Book Review: "The Neighbours" by Ania Ahlborn

So I recently read The Shuddering by Ania Ahlborn and though I did enjoy it, I also found there were a couple of issues which made me cringe from time to time. Be that as it may, it was fun and I think that is something horror literature lacks sometimes. Not funny. But something that is more like a roller coaster. It doesn't go too deep into anything and feels like watching a slasher movie from the 80s. Ania Ahlborn has inserted herself perfectly into this gap and if The Shuddering didn't show it to us, I think The Neighbours definitely does.

This book starts off with the dejected and depressed Andrew who may be sorry for leaving his mother behind but he needs to get away from being blamed for his father leaving all those years' ago. He decides to move in with his friend Mickey and initially he stands outside this white picket-fenced house with such a clean and traditional vibe thinking it will be a great stay. This is when he realises that Mickey actually lives at the house next door to it: a dilapidated wreckage that looks like it hasn't been cleaned in well over a decade. Of course, Andrew's life looks like it is just getting worse and worse. I really like this whole introduction to Andrew that the author is giving us alongside peaking our interest about the difference between these two homes that are right next to each other. From the outset, we are invested in why this difference even exists because it is wild to think that they are next door to each other.

Of course, Mickey's house is so disgusting that Andrew has to eat out every day - the kitchen is horrific. The bedroom he is in doesn't have a mattress at first and so he sleeps on his clothes. He also chooses to scrub the bathroom clean because yeah, it is horrifying in there. Having a horrifyingly disgusting bathroom is enough horror for me. But one day he catches a woman watching him from next door. She is made up and beautiful like a young Elizabeth Taylor though Andrew admits later on, he cannot tell how old she is. The perspective of the story moves to inside the house and the couple who live there are named Red and Harlow - they're married and their house is immaculate. Harlow is talking about how she wants to get to know Andrew and that's where it all starts.

Ultimately, it will be Harlow who helps Andrew out a bit, she visits Mickey's place and she gives him a home cooked meal which he hasn't had in ages. She takes him out a bit and gives him some work in her immaculate garden. There's so much she does and sooner or later, we see Mickey's thoughts about the story. Mickey is trying to thank Andrew for cleaning the bathroom at one point but there is something he's hiding about his true intentions about inviting Andrew to stay. It was something I definitely didn't guess. As Andrew gets closer to Harlow, she continues making him feel loved. That is until he goes over to her house and, well, he isn't allowed to leave.

There's quite a few twists in this even though the story itself is somewhat predictable. Harlow is a great character but I do feel like there was a lot of 'secrecy' packed into the story. The writing is pretty good because it's in third person and we get all these different inner thoughts of all these different characters. The ending definitely reminds me of The Shuddering as well in the sense that...well, read it and you'll find out.

All in all, it's a fun book though it too, has its flaws. I'm not going to judge it on its inconsistencies and things like that because it is meant to be inconscistent and not very deep. It was enjoyable and honestly, I was reading it at night and made me feel really happy to go to sleep. It's one of those books that if you need an escape from the real world into the nightmare world, then you can rely on it for providing a nice little quick horror fix.