Book Review: The House of Last Resort by Christopher Golden
Title: The House of Last Resort
Author: Christopher Golden
Release date: January 30th, 2024
*Huge thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a digital ARC of this one!*
I’m always up for ‘foreign location’ horror. I know that sounds funny, but horror set in Europe has centuries and centuries of history to utilize. If we look at horror set in Canada (where I’m from) we ultimately look back in time and end up with a history of… open plains and mountains. Which don’t get me wrong is also amazing, but not the same as when you’re going to read about a story based around religious mystery, which is the case with Golden’s newest release, ‘The House of Last Resort.’
Going in, I was intrigued with the set up, which I’ll go over in a minute, but also with the line in the synopsis discussing what it is they’ll find. And boy, did they find something that’ll have horror fans excited.
What I liked: The story follows husband and wife, Tommy and Kate. Tommy’s family is from a small Italian town, but after a falling out many years ago between his dad and grandpa, he’s not been back in years. That all changes when an opportunity arises. The town’s government is offering houses for $1, trying to entice foreigners to move in and help revitalize the town and the economy. There are stipulations – those who buy homes have to remain for a certain amount of time and agree to renovate the houses – but the thought of this exciting adventure is too much for Tommy and Kate to pass up, so they jump on it and move.
Once there, Golden wastes no time in starting to subtly share some ‘oddities.’ There’s a door in the house that they can’t open. Sounds happen. Presences are felt. An old woman down the road seems off. And when Tommy’s grandmother comes to see the house, she won’t step foot inside, visibly upset that this is the house they’ve purchased.
The creeps continue, even as Tommy and Kate settle into their new place and meet some other foreigners who’ve moved to the town. Soon, Kate finds the door is open, even though they didn’t get a key for it. And inside they find an entire section of the house that they weren’t even aware was there.
From here, Golden gives us a dread-infused look at the history of the house, and not long after, even more shocking events occur that ultimately test what it is that Tommy and Kate are willing to believe.
It’s hard to truly go into the details – because of the spoiler aspects – but we get some great revelations about the church’s involvement in the house, what its role was and ultimately what horrors happened within and below.
The final quarter of the book is a sprint, with the realtor becoming involved once again and the true nature of why many wanted Tommy to return to this small town. It sets off a string of events that all culminate in an ending that was spot on perfect, based on how Golden had set things up.
What I didn’t like: This is gonna be tough, as I want to remain spoiler free, but I think the thing that I noticed most was that nothing was ever fully expanded upon. Every time we learn new bits, the book continues on and we don’t get an exploration of it. When we find out what’s behind the door, it was amazing. They explore it, we get some great descriptions of the rooms and the walls etc… and then Tommy and Kate renovate it.
When we find out the truth behind what the house was used for, we get a horrified reaction from Tommy and Kate and then… we just move on. Don’t get me wrong, the pacing of the book was amazing, and I was hooked from the beginning, but we just kept trucking along.
Same with when they visit the catacombs below and look into it becoming a tourist location. Odd things are noted, strangeness abounds… and then they just start building.
And I will say, while I really liked the culmination of what happens and how the ending occurs, some folks may find it to be far too predictable, which would be fair.
Why you should buy this: At the end of the day, I think the thing to really keep in mind with this is that this is a big-press horror novel. So, while it gets dark and tensions rise, it’ll never go super extreme and most of the action remains surface-level without any real brutality or extremeness.
Saying that, if you’re looking for a fast-paced, highly-engaging religious horror novel where you want to root for Tommy and Kate and see them overcome both the fish-out-of-water aspect of moving to a different country, while also overcoming the horrors within their house, look no further. Golden’s a master at writing these immediately accessible characters and once again shows why he’s one of the leaders of the big publishing horror movement.
4/5
