Follow the Rites and It’ll Be All Right…
Review by Nick, Library Specialist
Marcus Kliewer solidifies his place as a burgeoning horror author with his highly anticipated second novel, The Caretaker. Though not a direct sequel, this story is still set in the same unsettling universe(s) as his previous novel, We Used to Live Here. We follow young and desperate Macy Mullins, who isn’t exactly the typical protagonist for a horror novel. Unfortunately for her, it seems like she might be the only one to fill the position.
We start by establishing the numerous hardships the Mullins have experienced over recent years, and when it rains, it pours. Macy lives in a rundown motel complex renovated into low-income housing with her younger sister, Jemma, who she has legal guardianship over after the loss of their father. Unfortunately, Macy is burning through places of employment, unable to process her grief over her father’s abrupt passing while suddenly juggling new, overwhelming responsibilities. So, when a suspicious caretaker position appears online, Macy can ignore the red flags, but not the fresh eviction notice posted on her door.
Upon arriving at the Carnswel residence for her interview, the warning bells continue to sound their alarm as Macy learns that the listing isn’t quite accurate either. It turns out that David Carnswel, who would’ve been her ward, actually passed away months ago. David’s wife, Grace Carnswel, informs Macy that she purposefully misled applicants out of desperation to fill the role. In the last year of his life, Grace explains, David apparently began experiencing significant cognitive decline. Grace details strange visual and auditory hallucinations, odd, unexplainable behavior, and David’s fears that if he didn’t follow the Rites, apocalyptic disaster would certainly follow.
Despite asserting that she doesn’t believe in the Rites, Grace requests that Macy follow them while watching the Carnswel residence for the weekend. Strange rules are made even stranger when Grace reveals that David recorded them on a VHS tape, limiting viewership to the caretaker lest it trigger trouble. Without specifying, David warns that the fewer people involved, the better. At this point, Macy can’t ignore the warning signs any longer despite her dire financial situation. Just as she turns to leave, though, Grace finally mentions the wages. Nine thousand dollars for three days. Life-changing money for the impoverished Mullins. Money that Macy can’t afford to ignore, even with her concerns.
Begrudgingly, Macy accepts the position and takes the VHS tape home with her. Ignoring David’s first request, Macy drags out her old VCR and reviews the tape with her sister, Jemma. The Rites follow as such:
- Maintain tidiness around the property
- Turn the first and second-floor lights off from 3-4 AM
- Keep the rabbits outside, especially the white ones
- Lock the doors and hide from the Visitors with cold blue eyes during 6 PM and 6 AM
All of these rules are accompanied by letters with additional instructions in case of failure, and David stresses that failure is simply unacceptable. Despite the bizarre recording and Jemma’s protests, Macy heads out to the Carnswel Residence and officially accepts the position as caretaker. With bulging suitcases, Grace hands the mantle over to Macy, and speeds off down the road, momentarily stopped by a rabbit…
It becomes less and less clear over the next few days whether David was actually losing his mind as Macy struggles to maintain the Rites without failing. Macy’s own grief and depression and OCD tangle with the Rites, tangling the consequences. Each failure triggers stranger, less explainable events until the finale culminates into its tense and terrifying conclusion.
With only two novels in his arsenal, Marcus Kliewer is already quickly proving himself as a masterful horror author worth devouring. The Caretaker captures the harrowing story of a desperate, grieving young woman trying to change her and her sister’s circumstances only to be trapped by them. Kliewer builds nerve-wracking tension and terror with ease, purposeful and intentional with everything that he puts onto the page. It isn’t just the Rites that you need to follow closely. Without full understanding of this world’s harrowing lore yet, meaning, real or not, soaks into every mention of color, every capitalization, every repetition. Just like Macy, you as a reader have no way of trusting your own beliefs, your own thoughts…
…Until it’s much too late.
