The House Next Door [Hardcover]

Some readers have had trouble fully connecting with the narrator of events, Colquitt Kennedy, and her husband Walter, but I really do not. Colquitt can sometimes become a little tiring in terms of her laments of mounting pain and sorrow, but she does not come across to me as a person who puts her social or mildly affluent social position ahead of her humanity. After all, the Kennedys make some entirely self-less decisions when it comes to warning future homeowners of the danger lurking in the walls of the beautiful house next door. The house is unique and brand new, a brilliantly designed structure erected on a site local architects claimed could never support a house. The very antithesis of the traditional haunted Southern manor or plantation house, the house uses its loveliness to entice families inside its seemingly normal walls, somehow isolating each family member's greatest weaknesses and vulnerabilities and playing upon those to enact the destruction it thrives on. The brilliant young architect becomes an important player in this drama, and his character helps build a bridge of plausibility between the brand new home and the tragedies befalling those who live within it. The book is basically broken up into three sections, each one telling the story and eventual tragedy of a different new family, the haunting and tragic factors increasing dramatically as the house feeds itself on the evil forces it unleashes. This premise works beautifully, making The House Next Door a fascinating read for both horror lovers and general readers alike, casting its nets far and wide to entrap readers of all sorts in its unsettling clutches. The ending, which seems to disappoint some readers, really feels right to me and is by no means anticlimactic. Anne Rivers Siddons succeeds in transplanting classic Southern Gothic horror into a modern, idyllic setting in which it seemingly does not belong. This is what makes the house so dangerous and makes the story all the more fascinating.

recommendation for this haunting novel.

This captivating tale of a "haunted house" begins fairly innocuously but such is the rate of build-up that I just couldn't put the book down! Its unclear whether the various tragedies that occur are actually down to "the house" itself (or indeed some malevolent facet of the soul of its designer/architect which may have permeated its very fabric) or whether the events are, in reality, brought about by the shortcomings or weaknesses within the character and personality of those who are affected. Can an inanimate structure really reach out to destroy you....? I'm sure part of the pleasure in reading this novel is that you can try to put yourself in the same situation then make up your own mind. Let me say its not a house I would want to live in, but I wish I'd been the one to write it's story....!