Accumulation - by Aimee Pokwatka (Hardcover)

About the Book

"A twisty, searing, conversation-starting novel about a filmmaker-turned-housewife who moves into her dream house and is forced to consider whether it's the house or herself that is haunted. When documentary filmmaker turned stay-at-home mom Tennessee Cherish moves into the the dream house her husband bought for her, a brighter future seems to be on the horizon. Even if her husband is frustratingly absent due to his new high-paying job. Even if their two young children begin acting out in strange ways. Even if she feels lonelier than ever. Distracted by the endless details that come with moving into a new town, a new house, and new schools, Tenn doesn't notice when odd things begin happening at home. The faucet that runs at all hours. The creepy doll that seems to show up in every room. The human tooth they found in the floorboards. As the kids' outbursts and the strange events start to escalate, the family finds themselves increasingly caught in loops, repeating everyday actions with dangerous - and then devastating - effects. Tenn realizes she must find the source of what is haunting her family, before it kills them all. Taut and twisty, scary and searing, Aimee Pokwatka's Accumulation lays bare the high price women pay for the promises of domesticity and motherhood, and the many ways in which families can be haunted"-- Provided by publisher.

Book Synopsis

A USA Today Bestseller!

A twisty, searing, conversation-starting novel about a filmmaker-turned-housewife who moves into her dream house and is forced to consider whether it's the house or herself that is haunted.

When documentary filmmaker turned stay-at-home mom Tennessee Cherish moves into the the dream house her husband bought for her, a brighter future seems to be on the horizon. Even if her husband is frustratingly absent due to his new high-paying job. Even if their two young children begin acting out in strange ways. Even if she feels lonelier than ever.

Distracted by the endless details that come with moving into a new town, a new house, and new schools, Tenn doesn't notice when odd things begin happening at home. The faucet that runs at all hours. The creepy doll that seems to show up in every room. The human tooth they found in the floorboards.

As the kids' outbursts and the strange events start to escalate, the family finds themselves increasingly caught in loops, repeating everyday actions with dangerous--and then devastating--effects. Tenn realizes she must find the source of what is haunting her family, before it kills them all.

Taut and twisty, scary and searing, Aimee Pokwatka's Accumulation lays bare the high price women pay for the promises of domesticity and motherhood, and the many ways in which families can be haunted.

Review Quotes

"A searing indictment of the lure of domesticity, Pokwatka's latest tells the story of a filmmaker turned homemaker who moves into her dream home with her family, only to find it haunted." --Forbes.com

"This unnerving haunted house tale from Pokwatka elegantly blends domestic drama and psychological horror . . . The author excels at crafting a creepy atmosphere, using shifting perspectives and domestic detail to blur the boundaries between literal haunting and psychological fracture." --Publishers Weekly

"The mundane unease of moving house[s] steadily escalates and works in tandem with Pokwatka's (The Parliament) thoughtful attention to seemingly small details as the tone shifts from low-level dread to a rising tide of fear so intense that readers may need to step out of their own homes for some fresh air before finishing the novel. A must-read for those who crave immersive, disorienting haunted-house stories, in the vein of Jac Jemc's The Grip of It, Carissa Orlando's The September House, and Mark Z. Danielewski's House of Leaves." --Library Journal

"Classically, gothic stories have been regarded as featuring passive (female) protagonists. Accumulation is evidence of a change to this trope, however, because one of the things I enjoyed most about Tenn is that she refuses to be passive. Pokwatka skillfully draws a very believable portrait of a woman under stress who nonetheless uses the resources at hand--offers of help from those around her, her own strengths and sheer bloody-mindedness, her love for her children and husband--to avoid disaster . . . I am fascinated to see what comes next." --Locus Magazine

"Aimee Pokwatka reimagines the haunted house narrative through a strikingly modern lens, where the pressures of domestic life become the unsettling presence at the center of the story. With an eerie emotional undercurrent, the novel explores how everyday expectations can quietly shape fear and identity." --Out South Florida

"For brats who are here to be haunted." --BookTrib

"There's no better way to bookmark English Language Month than by ordering Aimee Pokwatka's haunted house novel Accumulation." --Rebellious Magazine

"[Accumulation] is an intense, scary thriller that starts off strong and doesn't let up. Fans of horror novels will enjoy this one." --Red Carpet Crash

"Taut and twisty, scary and searing, Aimee Pokwatka's Accumulation is a story that lays bare the high price women pay for the promises of domesticity and motherhood, and the many ways in which families can be haunted. Original, deftly crafted, and a simply riveting read from start to finish, [this] is an extraordinary and memorable supernatural suspense thriller of a ghost story." --Wisconsin Bookwatch

"Aimee Pokwatka's  Accumulation is a taut, psychologically astute haunted house novel that transforms the quiet compromises of motherhood and marriage into something genuinely terrifying, proving the scariest ghost in any dream home might be the woman you used to be." --Ginger Nuts of Horror

"Aimee Pokwatka's Accumulation is a razor-sharp, loop-twisting domestic nightmare . . . This taut, haunting knockout is a bold excavation of the hidden costs women shoulder when chasing the shining ideal of home and motherhood." --Jean Kwok, New York Times bestselling author of The Leftover Woman

"I loved everything about Accumulation, a clever, dark, beautifully written ghost story that will have you racing through pages . . . What a feat!" --Araminta Hall, author of Unreliable Narrator

"Accumulation is the perfect title for a story that fills the reader with increasing dread and uncertainty. The characters have an incredible depth that many can relate to and makes it a fantastic deep dive into home-based horror. It was not what I expected, and I loved that. Big applause for yet another fierce female voice in horror." --V Castro, author of The Haunting of Alejandra

"A classic but elevated haunted house tale that sneaks up on you like a cursed doll, Accumulation delivers tension and terror while probing a mother's darkest fears around losing her children--and herself."--Delilah Dawson, author of Bloom

"Accumulation is the perfect haunted house story for the 21st century, a paranoid spiral into old domestic horrors and the new terrors of money and surveillance. I couldn't put it down." --Stephanie Feldman, author of Saturnalia and The Angel of Losses

About the Author

Aimee Pokwatka is the author of Self-Portrait with Nothing and The Parliament. She grew up in Wheeling, West Virginia, and received her MFA in creative writing from Syracuse University. Her work has been published in Fairy Tale Review, Outlook Springs, Hunger Mountain, and elsewhere. She lives in New York with her family.