A House With Good Bones

Content Warning: This section contains mentions of emotional abuse.

The epigraph reads, “Darkest Night: Velvety dark red petals on short, sturdy stems. Buds appear almost black. A beautiful, disease-resistant hybrid tea rose that performs well in high heat […]” (135).

The next morning, Sam continues her research into Elgar Mills. She discovers that Mills was an associate of Jack Parsons, an infamous sorcerer and colleague of Aleister Crowley, who was a famous occultist with a wide following. Parsons was a rocket scientist known for “mixing cocaine, free love, amphetamines, statutory rape, mescaline, and ritual black magic” (138). According to letters written from Elgar to Parsons and archived on the internet, Parsons had plans to create a magical child. Elgar warned him against this, claiming that he, himself, had performed this experiment “to his Sorrow” (141). Elgar writes that “all Golems and Homunculi must inevitably turn against their Masters, as all Children must rebel against their Parents” (141). Sam also finds vague references to Elgar’s death when Gran Mae was 16.

Sam visits Gail again to discuss Edith. Though Gail insists she does not know what is happening in the house, she suggests that Edith does not have a mental health condition but is reacting rationally to her circumstances.