Bad Things

Really torn on the stars to give – I'd say 3.5.

The premise is good, the characters are likable, but the main character has to spend the book being thick as a brick for the events to happen.

Move into the house where you saw malevolent spirits as a kid? Where your parents were brutally murdered? Where you were convinced your brother was possessed? With all the secret passages? The house you cannot think about without nearly falling apart? Where animals die horribly? Where your incestuous, abusive, crazy aunt still lives? Where the food was often secretly defiled?

Yes, please, because it's a great place to raise kids?

To share the biggest thing he'd have to be stupid not to get would be a spoiler. It's okay, if you read the book, you'll know.

Also, the author really, really hates poodles. :) But likes cats.

Also2, the book being published 20 years ago made some of the stance toward LGBT character seem a tad, er, dated. Not crazy bigoted, just 20 years old.

A tendency toward general repetition that an editor should have fixed. This line was not, um, award winning”

Those houses had perfect paint and perfect yards, not a blade of grass out of place, while he had an award-winning collection of shaggy bushes and award-winning weeds.

The ending was pretty touching, so there's that. I thought of abandoning the book at 17%, but I actually did like the characters and was curious about what was going to happen.