Play Nice by Rachel Harrison is a haunted… I mean possessed house horror. This is a horror of demons, both literally and figuratively. The novel is a bit of an homage to The Amityville Horror, which was heavily debated as to whether it was real or not. This story follows Clio as she has just found out her estranged mother has died. Clio’s mother wrote a book describing how the house she got after her divorce was possessed by a demon. Clio was only 7 then and doesn’t remember the house. She is shocked to find out her mother never sold it. She thinks it will be fun to refurbish it. Once in the house, memories come to the surface and old demons rise. Was her mother crazy or not? The book asks that question: Is it real or not? The story is told in the present with Clio in her 20s. We get flashbacks from an annotated copy of her mother’s book. The annotations are to Clio and explain everything that was embellished in the book. This was effective and made me believe the mother more. The true horror is a bit of a slow burn, but the book is good at setting up the creep factor early. I could feel my spine tingling in some parts. The writing and characterization are very good. Clio is not an easy person to love. She is manipulative and impulsive. She’s a character who will call herself independent, but cannot live long off Daddy’s credit cards. Play Nice was nominated in the Goodreads Choice Awards for Horror (as of writing, it is in the final round). Play Nice by Rachel Harrison was first published on September 9, 2025, by Berkley.

Why did I read Play Nice by Rachel Harrison? I listen to a lot of horror book podcasts, and Play Nice really stuck out to me. Rachel explained how this was a homage to The Amityville Horror. I was able to meet Rachel Harrison at a 3 person book launch event at Parnassus Books and get Play Nice signed. This was a cool event that took place 9 days after her book came out. At the top of the event, we celebrated Play Nice, making it on the New York Times Bestsellers List.

Plot Summary: Clio is a fashion influencer living in New York. She gets a call that her mother, Alex, has died. Clio feels indifferent; they have been estranged, but she always thought there would be time to reconnect. She visits with her dad and two sisters, Leda and Daphne. The sisters have no remorse and do not want to attend the funeral. They don’t want Clio attending because Alex was into exorcism and had been with an exorcist up to her death. The home they were in when their mother lost custody was said to be possessed by a demon. Her mother even wrote a book about it. Clio doesn’t listen and attends. She finds out that her mother not only still owns the house but also still goes there from time to time. The sisters are now the owners of the house. Clio wants to fix it up and sell it herself. She will also use this as an opportunity to make content. Her sisters still want nothing to do with it, as well as her father. She finds an old copy of the book with her name written on it with notes from her mother in the margins. She has never read the book. The sisters made a pact with their father to let the past stay the past, but curiosity takes over. She starts reading the book. The house starts giving her the creeps by opening and shutting doors, turning on and off lights. Maybe Alex, her mother, was telling the truth, and there is a demon in the house.

What I Liked: Clio, being a fashion influencer, judges everyone by their clothes. We get what people are wearing as each person is being described. I like how “Play Nice” is worked into the narrative of the story. Playing nice in this story means hiding who you are to please other people and things. It is a defense mechanism used to defuse a situation quickly, but it is a quick fix. I like that the book explores the messenger of a horror story. In horror stories, most will have someone warning the characters not to go in there, but then their story ends. This story sticks with the messenger of warning. What that message does to a family. The divorce scenes felt very real. I am a child of divorce, and the story made me think of my own trauma. What I witnessed but could not remember at 3. The horror is a slow burn, but it ramps up with a crazy and terrifying exorcism scene. The ending delivers as well. I like that the demon represents personal demons as well as physical form. I did enjoy the sisterhood in the book. Clio and the sisters are written very well. I loved the characters of Tommy and Austin.

What I Disliked: Clio doesn’t always make the greatest choices. The character is proven to have layers throughout the book. But it took me a little bit to open up to her. The annotations in the book were hard to figure out when to read. It needed a line break or an arrow to indicate when to read. I could have used a little more horror. Harrison over-delivered on the exorcism scene, but I needed one more good horror scene; we get two in the novel. I hated that we never showed what Alex was doing after the house. We know she ends up with Roy the exorcist. But we don’t know if she went to other houses with him. I love Ruth, the medium. I wanted to know more about her character.

Recommendation: Play Nice is a solid horror story that delivers the creeps. The story and the characters are well written. The horror deals with divorce, which reminded me of E.T. It is a mother trying to keep it together and failing a little bit. The horror reminds me of Shirley Jackson’s Haunting of Hill House, where I was never scared but very creeped out. I recommend my followers read Play Nice. This was my first Rachel Harrison book, and I already plan to read more.

Rating: Play Nice by Rachel Harrison. I rated 4.2 out of 5.