Alicia is in the Basement Review

Special thanks to Tenebrous Press for the ARC copy they provided.

Tenebrous always serves the odd and the unusual, dare I say it, the weird, and Alicia is in the Basement is a serving like no other, a top tier terror that is all the more terrifying because for a while you can almost convince yourself the main character is getting better. That he’s actually on to something and might make a difference. Might change the terror, capture the horror that’s been creeping up on families for centuries.

And then… you are forced to remember that you’re reading a horror novel and there are no happy endings here.

Alicia is in the Basement is heartbreaking above all else, however. Love, and the depths of loss, are its center, and you will question just how far you’d go for someone you love. For the one you love most of all. The one who did not deserve to be lost, but can never come back.

The fact this book is so very human at its core is probably its most horrifying aspect. Yes, there are monsters. Yes, there is the familiar twist of insanity vs the paranormal. And yet… at the center is just this: Our human capacity for love. And how deeply we break when that sustaining love is taken from us.

In absence of love, we become monsters.

If I have taken anything from this book, I think this is it.

Alicia is in the Basement is not an easy book to read, and I think Tenebrous is spot on with including content warnings in the publication, but if you can come to this book, if you can brave the horror that is our human experience, I don’t think you’ll regret it.

Risk staring into the darkness. You just might see some of yourself staring back.