About “Play Nice”

AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A woman must confront the demons of her past when she attempts to fix up her childhood home in this devilishly clever take on the haunted house novel from the author of Black Sheep and So Thirsty. Clio Louise Barnes leads a picture-perfect life as a stylist and influencer, but beneath the glossy veneer she harbors a not-so glamorous secret: she grew up in a haunted house. Well, not haunted. Possessed. After Clio’s parents' messy divorce, her mother, Alex, moved Clio and her sisters into a house occupied by a demon. Or so Alex claimed. That’s not what Clio’s sisters remember or what the courts determined when they stripped her of custody after she went off the deep end. But Alex was insistent; she even wrote a book about her experience in the house. After Alex’s sudden death, the supposedly possessed house passes to Clio and her sisters. Where her sisters see childhood trauma, Clio sees an opportunity for house flipping content. Only, as the home makeover process begins, Clio discovers there might be some truth to her mother’s claims. As memories resurface and Clio finally reads her mother’s book, a sinister presence in the house manifests, revealing ugly truths that threaten to shake Clio’s beautiful life to its very foundation. (Description courtesy of Penguin Random House.)

Praise for “Play Nice”

“A gripping and refreshingly contemporary horror novel that hits close to home.”

— Elle

“Play Nice is as fun as a journey into darkness and family trauma can get. Rachel Harrison crafts a uniquely spirited haunting that’s both ruthlessly frightening and overflowing with heart.”

— Chuck Tingle, USA Today bestselling author of Lucky Day and Bury Your Gays

“Who better to put a contemporary spin on infested architecture than Rachel Harrison, the doyenne of angsty, millennial horror fiction…easily Harrison’s most unsettling book since her debut, The Return.”

— Vulture

Book details

Published
2025
Latest edition
2025 · ISBN 9780593642573
ISBN
9780593642573

Frequently asked questions

How many pages is Play Nice?

Play Nice by Rachel Harrison has 336 pages.

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Book descriptions, author biographies, award records and review quotes on this page are courtesy of Penguin Random House.