The Neighbors
Andrew Morrison is at loose ends, fed up with caring for his alcoholic mother and living out his life in a dying Kansas town. His break-out is to the nearby town in which his old friend Mickey lives, offering a chance to do something new. Although it’s not a big move physically, it is big enough psychologically to keep Andrew second-guessing the wisdom of his decision until he meets his neighbor, Harlow Ward, a woman who looks as if she’s the 1950s ideal of the perfect wife. She wears dresses and heels and bakes cookies, welcoming Andrew to the neighborhood. Despite his misgivings about Mickey’s sloth and squalor and the relentless chirpiness of Harlow’s devoted husband, Red, Andrew settles in and finds himself caught in a disturbing tableau. Ahlborn slowly builds suspense in this horror story of seeming suburban bliss. --Vanessa Bush