In 1973, a commune of almost twenty-five people—mostly women and children—disappeared overnight from the small town of West Burma, WI. What happened to the hippie Children of Demeter has remained a mystery until this day, which is what draws Sarah Bisset, a sociologist on sabbatical, to the place.
With her personal life in ruins Sarah is more than happy to lose herself in the secrets of the isolated farmhouse, but soon those revelations have her questioning her own identity, and even her sanity. Is she prepared to navigate the labyrinth of lies and cover ups to expose the truth concealed inside Demeter House despite the consequences?
Thanks to Erin Sweet Al-Mehairi and Raw Dog Screaming Press, I was lucky enough to receive this book before the release date. And I couldn't wait to get stuck into it because the cover is so psychedelic and the story sounded intriguing.
I mean, it mentions Demeter and I'm a Greek mythology fan. And it deals with a hippie cult from the 60s, which sounded fascinating. And groovy.
Sara is a sociologist running from the aftermath of her husband's death and the negative effects the accident took on her life. She's on a sabbatical and has decided to write a book about the farmhouse she's just bought and moved into. A house that used to belong to a cult called Children of Demeter, and now holds many secrets within its walls...
Wow. What an awesome horror book this turned out to be. Loved it!
I was hooked from the very beginning because I found Sara's voice so addictive, I just had to follow her quest until the end. As soon as she arrives and steps into Demeter House, the eerie air of creepy mystery begins to haunt her life and it never lets go.
This town is also packed with interesting characters of all ages who obviously have secrets and motivations of their own. So, the interactions as Sara attempts to solve the mystery of what happened to the Demeter clan were all fascinating. Every new piece added to the overall puzzle and deepened Sara's involvement in a place she feels strangely connected to.
One of my favourite things about this story is how everything seems to move at the perfect slow-burn pace, but at the same time, the nightmarish reality of what's happening to this poor woman sneaks up on you pretty fast. Things get strange early on and the worm of dread never leaves.
I enjoyed the ride. A lot!
Demeter House is such a vividly imagined place and this house, as well as the surroundings, all feel so real the land becomes a character in its own right. And I absolutely love when that happens in a haunted house story.
Children of Demeter is a really dark story that blends a lot of my favourite things together and delivers them in the one perfect package of horror delusion. The cult angle is super creepy, the mythology angle fits perfectly with what's going on, and the horror is satisfying. I also loved how well the whole psychedelic vibes of the 60s is very much alive through the whole thing. Not just because of the commune and the freaky mural or the house they abandoned, but also in the storytelling. A lot of ambiguity, bordering on a bad trip, is squeezed into the narrative.
There's a LOT to love about this book, and I suspect Sara's story will stay with me for a long time.
This is a fantastic book and you should definitely check it out!
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