false 104217 17 Anne Rivers Siddons is a writer of literary fiction whose one foray into the horror genre is this remarkable 1978 novel, <I>The House Next Door</I>. The setting is a wealthy suburb in Atlanta where an ambitious young architect is building a dramatically contemporary house. The novel uses a frame device to put three short stories under a single cover: as each of three families moves into the house in succession, we watch the bad things that happen to them and eventually force them to leave. But the frame itself--the observations of an urbane and sophisticated couple who live next door and become close friends with the architect--is the most deeply involving story in the book.<p> Stephen King was so impressed by <I>The House Next Door</I> that when he wrote <I>Danse Macabre</I>, his personal tour of the horror genre, he sought out Siddons for an interview. She told him, "The haunted house has always spoken specially and directly to me as the emblem of particular horror. Maybe it's because, to a woman, her house is so much more than that: it is kingdom, responsibility, comfort, total world to her.... It is an extension of ourselves; it tolls in answer to one of the most basic chords mankind will ever hear.... So basic is it that the desecration of it, the corruption, as it were, by something alien takes on a peculiar and bone-deep horror and disgust." <p> Siddons was also fascinated by how the supernatural has the power to disturb the complacent rich and their comfortable little world: "What has the unspeakable and the unbelievable got to do with second homes and tax shelters and private schools for the kids and a pâté in every terrine and a BMW in every garage? Primitive man might howl before his returning dead and point; his neighbor would see, and howl along with him.... The resident of Fox Run Chase who meets a ghoulie out by the hot tub is going to be frozen dead in his or her Nikes on the tennis courts the next day if he or she persists in gabbling about it. And there he is, alone with the horror and ostracized on all sides. It's a double turn of the screw." <p> One caveat: some people find the ending a false note that mars the effect. Even so, <I>The House Next Door</I> is an exquisite horror novel. <I>--Fiona Webster</I> 2886217 book 1978 The House Next Door total:600|5:112|4:206|3:200|2:61|1:21| 600 2127 829 79 1 5 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 11 06:07:07 -0800 2007 Sun Nov 11 06:54:36 -0800 2007
Trin's review was right on. I, too, picked up this book after reading Stephen King's rave review in Danse Macabre. And while I loved the beginning (Pie's miscarriage was truly horrific), my admiration turned to...more...]]> 2 2 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 02 16:40:26 -0700 2007 Sat Nov 03 16:57:22 -0700 2007 more...]]> 2 0 false true Fri Nov 06 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 14:28:11 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 15:03:03 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Nov 05 02:18:36 -0800 2009 Thu Nov 05 02:35:35 -0800 2009
i love haunted house books, and that's what this is, only stripped of all the usual genre crap. there's no ancient decaying victorian, no history of ghosts and weird noises,...more...]]> 2 1 false false Sat May 02 16:43:07 -0700 2009 Sat May 02 17:14:52 -0700 2009
I'm not really sure why I like this book as much as i do. I've reread it quite a few times (usually in the summer, maybe it's a summer book for me, I dunno)...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 12:53:04 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 13:02:09 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sat Aug 16 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Aug 05 09:19:14 -0700 2008 Sat Aug 16 15:34:57 -0700 2008
I liked this book. It was my first Siddons book, and I didn't know what to expect. For a long time, I judged whether I'd enjoy books by watching who checked them out of the public library (where I worked as a children's librarian.) Siddons was one of the...more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Jun 28 19:00:07 -0700 2009 Sun Jun 28 19:08:24 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 06 07:18:43 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 06 12:48:06 -0700 2009 more...]]> 1 0 false false Mon Dec 15 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Dec 15 11:51:46 -0800 2008 Wed Dec 17 14:13:48 -0800 2008 The premise of it (a haunted house that steals what one wants most in life) is just plain goofy. And, to make it very clear that this house is EVIL, Siddons goes a ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Thu Apr 30 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 22:23:16 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 29 22:34:19 -0700 2009 more...]]> 2 0 false false Mon May 21 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Dec 14 20:47:41 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 14 20:49:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Wed Oct 28 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 10:24:42 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 28 14:06:33 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 13:17:49 -0700 2009 Sun Mar 29 13:19:28 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Tue Jul 14 14:56:22 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 11 18:45:21 -0700 2009 Tue Jul 14 14:56:22 -0700 2009 Finished it last night, could not put it down. Very good and chilling, especially the last half. Excellent ending]]> 4 0 false false Sat May 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu May 21 13:25:00 -0700 2009 Sat May 23 09:55:49 -0700 2009 0 0 false false Sat Oct 25 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 11 09:40:55 -0800 2008 Tue Nov 11 09:58:39 -0800 2008 Once more...]]> 3 0 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 30 17:46:04 -0700 2008 Wed Oct 07 09:21:03 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Fri Apr 10 17:24:28 -0700 2009 Fri Apr 10 17:25:44 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Oct 26 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Oct 12 09:22:30 -0700 2009 Tue Oct 27 04:43:56 -0700 2009 http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=368818