The House That Horror Built

This haunted-house story for the pandemic era eschews subtlety for gothic bombast. Single mother and out-of-work waitress Harry Adams is stressed because of her dire financial situation. As no restaurants are hiring during the pandemic, she takes a job cleaning the home of reclusive horror-movie director Javier Castillo, who went into hiding after a family tragedy. As a fan of Castillo’s work, Harry considers this a dream job, but her dream turns into a nightmare when she realizes that supernatural forces are haunting the mansion. To save herself and her family, Harry must figure out what has possessed the house. Though Castillo might call to mind horror director Guillermo del Toro, Henry (Good Girls Don’t Die) seems to draw more of her inspiration from novels like Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights. She heavily evokes the gothic aesthetic, from the brooding castlelike Castillo home to the novel’s gloriously melodramatic ending. Lisa Flanagan adds pop with her narration of the audiobook, especially in the dialogue between Harry and her teenage son Gabe.