Since the review team is still on their holiday break, Sue Rovens has been so kind as to send another guest review post. Today, she discusses The House Next Door by Anne Rivers Siddons.
Check it out below and be sure to check out some of Sue's books as well at the link below.
Enjoy!
The House Next Door
By Anne Rivers Siddons
Somewhere in the recesses of my mind, I knew about this book. It came out in 1978, when I was 14, so I must have seen the cover or heard about it way back when. At that time, I wasn’t into horror or spooky reads yet, so, while it existed, I kept my distance.
Fast forward forty-six years – I just finished it earlier this week and I can now report that it was worth the wait. 😊
The House Next Door is told from the point of view of Mrs. Colquitt Kennedy, a southern woman who lives in a very prestigious and wealthy area. She and her neighbors, a large clique of money, snobbery, and pretentious high brows, become instantly intrigued when a vacant lot between two of the houses is purchased. The architect, a young genius named Kim Dougherty, creates a stunning home for his clients and then suddenly becomes unable to design anything else. When the clients first move into this glorious abode, strange and unsettling things also begin to take place.
This isn’t your run-of-the-mill haunted house tale, although it leans that way at first. Instead, the further one delves into these 279 pages, the more layered and complex the plots become. (thankfully, it never goes overboard and becomes too confusing to follow). Siddons crafted a great and compelling book which veers off once in a while into lavish descriptions that don’t quite tie into the main plots but aren’t boring or exasperatingly long-winded.
There were some very creepy moments that had me thinking about them late at night (in the first third of the book). I was hoping for more of those, but it was not to be. Still, this is a strong tale about friendships, vanity, hauntings, fear, and wealthy posturing. A few of the “shocking” things (in ’78) are no longer as “revealing or earth shattering” in 2024, but it does hold up through the overarching themes of the story.
There are a few animal deaths (which I personally HATE and will DNF if they get descriptive), but they are not dwelled upon and are easy to skip past quickly. Those happen fairly early on and again at the very end.
Overall, I would recommend The House Next Door to anyone who enjoys haunted house stories, solidly structured plots and characters, those looking for less hardcore gore and more atmospheric creeps, and people who love 70s horror.
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