Diavola by Jennifer Thorne

Diavola is a horror novel about a chaotic family holiday in Tuscany turning into a nightmare, as the black sheep of the family finds herself with more than she bargained for. Anna starts off her family vacation by lying about getting there early to have time for herself, and that’s only the start. She’s stuck in a villa with her twin brother and his opinionated new boyfriend, her always in control older sister and her family, and her parents, who don’t understand Anna’s life choices and just want this holiday they’ve paid for to go perfectly. Her sister plans every day down to the minute, but strange noises and weird warnings from the locals not to open the door to the tower lead to haunting confusion, and it seems everyone just wants to blame Anna for not having a good time. Only, it might not all be Anna’s fault.

From the start of the book, you’re drawn in to the messy family side of things: this is a well-off family with minor gripes about each other and two young children to look after in the Italian heat. Anna’s position as the black sheep slowly becomes apparent, but at the same time, the villa becomes unnerving, and the horror element gradually builds up. The narrative takes a turn partway through that I wasn’t expecting, and I liked that the book wasn’t quite as I assumed from the start, even though it might’ve be scarier if it was entirely set at the villa. The parts when things start to go wrong at the villa were genuinely creepy, but the horror turns into a less scary haunting as the book goes on, though still a gripping narrative.

I liked how this book combines the well-off yet dysfunctional American family drama, almost satire at times, with the ‘locals warn you against it’ horror, and the narrative’s ending has one of those classic horror epilogues in which the main character has gone in a new direction, which I also enjoyed. The creepiness of the book wasn’t sustained throughout, but early on I liked the unknown dread, and I do wish that some of the darker elements were more drawn out or less ambiguous. Overall, Diavola is a fun horror novel that feels fresh and is infused with the horror not only of a haunted villa, but of a terrible family holiday.