Starred Review: COLD EMPTY ROOMS by Andy Marino

Publishers Weekly: Impossible shadows visible even in darkness, a Friends rerun that diverges creepily from the episode that originally aired, and reflections in a mirror that lag behind reality—these are just some of the unsettling phenomena that Marino (The Swarm) lobs at lovers Mara and Soren after they move into an old house in the Catskills in this masterful work of subtle horror. The couple connected instantly during their first meeting at a bar, especially bonding over their mutual conception of a mysterious “higher power” unattached to any church. Now they intend to set up their new home as an informal commune, advertising to “Dreamers, Seekers, Charlatans, Theorists, Dropouts, Lovers, Runaways, Fiends, Misfits, and everyone in between (but please, no poets, we have to draw the line somewhere): You are cordially invited to a new evolution. Live how you want to live with room to grow wild and free in all directions.” Gradually, the house fills up with a motley group of strangers, even as Soren’s efforts to connect with the Great Other, the entity he credits with inspiring his social experiment, yield more than the desired transcendence. Marino’s prose is striking and evocative, elevating haunted house tropes and creating an undeniable sense of creeping dread. This is a stunner.