As two estranged brothers farewell their father, old terrors must be confronted in this spine-chilling psychological horror story.
When John Lawson’s estranged brother George calls to tell him their father has died, all John wants to do is run away. It’s how he’s dealt with problems for most of his life. But the appearance of his dead father telling him to go home makes him change his mind.
Going back to the house where all his terrors lurk cracks the walls John has spent his whole life building. The ones that keep his fear and trauma locked up and compartmentalized. Before he knows it, all the monsters he thought he had kept at bay are crawling their way back into his broken mind.
George didn’t know whether to hope for or dread John’s return. It has been twenty years since they last saw each other and George has a lot more to worry about than a brother who couldn’t even bother to call. Since an accident that George caused is what started John’s schizophrenic breakdown, there’s a lot of guilt tied up in his emotions. But when John comes back as damaged as before, George needs to decide whether to step up as his big brother even if it means confronting all the terrors in John’s head.
Sentry is a paranormal psychological horror that explores issues of mental health, intergenerational trauma, and the often messy bonds of family. Despite the heavy themes and incredibly disturbing visual horror, Sentry manages to be thoughtful, balanced, and hopeful.
Sucking you in from the very first pages, Sentry sets the scene and builds the slowly encroaching horror with precision. The hallucinations that plague John are well drawn and spine-chilling, and his inability to convince anyone to believe him is even more so.
The bond between the Lawson family is as powerful as it is heartbreaking. While the prose in Sentry is noticeably strong throughout, it’s in depicting families where it really shines. John has been suffering from horrific hallucinations since he was a child. No matter how deeply his father and brother love him, they have no ability to comprehend his actions or reactions so they can only do what they think is right even if the repercussions are devastating. The most compelling aspect to this is that the storytelling is balanced enough that it’s clear all the family members are just doing their best. No side is thoroughly in the right or wrong.
The way mental health is depicted here is devastatingly authentic. Like most people, John isn’t a picture-perfect poster boy for mental health. He doesn’t always take his meds, he drinks while taking meds, and his erratic decisions make it hard to be on his side. His coping mechanisms are deeply unhealthy and it’s easy to understand how frustrated George is with him. On the flip side, the inside of his head is a mess, and it’s just as easy to see how alone he feels with the problems he’s dealing with. The balance of being outside and inside his head works, giving readers the perfect insight into how difficult life is for someone who doesn’t experience it the way most people do.
Sentry would appeal to fans of How to Sell a Haunted House. It has a similar theme: family trauma wrapped up in the package of a horror story, and it handles the emotion of it beautifully. This is a powerful piece of writing that manages to craft a simultaneously creepy, hopeful, and heartbreaking story.
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