I love an okkum-spookum story and this one was fabulous! I loved the abrupt and unsettling ending and was obsessed with the misandrist sapphic ghost love story. The grotesque artwork was also memorable. Highly recommend!

This book kept me reading due to the well placed hints and questions I had about the mother. The stepmother is figuring out this new life and situation with no real grasp on who the husband really is and what happened to his first wife.

Who is doing it like Emily Carroll?? Here she is again, absolutely killing it. She’s been an inspiration of mine for the longest time and my favorite indie comic maker hands-down. And A Guest in the House truly doesn’t disappoint: gorgeous art, unsettling narrative, twisty characters… I’m all about it.

This is a haunting story that gave off Daphne du Maurier’s Rebecca vibes.The story follows a woman named Abby who has just gotten married to a recently widowed dentist who has a daughter. Abby has always been lonely, but she hopes that she can be a good wife and a good step mother. Yet the more she learns about her husband’s previous wife the more suspicious she becomes of what actually happened to her. Was Shiela’s death due to natural causes or was it something more sinister. Abby becomes obsessed with finding out what happened... it also doesn’t help that she has begun to see the ghost of said wife and start communicating with it.., yet the real question is, what is real? This definitely was such an interesting mundane horror story, filled with gorgeous artwork and honestly had me guessing as to what was actually going on til the end of the book.


*Thanks Netgalley and First Second Books, First Second for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

Emily Carroll's GUEST IN THE HOUSE is giving Daphne du Maurier's Rebecca + unreliable narrator crime thriller. And I'm here for it.

Abby is having trouble adjusting to her new life as a wife and stepmother. It doesn't help that she's isolated in a new town with no neighbors or family nearby. On top of that, she seems to be haunted by Shelia, the first wife. First in thoughts, then as a ghost. As Abby tries to put together the pieces, everything will unravel around her.

Emily uses a limited color palette, nightmare-ish panels and dramatic lettering to enhance the suspense of the narrative.

For adult readers who love psychological thrillers or horror. Recommended for purchase at public libraries or senior highs.

Emily Carroll does it again. Strong Daphne DeMaurier vibes, but illustrated with a gorgeous color palette. If you love mundane horror with a sympathetic female protagonist, this is the book for you.

"A Guest in the House" is another horror masterpiece from Emily Carroll. The art is both gruesome and beautiful, with highly effective use of color. The story is intriguing, with twists that leave the reader with more questions than answers. Fans of Emily Carroll will not want to miss this book. Fans of horror graphic novels will find much to love as well. Recommended for collections where horror graphic novels are appreciated.

This book is absolutely haunting. The artwork is remarkable and shifts in points through the story so effectively and really pulls you in different directions. Stellar art, Stellar writing. I can’t wait to tell people about it!

This book is disturbing in all the best ways. The story will keep readers guessing until the very end. The art shifts between a very limited, almost dull palette and chaotic colors which really helps set up the mood. The writing does a great job from the beginning to make everything seem just a little off even when you don’t know what is going on. My only complaint is that some pages are hard to read, but I suspect that has more to do with the eARC and likely won’t be an issue in the published version.

Emily Carroll's work is always terrifying, and this was no different. But while it wasn't as viscerally satisfying as some of her other work, it WAS thought-provoking as hell and chilling in all sorts of ways. I didn't *like* it, in the end, but I'll definitely be thinking about it for a long time.

This is a really good but odd book. It took me a little bit to get into this but once I did I loved it! This book was dark and atmospheric. The main character's were great though I do wish we got more at the end. Over all this is a solid horror!

No one does creepy and sexy quite like Emily Carroll. A Guest in the House is the story of two women, one living, one dead, connected by their marriage to a mediocre man. Both spooky and sexy, with gorgeous illustrations and a storyline without clear answers, this is Emily Carroll doing what she does best.

Fantastically creepy. Obviously the art is amazing, mostly greyscale with contrasting pops of vivid, hallucinatory colors for dreamscapes and ghosts. The story at once feels traditionally gothic (a Rebecca-style mysteriously dead wife, a spooky lake, etc.) and fresh, keeping the reader engaged throughout. Loved it!

I really loved the unique art style and the twist at the end of the story. It had some good horror moments in it too. It did feel like there was supposed to be a deeper meaning to it that either didn't fully come through or maybe I just didn't get it. I did enjoy it though, I read it all in one sitting.

Emily Carroll is in her own league when it comes to graphic horror. This book is embodied, grotesque, and gorgeous. I loved it so much!

A more reserved Emily Carroll that is no less gothic and mesmerising, A Guest in the House makes you second guess what you're seeing and reading on every page - what is real and what isnt?

Abby is a new wife and step-mom trying to figure out where she belongs. She has somewhat apathetically married a newly widowed doctor after her mother died, figuring this would be a logical next step in life. But Abby is a daydreamer, and she can't help but wonder about the woman she is replacing. Did she really die of cancer? Was their marriage difficult? What kind of woman was she? Soon Abby is consumed, convinced the woman's ghost is visiting her, warning her that her husband is not who she thinks.
What seems like a straightforward ghost story twists into something else. Emily Carroll is a master of the graphic novel horror genre. She builds the tension and throws a curve ball when you think you know where the plot is going. Surprising and disturbing.

Wow! Not in a very long time have I read something this tense where the artwork and the format completely pull you into the protagonist’s experience, however surreal and confusing that may be. Shifting between dream-like illustrated monologues and classic slice-of-life charcoal comic panels (very occasionally throwing a splash of vivid color into otherwise bleak scenery), this is part Rebecca (du Maurier/Hitchcock) and part Stephen King at his creepiest. Vague ending but it was the right way to go. Chills.

I love everything Emily Carroll does and A Guest in the House was no exception. The ending left me a mess. Carroll’s style of soft grotesque horror is incredible. I love the way she intertwines beauty with monsters. The coloring is especially lovely and perfectly matches the building horror of this book.

Emily Carroll is definitely an author whose work readers look out for and look forward to. I loved Emily's previous works and jumped at the chance to preview her latest.
The real star of A Guest in the House is the vibes. I know that sounds so silly and modern to say, but Emily really transports you with her art, the unique use and absence of color, the silly cartoonish eyes of our protagonist, the lush woods in the backgrounds and the blank white space of the panels. This give and take happening before our eyes sets the vibes for a ghost story for a our protagonist, who is just a living ghost herself.
I enjoyed the story itself, but not as much as the punch to the gut Emily provides us with her art.