Motherthing

ALLISON'S PICK

Creepy, weird, a little bit heartbreaking but also comedic. Yes, it's dark, but the most disturbing part is probably the jellied salmon. - AH

PAUL'S PICK, TOO

Mother-in-law comes back as a ghost and she’s just as nasty as when she was alive. The people being haunted aren’t doing so great to begin with, though. Also, it’s funny. - PD

A darkly funny domestic horror novel about a woman who must take drastic measures to save her husband and herself from the vengeful ghost of her mother-in-law.

Abby Lamb has done it. She's found the Great Good in her husband Ralph, and together they will start a family and put all the darkness in her childhood to rest. But then the Lambs move in with Ralph’s mother Laura, whose depression has made it impossible for her to live on her own. She’s venomous and cruel, especially to Abby, who has a complicated understanding of motherhood given the way her own (now estranged) mother raised her.

When Laura takes her own life, her ghost starts to haunt Abby and Ralph in very different ways. Ralph is plunged into depression, and Abby is being terrorized by a force intent on taking everything she loves away from her. With everything on the line, Abby must make the ultimate sacrifice in order to prove her adoration to Ralph and break Laura's hold on the family for good.

Paperback | 288 pages | 5.13" x 7.92"