Demonic Household: See Owner’s Manual is a Genre Anthology of horror short stories collected and edited by Valerie Willis.
Contained within its pages are tales of ordinary items turned extraordinary, mundane matter turned unsettling, everyday objects turned decidedly dangerous. Beware, for after reading you may look at your couch, your washer, and even your television and wonder if they may turn on you. (Okay, you probably won’t, but that’s what it says on the back of the book).
Stories In This Anthology:
- “The Fisherman Nutcracker” by Kerry Evelyn
- “Are You Still Watching?” by Kathleen Lopez
- “Mow The Lawn!” by L. E. Periz
- “Killer K-Cups” by Vanessa Valiente
- “Invitation” by Brandon Mead
- “The Keys In Her Lock” by Cindy Marie Jenkins
- “Rosie” by Kristin Durfee
- “My Best Friend Jen”, by Erica Gerald Mason
- “Cords” by F. D. Gross
- “Shattered Love” by Paige Lavoie
- “Gamma Ray’s GD Sink” by Fern Goodman
- “Hanako-San Of The Toilet” by Meg Sefton
- “High Rise Dilemma” by Jon Park
- “The Grave Little Toaster” by Jeremy Rodden
- “The Lucky Devlins” by Teressa Edmond-Sargeant
- “Just Dessert” by Arielle Haughee
- “The Ritual Room” by Larry Griffin
- “It’s Just A Little Mouse” by Marya Miller
- “Mirror, Mirror, On The Wall…” by K. Walker
- “Night-Time With Nettle” by Rita Sotologo
- “Entering Hell: Loading… Please Wait” by Clint Doyle
- “Zapping Filth Away” by Ross Ellison
- “Sofa King Tired Of This” by Kim Plasket
- “The Overstuffed Chair” by Mark McWaters
- “Frozen Feud In Three-Part Harmony” by J. P. Dildine
- “Upgraded” by Christina Bergling
- “Knit One, Pearl One” by Maxine Gray
- “Dirty Laundry” by Lee Franklin
This collection of short, scary stories provides examples of the following:
- A.I. Is a Crapshoot: The titular character in “Rosie”, a prying and possessive smart home assistant, is definitely one of these.
- Aliens Among Us: The man who gives the protagonist the bug zapper in “Zapping Filth Away” is actually an insectoid alien in a human suit. He then secretly records him shocking himself on it again and again
so he can put it on the alien equivalent of the Internet. - Ambiguously Human: Wendy of “Dirty Laundry” is obviously supernatural, but whether she’s a ghost (and thus was once human), a demon (and thus never was), or something else entirely (also never was) is never explained. The story also ends with the protagonist becoming one of these, with her mind trapped in Wendy’s former “body” in the washing machine.
- And I Must Scream: Two instances. This is the fate of anyone captured by the music box in “My Best Friend Jen”; as well as the fate Emily Parker receives in “Dirty Laundry”, being trapped in the washing machine.
- The fate of those captured by Agatha Nettle’s curse could also be considered one of these, as she condemns her victims to an eternity as bedbugs.
- Antagonist Title: A few stories, including “Rosie”, “Sofa King Tired Of This”, and “My Best Friend Jen”.
- Animate Inanimate Object: A large number of the stories feature these. Specifically: A cable box in “Are You Still Watching”, a lawnmower in “Mow The Lawn”, an AC unit in “Invitation”, extension cords in “Cords”, an entire tea set (as one entity) in “Shattered Love”, a garbage disposal in “Gamma Ray’s GD Sink”, a toaster in “The Grave Little Toaster”, an oven in “Just Desserts”, a sofa in “Sofa King Tired Of This”, and a chair in “The Overstuffed Chair”.
- Asshole Victim: Morty in “Just Desserts” might have been eaten/cooked by Edith’s supernatural/possessed oven and then had his remains baked into desserts, but he sure deserved it. The story’s title even lowkey Lampshades this.
- Attack of the Killer Whatever: A common feature throughout the stories; this is a horror anthology, after all. In detail, we’ve got a swarm of electrical power cords in “Cords”, a killer tea set in “Shattered Love”, a killer garbage disposal in “Gamma Ray’s GD Sink”, a killer oven in “Just Desserts”, a demon-possessed computer mouse in “It’s Just A Little Mouse”, and a killer egotistical sofa in “Sofa King Tired Of This”. The title of “Killer K-Cups” is also a reference to this trope, although that story’s villain is a more conventional demon.
- Awesome Ego: The Sofa King in “Sofa King Tired Of This” possesses one of these, as does the titular character in “The Overstuffed Chair”.
- Big Brother Instinct: Jen’s big sister instinct in “My Friend With Jen” drives her to trick the protagonist into using the cursed music box, freeing her sister from it but leaving the protagonist to take her place.
- Breather Episode: “Are You Still Watching?” could be considered one, given that it involves very little actual horror, although very strangely for its role it is placed as the second story in the collection.
- Burn the Witch!: This happened as part of the backstory of “Night-Time With Nettle”. It actually backfired greatly, turning Agatha Nettle from a benevolent witch who just wanted to use her powers to heal people into a very dangerous ghost witch out to exterminate the whole town or actually just turn them into bedbugs.
- Covers Always Lie: Among the many silhouettes of objects on the cover are a vacuum cleaner and a power drill, appliances which do not feature in any of the stories.
- Creepy Doll: The nutcracker doll in “The Fisherman Nutcracker” is one of the rare examples of this that isn’t a creepy girl doll. He’s actually benevolent, too.
- Cruel and Unusual Death: Hoo boy, there are a lot of these. The nameless granddaughter in “Shattered Love” bleeds out after having her veins severed by shards of china; the female protagonist of “Gamma Ray’s GD Sink” is electrocuted by loose cables while a rusty steak knife is jammed into her neck, to the point that not even the coroner can tell which of those actually killed her; Chalina has her spirit stolen by Hanakko-San, leaving her body in a coma for eight days until she finally dies; the repairman and then Morty from “Just Desserts” are both eaten by a supernatural stove; Griffin is impaled vertically by an upholstery spring after he sits on “The Overstuffed Chair”; Edna in “Knit One, Pearl One” dies after a botched impromptu lobotomy; and Emily’s baby has his bones broken and is then cut to ribbons by Wendy in “Dirty Laundry”.
- Demonic Possession: A common theme. The collection is called Demonic Household after all.
- Disproportionate Retribution: A few instances. Jinx in “Sofa King Tired Of This” killed the staff of the mental hospital he was in because they gave him green instead of red Jell-O; in “The Grave Little Toaster” Brad and Janet summon a demon to kill their neighbors for the grievous crime of being a little annoying; while Beryl in “Knit One, Pearl One” tries to lobotomize Edna, and ends up killing her when the knitting needle she’s using as an ice pick slips, for that same “crime”.
- Expy: “Gamma Ray’s GD Sink” has a garbage disposal that talks like Rocky Balboa. The strangeness of this is Lampshaded by the protagonist.
- Forced Transformation: The narrator in “My Best Friend Jen” is subjected to this, being transformed into a music box figurine by a cursed music box. The tea-set demon in “Shattered Love” also seems to have been a victim of this, as the narration says it was “transformed into” a tea set and not “trapped in” one.
- This is also the fate Agatha Nettle’s spirit subjects her victims to, transforming them into bedbugs.
- "Freaky Friday" Flip: Wendy (the spirit in the washing machine) can do this with a willing participant, although how exactly the switcher ends up in her body when she’s a spirit who doesn’t actually have one isn’t addressed. She admits that she can only stay swapped for 12 hours at a time, though this turns out to be a lie.
- Ghostly Goals: The sailor’s ghost in “The Fisherman Nutcracker” wants to share the location of the family fortune with his grandson before he (the grandson) dies in destitution. Arthur in “Knit One, Pearl One” just wants to help out his wife, while Edna, the murder victim wants revenge, although those two might just be hallucinations (see Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane and Through the Eyes of Madness below).
- Haunted Technology: Debra in “Mow The Lawn” certainly believes her lawnmower is possessed by the spirit of her dead husband, although the section that lawnmower narrates seems to imply that it’s just a “normal” Animate Inanimate Object with nothing ghostly involved.
- Depending on your definition of “technology”, the toilet in “Hanako-San Of The Toilet” and the lock in “The Keys In Her Lock” could also be considered examples of this.
- The washing machine (and based on a few throwaway lines, the house’s entire plumbing system) in “Dirty Laundry” could be considered one, if it were clear that Wendy was a ghost.
- Hellgate: The titular storage closet in “The Ritual Room” turns out to be one that the apartment’s previous resident was attempting to open, although the place on the other side is never referred to by name.
- Horror Comedy: This is the approach most of the stories take, with a few exceptions.
- Humanoid Abomination: This is one of the possibilities for what Wendy, the washing machine spirit could be.
- I'm a Humanitarian: The nameless protagonist in “High-Rise Dilemma” decides to eat his murder victim in order to dispose of the body, and ends up transferring his addiction from drugs to human flesh.
- Edith in “Just Desserts” cooks the corpse of Morty into a cake and eats it, although at least she doesn’t plan make a habit out of it.
- Insane Equals Violent: This misconception pops up in multiple stories, specifically Jinx in “Sofa King Tired Of This” (who killed the staff at a mental hospital because they gave him green instead of red Jell-O), Cassi in “Frozen Feud In Three Part Harmony” (who murdered three men and put their heads in her refrigerator, and hallucinates the severed heads as still alive and capable of speech), and Beryl in “Knit One, Pearl One”, who tries to give her annoying neighbor a lobotomy and ends up killing her.
- Instant Humiliation: Just Add YouTube!: Tom constantly zapping himself over and over with the bug zapper in “Zapping Filth Away” is secretly being recorded and posted to the alien version of the Internet.
- Kill It with Fire: This is how the Sofa King finally meets its end.
- Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane: Are there really ghosts in “Knit One, Pearl One” or is the obviously mentally unstable protagonist merely hallucinating their presence?
- Mirror Monster: The mirror-filled house in “Mirror, Mirror, on the Wall” turns out to be owned by one, who sends out advertisements in the newspaper for house-sitters in order to lure in new victims.
- Morality Pet: The grandmother in “Shattered Love” was able to tame her demonic tea set, although now that she’s dead, the demon is back to its murderous ways again.
- “The Grave Little Toaster” also ends with the implication that the Chris and Karen Smythe will become this for Mephistocrates, nicknaming him “Mitch” and accepting him into the family.
- New Body, Old Abilities: Wendy in Emily’s body maintains her supernatural abilities, and demonstrates a few previously unseen ones that she presumably had beforehand, while the only powers Emily picks up from being in Wendy’s body is the ability to not die from being trapped in an airless washing machine.
- Non-Human Non-Binary: Mephistocrates, the demon from “The Grave Little Toaster”, is only ever referred to by the narration as “it”. This could possibly be a reference to the Ambiguous Gender of the character that the story title is a riff on.
- Ominous Music Box Tune: The music box in “My Best Friend Jen” plays one of these, befitting its nature as a cursed prison.
- Our Demons Are Different: Nearly every story to include a demon features this in some way. For a few examples, the ones in “Invitation” and “The Grave Little Toaster” are described as “extraplanar entities” and seem to have their own supernatural society, while the demons in “Entering Hell: Loading, Please Wait” live in Hell and treat torturing souls and tempting mortals to sin as a Soul-Crushing Desk Job.
- Of note is the repairman/router installer from “Upgraded”; although not explicitly referred to as a “demon”, the ending reveals his name as “Damien”, and also features him demonstrating fire powers as well as control over the new wifi router.
- Our Ghosts Are Different: The ghost in the nutcracker in “The Fisherman Nutcracker” is depicted as immobile in his vessel, although able to make the doll open and close its eyes. Further into the story, he develops the capability to manipulate nearby objects with telekinesis and communicate telepathically with his now-aged grandson.
- In “The Keys In Her Lock”, Cora’s OCD caused her to persist after death, haunting the lock that had haunted her thoughts in life.
- Agatha Nettle’s ghost (“Night-Time With Nettle”) seems to retain most of her witch powers, although she appears constrained to either residing in the bed or possessing people who sleep in it.
- The ghosts in “Knit One, Pearl One” might not even be there; see Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane above.
- Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title: “The Grave Little Toaster" is named after The Brave Little Toaster.
- Pun-Based Creature: Played for Horror in “It’s Just A Little Mouse”, with a rodent-based demon possessing a computer mouse.
- Pun-Based Title: “Frozen Feud In Three-Part Harmony” is one to the concept of “frozen food”.
- There’s also “Sofa King Tired Of This” which needs no explanation.
- Shout-Out: The demon-summoning couple in “The Grave Little Toaster” are named Brad and Janet. The title of the story is also a reference; see Pop-Culture Pun Episode Title above.
- Surreal Horror: This seems to be the approach the author of “Sofa King Tired Of This” was going for, although YMMV on how well it works.
- Take That!: “Killer K-Cups” delivers one to, of all things, cheap coffee; while “Entering Hell: Loading… Please Wait” satirizes toxic multiplayer gamers by depicting them as literal hellspawn who log on purely to make sure normal, human players have a miserable time.
- Through the Eyes of Madness: The disembodied heads in “Frozen Feud In Three-Part Harmony” can’t actually talk; the protagonist is just hallucinating. The ghosts in “Knit One, Pearl One” might also be examples of this, see Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane above.
- Toilet Horror: “Hanako-San Of The Toilet” involves a gaggle of high-school girls trying to summon the eponymous Japanese spirit; although they escape their initial encounter unscathed Hanako-San starts stalking one of the girls, appearing whenever she uses the toilet and eventually managing to claim her soul.
- Tom the Dark Lord: In “The Grave Little Toaster” Karen and Chris Smythe decide to nickname the immortal demon Mephistocrates “Mitch”.
- Transformation of the Possessed: Wendy the spirit from the washing machine induces a rather Body Horror-iffic one on Emily’s body.
- Unexpectedly Real Magic: Brad and Janet’s reaction to the demon’s appearance in “The Grave Little Toaster” strongly suggest they weren’t expecting the ritual to actually do anything. There’s also “Hanako-San Of The Toilet”, where a group of girls decide to “summon” Hanako-San for fun and freak out when it actually manifests.
- Unfinished Business: The sailor’s ghost in “The Fisherman Nutcracker” left behind a family fortune without telling anyone where it was stashed.
- Cora’s ghost from “The Keys In Her Lock” actually has permanent unfinished business in the form of making sure her front door stays locked.
- Whole-Plot Reference: In a truly bizarre example, “Sofa King Tired Of This” and “The Overstuffed Chair” have extremely similar plot beats and similar supernatural entities, leaving them as Whole Plot References to each other. (Admittedly, the plots do diverge slightly as they progress.)
- Wild Teen Party: “Invitation” is framed as a demon trapped in an air conditioner inviting other demons for a wild supernatural entity party.
- Your Television Hates You: “Are You Still Watching”, the second story in the book, involves a literal case with the protagonist’s television growing frustrated with his couch potato lifestyle and trying to get him to work on cleaning the room, read a book, or just do anything other than watching trashy reality shows.
