Review: The Visitors

The Visitors by Catherine Burns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster for receiving an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


The Visitor, by Catherine Burns, is the best kind of horror book. This is the kind that doesn’t shed one drop of blood, no gory heads being chopped off or eyeballs gooping out of their sockets. No, this is the kind that manages to scare your pants off, give you the creeps down into the depths of your soul, and is so disturbing that it makes your toes curl. It is one of those stories that will stay with you long after you read it and if you want to sleep, maybe don’t finish it before bed.

Meet Marion, the timid, bullied, overweight woman who is a real pushover. With a mother who constantly criticized her and a brother who bullied and shamed her, Marion never had a chance at a normal life. She is completely isolated, never having had any friends growing up, and at 50 seems almost stunted in maturity, still sleeping with stuffed animals. She lives with her brother John in their parental home which has fallen into disarray. She is dependent on John and waits on him hand and foot, subject to his whims, mood swings and verbal abuse. But she knows he is older and wiser and he wouldn’t get that way if only she was smarter and could do more for him. John has friends, lady friends. He sometimes makes her get in the car and go for a ride to meet them. He brings them to the house and then she never sees them again. But there are strange noises that come from the basement. Sometimes there is such a foul smell she wonders why everyone doesn’t notice it. But Marion doesn’t like to think of unpleasant things. It upsets her and she would rather just watch her TV shows or sleep it off. It’s best to let John handle everything. Until one day he can’t. He has a heart attack and it is up to Marion to deal with what is in the basement.


I loved every bit of this book. Catherine Burns is an excellent writer. The characters are so well drawn and the tension and excitement build from seeing how Marion goes from almost childlike into, well, read for yourself and decide. John is so evil and repulsive from his physical characteristics to his actions. It is a true thriller but what happens is horrifying. It reminds me of the Twilight Zone except that there are no fantasy or magical elements in this novel. It really could be describing those weird neighbours down the street, or when you hear a news story of a serial killer that everyone is so shocked about because people will say that they seemed so normal and never bothered anyone. I mean, come on, the definition of a good neighbour or what!

I give this a 4.5 stars. A great read!

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