Content warning: This section of the guide discusses addiction and domestic violence.

“I would walk into a room and feel as though I had just interrupted two people in the middle of a fight. The air would seem angry and there would be a distinct sense that I shouldn’t be there.”

This passage is one of the novel’s early, important moments of suspense. It also foreshadows the way that the house itself will become a symbol for the family’s pain and dysfunction. That something is “not quite right” about the house ultimately speaks to the fact that something is very wrong with Hal’s and Margaret’s relationship.

“I can’t stand that woman, Hal said to me after she left, but I found her to be pleasant enough and, over the weeks of her dropping by, grew to like her.”

This passage indicates that Hal and Margaret’s marriage is deeply problematic. Although the truth of Hal’s abuse will be revealed only later, this early description indicates that Hal exerts an undue degree of control over his wife’s external interactions, making unreasonable pronouncements that limit the scope of her life. His behavior is designed to mirror observations of real-life domestic abuse.

“What I think is so neat about horror movies is that they shine a light on what we think is scary. Not just ghosts and demons, but what we find really scary.”

Margaret’s assertion in this scene represents the core of the novel’s thematic focus on the uses of psychological horror as a genre, for the narrative as a whole is ultimately a meditation on addiction, abuse, trauma, and family discord. What is “scary” in this family is the impact that Hal’s violence has on his wife and daughter. Rather than writing a straightforward novel about domestic abuse, the author chooses to use psychological horror to explore these issues indirectly.