This House Is Haunted

This book clearly wants to be The Turn of the Screw, but makes the mistake of imitating all the trappings without harnessing the ambiguity that is the essence of James's spooky atmosphere.

We have a naive governess in a creepy country manor, two children who evoke both protectiveness and uncertainty in her, and ghostly presences. Disturbing history is slowly revealed.

I'd say this book is at its best when it undermines convention - for instance, the exploration of a female figure that vanishes when pursued was a nice element. The motivation for the haunting is an interestingly novel, yet Gothic factor. The author clearly loves classic English weird fiction, giving a prominent shout-out to Dickens' “The Signalman” and obviously paying homage to Henry James, as noted. I felt kinship and affection for the author on this score.

What drags this story down is its impulse to explain, categorize, and tie up all plot points. After a fairly effective (if derivative) depiction of tight-lipped locals grudgingly revealing bits of background, the story eventually devolves into a tell-don't-show wrap up that dissolves any sense of mystery or dread, and results in a lackluster action-scene climax.