A House with Good Bones by T. Kingfisher – Review

Published: March 28, 2023

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Series: N/A

Genre: Horror

Pages: 247 (Hardcover)

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:
A haunting Southern Gothic from an award-winning master of suspense, A House With Good Bones explores the dark, twisted roots lurking just beneath the veneer of a perfect home and family.

“Mom seems off.”

Her brother’s words echo in Sam Montgomery’s ear as she turns onto the quiet North Carolina street where their mother lives alone.

She brushes the thought away as she climbs the front steps. Sam’s excited for this rare extended visit, and looking forward to nights with just the two of them, drinking boxed wine, watching murder mystery shows, and guessing who the killer is long before the characters figure it out.

But stepping inside, she quickly realizes home isn’t what it used to be. Gone is the warm, cluttered charm her mom is known for; now the walls are painted a sterile white. Her mom jumps at the smallest noises and looks over her shoulder even when she’s the only person in the room. And when Sam steps out back to clear her head, she finds a jar of teeth hidden beneath the magazine-worthy rose bushes, and vultures are circling the garden from above.

To find out what’s got her mom so frightened in her own home, Sam will go digging for the truth. But some secrets are better left buried.

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Like every T. Kingfisher story, whether romantic, fantasy, horror, or a combination of those things, it has a certain sense of humor to it. Turns out horror really is my thing when the protagonist has wicked wit to go along with the scary bits.

Sam Montgomery returns to North Carolina to stay with her mother after she grows concerned for her mother’s health. She arrives to find the house redecorated scarily similar to how it was when her grandmother was alive – beige paint, Confederate wedding painting and all – and her mother seeming strangely frightened by the smallest things. It’s clear to the reader from the very beginning that the house is being haunted by Sam’s grandmother but it takes Sam much longer to come to and accept this realization. The journey to her accepting this is quite amusing while also being a bit disturbing. Sam, an entomologist, handles the ladybug swarm well enough, and her mom’s weird behavior is very concerning, but the jar of teeth she finds under a rose bush is the final straw. This is towards the latter half of the book and at this point, the horror aspect really takes over and the book gets downright perturbing. I’m leaving out a ton of details because this is such a short little book and doesn’t deserve to be spoiled for anyone.

I really loved the characters, which was no surprise because I always love T. Kingfisher’s characters. They’re always so solidly practical and Sam certainly fits this mold, with her science background and sound logic and reasoning. What’s amusing here is how these things are actually a hindrance to her because what’s happening is so completely illogical. Sam’s mom, the lady with the vultures, and the gardener are delightful secondary characters as well (I forgot names)!

I find that I enjoy T. Kingfisher’s horror novels, but her fantasy is my favorite. This is mostly just down to genre preferences, but I will be reading all of her horror books because they are just flat out entertaining. Also, the scary bits in the ones I’ve read are more disturbing than terrifying and I can handle that! This was a great read, and I particularly recommend this and any of her other stories as audiobooks because it really enhances the character voice.