by Max Doty
First published 2026
Claire unpacks boxes in her family's new suburban house, finally escaping San Francisco's urban decay for the quiet life she always wanted. Her husband Tom has climbed another rung on the corporate ladder. Their two children have space to play safely. Then Claire notices the fresh flowers withering overnight. The grocery store eggs sit hollow in their shells. Her daughter's beloved toy vanishes without explanation. The house consumes whatever once held life, erasing all memory of these vanished things from everyone except Claire and Tom. In a moment of desperation, Claire uses this terrible power for her own purposes, forming an uneasy alliance with the hungry house. But the house's appetite grows stronger and more demanding. Claire struggles to maintain control as she worries about what other people might discover her home's dark secret and what twisted desires they might bring with them.
Genres: horror, supernatural, contemporary, adult-fiction, psychological-thriller, dark-fantasy
Vibes: atmospheric, dark, eerie, psychological, suspenseful, unsettling
Tropes: corruption-arc, deal-with-the-devil, haunted-house, unreliable-narrator
Setting: San Francisco, suburban house
336 pages · Paperback · Bantam
Content warnings: body-horror, death