Haven - by Mia Dalia (Hardcover)

About the Book

Short Summary: What begins like a relaxing family vacation turns into a nightmare as the Bakers slowly but steadily drive each other mad over the course of their vacation. Is it them? Is the happy family but a façade? Or is it the house?

Book Synopsis

"Beautifully detailed characters and a subtle slide into dread . . ." --Booklist, Starred Review

"Subtle, sly, beautifully structured . . ." --Michael Marshall Smith, British Fantasy Award-winning author of Only Forward, The Straw Men, and The Intruders

What if revenge ripples and echoes through time?

You can't choose your family or your destiny or your legacy. But once upon a time, a woman named Ava St. James had tried to build happiness upon the remains of her broken heart. For better or worse. Decades later, the Bakers are headed for a perfect family vacation. A full month at a house by the lake; the house passed down from a mysterious aunt no one ever talks about. Love and good intentions aside, what begins like a relaxing vacation turns into a nightmare as each of the Bakers' nerves slowly but steadily begin to wear away at the edges. Is it their fraught family dynamics or is something more sinister at work?

The house has welcomed them, but will it ever let them leave?

For readers who enjoy The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson, Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia, This Thing Between Us by Gus Moreno, and Devil House by John Darnielle.

Review Quotes

"The Shining meets Funny Games in an unsettling, unnerving and chilling depiction of a seemingly normal family slowly turning on each other during a seemingly perfect holiday." --Neil Sharpson, author of Knock Knock, Open Wide and When the Sparrow Falls

"From beginning to end, Haven is a fascinating look at a family unraveling, and the phenomenal writing and subtle characterization brings to mind the best of Shirley Jackson." --D. W. Gillespie, author of One by One and The Toy Thief

"Horror fans who enjoy beautifully detailed characters and a subtle slide into dread and darkness set in a huge, creepy house will want to take this trip." --Booklist, Starred Review

"Not since Robert Marasco's Burnt Offerings has a house felt like such a dizzying abyss to its hapless inhabitants. Haven is no safe haven. Every evening under its roof is a nightmare, and every flip of the page leads its readers deeper into uneasy dreams." --Clay McLeod Chapman, author of What Kind of Mother and Ghost Eaters

"Subtle, sly, beautifully structured--a novel that leads you into the house and lets you start to feel at home, before tying you to a chair and opening the drawer with all the knives." --Michael Marshall Smith, British Fantasy Award-winning author of Only Forward, The Straw Men, and The Intruders

"This slow burning fuse of a novel leads to an explosive and shocking conclusion. A fascinating exploration of the myths of what it means to be an All-American family. Buckle up." --Christopher Barzak, Shirley Jackson award-winning author of Monstrous Alterations

About the Author

Mia Dalia is the internationally published author of Estate Sale and Haven (CamCat Books Fall 2024), and many other novellas and novelettes. Her short fiction has been published online by Night Terror Novels, 50-Word Stories, Flash Fiction Magazine, Pyre Magazine, Tales from the Moonlit Path, among others, and in print anthologies by Sunbury Press, Nightshade Press, HellBound Press, Black Ink Fiction, and many others. She is a lifelong reader, and a longtime reviewer of all things fantastic, thrilling, scary, and strange. Find her online at daliaverse.wixsite.com/author and on social media @Dalia_Verse (X/Twitter) and @DaliaVerse (Facebook and Instagram).