, as the tension mounts, we find ourselves unsure where Abby’s dreamworld ends and its reality begins.
All in all, there is a lot going on under the surface of this story, from Abby’s anxieties and sexuality to the stifling nature of her small town at the end of the conformist 20th century, that makes it all very open to interpretation in a provocative and rewarding way, especially its shocking and sudden ending. An intricate and terrifying puzzle, Carroll’s lush artwork and pacing make A Guest in the House a gripping story that is best read during the day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Domestic abuse
alisonannk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Death, Death of parent, and Misogyny
tabby2920's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Death and Domestic abuse
jesshindes's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Ok! I'm catching up on my reviews so it's been a couple of weeks since I read this one but I really enjoyed it. I think graphic novels are the perfect way to tell horror stories because it's basically like you can create your own horror film, story and visuals and everything, all by yourself without the enormous army of people necessary on an actual movie. Anyway, Emily Carroll does this in 'A Guest in the House' to great effect. Abby (mousy, self-effacing) is recently married to a (fairly inscrutable, luxuriantly moustached) new guy, recently moved to a new lakeside house with him and his also fairly inscrutable child, still a little destablised by the loss of her mother, basically in a weird place already and then starts seeing things. In some resects this story leans into a lot of classic tropes (to the extent of having most of the story in black and white but then these dreams/visions/hallucinations/whatever they are in colour) but I thought there were other ways that it was quite fresh and unexpected; the nature of Abby's relationship with the apparition, for example, felt original and compelling to me. The balance of creepiness/suspense was just right (the husband just feels *off* but you're not quite sure exactly how for a long time) and Carroll does really effective things with the format (she makes great use of the page layout so that you're often turning the page in suspense to see... something). And I thought the ending was great, although it's also maddeningly ambiguous so if anybody wants to discuss it Let Me Know!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Suicide, Body horror, and Domestic abuse