The Haunted House in Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt
Many characters inhabit this novel by Alison Rumfitt, but the most interesting is the sentient haunted house, Albion. Rumfitt manages to turn the setting into a literal character who has its own history and desires. The premise is that rooms absorb what you do in them, the walls soak every action which becomes part of the bricks and plaster of place. And the fewer rooms there are, the more concentrated this energy is.
That is the introduction to how Albion became a sentient house that drives to madness everyone who sets foot in it, reminiscent of Hill House. However, things do not stop there. Benjamin Percy suggests being specific when there is something interesting in a story. Interesting moments demand slowness and elongation. Which Rumfitt does, making the character a success.
Rumfitt explains that when William Martin, a politician, commissions the house to be built, the ground chosen for such purpose is already cursed. Beneath the earth lay corpses which are the victims of fascism (it is not specified what fascist regime she is referring to).
When the house is done, the spirits seep into the materials like blood, making it an evil place. Before the house is finished William Martin is arrested for having sexual relations with another man, leaving his wife alone at Albion. Albion whispers things to her until she commits suicide.
The house is then abandoned and becomes part of the folktales in Brighton, England. At first, Alice, a transwoman, and her girlfriend, Ila, decide to go as part of a dare. Alice is afraid that once they graduate high school, they will not see each other again, and thinks going to the house will create a good lasting memory. They take with them their friend Hannah, who is part of their group for some reason, despite neither she nor the couple knowing why.
At first, Rumfitt does not specify to the reader the things they experience inside the house. However, the readers suspect things were not great, especially since one of the women, Hannah, disappeared after the incident. And the two remaining women have both emotional and physical scars.
Afterward, the conscience of the house follows Alice and Ila through their lives. Alice becomes an internet pornographer (she films herself for people). Meanwhile, Ila becomes obsessed with eliminating trans people from the earth. Ila is now an anti-trans activist who goes to meetings and tells people about the dangers transwomen pose to cisgender females in places like bathrooms. It is in one of these meetings we as readers learn for the first time that Ila thinks Alice, her girlfriend, sexually abused her.
The house haunts them when they are on their own. One day Ila contacts Alice and tells her they have to return in order to break the curse. Alice decides she has nothing to lose, and they go.
Rumfit does a brilliant job of describing the inside of the house. There are identical corridors that take you back to the same place. Wallpaper that bleeds. Furniture that says ominous things with their names on it, like “You are home, Hannah.”
At one point the doors disappear, and the house becomes walls stretching out in front of them, with the exception of a single red door, with red light coming out of it. The house does let them go at last after more traumatizing things happen inside. Including the recreation of the sexual abuse that turns out both inflict on each other.
It is worth mentioning that none of the incidents happen in chronological order, which serves as another mechanism to keep the reader intrigued and wanting to turn the pages in order to uncover the truth.
