My Darling Dreadful Thing
Johanna van Veen
In a world where the dead can wake and walk among us, what is truly real? Roos Beckman has a spirit companion only she can see. Ruth—strange, corpse-like, and dead for centuries—is the only good thing in Roos’ life, which is filled with sordid backroom séances organized by her mother. That is, until wealthy young widow Agnes Knoop attends one of these séances and asks Roos to come live with her at the crumbling estate she inherited upon the death of her husband. The manor is unsettling, but the attraction between Roos and Agnes is palpable. So how does someone end up dead? Roos is caught red-handed, but she claims a spirit is the culprit. Doctor Montague, a psychologist tasked with finding out whether Roos can be considered mentally fit to stand trial, suspects she’s created an elaborate fantasy to protect her from what really happened. But Roos knows spirits are real; she's loved one of them. She'll have to prove her innocence and her sanity, or lose everything.
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0 0I heard about this via a friend who primarily shares my mystery taste so I wasn't sure how gothic horror was going to work out but this was surprisingly sweet and romantic for all of its horror.
The story is set in post World War II Netherlands and follows the first person POV of Roos, a young woman whose best friend/companion is a ghost and whose mother uses that ability to conduct seances enhanced by fake effects. Roos' POV alternates with interviews with a psychiatrist who is trying to determine if Roos is fit to stand trial for a nebulous traumatic event that's hinted at.
The strongest part of this book is by far the atmosphere, which is set very effectively in a dark and creepy way with the introduction of Roos' friend Ruth. It maintains that atmosphere as Roos is drawn away from her domineering mother to a remote mansion with a wealthy young widow who has befriended her. Once at the house, increasingly creepy and disturbing things begin to happen and while it never gets truly disgusting, there is definitely a bit of gore as well as some spice.
There is a lot of trauma at the center of this story but I found a good deal of it sympathetic and found myself highlighting sections. The pacing is definitely slow and on the creeping dread side of horror rather than outright terrifying so if you also like those things, I'd definitely recommend it. I will add the caveat that there are some slurs against Asian folks that fit with the time period but are good to know going in. I'm not sure My Darling Dreadful Thing is quite a new favorite but I definitely enjoyed it and I'll definitely pick up future books from the author.
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