Emily Carroll once again does not disappoint! Their debut of Through the Woods was such a strong book and had amazing visuals. Carroll's play with contrasting colors has only gotten better over time. The story shifts from black and white to the very bright colors we are used to seeing and using this shift to help move the plot. As our brains keep us guessing this psychological horror does so as well. What is real and what is not is a constant theme. Carroll fans and newcomers who enjoy horror will all appreciate this read that comes just in time for spooky fall.

This horror graphic novel follows Abby, a young woman who gets married to the new dentist in town. Who just moved their with his daughter Crystal, whose mom recently died from cancer. While Abby struggles with her role as wife and stepmother, Crystal struggles with adapting to living with living somewhere new and having a stepmother. Soon, Abby learns that Sheila, her husband's first wife may not have died from cancer and tries to determine the truth, with the help of Sheila's ghost.

This was an entertaining and compulsive read. The artwork is amazing! I liked how Carroll used black & white artwork to show the monotony of Abby's daily life and rich vibrant colors for Abby's fantasies and dreams. The story is a bit of a slow burn, but it didn't impact my desire to keep reading to see how this story would play out. My only complaint is that I was not a big fan of the ending. I hope to read more of Emily Carroll's work in the future. Recommended for lovers of psychological and domestic horror.

Thank you to First Second Books, author Emily Carroll,and NetGalley for gifting me a digital copy of this book. My opinions are my own.

A Guest in the House is a domestic horror graphic novel set on the edge of a lake in a small town. Abby is the new second wife of the widowed town dentist, and a new stepmom to Crystal. Abby's new life isn't what she expected, and when she starts learning unexpected information from her husband's dead wife, Sheila, her situation only gets more complicated and frightening.

Carroll writes an excellent slow-burn women's horror story, with complicated main characters. I enjoyed that the tale is really Abby and Sheila's, so they got the complexities in motivations and personalities while Crystal and David are less developed, reflecting Abby's perspective as new to this family dynamic. Crystal is a wounded teen who doesn't like her stepmother, while David is a mild mannered misogynist who may or may not have killed his former wife. As Abby interacts more with Sheila, what she experiences could be her own mental health spiraling, or it could be Sheila's ghost: it's wonderfully hard to tell throughout the story.

Carroll uses black and white panels vs color as evocative contrasts during Abby's journey. Her inner fantasy life is in wild color, while her daily mundane life is black and white. As the horror level ratchets up, the color bleeds into mundane life more and more often. I wasn't sure how well psychological horror would translate to graphic novel, but A Guest in the House does a fantastic job of including creep factor. I will say the artwork is diminished a little by e-book formatting (particularly the richly illustrated two-page spreads), so if you pick this one up get a physical copy. I enjoyed it and would read other work by Emily Carroll anytime.

This was amazing!! I loved every second of this and I will be recommended this to everyone that I know. In this we follow Abby, who has just recently gotten married to the local dentist who has arrived in town with his daughter Crystal. Crystal's mom has died supposedly of cancer, but Abby finds out that that's not exactly what happens. She starts to figure that out when she starts to see the ghost of Crystal's mom, Shelia. Shelia tells her all sorts of things that Abby wasn't aware of, including how she died and who Abby's husband really is.

Overall, this was fantastic and I loved every second of it. The storyline was fantastic and the artwork was gorgeous. I really, really enjoyed this and I think that everyone should check this out!

Thank you First Second Books and NetGalley for the advance copy of this book.

I was so excited to get this ARC at last. Emily Carroll’s horror graphic novels are iconic. Unfortunately the digital version of “A Guest in the House” I read was slightly pixelated which is a shame since it made it harder to lose myself in the AMAZING illustrations and story. I loved how the black and white mundanity of reality sharply contrasted with the main character Abby’s violently colorful and evocative dreamscape, dreams that transform into a visceral paranoia. The story slowly unravels, weaves it’s wet tendrils around you, then delivers a gut-punching moment. Starting out I was immediately reminded of Daphne du Maurier’s “Rebecca”, a new wife struggling with her identity under the shadow of her mysterious predecessor. I wouldn’t be surprised if Emily Carroll drew some inspiration from that story. But Carroll’s protagonist is so much more than a timid new bride, she bursting at seams with repressed desires and fears. This book is a perfect read for adult horror lovers who want to try out the graphic novel format. I’m looking forward to picking up a physical copy myself and rereading this story again someday.

Emily Carroll does not disappoint with the beautiful art in her graphic novels. They always have a dark undertone to them and A Guest in the House is of course no different. This one wasn’t completely to my taste however I can appreciate the beauty in what she is trying to create. I will continue to read everything that is published by the author.

Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher, for the chance to read this graphic novel as an e-ARC.

Based on the description of this work, I was initially afraid I was reading the movie "What Lies Beneath" in graphic novel form. In certain ways, that's exactly what I was doing. However, there are crucial ways this narrative diverges from the Michelle Pfifer/Harrison Ford thriller.

Newly married to a kind dentist, Abby moves into a lake house with her husband and step-daughter, who are still in mourning from a great loss. This loss seems to have followed Abby's newfound family to their new home, churning up the past that Abby's husband wants to leave behind. As Abby adjusts to her black-and-white life, she also starts dreaming in full color as she had when she was little. These dreams and visions lead her down a dark path to the truth.

Overall, I loved this story. Loved the twist. Loved the stunning illustrations and colors. There was an issue with my version of the format making the images and wording very blurry. I blame technology for that. However, I spend so much time with Abby, yet never truly know her. That may be the point, but I would like some basis to build my trust upon--even if its unreliable.

I did like the story, reminded me of The Haunting of Bly Manor, Abby is a person that needs love and that's the reason why I think she got married, the father looks like Stanley Tucci in lovely bones, but without the smiles, the daughter is really afraid of her father, and doesn’t really connect with Abby since all she wants is her mother that recently died. Could have been scary but it was an ok read. I felt that most characters felt chubby but they weren’t really memorable.

I recommend this graphic book for fans of paranormal stories and like to discover things as you go through them, because not all is what it seems.

Thank you NetGalley and First Second Books, First Second for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.

Creepy, haunting, and beautifully illustrated with a mind-blowing ending. I don't feel like I need to say more.

Really beautiful horror graphic novel. Unsettling and thoroughly intoxicating.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for letting me read and review this title.

I received this book from Netgalley/First Second in exchange of an honest review.


I have been a big big fan of Emily Carroll for a while now, her books aren’t always the easiest to get so I still need to read a few, but the ones I read I loved. So this was one of my most hyped books of 2023 and I was excited I could read it before it was released. However, this one wasn’t my favourite. This one had me struggles. Not because of the art. The art was amazing once again.

But the story? While it was a haunting one and I was often quite scared, especially given how the ghost went from a gorgeous princess to something dragged from hell, plus the feeling of oppression (is that the right word) was heavy as well. Things get really dark, and that I loved.
But, I am so confused what is going on with the story and I still have no clue what truly happened to Sheila, suicide or murder. I mean, I still don’t know if the ghost is even really there or just a manifestation of Abby’s mental health going down as things get more scary and she finds out new things/sees her new hubby’s personality fluctuate from yay to nay. There are some themes that just wouldn’t click for me or that felt very confusing or not properly developed. We also get some colour pages, which I am guessing is Abby’s dreamscapes/mental health, but it just made the story more confusing for me and just had me re-reading parts or just shrugging and admiring the pretty art, haha.
And frankly, I just couldn’t see one hint of attraction between Abby and her new husband. I just didn’t get why she was with him, did he use some sort of voodoo to get her to marry him?

Though I did like how Abby was with her new step-daughter and how she tried to be there for her. That was sweet!

Then there is the ending that just had me scratching my mind and wondering if I missed out on pages of the story. I mean, bad things happened, revelations were revealed, but given the story so far and how Abby’s mental health is I didn’t know if they were true or not. It was just all confusing. Plus, the real kicker is the last pages, suddenly there is a neighbour who claims she is x, then there is a ghost, and then boom something happens, and then it is over? WHUT? You can’t just end it there. Did you forget some pages? Is there going to be a second book?

Oh, and dear publishers could you please just make sure that the quality of the scans is good? I mean, it was so blurry that even wearing glasses didn’t make it much better and I found myself either getting up close and personal with my screen or just give up on words. I hope that in the final version it is all good, but can we just make ARCs great as well?

So all in all, this could have been an epic book, with epic art, epic story, but it just all felt very flat, I know that Emily Carroll can write and create stories so I wonder what happened. But the art was at least very pretty and that is why I am giving it just a bit higher star. Plus, again, there is potential for this story to become something awesome and not confusing. So a small bit of bonus for that as well.

Thank-you to NetGalley for this ARC

Emily Carroll does it again! She is a master of the creepy phycological tales and her colour work is divine. This is a creepy tale about a ghost, a creepy lake, a woman who feels like a ghost in her own life, and a little girl without her mother. A must read for those who love ghost stories!

I really enjoyed this right up until the very end. It kept me entertained and wanting to keep reading to see where it would go next. But the ending. It is like a cliffhanger but I doubt that there will be another. It left me a little disappointed. It was a 4/5 until the end.

Beautiful illustration for a simple but haunting story. A perfect start to spooky season with its ambiance

This book is such an eye opening read, bone chilling and utterly spooky. I had fun reading this book and the illustrations are so beautiful. The story too is very enlightening and I recommend everyone to read this book!

A wild and beautiful graphic novel about ghosts and love and the confusion of becoming a step parent. It was haunting in the way that I want more, I need to know even more of what each of the characters were thinking, what was happening, and who the ghost truly was.

I'd like to preface this by saying that I was allowed to read this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review! Thanks, NetGalley!

I've been locking forward to this one for sure, I'm a big fan of Emily Carroll's stories and artwork. This did not disappoint. A thriller of a novel with lots of twists and turns, I was never quite sure who was the villain and who was the hero. Certainly a fun read; I look forward to owning my own copy.

This book left me confused, creeped out, lost, and intrigued all at once. I'm not even sure how to describe what I just read if I'm being honest.

Abby is a very complicated and almost unreliable narrator. Her experiences at the house, with Sheila and Crystal and the husband felt almost shrouded with interpretation, like she herself didn't know the truth of these interactions.

Her monotonous life turns unsteady when the ghost of her husbands dead wife starts appearing to Abby in dreams and what appears to be real life. Crystal – abby's step daughter – also seems convinced she's seeing the past mother as well. New (and detrimental) information is revealed about Sheila's death, about the husband, and about the future Abby holds within the family.

I truly don't know how to put into words what my experience was but I finished the book wanting more. Maybe that's enough. I recommend giving it a read because I need other people to give me their thoughts.

Thank you to NetGalley and First Second Books.

Emily Carroll's new graphic novel follows a recently married woman and her descent into her new husband, her stepdaughter, and the dead woman that plagues them. Like most of Carroll's work, the art in this is vibrant and eye catching. I always find myself drawn to their art style but like their other work, I always find the narratives just lacking. This new offering is no exception unfortunately. There's a lot about this story that just didn't work; Abby and her husband have no chemistry whatsoever and although Carroll tries to explain this away as Abby being lonely, I just found it really difficult to buy into Abby's perspective. I read this on my flight home from the U.K. and I often found myself just thumbing through pages looking at the artwork and ignoring the text because I just did not care. I read most of this on my iPad and the artwork was beautiful but man was it difficult to actually look at. It seems like other people also received blurry arcs which made me feel less bad about it.

Anyways, this is beautifully drawn but my god, Carroll's attempts at some kind of feminist horror/thriller just never works for me. I often feel like they reach too far, narratively, and it makes it difficult for any actual cohesive story to thrive. On top of that, the ending for this was a weird and nonsensical one. I've reread the whole thing multiple times and even looked at other reviews and it seems that many others had issues with the ending. If you think too hard about the ending, it's just not good and honestly, very much "baby's first creative writing class." If you are able to just turn your brain off and not think about it, the ending will probably come across as very subversive and deep. For me, this just cements Carroll as a talented artist but a deeply flawed and untrained writer.

Eery, fun, and a great follow up to Through the Woods. Reminds me of "The Yellow Wallpaper," but with murder. This book really looks into marriage and its effect on identity and what happens when one threatens to overtake the other.