Ideas and plot twists for The Yesterday House

I’m just throwing some ideas and plot twists out there for what I hope will become an interesting read. I’ve already posted a brief synopsis of The yesterday house, this post expands on that with backgrounds and possible plot twists.

The household

Lodger #1 Always wears a Harris tweed suit and tends to keep to himself. Age late 50’s but has grey curly hair. Rarely speaks when spoken to, just giving the cursory nod when needed. Now retired, he moved to the house to be closer to family, though he hadn’t seen many in years.

Lodger #2 Male, mid 30’s, loves the sound of his own voice and can only be silenced by having a question on astronomy thrown at him (he claimed to have an astrophysics degree). Never worked in his life, always finding ways of getting the government to fund courses for him. Moved to the yesterday house after his mother gave him the ultimatum to get a job or leave home.

Lodger #3 Female, 20’s, short blonde hair, she’s the one who can see and hear the person nobody else can. Quite chatty but clams up when the invisible man is mentioned. Wears torn jeans and tee shirts. Has a strange symbol tattooed on her left wrist. She was the first to arrive, but may have been here all along, it’s hard to tell.

Lodger #4 Male, 40’s, recovered drug addict but you could see in his eyes what his addiction had taken away from him. He spoke with a slur and clean shaven he was not. He wore flared jeans taken from a bygone era and a tee shirt with a faded CND logo on it. Had been living on the streets and was sponsored by a homeless charity to move into the yesterday house.

Lodger #5 Female, 60’s, had worked as a secretary for a big engineering firm, made redundant when the company switched production to Poland. Wears a long tartan skirt and frilly blouse. Can’t stop talking about how hard done by she had been after working for the company for thirty years. Moved out of her home when her husband died. Finding her pension wasn’t the huge pot she hoped it would be, she had to find cheaper accommodation.

Lodger #6 Ron (name may change) had recently been made redundant from his job as a marketing executive. He wasn’t keen or able to keep up with modern marketing methods (was a technophobe) and younger, more able employees were jostling for position to take his job. Moved to the yesterday house after failing to prevent an imminent eviction.

The householder: In her 70’s, but has a wit as sharp as a surgical scalpel. Never seems to be more than a few paces from anyone, which can be unnerving. Moves around the house like a whippet and won’t take any nonsense from anyone

Snippets / ideas

Ron attempted to leave the house but the torrential rain was too much for him. If he could have remembered what happened yesterday he’d have realised it was the same rain

Is this possibly heaven or hell? If nobody can recall what they were doing yesterday they have no idea how long they’ve been in this house. Perhaps it’s a testing ground to see what kind of afterlife they’re destined for.

Is the house being run by some obscure government agency? For what reason?

There’s no cellphone signal at the house and no phone / broadband available (how prospective lodgers contact them on the number provided is a mystery)

Ron is moving from Basingstoke to Sawley (north of Burnley)

Ron’s journey could pad things out, maybe all the new lodgers are on the same train

Were all the lodgers somehow hand picked for inclusion in the household

Do I need a backstory for all lodgers?