Penguin Random House (2022). Motherthing cover Image [Photograph].
Abby’s mother-in-law is dead. Well, she’s supposed to be, anyway. But according to Ralph, she’s actually inhabiting their basement. For Abby, who had (has?) a complex relationship with her mother-in-law, this is a problem, to say the least. During her lifetime, Abby was desperate for Laura’s approval and now that she’s gone, Abby can’t help but feel relieved. As Ralph sinks into a depression in their writhing suburban home, he drags their marriage down with him. It falls to Abby to decide what to do about the ghost in their basement, and she will do whatever she has to get rid of Laura, no matter the cost.
Motherthing is full of outrageous developments delivered with scathing nonchalance. With dark humor and unreliable narration Hogarth exposes domestic life, and questions what it truly means to be mothered.
As a nebulous cluster of the emotion genre, horror plays on our emotions by evoking all sorts of feelings: discomfort, fear, aversion, and even rapt fascination. This genre gives people an avenue to explore a wide range of emotions perhaps (and hopefully) not felt in their daily lives vicariously through the experiences of strange and, at times, abhorrent characters. Tales of emotion are well-suited to a mood display, which could be an online tool or a physical display where an overarching feeling can lead to several title suggestions. These feelings could be niche and unexpected, drawing the curious reader into a book they wouldn’t have otherwise looked at twice.
A great resource for some unique and chilling horror recommendations is the blog What is Quinn Reading. My very favourite place to find book recommendations is The Lesbrary. It’s your one-stop-shop for all sapphic/bi/lesbian/non-binary stories of any genre and I cannot recommend it highly enough.
Hogarth, A. (2022). Motherthing. Strange Light.
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