The Last House on Needless Street
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
What a read! I'm not entirely sure this counts as horror, but its exactly what I want the genre to be. At any given point in the book I was confident I knew what was coming next, and I'm pretty sure I got every single prediction wrong. Catriona Ward did a truly spectacular job balancing red herrings with subtle foreshadowing. This is a book I'll read twice - once for the full horror experience and a second time just to look for the breadcrumbs I missed the first time around.
One of my favorite aspects of the book was also the least comfortable to read. The chapters alternate between the viewpoints of different characters, and one of the primary characters Ward follows is set up as the clear villain. He's also amazingly sympathetic. Each narrator is unreliable for different reasons, so after awhile following along inside his head, I started doubting all of my initial assumptions no matter how confident I initially was in them. I hated feeling bad for a monster, but it was so well written I couldn't put it down.
The other aspect I loved was the lack of misogyny. For the first time I was reading a horror book without feeling an undercurrent of absolute vitriol aimed at my gender. Women weren't flat stereotypes, and weren't punished for daring to step outside gendered roles and expectations. To be clear - the women in this book are not angels by any stretch of the imagination. But they are fully fleshed characters with agency, and it was fabulous.
I paired this with the Corpse Reviver #2 to stay in theme. Not only does it have the perfectly morbid name, the cocktail is finished with a couple dashes of absinthe - an ideal match for the gothic, dissociative feel of the book.
Corpse Reviver #2
1 oz. gin
1 oz. triple sec
1 oz. Lillet Blanc (I substituted sweet white vermouth)
1 oz. lemon juice
2-3 dashes absinthe (If you like specific numbers as much as I do, I went with just under 1/4 oz. and it came out well)
Add all of the ingredients into a shaker with ice, shake until your hands are too cold. Strain into a coupe or martini glass. I always go with a coupe because I don’t believe its possible to drink something out a martini glass without spilling it. Garnish with a twist of lemon if you have it.
Enjoy!
