Play Nice by Rachel Harrison: More Than Just a Ghost Story

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison: More Than Just a Ghost Story

This is what draws the reader into Rachel Harrison’s books. She knows People. Our goals, quests, monsters to overcome and truths to dig out (or not). Whether she writes about witches, werewolves, cults or haunted houses, her characters are wonderfully believable. This is the skill of the horror creator: the ‘what if it was me?’ that keeps us watching both page and screen.

‘Play Nice’ is a glorious, creepy and very human adventure, one of those books that I’d love to read for the first time again. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

A Horror Book Review by Cat Treadwell

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer, she harbours a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents’ messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped Alex of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.

After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, the presence in the house becomes more real, and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.

Full disclosure: I read this book while travelling and attending a family wedding. When I wasn’t reading, I absolutely was thinking about Clio’s adventures and wondering if I could sneak a few pages without anyone noticing (I did not. Please clap).

I’m constantly amazed by how much Rachel Harrison’s work is improving with every single creation she makes (and I started with ‘Cackle’ back in the day). I’ve adored her recent titles, but this one truly stands apart. It grabs and doesn’t let go.

One thing to be aware of going in: initially, Clio doesn’t seem like a very relatable protagonist. She’s certainly not nice; she can be selfish, egotistical and more focused on her social media follower count than her family. However, this really is part of the fun of this book. She’s akin to the teen-you-like-most in a slasher movie, hoping she’ll learn and survive all that she goes through.

And if I may whisper a secret: she may be a brat, but I was so very envious of her sheer bloody-minded ballsiness!

As the book moves forward, these negatives are shown to be almost a mask that she’s armoured herself with against the world after the events of her childhood, and the notoriety of her family after her mother shared their ‘haunting’ story with the world.

For Clio and her siblings are the children of Amityville, essentially. They fled their house after various terrible, unexplainable events, and Clio herself – sorry for mixing movies – is Carol-Ann. So what exactly happened when that family grew up? Was Clio possessed, or just a little girl who wouldn’t play nice?

There are real moments of dread in this book, constantly reminding us that it’s a horror story as it ramps up the tension and genuinely makes us wonder if any of the family will survive (not to mention the Handsome Neighbour Boyfriend). The House is a constant, running through every memory for Clio as much as the questions she never got to ask her mother. How much of the notorious Book was true? Did those things really happen, or was Alex just asking for attention? Are they a family of liars, covering up hideous truths or just awful (and possibly inherited) narcissism?

To the surprise of anyone not aware of just how good the horror genre is right now, Rachel’s writing is beautiful. She plays with the intensely important trivialities of modern life as an influencer, while always returning to the deeply human truths beneath the surface facade. There’s a reason Clio acts as she does, a reason that she runs away – and then stubbornly runs right back once she’s told not to. The truth is too important to ignore or forget, no matter how easy that path would be.

‘Remembering is not always a light shone into darkness. Sometimes it’s a claw reaching out and dragging you back.’

We all have secrets, regrets, memories from childhood that may not be true when brought into the light. Clio’s were forced into the spotlight of the entire world, and I couldn’t help but wonder what else she could possibly have done. What I would have done. Because I’m nice… right?

This is what draws the reader into Rachel Harrison’s books. She knows People. Our goals, quests, monsters to overcome and truths to dig out (or not). Whether she writes about witches, werewolves, cults or haunted houses, her characters are wonderfully believable. This is the skill of the horror creator: the ‘what if it was me?’ that keeps us watching both page and screen.

‘Play Nice’ is a glorious, creepy and very human adventure, one of those books that I’d love to read for the first time again. I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison

A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the USA Today bestselling author of Black Sheep and So Thirsty.

Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parent’s messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped Alex of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house.

After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, the presence in the house becomes more real, and more sinister, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation.

Horror Book Reviews on Ginger Nuts of Horror

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