Book Review: The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel
By John Valeri
October 16, 2024
Stephanie Wrobel discovered the joy of books and storytelling at an early age but later made the decision to pursue a more practical career as an adult. After college, she worked as a copywriter, helping to pen and produce advertising spots for a variety of well-known brands in the Chicago area. Then, as a freelancer, she made the fateful decision to apply to graduate school, earning her MFA in creative writing from Boston’s Emerson College—and getting serious about her prospects as a novelist in the process. Wrobel’s debut, Darling Rose Gold (2020), was both a national and international bestseller and received nominations for the Edgar, Barry and Macavity awards; the cultish This Might Hurt followed. This fall, Wrobel makes a suitably sinister return with The Hitchcock Hotel.
It’s been nearly sixteen years since Alfred Smettle last saw his college “friends” and fellow film club members in the flesh before a campus scandal sent him packing. More than a decade later, he returned to the small collegiate town of Reville and bought an old, broken-down Victorian home that he’s since transformed into the Hitchcock Hotel—a themed lodge that honors his obsession with all things “Hitch” (an interest he shared with his mother). And to celebrate the venture’s one-year anniversary, Alfred has invited his former classmates for a reunion weekend. It’s a film buff’s dream come true (complete with designated movie nights, memorabilia displays, an on-site aviary, and trivia)—until the dream becomes a noirish nightmare.
Indeed, time, distance, and the weight of secrets have all taken their toll, the long-ago friends—chef Zoe, entrepreneur Samira, bodyguard TJ, socialite Julius, and financier Grace—now little more than strangers with a shared (and sordid) history. But something draws each of them to the Hitchcock Hotel, whether it’s a sense of obligation to Alfred (nicknamed “Herman” for the birthmark he hides under his trademark turtlenecks) for some undefined slight, peer pressure, or the need to escape the stressors of their everyday lives. As the hotel’s staff dwindles down to a skeleton crew of two (Alfred and his widowed assistant, Danny), old resentments beget new revelations, the repercussions of which turn deadly.
Wrobel structures the narrative in three distinct acts, mirroring the framework of a movie. This is enhanced by the use of multiple points of view, which allows each member of the friend group to be fully actualized; indeed, who they present themselves as and who they really are stands in further juxtaposition to how they’re perceived by others. While the story starts as a slow burn, with subtle feelings of dread and mistrust, things escalate through a series of disturbing disclosures and events, all of which culminate in murder. Cliché or not, everybody’s a suspect—and identifying the killer(s) will mean their dirty secrets are laid bare.
Stephanie Wrobel offers up a high concept premise with serious subtext in her hospitality-meets-horror hybrid. While the notion of a theme hotel is immediately inviting (at least for fans of the famed director and/or his films), it’s the fallible characters themselves that truly drive the story. Consequently, the payoff may depend on your expectations, though “Hitch” devotees and more casual readers will find much to enjoy. Like the movies themselves, there is a notable progression from low-key torment to outright terror, all culminating in a series of third-act revelations that will surprise some and shock others—or, at the very least, satisfy those who’ve been paying particular attention to the set-up. The Hitchcock Hotel is a destination worth checking in to. But be forewarned: the meaning of “checking out” is subject to change …