The horror genre has always been a barometer for global fears. Motherhood is one of the subjects it often explores, in work like Rosemary’s Baby, The Exorcist, Hereditary, and The Babadook. Now USA Today bestselling horror writer Rachel Harrison has added to the genre from the (adult) child’s point-of-view in her latest release, Play Nice.
The youngest of three sisters, Clio Barnes is a stereotypical Gen Zer—working as a stylist and influencer, obsessed with Instagram, uninterested in a real romantic relationship, and dependent on her father for help with any kind of adulting. She’s got real trauma from her childhood, though—when she was seven, her parents divorced and her mother Alex lost her mind, thinking their house was haunted. Clio’s father got full custody of his daughters, and Alex moved in with her demonologist boyfriend, eventually writing a book about the haunting and allowing her daughters to sever ties with her.
When Alex dies, Clio is the only one to attend her funeral, and she’s shocked to learn her mother never sold the haunted house—in fact, she died there. Now it belongs to Clio and her sisters, and Clio—anxious for new content for her social media followers—wants to fix it and flip it. Her father and sisters have misgivings, but no one succeeds in talking her out of it.
In the house, Clio finds a copy of her mother’s book (the sisters all pledged to never read it) with notes from Alex to her. As Clio starts to doubt the narrative her father and sisters fed to her about Alex’s alcoholism and mental illness, strange things begin to happen in the house. Is Clio suffering from the same delusions that felled her mother, or is there really a demon in the house?
Play Nice is told in Clio’s first-person point of view, and the story starts before Alex’s death. We meet Clio in the middle of a night of partying, and her voice is so bratty and grating that I almost gave up on the book. I’m glad I didn’t. Not only is Play Nice a strong modern addition to the haunted house genre, it draws a line connecting personal demons with actual demons. Although I still found Clio’s subplots about her friends in fashion and her maybe boyfriend to be distractions, the book is incredibly fast-paced and the scares build effectively. Clio’s sisters, her father, and stepmother are all realistically portrayed and well-rounded. As the story unfolds, Clio grows beyond her bratty influencer persona into a young woman forced to confront her parents as fallible humans and accept responsibility for herself. It’s horror as personal growth.
The horror genre becomes more popular during turbulent times, so fans should find themselves with a plethora of choices. While Play Nice is my first Rachel Harrison, it won’t be my last. I look forward to reading her back list.
Thanks to Berkley for the book in exchange for an honest review.
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