'Across Italy, there are many half-empty towns, nearly abandoned by those who migrate to the coast or to cities. The beautiful, crumbling hilltop town of Becchina is among them, but its mayor has taken drastic measures to rebuild—selling abandoned homes to anyone in the world for a single Euro, as long as the buyer promises to live there for at least five years. It’s a no-brainer for American couple Tommy and Kate Puglisi. Both work remotely, and Becchina is the home of Tommy’s grandparents, his closest living relatives.
'It feels like a romantic adventure, an opportunity the young couple would be crazy not to seize. But from the moment they move in, they both feel a shadow has fallen on them. Tommy’s grandmother is furious, even a little frightened, when she realizes which house they’ve bought.
'There are rooms in an annex at the back of the house that they didn’t know were there. The place makes strange noises at night, locked doors are suddenly open, and when they go to a family gathering, they’re certain people are whispering about them, and about their house, which one neighbour refers to as The House of Last Resort. Soon, they learn that the home was owned for generations by the Church, but the real secret, and the true dread, is unlocked when they finally learn what the priests were doing in this house for all those long years…and how many people died in the strange chapel inside. While down in the catacombs beneath Becchina…something stirs.'
One of the things that I immediately loved about The House of Last Resort was that so much of it felt incredibly familiar to me. Not the story, or the characters, but the setting. I have family in Italy, my grandparents come from a small mountain village filled with old houses and old residents. Life is slow, people work hard but live full, and there's a wonderful sense of family and community surrounded by beautiful, remote countryside. And this book had that in spades, to the point where I didn't really feel like I had to imagine much, but instead simply remembered.
The House of Last Resort tells the story of Tommy and Kate, who leave their lives in the US behind to move to the small mountain town of Becchina, where Tommy's family originally came from. The mayor of Becchina, seeing the exodus of younger people from the town and fearing that the town might die out, takes part in a scheme to sell houses in Becchina for a single Euro. Enraptured by the idea of buying a house and furnishings for such a low price, Tommy and Kate move across the world, happy to invest the required money in renovations and years living in the house that the amazing bargain requires. Tommy has family there after all, so it's bound to be good.
However, Tommy and Kate decided on another house at the last minute, a house grander than the others, that sits alone at the end of it's street, staring out over the valley below. Sure that they've gotten the best new start in life, they're surprised when Tommy's grandmother admonishes them for buying the house. As they learn more about the house they begin to uncover a sinister past, and when strange occurrences start happening Kate becomes convinced that there's something in the house with them.
As I said at the start, this book absolutely spoke to me thanks to the setting. I felt like I could see Becchina so clearly in my mind, the old houses, the tight, steep mountain streets, and the gorgeous countryside that surrounds it. Christopher Golden did a wonderful job at not only capturing that, but making it feel very real and alive too. The mass family get togethers that happen, the small local shops, the cafes on the piazza where the local men sip coffee and play cards. He brought the location to life wonderfully, to the point where I not only found myself thinking about returning to my family's village at some point, but being actively jealous of my parents being on holiday there whilst I was reading it.
But, this isn't a quite read about a young couple making a new life for themselves in Italy, unfortunately there's something much more sinister brewing. Golden takes it somewhat slow with the horror, sprinkling tiny elements here and there through the early chapters of the book. There's hints at something sinister going on, something that's just outside your field of vision, creeping away in the corners. It's done well enough that you find yourself wondering if what the characters are experiencing is actually real, and it happens so infrequently that you end up getting sucked back into the setting and the character interactions, forgetting the horror you've just witnessed. You can understand why the characters are slow to pick up on it, and them getting in too deep feels kind of reasonable.
Whilst the slow burn horror at the start of the book might put some people off it absolutely gives readers the chance to become fully invested in these characters and their story. Yes, Kate and Tommy do come across a bit annoying in some ways, having barely moved to this town that they hardly know and believing that they, and the others who've moved to Becchina, know the exact way to save the town and start coming up with plans to turn the quiet sleepy mountain village into a tourist trap; but this also works. They're not perfect, they kind of fall into the brash American's not assimilating well but having a good heart stereotype, and it's this attitude that does lead to some bad things happening. For a haunted house story the characters are complex, flawed, interesting, and ultimately very charming; and that's what you need for this kind of story.
The House of Last Resort isn't perfect, there are times where I was thinking that perhaps there should have been a bit more horror, and whilst I adored the setting I know that's going to be down to my own personal experiences and likes. But, I do believe that this is a thoroughly enjoyable horror read that will send chills down most people's spines.
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