What do you think?
Rate this book
The House Next Door
An unparalleled picture of that vibrant but dark intersection where the Old and the New South collide. Thirtysomething Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in a charming, peaceful suburb of newly bustling Atlanta, Georgia. Life is made up of enjoyable work, long, lazy weekends, and the company of good neighbors. Then, to their shock, construction starts on the vacant lot next door, a wooded hillside they'd believed would always remain undeveloped. Disappointed by their diminished privacy, Colquitt and Walter soon realize something more is wrong with the house next door. Surely the house can't be "haunted," yet it seems to destroy the goodness of every person who comes to live in it, until the entire heart of this friendly neighborhood threatens to be torn apart.
279 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1978
627 people are currently reading
21759 people want to read
About the author
Anne Rivers Siddons
51 books1,259 followersBorn Sybil Anne Rivers in Atlanta, Georgia, she was raised in Fairburn, Georgia, and attended Auburn University, where she was a member of the Delta Delta Delta Sorority.
While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine.
At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
While at Auburn she wrote a column for the student newspaper, The Auburn Plainsman, that favored integration. The university administration attempted to suppress the column, and ultimately fired her, and the column garnered national attention. She later became a senior editor for Atlanta magazine.
At the age of thirty she married Heyward Siddons, and she and her husband lived in Charleston, South Carolina, and spent summers in Maine. Siddons died of lung cancer on September 11, 2019
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,475 reviews
September 7, 2019
”If we find that all our efforts have failed and someone buys the house, we shall set fire to it and burn it down. We will do this at night, before it is occupied. In another time they would have plowed the charred ground and sowed it with salt.
If it should come to that, I do not think we will be punished.
I do not think we will be alive long enough.”
Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in an upscale neighborhood among people of similar socioeconomic status. They are all friends who barbeque, have drinks, and rely on each other for support in times of trouble. The women are attractive, and the men are still handsome, even though their sparkling 20s have become a distant memory. They are all as reasonably happy as anyone can expect to be.
That is until the house was built.
The empty lot next to the Kennedy’s has always been there. It has never been developed because it is a strange shape. An architect would need imagination to design a house to set on it properly and not be considered an eyesore. Kim Dougherty is that architect. He is young, ambitious, and determined to build a beautiful house that will be a monument to his genius.
Colquitt likes the lot next to them being empty. It gives them more privacy than the other houses in the neighborhood, and the trees, bushes, and plant life provide a burst of varied colors throughout the year. Deer, rabbits, and even more exotic wildlife can be spotted moving in the relative safety of this green sanctuary. It is an oasis among urban development.
The house that emerges, as if it just pushed its way up through the crust of the Earth from the fiery depths of hell, is gorgeous. It is more than just a house. It is a work of art. It is state of the art.
Evil, of course, is never ugly. To seduce, evil must be beautiful.
Colquitt is more tuned into the unseen elements around us than the rest of us. Walter knows. ”I am, he says, a sensitive. Not in any silly, conventional psychic way; we have both always laughed at that. But in the fact that I feel currents and whorls and eddies keenly, even when, perhaps, they are not there.”
There is something sinister about that house. Something that takes the very best from people. Something that makes them feel desires they should never feel. Something that slowly drives them...mad.
You will meet the parade of owners from Pie & Buddy Harralson, to Buck & Anita Sheehan, and finally Susan & Norman Greene, and watch perfectly ordinary people change before your eyes. The question is, where did this evil come from? It wasn’t there before the house was built, so what brought it there?
I never really ever expected to read an Anne Rivers Siddons book, but when I was researching best horror/gothic books, this book appeared on almost every list. I was intrigued, and I’m so glad I picked up a copy. The Kennedy’s are very likeable with their adoration for one another, their evenings of relaxation together, sharing drinks, and enjoying each other’s company. The foul presence of this entity next door encroaches upon them bit by bit until it is impossible for them to ignore what they don’t want to believe. The plot is a slow burn with unusual but small things happening that can be shrugged off as odd, until things more insidious begin to happen that can not be easily disregarding any longer.
They must do something!
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
If it should come to that, I do not think we will be punished.
I do not think we will be alive long enough.”
Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in an upscale neighborhood among people of similar socioeconomic status. They are all friends who barbeque, have drinks, and rely on each other for support in times of trouble. The women are attractive, and the men are still handsome, even though their sparkling 20s have become a distant memory. They are all as reasonably happy as anyone can expect to be.
That is until the house was built.
The empty lot next to the Kennedy’s has always been there. It has never been developed because it is a strange shape. An architect would need imagination to design a house to set on it properly and not be considered an eyesore. Kim Dougherty is that architect. He is young, ambitious, and determined to build a beautiful house that will be a monument to his genius.
Colquitt likes the lot next to them being empty. It gives them more privacy than the other houses in the neighborhood, and the trees, bushes, and plant life provide a burst of varied colors throughout the year. Deer, rabbits, and even more exotic wildlife can be spotted moving in the relative safety of this green sanctuary. It is an oasis among urban development.
The house that emerges, as if it just pushed its way up through the crust of the Earth from the fiery depths of hell, is gorgeous. It is more than just a house. It is a work of art. It is state of the art.
Evil, of course, is never ugly. To seduce, evil must be beautiful.
Colquitt is more tuned into the unseen elements around us than the rest of us. Walter knows. ”I am, he says, a sensitive. Not in any silly, conventional psychic way; we have both always laughed at that. But in the fact that I feel currents and whorls and eddies keenly, even when, perhaps, they are not there.”
There is something sinister about that house. Something that takes the very best from people. Something that makes them feel desires they should never feel. Something that slowly drives them...mad.
You will meet the parade of owners from Pie & Buddy Harralson, to Buck & Anita Sheehan, and finally Susan & Norman Greene, and watch perfectly ordinary people change before your eyes. The question is, where did this evil come from? It wasn’t there before the house was built, so what brought it there?
I never really ever expected to read an Anne Rivers Siddons book, but when I was researching best horror/gothic books, this book appeared on almost every list. I was intrigued, and I’m so glad I picked up a copy. The Kennedy’s are very likeable with their adoration for one another, their evenings of relaxation together, sharing drinks, and enjoying each other’s company. The foul presence of this entity next door encroaches upon them bit by bit until it is impossible for them to ignore what they don’t want to believe. The plot is a slow burn with unusual but small things happening that can be shrugged off as odd, until things more insidious begin to happen that can not be easily disregarding any longer.
They must do something!
If you wish to see more of my most recent book and movie reviews, visit http://www.jeffreykeeten.com
I also have a Facebook blogger page at:https://www.facebook.com/JeffreyKeeten
April 11, 2020
This book was Fan-Freaking-Tastic!
Our narrator, Colquitt, is a hoity-toity lady of society in Atlanta in the 1970's. She and her husband Walter live next door to a beautiful wooded lot with a creek and their life is nearly perfect. Until the lot is sold to a couple who plan to build a beautiful modern home with lots of glass and chrome. Once the house goes up, perfection leaves their lives forever.
I normally don't get into the plot in my reviews, and I'm not going to delve too deeply here, but there is one interesting thing that I would like to mention. I'm going to put a spoiler tag here, even though this is just an observation of mine, because it's something you should discover on your own.
The characters in this story are complicated and well drawn. Colquitt describes life in her "set" with humility and grace. It's funny, as this soap opera of a story continues, to find out what she discovers about some of her friends and neighbors; none of it is good. In my eyes, over and above the "haunting" itself, this is a tale of social classes and the differences between them. It's also a tad of commentary on the old south as well. Even though Colquitt does come across as humble most of the time, there are a few incidents where she is just downright snobby, and she doesn't even realize it.
All of this in a story told through outstanding, yet simple, prose. The atmosphere becomes palpable and the reader's dread just grows and grows. There is no true gore, there are no gross out moments...just a slow burning tale of something gone wrong with a house. And then going wrong again. And then going wrong again.
Do you dare enter The House Next Door? I highly recommend that you do!
Our narrator, Colquitt, is a hoity-toity lady of society in Atlanta in the 1970's. She and her husband Walter live next door to a beautiful wooded lot with a creek and their life is nearly perfect. Until the lot is sold to a couple who plan to build a beautiful modern home with lots of glass and chrome. Once the house goes up, perfection leaves their lives forever.
I normally don't get into the plot in my reviews, and I'm not going to delve too deeply here, but there is one interesting thing that I would like to mention. I'm going to put a spoiler tag here, even though this is just an observation of mine, because it's something you should discover on your own.
The characters in this story are complicated and well drawn. Colquitt describes life in her "set" with humility and grace. It's funny, as this soap opera of a story continues, to find out what she discovers about some of her friends and neighbors; none of it is good. In my eyes, over and above the "haunting" itself, this is a tale of social classes and the differences between them. It's also a tad of commentary on the old south as well. Even though Colquitt does come across as humble most of the time, there are a few incidents where she is just downright snobby, and she doesn't even realize it.
All of this in a story told through outstanding, yet simple, prose. The atmosphere becomes palpable and the reader's dread just grows and grows. There is no true gore, there are no gross out moments...just a slow burning tale of something gone wrong with a house. And then going wrong again. And then going wrong again.
Do you dare enter The House Next Door? I highly recommend that you do!
October 15, 2020
I have been wanting to read this book for years and now I can finally say that I did and that I loved it. For a book published back in 1978 I feel this held up well.
Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in a peaceful suburb outside of Atlanta where they spend their afternoons sipping vodka tonics on their patio. Next to their home is a vacant lot with a creek and woods and blooms of all sorts that they have come to love until they hear that the lot has been sold and a house to be built.
From here we watch as three separate families try to live in the house only to have tragedy follow. Is it all merely coincidence or is something more sinister happening?
I thought this book was so entertaining and difficult to put down. The pacing was perfect. Colquitt really grew on me as a character and I loved her relationship with Walter as they seemed to really respect and care about each other. Now I understand why this book is on so many "must read" lists in regards to horror, spooky, hauntings and such. It really is very clever. Highest recommendation! 4 stars!
Colquitt and Walter Kennedy live in a peaceful suburb outside of Atlanta where they spend their afternoons sipping vodka tonics on their patio. Next to their home is a vacant lot with a creek and woods and blooms of all sorts that they have come to love until they hear that the lot has been sold and a house to be built.
From here we watch as three separate families try to live in the house only to have tragedy follow. Is it all merely coincidence or is something more sinister happening?
I thought this book was so entertaining and difficult to put down. The pacing was perfect. Colquitt really grew on me as a character and I loved her relationship with Walter as they seemed to really respect and care about each other. Now I understand why this book is on so many "must read" lists in regards to horror, spooky, hauntings and such. It really is very clever. Highest recommendation! 4 stars!
September 3, 2025
What a page turner. This gets in your mind and terrifies from start to finish.
November 12, 2019
3.5 stars
"I thought with pleasure of yellow lights in those windows, smoke curling up from the chimneys like the breath of the house. It needed life now, like a heart to beat."
I’ve never read anything by Anne Rivers Siddons before. To be honest, I wasn’t really familiar with this author until just recently when I heard she had passed away. When I learned that she wrote this book, a haunted house tale, I decided what better way to make my acquaintance with her during the month of October. I don’t know that I would actually classify this as southern gothic, but rather southern fiction/horror. When I think of southern gothic, writers like William Faulkner and Carson McCullers immediately come to mind. The House Next Door doesn’t make any grand statements on social issues of the south; nor does it impress the reader with eccentric or brilliantly developed characters. Rather, it entertains, and for that reason I was satisfied.
The story is set in a fashionable Atlanta neighborhood, and the characters are upper or upper-middle class. There are cocktail parties galore and everyone seems to know everyone else’s business, as seems to be the norm in this type of community. The dynamics of the neighborhood are thrown off kilter when the lot next door to the Kennedy’s is purchased. An accomplished young architect is tasked with building an extraordinary house on the property. Kim Dougherty does just that.
"This house was different. It commanded you, somehow, yet soothed you. It grew out of the penciled earth like an elemental spirit that had lain, locked and yearning for the light, through endless depths of time, waiting to be released. It soared into the trees and along the deep-breasted slope of the ridge as though it had uncoiled, not as though it would be built, layer by layer and stone by stone."
I thought the pacing in the novel was competent, with just enough suspense to keep my interest. The writing was skillful and descriptive. I didn’t particularly love or despise any of the characters, but this was more about the plot. Speaking of plot, it ebbed and flowed a bit at first, but then the tension ramped up just when it needed to. I’m a sucker for an eerie house that becomes much like a character, and this was exactly that. I wouldn’t say The House Next Door will ever become a classic piece, like Rebecca or The Haunting of Hill House. It’s a little bit dated, but overall worth your time if you’re craving this sort of a story. I managed to guess early on the major premise of the whole thing, but was never quite sure if I was correct, so my enjoyment there was not curbed. I don’t know if I’ll read more of this author’s work in future, but I certainly won’t ignore the possibility.
"It is damned, that house. It’s a greedy house. It takes."
"I thought with pleasure of yellow lights in those windows, smoke curling up from the chimneys like the breath of the house. It needed life now, like a heart to beat."
I’ve never read anything by Anne Rivers Siddons before. To be honest, I wasn’t really familiar with this author until just recently when I heard she had passed away. When I learned that she wrote this book, a haunted house tale, I decided what better way to make my acquaintance with her during the month of October. I don’t know that I would actually classify this as southern gothic, but rather southern fiction/horror. When I think of southern gothic, writers like William Faulkner and Carson McCullers immediately come to mind. The House Next Door doesn’t make any grand statements on social issues of the south; nor does it impress the reader with eccentric or brilliantly developed characters. Rather, it entertains, and for that reason I was satisfied.
The story is set in a fashionable Atlanta neighborhood, and the characters are upper or upper-middle class. There are cocktail parties galore and everyone seems to know everyone else’s business, as seems to be the norm in this type of community. The dynamics of the neighborhood are thrown off kilter when the lot next door to the Kennedy’s is purchased. An accomplished young architect is tasked with building an extraordinary house on the property. Kim Dougherty does just that.
"This house was different. It commanded you, somehow, yet soothed you. It grew out of the penciled earth like an elemental spirit that had lain, locked and yearning for the light, through endless depths of time, waiting to be released. It soared into the trees and along the deep-breasted slope of the ridge as though it had uncoiled, not as though it would be built, layer by layer and stone by stone."
I thought the pacing in the novel was competent, with just enough suspense to keep my interest. The writing was skillful and descriptive. I didn’t particularly love or despise any of the characters, but this was more about the plot. Speaking of plot, it ebbed and flowed a bit at first, but then the tension ramped up just when it needed to. I’m a sucker for an eerie house that becomes much like a character, and this was exactly that. I wouldn’t say The House Next Door will ever become a classic piece, like Rebecca or The Haunting of Hill House. It’s a little bit dated, but overall worth your time if you’re craving this sort of a story. I managed to guess early on the major premise of the whole thing, but was never quite sure if I was correct, so my enjoyment there was not curbed. I don’t know if I’ll read more of this author’s work in future, but I certainly won’t ignore the possibility.
"It is damned, that house. It’s a greedy house. It takes."
Read
October 29, 2020If you enjoy books with animal harm (multiple animals seemingly slaughtered in a small amount of time) and homophobia, this book is for you. From what I read after I abandoned ship, It also includes a great deal of racism.
Shame because I was really enjoying it. Also, I’m not saying you enjoy those things if you read this book. I’m just irritated.
40% in. DNF. On to the next.
Shame because I was really enjoying it. Also, I’m not saying you enjoy those things if you read this book. I’m just irritated.
40% in. DNF. On to the next.
November 3, 2007
Another book where I really dug the first third and then became progressively more and more annoyed. Narrated by a woman with the improbable name of Colquitt (forgive me if this actually IS a popular name Down South; I'm clearly an ignorant Westerner/Yankee, yo), this is a haunted house story that I'd heard was fantastic from several sources, including Stephen King—not in his usual, I'll-blurb-anything fashion, but in long passages of "Danse Macabre," (the title of which GoodReads seems determined to not let me type—WTF?) his book about the horror genre, which I really enjoyed. A book that scared Stephen King? That I have to read! (Two years later. Oops.)
Anyway, the first third seemed to be living up to all this hype: it follows Colquitt as she watches the empty lot next door to the home she shares with her husband, Walter, get purchased and have a house for a rich young couple built on it. Almost immediately, the site seems cursed: animals are found torn up but no culprit can be found, and then the new property's ditzy young owner, Pie Harralson, has a miscarriage in a truly horrifying way. Okay. I was totally with the book at this point, ready and eager to be spooked. But then the house's next act of evil is...making Pie's husband Buddy and another character gay. SERIOUSLY. The house makes them gay. And then makes them do it at a party. An event which is foreshaddowed by one of the two characters having an opinion about wallpaper. Which, you know, does doom one to gayness. Snerk.
Okay, so my reaction to this SCENE of TERROR (so horrifying it causes Pie's father to have a fatal heart attack!) was of course totally inappropriate, involving a lot of giggling, and this could fairly be blamed on the fact that I read a lot of porn where drugs, Ancient cities, aliens, et. al., make characters gay all the time—and it's considered a good thing. I was like, "Gee! I hope Buddy and his lawyer friend are happy together!" Surely not the reaction Siddons intended.
But I honestly do think that a lot of this book's problems stem from it simply not being capable of provoking the same reactions from a reader in 2007 as it might have in 1978, when it was published. Not because we've all seen all four Saw movies and are immune to psychological horror (I haven't, and I'm not) but because the book is really that fucking dated. The attitudes toward homosexuality, the poor, and those damn Jews who think they're as good as we are, are, frankly, backward and offensive. I'm not saying they're Siddons' own views—the book is told in the first person, so it's hard to tell—but they do make Colquitt quite unlikeable, and she's not even the one most strongly spouting them all. I get the feeling that Colquitt and everyone on her block are the type of people who would make life miserable for a person like me far more quickly and easily than a possessed house ever could.
Whether Colquitt and I would ever be best buddies aside, the novel had further narrative flaws that ruined the last two thirds for me. First, it gets repetitive; after the big Gaying Up, the house seems to run out of new tricks, falling back, again and again, on plain old heterosexual adultery as its way to ruin its inhabitants lives. (So in other words, the only thing necessary to defeat evil houses is to have Dan Savage move in? Good to know!) Siddons also uses the "if I had only known then..." trick of suspense-building WAAAAAY too many times, and it's an authorial device I'm not fond of even once. Tack on a lame twist ending and an even lamer epilogue, and the book just falls apart for me. Nice foundation, but otherwise, pretty shoddy workmanship, IMO.
Anyway, the first third seemed to be living up to all this hype: it follows Colquitt as she watches the empty lot next door to the home she shares with her husband, Walter, get purchased and have a house for a rich young couple built on it. Almost immediately, the site seems cursed: animals are found torn up but no culprit can be found, and then the new property's ditzy young owner, Pie Harralson, has a miscarriage in a truly horrifying way. Okay. I was totally with the book at this point, ready and eager to be spooked. But then the house's next act of evil is...making Pie's husband Buddy and another character gay. SERIOUSLY. The house makes them gay. And then makes them do it at a party. An event which is foreshaddowed by one of the two characters having an opinion about wallpaper. Which, you know, does doom one to gayness. Snerk.
Okay, so my reaction to this SCENE of TERROR (so horrifying it causes Pie's father to have a fatal heart attack!) was of course totally inappropriate, involving a lot of giggling, and this could fairly be blamed on the fact that I read a lot of porn where drugs, Ancient cities, aliens, et. al., make characters gay all the time—and it's considered a good thing. I was like, "Gee! I hope Buddy and his lawyer friend are happy together!" Surely not the reaction Siddons intended.
But I honestly do think that a lot of this book's problems stem from it simply not being capable of provoking the same reactions from a reader in 2007 as it might have in 1978, when it was published. Not because we've all seen all four Saw movies and are immune to psychological horror (I haven't, and I'm not) but because the book is really that fucking dated. The attitudes toward homosexuality, the poor, and those damn Jews who think they're as good as we are, are, frankly, backward and offensive. I'm not saying they're Siddons' own views—the book is told in the first person, so it's hard to tell—but they do make Colquitt quite unlikeable, and she's not even the one most strongly spouting them all. I get the feeling that Colquitt and everyone on her block are the type of people who would make life miserable for a person like me far more quickly and easily than a possessed house ever could.
Whether Colquitt and I would ever be best buddies aside, the novel had further narrative flaws that ruined the last two thirds for me. First, it gets repetitive; after the big Gaying Up, the house seems to run out of new tricks, falling back, again and again, on plain old heterosexual adultery as its way to ruin its inhabitants lives. (So in other words, the only thing necessary to defeat evil houses is to have Dan Savage move in? Good to know!) Siddons also uses the "if I had only known then..." trick of suspense-building WAAAAAY too many times, and it's an authorial device I'm not fond of even once. Tack on a lame twist ending and an even lamer epilogue, and the book just falls apart for me. Nice foundation, but otherwise, pretty shoddy workmanship, IMO.
September 22, 2020
Going with 4 STARS up on this one!
Good grief, what a neighborhood!
The House Next Door was wrote in 1978 by Anne Rivers Siddons and her writing was wonderful. I enjoyed the descriptive and atmospheric nature of this book.
The people, not so much.
It was sunshine, lazy summers playing tennis at the club, drinking gin on the patio and not having a care in the world for bills, jobs or being a failure in life.
But something evil lurks next door and the neighborhood’s spoiled life is about to come crashing down.
I enjoyed this book more as the plot progressed. The dread about the house and who was occupying it had me in suspense with what would happen next!
The neighborhood was in a rich part of Atlanta that felt blue blooded, rich and pampered.
I’ll tell you what.
I liked no one in this book with how they talked or interacted with each other. Some in the neighborhood even wimped out in regards to their image and not doing the right thing. Only Walter and Colquitt had the guts at the end to do something.
I was glad to see how this malevolent house brought some people to their knees.
I wasn’t necessarily starting to cheer for the house but it seemed that everyone that lived in this new, beautiful house were annoying, spoiled or mean in some way.
And the house just made them worse!!
The House Next Door had a gothic feel to it even though the characters were not well liked in my experience.
But maybe that’s what Siddons was going for in how the house and neighborhood was a character study. It brought out the worst in people and even a rich neighborhood isn’t safe from horror, drama and gossip!
Recommended if you enjoy the gothic genres along with haunted house stories. This one is very different but I still enjoyed how everything went down in the end!
Good grief, what a neighborhood!
The House Next Door was wrote in 1978 by Anne Rivers Siddons and her writing was wonderful. I enjoyed the descriptive and atmospheric nature of this book.
The people, not so much.
It was sunshine, lazy summers playing tennis at the club, drinking gin on the patio and not having a care in the world for bills, jobs or being a failure in life.
But something evil lurks next door and the neighborhood’s spoiled life is about to come crashing down.
I enjoyed this book more as the plot progressed. The dread about the house and who was occupying it had me in suspense with what would happen next!
The neighborhood was in a rich part of Atlanta that felt blue blooded, rich and pampered.
I’ll tell you what.
I liked no one in this book with how they talked or interacted with each other. Some in the neighborhood even wimped out in regards to their image and not doing the right thing. Only Walter and Colquitt had the guts at the end to do something.
I was glad to see how this malevolent house brought some people to their knees.
I wasn’t necessarily starting to cheer for the house but it seemed that everyone that lived in this new, beautiful house were annoying, spoiled or mean in some way.
And the house just made them worse!!
The House Next Door had a gothic feel to it even though the characters were not well liked in my experience.
But maybe that’s what Siddons was going for in how the house and neighborhood was a character study. It brought out the worst in people and even a rich neighborhood isn’t safe from horror, drama and gossip!
Recommended if you enjoy the gothic genres along with haunted house stories. This one is very different but I still enjoyed how everything went down in the end!
September 1, 2022
“The House Next Door” by Anne Rivers Siddons started out pretty interesting as it was building up a bunch of unique characters that I thought would lead to some scary situations. I have to give credit to Siddons as her ability to fully flesh out characters is pretty good. I did like all the characters and their unique traits as I kept reading but see, I’m a huge horror enthusiast. I love horror and considering that this novel is under horror for an apparently haunted house or something of that nature, I did not get those vibes at all.
The novel just kept going on and on as it got incredibly boring with a bunch of neighborhood chatter, situations, parties, making drinks, weekend getaways, eggnog, and just a lot of pure fluff. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for something remotely scary or horrific to happen and nothing ever really scared me. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin anything for you but my goodness, this was just a huge dud in the grand scheme of things.
The actual horror events weren’t really horror as this novel was divided up into three parts based on three different neighbors that moved in to live in this house next door to the main protagonists. Again, not scary, not horrifying, I literally felt like I was reading a recap of useless neighborhood chats and gossip. It was just filled with way too much dialogue on nonsense that didn’t do anything to keep me up late at night scared to turn each page as I was expecting.
I give “The House Next Door” a 1/5 as it was just too much unnecessary dialogue and situations that didn’t really give a true horror aspect to a novel this long. It’s a shame but it just didn’t do it for me as I wanted to finally finish this and move on to something else. The ending also wasn’t satisfying to me and felt a bit rushed. Awe well, onto the next one!
The novel just kept going on and on as it got incredibly boring with a bunch of neighborhood chatter, situations, parties, making drinks, weekend getaways, eggnog, and just a lot of pure fluff. I kept waiting and waiting and waiting for something remotely scary or horrific to happen and nothing ever really scared me. Don’t worry, I won’t ruin anything for you but my goodness, this was just a huge dud in the grand scheme of things.
The actual horror events weren’t really horror as this novel was divided up into three parts based on three different neighbors that moved in to live in this house next door to the main protagonists. Again, not scary, not horrifying, I literally felt like I was reading a recap of useless neighborhood chats and gossip. It was just filled with way too much dialogue on nonsense that didn’t do anything to keep me up late at night scared to turn each page as I was expecting.
I give “The House Next Door” a 1/5 as it was just too much unnecessary dialogue and situations that didn’t really give a true horror aspect to a novel this long. It’s a shame but it just didn’t do it for me as I wanted to finally finish this and move on to something else. The ending also wasn’t satisfying to me and felt a bit rushed. Awe well, onto the next one!
June 30, 2020
A great haunted house story with lots of terrifying mayhem, The House Next Door has no supernatural elements. All the horrible happenings are natural and can be explained away if you are not paying attention. The main characters are Col and Walter Kennedy, a wealthy, middle aged couple with no children and a perfect life. They have interesting, well paid jobs, have exotic vacations, go to parties, give parties and play tennis with their other rich friends and neighbors.
They are a bit too perfect for me in their smug little world. Also this was written in 1978, so there is racism, anti-Semitism, and class divisive elements. Into their Shangrila comes a new house built on an odd shaped little section next to their house that Col loved because of the view of the woods and the wildlife. She also likes to walk around in the house naked. They had always assumed no dwelling would be built there. A brilliant, young designer is able to do it and the house he builds is gorgeous. Everyone is gaga over it.
A young couple soon scoops it up and nausea ensues. Siddons is brilliant at building up the awful. Slowly, the house destroys their innocence and their lives. Col and Walter watch and gradually begin to believe the happenings are more than just a run of bad luck.
They are a bit too perfect for me in their smug little world. Also this was written in 1978, so there is racism, anti-Semitism, and class divisive elements. Into their Shangrila comes a new house built on an odd shaped little section next to their house that Col loved because of the view of the woods and the wildlife. She also likes to walk around in the house naked. They had always assumed no dwelling would be built there. A brilliant, young designer is able to do it and the house he builds is gorgeous. Everyone is gaga over it.
A young couple soon scoops it up and nausea ensues. Siddons is brilliant at building up the awful. Slowly, the house destroys their innocence and their lives. Col and Walter watch and gradually begin to believe the happenings are more than just a run of bad luck.
June 22, 2018
After rewatching Lifetime's film version of Anne Rivers Siddons' The House Next Door , I decided to reread this horror classic. I've gotta admit, rereading a book I once loved is always nerve-wracking. Will I still enjoy it? Does this book stand the test of time? And in the continued spirit of honesty, I'll concede: sorta yes and sorta no.
But before I get into the why of it all, here's the premise: Colquitt & Walter Kennedy live a relaxed, child-free existence in an upscale suburb of Atlanta. Their peace is disturbed, however, when construction begins on the wooded hillside next door. Soon a beautiful, modern home is erected but beneath its steely refinement lies something far more sinister. Over the course of the story, three couples move into the "house next door," only to each meet with horrific ends. Is this merely coincidence? Is the house haunted? Or have Colquitt and Walter simply lost their minds?
The House Next Door definitely belongs to the haunted house subgenre of horror fiction. Admittedly, I have a fondness for such tales, especially when they're written by as talented a writer as Ms. Siddons. Anne Rivers Siddons has the unique skill of imbuing her words with such emotion that readers are immediately beguiled. As Colquitt and Walter lazily sipped cocktails, I similarly felt a wash of easy tranquility. Then the creepy hits and BLAMMO. It's like being knocked in the head by a 2x4. But in the best. possible. way.
Truly The House Next Door is a remarkable book, its sole flaw lies in its timing. Unfortunately some of the book's scary relies on former taboos that are no longer considered such. Young, modern readers will be inevitably confused by why the creepy isn't really.....well, creepy. There are many books written centuries ago that have transcended time. The House Next Door simply isn't one of them.
Summary : if you keep your 1970s lens in place, The House Next Door is definitely worth a read.
But before I get into the why of it all, here's the premise: Colquitt & Walter Kennedy live a relaxed, child-free existence in an upscale suburb of Atlanta. Their peace is disturbed, however, when construction begins on the wooded hillside next door. Soon a beautiful, modern home is erected but beneath its steely refinement lies something far more sinister. Over the course of the story, three couples move into the "house next door," only to each meet with horrific ends. Is this merely coincidence? Is the house haunted? Or have Colquitt and Walter simply lost their minds?
The House Next Door definitely belongs to the haunted house subgenre of horror fiction. Admittedly, I have a fondness for such tales, especially when they're written by as talented a writer as Ms. Siddons. Anne Rivers Siddons has the unique skill of imbuing her words with such emotion that readers are immediately beguiled. As Colquitt and Walter lazily sipped cocktails, I similarly felt a wash of easy tranquility. Then the creepy hits and BLAMMO. It's like being knocked in the head by a 2x4. But in the best. possible. way.
Truly The House Next Door is a remarkable book, its sole flaw lies in its timing. Unfortunately some of the book's scary relies on former taboos that are no longer considered such. Young, modern readers will be inevitably confused by why the creepy isn't really.....well, creepy. There are many books written centuries ago that have transcended time. The House Next Door simply isn't one of them.
Summary : if you keep your 1970s lens in place, The House Next Door is definitely worth a read.
November 11, 2007
WARNING!!! THE FOLLOWING REVIEW CONTAINS PLOT SPOILERS. YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!!
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 disbelief as the house made everybody in town stray from their spouses and have sex with somebody else. Just so you know it's really a curse and not plain ol' horniness that's gotten hold of these people, the author has the town engaging in gay extramarital sex, too. Wow, that place has gotta be haunted!!!
I also couldn't believe that Colquitt, who was always yammering about how having a childless marriage was the best means of privacy there is -- kept injecting herself into the lives of her next door neighbors, even after she suspected the house was haunted. I mean, after the second couple suffers a horrific tragedy, it's time to put down the Bundt pan and margarita mix and stay home.
I think I would have enjoyed this book more had I liked any of the characters. And while I think Siddons was deliberately trying to paint a picture of a smug, privileged society of suburbanites, I wish some of them had redeeming qualities. Even one sympathetic character would have been nice! But as the body count began to mount, I began taking more and more pleasure in everybody's misfortunes, until finally I was rooting for the house.
Lest anybody think I'm completely callous, I did get upset whenever any animal died...which was basically whenever one would show up in the story. (When the protagonist's two cats made their way into the story, I knew they were toast.)
/By the way, what are the odds that Ted Haggerty and Larry Craig stayed in this house? Because it would certainly explain a lot of things. /sarcasm off.
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 disbelief as the house made everybody in town stray from their spouses and have sex with somebody else. Just so you know it's really a curse and not plain ol' horniness that's gotten hold of these people, the author has the town engaging in gay extramarital sex, too. Wow, that place has gotta be haunted!!!
I also couldn't believe that Colquitt, who was always yammering about how having a childless marriage was the best means of privacy there is -- kept injecting herself into the lives of her next door neighbors, even after she suspected the house was haunted. I mean, after the second couple suffers a horrific tragedy, it's time to put down the Bundt pan and margarita mix and stay home.
I think I would have enjoyed this book more had I liked any of the characters. And while I think Siddons was deliberately trying to paint a picture of a smug, privileged society of suburbanites, I wish some of them had redeeming qualities. Even one sympathetic character would have been nice! But as the body count began to mount, I began taking more and more pleasure in everybody's misfortunes, until finally I was rooting for the house.
Lest anybody think I'm completely callous, I did get upset whenever any animal died...which was basically whenever one would show up in the story. (When the protagonist's two cats made their way into the story, I knew they were toast.)
/By the way, what are the odds that Ted Haggerty and Larry Craig stayed in this house? Because it would certainly explain a lot of things. /sarcasm off.
January 12, 2022
I absolutely LOVED this different take on the haunted house next door. First of all, it’s a modern house that is designed to perfection - not your typical old creaky, dilapidated abode. It’s a home where people are DYING (sometimes literally) to live. And the haunting doesn’t occur in the way you’d expect either. There’s no banging doors or figures in white… the house works in an altogether different way.
King covers this book in Danse Macabre, his own reflection on horror fiction over the years. Of course I skipped over the sections relating to The House Next Door a few years ago when I first read it - but having gone back I agree so much with what King has to say about this novel. It’s well-plotted and brilliantly cast with a range of memorable characters.
The story is told from the perspective of Colquitt Kennedy, who lives in a rich and comfortable section of suburban Atlanta with her husband. They are witnesses front and centre to the people who come to live in the house next door and the unusual occurrences that befall those who reside there.
I wouldn’t say it’s particularly scary or anything, but every time I picked up this novel I was drawn into what was happening on this suburban street, looking forward to seeing what the evil in the house would manifest into next!
The House Next Door is definitely one of the highlights of my 50 states challenge so far! 4.5 stars.
King covers this book in Danse Macabre, his own reflection on horror fiction over the years. Of course I skipped over the sections relating to The House Next Door a few years ago when I first read it - but having gone back I agree so much with what King has to say about this novel. It’s well-plotted and brilliantly cast with a range of memorable characters.
The story is told from the perspective of Colquitt Kennedy, who lives in a rich and comfortable section of suburban Atlanta with her husband. They are witnesses front and centre to the people who come to live in the house next door and the unusual occurrences that befall those who reside there.
I wouldn’t say it’s particularly scary or anything, but every time I picked up this novel I was drawn into what was happening on this suburban street, looking forward to seeing what the evil in the house would manifest into next!
The House Next Door is definitely one of the highlights of my 50 states challenge so far! 4.5 stars.
May 2, 2022
“If we find that all our efforts have failed and someone buys the house, we shall set fire to it and burn it down. We will do this at night, before it is occupied. In another time they would have plowed and charred ground and sowed it with salt. If it should come to that, I do not think we will be punished. I do not think we will be alive long enough."
Prepare for a brain-dump of all my adoring thoughts about this book:
Folks, I have never devoured and loved a book so fast in my entire life. Alright, so that’s not entirely true, but it’s been so long since I’ve adored a book so wholeheartedly to the level of wanting to shove it into the hands of anyone I come across.
This book has now joined Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House as one of my favorite modern-classic horror novels of all time. And it didn't need pages of blood and gore to make the list.
THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR is a southern-gothic horror novel about a newly built, contemporary home that rocks the foundations of a very quiet, prominent neighborhood in 1970's Atlanta, Georgia. This is a haunted house story experienced from the perspectives of its neighbors, mainly the next door neighbors Walter and Colquitt Kennedy who are hellbent on ridding their street of the house’s influential evil, brick by brick. Why? Because terrible, unspeakable things always seem to happen when people move in.
Why do I personally think this book to be as brilliant as it is? Well, where Hill House in Shirley Jackson’s well known masterpiece is openly brooding, menacing, and even ugly, the house that author Anne Rivers Siddons dreams up is beautiful, unique, modern, enviable, and inviting–all the worse for the unfortunate victims that are lured by its façade. The house is not some centuries-old, isolated mansion built near a graveyard. It dwells in a pristine, friendly neighborhood. No cobwebs to dust, no creaky doors and floorboards, no demons or ghosts to exorcize. All the better to mislead each inhabitant that walks through the door and makes themselves comfortable. And that’s unsettling, the fact that this seemingly charming home is wearing a mask. However, similarly to The Haunting of Hill House, the true origin of the house’s evil is a mystery--even though the readers and the characters are witnessing the birth of an unknown malevolence in Siddons' house as it is being built from the ground up. I freaking love that.
But I didn’t just fall in love with the book’s steady pacing, unsettling atmosphere, subtle eeriness, and growing paranoia. I loved Siddons' memorable characters, the domestic details, the polite American Southern-ness of it all. I also consumed this book within the confines of my own newly-moved-into home and felt an extra vulnerability while reading. I LOVED THIS BOOK. And I don’t think I could gush enough without this review turning into an essay. So I’ll stop here and just recommend this book to lovers of southern gothic fiction, unconventional haunted house narratives, and/or horror novels with subtle scares and lasting impacts.
Prepare for a brain-dump of all my adoring thoughts about this book:
Folks, I have never devoured and loved a book so fast in my entire life. Alright, so that’s not entirely true, but it’s been so long since I’ve adored a book so wholeheartedly to the level of wanting to shove it into the hands of anyone I come across.
This book has now joined Ira Levin's Rosemary's Baby and Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House as one of my favorite modern-classic horror novels of all time. And it didn't need pages of blood and gore to make the list.
THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR is a southern-gothic horror novel about a newly built, contemporary home that rocks the foundations of a very quiet, prominent neighborhood in 1970's Atlanta, Georgia. This is a haunted house story experienced from the perspectives of its neighbors, mainly the next door neighbors Walter and Colquitt Kennedy who are hellbent on ridding their street of the house’s influential evil, brick by brick. Why? Because terrible, unspeakable things always seem to happen when people move in.
Why do I personally think this book to be as brilliant as it is? Well, where Hill House in Shirley Jackson’s well known masterpiece is openly brooding, menacing, and even ugly, the house that author Anne Rivers Siddons dreams up is beautiful, unique, modern, enviable, and inviting–all the worse for the unfortunate victims that are lured by its façade. The house is not some centuries-old, isolated mansion built near a graveyard. It dwells in a pristine, friendly neighborhood. No cobwebs to dust, no creaky doors and floorboards, no demons or ghosts to exorcize. All the better to mislead each inhabitant that walks through the door and makes themselves comfortable. And that’s unsettling, the fact that this seemingly charming home is wearing a mask. However, similarly to The Haunting of Hill House, the true origin of the house’s evil is a mystery--even though the readers and the characters are witnessing the birth of an unknown malevolence in Siddons' house as it is being built from the ground up. I freaking love that.
But I didn’t just fall in love with the book’s steady pacing, unsettling atmosphere, subtle eeriness, and growing paranoia. I loved Siddons' memorable characters, the domestic details, the polite American Southern-ness of it all. I also consumed this book within the confines of my own newly-moved-into home and felt an extra vulnerability while reading. I LOVED THIS BOOK. And I don’t think I could gush enough without this review turning into an essay. So I’ll stop here and just recommend this book to lovers of southern gothic fiction, unconventional haunted house narratives, and/or horror novels with subtle scares and lasting impacts.
January 29, 2020
Can a brand new house be haunted?
That is a question that swirls through the minds of Colquitt and Walter Kennedy as they try to figure out what is going on with the house next door. In a quiet upscale neighborhood where everyone knows everyone, the house that was built next door becomes the center of their world.
Three families move in and out of the house within a few years with tragic circumstances taking place inside the house. Colquitt and Walter Kennedy along with other neighbors become friends with each family. Each family has to endure something horrific within the house and each time they move out. No one can figure out what is wrong or what kind of evil has entered the house.
This book has quite a few twists and turns with a surprise ending which I wasn't expecting.
Very spooky and haunting tale. Giving this one four stars.
That is a question that swirls through the minds of Colquitt and Walter Kennedy as they try to figure out what is going on with the house next door. In a quiet upscale neighborhood where everyone knows everyone, the house that was built next door becomes the center of their world.
Three families move in and out of the house within a few years with tragic circumstances taking place inside the house. Colquitt and Walter Kennedy along with other neighbors become friends with each family. Each family has to endure something horrific within the house and each time they move out. No one can figure out what is wrong or what kind of evil has entered the house.
This book has quite a few twists and turns with a surprise ending which I wasn't expecting.
Very spooky and haunting tale. Giving this one four stars.
December 7, 2019
I remember checking this book out of the public library when I was in high school and how much I liked it. It's stayed in my mind and it's weird how some books have that effect on you. The great thing is when I picked it up 30+ years later I still thought it was excellent. A very well done and creative horror novel and, in my opinion, it holds up well. Highly recommended.
May 8, 2021
I've seen THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR on so many "Best of Horror" lists, and now I know why. It's an enthralling blend of Southern gothic fiction and quiet horror. The creepy, slow-build kind that makes you question what's really going on, something sinister or is your mind playing tricks?
This book was originally published in the 1970s and is set during that time. Colquitt and her husband Walter live in an upscale Atlanta neighborhood. There's a lot of tennis at the club, parties with the neighbors, and day drinking for these folks. Don't get me wrong! I liked Colquitt and Walter.
For many years an empty wooded "unbuildable" lot sat next to their house, and that's how they liked it. Then one day, a talented young architect finds a way to build newlyweds their modern dream home on that lot. Neighbors don't like it, but what can you do? They welcome the couple into the fold, then have to stand back helplessly while their dream home becomes a nightmare. And this happens over and over, tragedy finding each family that moves in.
In the moonlight the ice-sheathed trees tossed and tinkled like great crystal hands fingering the sky, weaving and reweaving an incantation over the sweetly sleeping shape of the house next door.
I greatly enjoyed the author's haunting, beautiful writing and her flawed & memorable characters. I especially loved trying to figure out that malevolent house and its terrible influence on the occupants & neighbors. This is the first book by Siddons I've read, and I understand her other books are more contemporary Southern fiction — probably wonderful, but I so wish she had written more horror like THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR. Fantastic!
This book was originally published in the 1970s and is set during that time. Colquitt and her husband Walter live in an upscale Atlanta neighborhood. There's a lot of tennis at the club, parties with the neighbors, and day drinking for these folks. Don't get me wrong! I liked Colquitt and Walter.
For many years an empty wooded "unbuildable" lot sat next to their house, and that's how they liked it. Then one day, a talented young architect finds a way to build newlyweds their modern dream home on that lot. Neighbors don't like it, but what can you do? They welcome the couple into the fold, then have to stand back helplessly while their dream home becomes a nightmare. And this happens over and over, tragedy finding each family that moves in.
In the moonlight the ice-sheathed trees tossed and tinkled like great crystal hands fingering the sky, weaving and reweaving an incantation over the sweetly sleeping shape of the house next door.
I greatly enjoyed the author's haunting, beautiful writing and her flawed & memorable characters. I especially loved trying to figure out that malevolent house and its terrible influence on the occupants & neighbors. This is the first book by Siddons I've read, and I understand her other books are more contemporary Southern fiction — probably wonderful, but I so wish she had written more horror like THE HOUSE NEXT DOOR. Fantastic!
November 30, 2009
Colquitt & Walter Kennedy are a comfortable couple living out their dreams in an affluent suburb and then the lot next to them is sold . . . It has some very sinister undertones and I'm looking forward to discovering what happens next.
Later: This was a great book. I remember picking it up because it was on Stephen King's recommended reading list in Entertainment Weekly a few years back. It's a story about a group of upper class people who have lived charmed lives until construction begins in a previously unbuildable empty lot in their development. From the beginning ominous events occur and as time goes by the incidents become much more appalling and life changing for the residents nearby. I don't want to give too much away but if you like a good old fashioned soap opera/spooky tale this is as good as they get.
Later: This was a great book. I remember picking it up because it was on Stephen King's recommended reading list in Entertainment Weekly a few years back. It's a story about a group of upper class people who have lived charmed lives until construction begins in a previously unbuildable empty lot in their development. From the beginning ominous events occur and as time goes by the incidents become much more appalling and life changing for the residents nearby. I don't want to give too much away but if you like a good old fashioned soap opera/spooky tale this is as good as they get.
March 6, 2018
When compiling a list of vintage horror books to read and review this month, my first and best source was Stephen King’s Danse Macabre. Invaluable was it in determining which novels I wanted to take a chance on it. In Danse King spends three or four pages dissecting this — Anne Siddons’s 1978 release, The House Next Door, one of the smartest and most atmospheric haunted house tales I’ve read yet.
Told from the point of view of Colquitt Kennedy, an upper-middle class woman living in an upscale Atlanta suburb with her husband, Walter, this unfolding of the mysterious and macabre does not happen quickly; this author deals in dread, letting her readers squirm. I love that quality in horror from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it’s something that seems to have been lost sometime in the ‘80s. Quiet terror with a focus on the psychological is much more effective, to me, than buckets of guts and blood and dismembered bodies.
Not only does The House Next Door work as a horror show, but is also works — at times — as a satire. Siddons gleefully mocks the foibles of suburban life: the block parties, the whispering neighbors, the hypocrisy — all unfolding in houses with freshly manicured lawns and evenly painted shutters. Because of that, this story feels authentically American. The author’s sense of setting, locale, is impeccable.
This is one of the finest haunted house stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading. While not as explosive as The Shining or as iconic as The Haunting of Hill House, this very much deserves to get a look from horror fans.
Told from the point of view of Colquitt Kennedy, an upper-middle class woman living in an upscale Atlanta suburb with her husband, Walter, this unfolding of the mysterious and macabre does not happen quickly; this author deals in dread, letting her readers squirm. I love that quality in horror from the ‘60s and ‘70s, and it’s something that seems to have been lost sometime in the ‘80s. Quiet terror with a focus on the psychological is much more effective, to me, than buckets of guts and blood and dismembered bodies.
Not only does The House Next Door work as a horror show, but is also works — at times — as a satire. Siddons gleefully mocks the foibles of suburban life: the block parties, the whispering neighbors, the hypocrisy — all unfolding in houses with freshly manicured lawns and evenly painted shutters. Because of that, this story feels authentically American. The author’s sense of setting, locale, is impeccable.
This is one of the finest haunted house stories I’ve had the pleasure of reading. While not as explosive as The Shining or as iconic as The Haunting of Hill House, this very much deserves to get a look from horror fans.
June 16, 2022
It's been twentysomething years since I last read this book and I really enjoyed it the first time around but I remember thinking that I wished there were a little more payoff to some of the vignette-y scares. I suppose I might still feel that way about one or two moments, but the power of the final chapter hit like a ton of bricks this time and really hammered home how, similar to Jackson's Hill House, this book is ultimately about a singular character arc, not some parade route for self-contained nightmares. I was also absolutely bewitched by how seamlessly Siddons transitions between gossipy delight, simmering dread, and outright terror. (Also bears noting: for this reread, I listened to an old audiobook version via a library app and, goddamn, this book absolutely sings in that format. The narration is impeccable and the entire story really comes alive. It's a total shame the audiobook isn't more widely available yet--hopefully Audible will be able to get its hands on it soon.)
December 6, 2015
What is the point of a haunted house?
In a story, it's there to scare the bejabbers out of a reader. Clear enough.
But here's a conundrum I found myself puzzling over early in my spooky-reading career: Haunted houses that are too good at what they do won't have anyone to haunt. If a house earns a reputation for being scary as all get-out, people will steer clear of that house. And then what will it do for fun?
I genuinely used to wonder about this. I still do. "This" being: What's a haunted house's idea of a good time?
If it enjoys terrifying its residents, it must be disappointed when it runs out of visitors.
But if it doesn't like making people feel bad, why do it?
Anne Rivers Siddons' The House Next Door solves this problem quite neatly. The house in question clearly adores torturing its residents. It watches them avidly, pinpoints their weaknesses, and then attacks. It destroys lives in every possible sense. It practically brags about it. If it had a dating profile, its interests would include gaslighting, puppy-slaughtering, and inducing unwanted pregnancies. And that's on a quiet day.
So how the heck does this monster mansion keep attracting new families to mess with?
I reread Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House while I was reading The House Next Door. Hill House is an old-school haunted beastie. It's way off by itself in the country. No one lives nearby – you can't even see the place until you're practically inside it. And quite aside from the stories told about it, this house just looks wrong. The villagers fear its very name. No one will come anywhere near it at night, and only paid caretakers will enter it by day. As Jackson emphasizes in the first and last paragraphs of the story, whatever walks in Hill House walks alone - and Hill House clearly prefers it that way, as the pesky adventurers who attempt to stay a summer there learn to their sorrow.
The house next door, on the other hand, is in a terrific location. The neighbors are friendly without being intrusive; the setting is pretty and quiet, but not frighteningly isolated. The house itself is beckoningly attractive. Where one glance at Hill House is enough to convince any sane person of the wrongness of the place, the house next door looks like the place you always wanted to live – perfectly suited to its surroundings, modern yet classically elegant.
And because this murdering manse has supernatural powers that extend to tampering with the emotions of those who enter it, its residents always stay until the bitter end no matter how bad things get (and oh don't they get terrible) because this house makes you feel loved. Sometimes this house can make you feel like it's the only one who loves you.
Sure, you've heard stories about what happened to the people who lived here before – but those are just stories, right? Just a bunch of creepy coincidences. Even if you believed in haunted houses, those are always old and icky-looking. Nothing like this gorgeous place.
I first read The House Next Door when I was a teenager, and it scared the living bleep out of me. I reread it this October and yep – it's still got it.
Good clean terrifying fun if you're into that kind of thing.
In a story, it's there to scare the bejabbers out of a reader. Clear enough.
But here's a conundrum I found myself puzzling over early in my spooky-reading career: Haunted houses that are too good at what they do won't have anyone to haunt. If a house earns a reputation for being scary as all get-out, people will steer clear of that house. And then what will it do for fun?
I genuinely used to wonder about this. I still do. "This" being: What's a haunted house's idea of a good time?
If it enjoys terrifying its residents, it must be disappointed when it runs out of visitors.
But if it doesn't like making people feel bad, why do it?
Anne Rivers Siddons' The House Next Door solves this problem quite neatly. The house in question clearly adores torturing its residents. It watches them avidly, pinpoints their weaknesses, and then attacks. It destroys lives in every possible sense. It practically brags about it. If it had a dating profile, its interests would include gaslighting, puppy-slaughtering, and inducing unwanted pregnancies. And that's on a quiet day.
So how the heck does this monster mansion keep attracting new families to mess with?
I reread Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House while I was reading The House Next Door. Hill House is an old-school haunted beastie. It's way off by itself in the country. No one lives nearby – you can't even see the place until you're practically inside it. And quite aside from the stories told about it, this house just looks wrong. The villagers fear its very name. No one will come anywhere near it at night, and only paid caretakers will enter it by day. As Jackson emphasizes in the first and last paragraphs of the story, whatever walks in Hill House walks alone - and Hill House clearly prefers it that way, as the pesky adventurers who attempt to stay a summer there learn to their sorrow.
The house next door, on the other hand, is in a terrific location. The neighbors are friendly without being intrusive; the setting is pretty and quiet, but not frighteningly isolated. The house itself is beckoningly attractive. Where one glance at Hill House is enough to convince any sane person of the wrongness of the place, the house next door looks like the place you always wanted to live – perfectly suited to its surroundings, modern yet classically elegant.
And because this murdering manse has supernatural powers that extend to tampering with the emotions of those who enter it, its residents always stay until the bitter end no matter how bad things get (and oh don't they get terrible) because this house makes you feel loved. Sometimes this house can make you feel like it's the only one who loves you.
Sure, you've heard stories about what happened to the people who lived here before – but those are just stories, right? Just a bunch of creepy coincidences. Even if you believed in haunted houses, those are always old and icky-looking. Nothing like this gorgeous place.
I first read The House Next Door when I was a teenager, and it scared the living bleep out of me. I reread it this October and yep – it's still got it.
Good clean terrifying fun if you're into that kind of thing.
July 29, 2022
I wish we had left then. I wish it more than anything in the world. Perhaps it would have broken the chain if we had not seen. Perhaps by not seeing we could have escaped the strings and webs, the net that has reached out and caught us up. I doubt it, but perhaps it might have been possible, there at the beginning, to get free. Walter doesn't think so. He thinks we had to see it. We had, after all, been a part of the house, of Buddy and Pie Harralson's life, from the very beginning. Present at the creation, as it were. He thinks we were woven into it then, at the start.
What a stunner - The House Next Door gave a completely new and absorbing take on the haunted house, creating a very memorable and menacing experience.
It's the first time I've seen the haunted house this way, its story told without the point of view of any of its residents. That's not to say our narrator was unaffected - this is a malevolence that doesn't ascribe to restraining itself - but it did take the storytelling back a layer to allow a fuller context to any supernatural events. You might think the detachment would scale back the horror, too, but instead it meant we could only see brief glimpses of the worst of it - and like the best monster movies, the less you see, the more your brain is given rein to fill in the gaps.
I got completely stuck in to this novel, and it's aged extremely well, too. Like the rest of the world the rich inhabit, there's a timelessness to the world Anne Rivers Siddons described - there's only a couple of moments where you catch the seventies peeking through. For those who need to know how the animals fare: .
Definitely a book that's earned its status as a classic, and an author I'm interested in digging further into.
What a stunner - The House Next Door gave a completely new and absorbing take on the haunted house, creating a very memorable and menacing experience.
It's the first time I've seen the haunted house this way, its story told without the point of view of any of its residents. That's not to say our narrator was unaffected - this is a malevolence that doesn't ascribe to restraining itself - but it did take the storytelling back a layer to allow a fuller context to any supernatural events. You might think the detachment would scale back the horror, too, but instead it meant we could only see brief glimpses of the worst of it - and like the best monster movies, the less you see, the more your brain is given rein to fill in the gaps.
I got completely stuck in to this novel, and it's aged extremely well, too. Like the rest of the world the rich inhabit, there's a timelessness to the world Anne Rivers Siddons described - there's only a couple of moments where you catch the seventies peeking through. For those who need to know how the animals fare: .
Definitely a book that's earned its status as a classic, and an author I'm interested in digging further into.
Read
April 3, 2022Ok, well. Hmmm
I do have so many thoughts about this book! I’ll gather them up soon
I do have so many thoughts about this book! I’ll gather them up soon
November 23, 2022
That epilogue tho…
April 15, 2013
This was not really what I was expecting, but I liked it quite a lot. I was expecting something along the lines of a traditional ghost story, but, instead, I got something similar to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House... but better, in my opinion. The two books share quite a bit of ambiguity, in that we're never truly sure if there is something going on, or if it's all just in their heads, but I felt like this story just worked a bit better for me.
Almost from the start, I was kind of drawn into this book. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Well, thinking about the house, anyway. I really liked the slow build-up of tension, the slow escalation of the situation to a breaking point. I liked the surrounding normality - the breaks in the narrative when Colquitt talks about going to the grocery store, or meeting with friends, or taking a trip. These things were described with a detail that really allows the reader to see the scene, so when the next house related issue is brought to light, it seems all the more troublesome.
I loved the writing for that. The descriptions were perfect at walking that line right between showing the reader everything and allowing the reader to fill in some of the blanks on their own. We have a description of the house as being modern and beautiful, two stories at least, with a basement, a wall of windows in the back... but otherwise, we can imagine it for ourselves.
Part of what I loved about the description of the house is how it seems so light, so bright and inviting. I kept seeing the house in an anthropomorphic way, at times with an innocent expression, and then others a kind of sly calculation and spitefulness.
I know that a lot of this feeling is due to the story being related by Colquitt Kennedy. She seems so sure of herself, so sane and reassuring and honest - but her reliability is definitely in question. She hated the thought of the house from the very start. She wanted her lot, her privacy, her green-lit bathroom... and then when she sees the plans, she supposedly falls a little in love with the house, or at least stops hating it as much. (This can kind of be believed, given the epilogue.) But who's to say that she wasn't truly crazy as a shit-house rat and creating all of this in her head to justify the awful things that she did to sabotage those living in the house she never wanted to be there in the first place?
Colquitt may be a clever liar, even lying to herself, or maybe not all there. Walter, her husband, seems to be so in tune with her that it wouldn't be all that hard to get him on board, as indeed it wasn't. Or maybe it was Walter who was the doting husband and caretaker - a model for Buck, perhaps?
OK... I don't really believe that's the case - well, not ENTIRELY - I'm just making a point that events may not necessarily be as Colquitt relates them. There could be a rational explanation for the things that happened there.
I did a quick search online to see if I could find info on the name Colquitt, because it's unusual. I found this description of the type of person who bears that name. It's probably complete bunk, but parts of it fit this Colquitt to a T:
The end was a nice twist, one that I wish was just a bit better explained, honestly. So much detail went into some of the more mundane aspects of the story, and then the end was just glossed over. (I'll admit though, that rushed quality does help my Crazy Colquitt theory!)
If I have any complaints about this one, it would be the dialogue at some points. It sometimes read like one of those therapy exercises where you have to verbalize your feelings and reactions: "When you do ____, it makes me feel _____." It was just a little bit stilted and awkward, and I don't think that people really talk like that. Even well-to-do upper middle classers.
I did enjoy this book quite a lot though, and I think it's one that I'll read again at some point. I feel like there are things that I'd understand better a second time around.
Almost from the start, I was kind of drawn into this book. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it. Well, thinking about the house, anyway. I really liked the slow build-up of tension, the slow escalation of the situation to a breaking point. I liked the surrounding normality - the breaks in the narrative when Colquitt talks about going to the grocery store, or meeting with friends, or taking a trip. These things were described with a detail that really allows the reader to see the scene, so when the next house related issue is brought to light, it seems all the more troublesome.
I loved the writing for that. The descriptions were perfect at walking that line right between showing the reader everything and allowing the reader to fill in some of the blanks on their own. We have a description of the house as being modern and beautiful, two stories at least, with a basement, a wall of windows in the back... but otherwise, we can imagine it for ourselves.
Part of what I loved about the description of the house is how it seems so light, so bright and inviting. I kept seeing the house in an anthropomorphic way, at times with an innocent expression, and then others a kind of sly calculation and spitefulness.
I know that a lot of this feeling is due to the story being related by Colquitt Kennedy. She seems so sure of herself, so sane and reassuring and honest - but her reliability is definitely in question. She hated the thought of the house from the very start. She wanted her lot, her privacy, her green-lit bathroom... and then when she sees the plans, she supposedly falls a little in love with the house, or at least stops hating it as much. (This can kind of be believed, given the epilogue.) But who's to say that she wasn't truly crazy as a shit-house rat and creating all of this in her head to justify the awful things that she did to sabotage those living in the house she never wanted to be there in the first place?
Colquitt may be a clever liar, even lying to herself, or maybe not all there. Walter, her husband, seems to be so in tune with her that it wouldn't be all that hard to get him on board, as indeed it wasn't. Or maybe it was Walter who was the doting husband and caretaker - a model for Buck, perhaps?
OK... I don't really believe that's the case - well, not ENTIRELY - I'm just making a point that events may not necessarily be as Colquitt relates them. There could be a rational explanation for the things that happened there.
I did a quick search online to see if I could find info on the name Colquitt, because it's unusual. I found this description of the type of person who bears that name. It's probably complete bunk, but parts of it fit this Colquitt to a T:
COLQUITT: You can be a writer, painter, musician, promoter, great salesperson, a lover of beauty, socially in demand, and sometimes extravagant spender. Your energy might be scattered, but you have the ability to bring an idea to completion. You might be psychic, but not know it.Anyway, regardless - the story was unsettling either way. And I liked it for that.
You desire to inspire and lead, to control other's affairs. You are giving, courageous and bold, action oriented, energetic and strong willed. You want to make a difference in the world, and this attitude often attracts you to cultural interests, politics, social issues, and the cultivation of your creative talents.
The end was a nice twist, one that I wish was just a bit better explained, honestly. So much detail went into some of the more mundane aspects of the story, and then the end was just glossed over. (I'll admit though, that rushed quality does help my Crazy Colquitt theory!)
If I have any complaints about this one, it would be the dialogue at some points. It sometimes read like one of those therapy exercises where you have to verbalize your feelings and reactions: "When you do ____, it makes me feel _____." It was just a little bit stilted and awkward, and I don't think that people really talk like that. Even well-to-do upper middle classers.
I did enjoy this book quite a lot though, and I think it's one that I'll read again at some point. I feel like there are things that I'd understand better a second time around.
October 14, 2016
What a satisfactory, creepy read. Totally crawled under my skin and I could see and believe every word.
June 14, 2022
Siddons weaves an intriguing tale here, but I was disappointed by the end to say the least. Most haunted house stories feature some moldy relic with a dubious history but Siddons gives us instead a brand new house. Told in first person by Colquitt, the story unfolds something like a diary. It kicks off with Colquitt discussing the article on them by People magazine, where she 'went public' regarding the house next door as being haunted, and then the main story starts about a year prior before the house was built.
Colquitt lives in an affluent suburb of Atlanta; not a 1%er, but definitely top 10%. The lot next to them has always been vacant as it is both odd shaped and punctuated by a steep ridge. One day a couple shows up (Pie and Buddy), along with Kim, an architect, and basically invite themselves to her patio and tell her they are building a house next door. The architect shows Colquitt and her husband the blueprints and they are amazed-- the new house will be super modern and looks like it just grows out of the ground to fit the space. I will not detail the plot more, but really _bad_ things start to happen next door and get even worse when Buddy and Pie move in, and the same when the next couple moves in, and the next...
I liked the nostalgia the book evoked; first published in 1978, it really is a product of its times (for better or worse). The suburban neighborly activities and parties really hark back to a forgotten time and Siddons explicates them nicely. Siddons did a great job building the suspense, often using very short but telling foreshadowing, and the story flows nicely, although it felt like a soap opera at times. My main quibble concerns the abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. This had the potential to be a solid 4 stars, but what a let down. 3 spooky stars!
Colquitt lives in an affluent suburb of Atlanta; not a 1%er, but definitely top 10%. The lot next to them has always been vacant as it is both odd shaped and punctuated by a steep ridge. One day a couple shows up (Pie and Buddy), along with Kim, an architect, and basically invite themselves to her patio and tell her they are building a house next door. The architect shows Colquitt and her husband the blueprints and they are amazed-- the new house will be super modern and looks like it just grows out of the ground to fit the space. I will not detail the plot more, but really _bad_ things start to happen next door and get even worse when Buddy and Pie move in, and the same when the next couple moves in, and the next...
I liked the nostalgia the book evoked; first published in 1978, it really is a product of its times (for better or worse). The suburban neighborly activities and parties really hark back to a forgotten time and Siddons explicates them nicely. Siddons did a great job building the suspense, often using very short but telling foreshadowing, and the story flows nicely, although it felt like a soap opera at times. My main quibble concerns the abrupt and unsatisfying conclusion. This had the potential to be a solid 4 stars, but what a let down. 3 spooky stars!
August 4, 2022
My First Siddons Book, Definitely not my Last
I have no reason to give this book any less than five stars. It was everything I was hoping it would be. How can a brand new, never lived in, house be haunted, you ask! Read this book to find out.
Trigger warning for those who are sensitive to harm coming to animals and such. This is a very dark novel, which is not the norm for this author.
It's the first I've read by Siddons. I'm curious to read more now and see what her not so dark stories are like!
I have no reason to give this book any less than five stars. It was everything I was hoping it would be. How can a brand new, never lived in, house be haunted, you ask! Read this book to find out.
Trigger warning for those who are sensitive to harm coming to animals and such. This is a very dark novel, which is not the norm for this author.
It's the first I've read by Siddons. I'm curious to read more now and see what her not so dark stories are like!
October 31, 2024
If I remember my late-90s reading diet accurately, good Richard Laymon is on par with bad Dean Koontz, and good Dean Koontz is on par with bad Stephen King. I guess I'd put The House Next Door up there with fairly good Stephen King, and might even be tempted to describe it as “Christine with a house”- except that Siddons's novel came out in '78, just as King's own career was taking off, and therefore predates Christine by a couple of years. Given that King apparently reveres The House Next Door, I wouldn't be surprised if it had a big influence on him.
There are a number of elements here that put me in mind of King, actually, from those that tend to annoy me (the overall quaintness and folksiness, for example, suggested by character names like Buddy and Pie- yes, that's actually the name of a married couple- as well as Siddons' not-very-subtle habit of instructing readers what to think of various characters as soon as they appear), to those I really like, such as the narrative structure that works so well in a few of my favorite King stories ('Salem's Lot, The Mist, Storm of the Century)- specifically, the kind of story where tension slowly builds in a tight-knit community menaced by some supernatural evil, human nature ultimately proving to be just as frightening as the supernatural threat itself.
Furthermore, on the positive side, the nature of the haunting in this novel seems fairly unusual to me. Typically we expect that a haunted house is going to be very old, at least one brutal murder will have taken place there, and the entity doing the haunting is more likely than not one of the victims. That's just your standard ghost-hunting and parapsychology. In this case, however, the house in question is brand new, designed by a young architect named Kim (who seems vaguely, unsettlingly in thrall to his creation), and built on the vacant lot next door to the residence of newly-arrived Colquitt Kennedy (yes, that's the main character's name) and her husband Walter, who have just moved to this well-off residential neighborhood somewhere in South Carolina. And there's something about the very nebulousness of the threat from this newly-constructed house (so nebulous at times that the reader might start to wonder if the threat truly exists outside of Colquitt's imagination) that is pretty unnerving, and makes it difficult to mark the limits of the evil's reach. If you were living next to a house that was possessed by an evil entity, after all, would you feel entirely certain that you were safe, just so long as you never physically crossed the threshold of that house? I don't think I would make that assumption, personally. So how far away would be safe? There's not exactly an owner's manual to deal with this situation. And unlike a lot of haunted house stories, furthermore, there's no character here with occult authority- no exorcist or medium, not even an eccentric Art Bell-type radio host- to offer even a fleeting sense that events can be understood and brought under control.
Siddons also takes her time exploring something that I've always wished more ghost/horror stories would. Namely, what it would take in our world- the one in which stories of ghosts and hauntings are a huge part of culture and popular entertainment, and in which I think most people comfortably understand them to be just that, a form of escapism- to convince a typical person that there was actually something wrong with their house or apartment. In my case, though I try to be open-minded, I think it would take a lot; but I also think that if I were truly convinced, it would be like waking up in another world. Everything would be different. Adjusting to belief in the supernatural wouldn't be easy. And whereas most supernatural stories skip past that kind of uncertainty in a perfunctory scene or two ("But...vampires aren't real!" ), the writer eager to get to the part where the characters have to band together and fight back against whatever the threat is, Siddons does a good job here of lingering in that uncertainty, exploiting its dread, even leaving a bit of doubt in the reader's mind deep into the novel. I kept expecting to become bored just as soon as a pit of hell opened underneath the house and the front door grew fangs and the characters armed themselves with holy water; but thankfully, that's not really where the book goes.
On the other hand, while I appreciated Siddons's storytelling impulse to have the other characters in Colquitt's social circle slowly turn on her due to her increasingly hysterical (or so it seems to them) warnings about the demonic house, the vitriolic nature of their anger (supposedly fueled by concern for the town's "reputation") never quite translated for me. Skepticism I could understand. Concern for Colquitt's mental health, sure. But anger? Maybe there is a larger allegory here about suburban America and the way its residents will react to anyone who seems to be interrupting their tranquility, for any reason. Or maybe there's a more conservative reading that would perceive Colquitt as warning us about the infiltration into our suburban communities of godless influences such as Communism and heavy-metal music, her neighbors sadly oblivious to these Satanic threats. Still, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. At a certain point, I told myself that I simply had to accept these characters' cultural differences, just as I do when I read about 1860s St. Petersburg society in Dostoevsky, or about the lives of Thomas Mann's bourgeois characters. But I found it even harder to swallow things like Colquitt and her husband's unwillingness to describe in detail to their friends and neighbors one particular disquieting experience they end up having in the house, an anecdote that could theoretically have persuaded their friends to believe that the house posed a real danger to the community. And sure, the experience was a little perverse and embarrassing. But you've got a freaking demonic house lurking next door to you, and you don't know what this thing is capable of. You really don't. You'd think that would be the main issue here, and that personal modesty could take a backseat. But I guess social etiquette dies hard.
This speaks to a slight difference with King, which is that King's characters tend to be, if not necessarily working class (admittedly, ~33.3% of them happen to be independently wealthy prolific horror authors with bibliographies suspiciously reminiscent of Stephen King's), then at least a lot less pretentious and class-conscious than the characters here, and therefore a little easier to spend time with. It's something I tried my best to ignore from the point early on when I realized I was actually supposed to like Colquitt and Walter (I didn't), but the attitude I feel comfortable attributing to Siddons actually plays a key role at the very end of the novel, when a certain character's susceptibility to let's just call it demonic possession is affirmed by the evidence that their parentage is questionable, and that they may not actually come from a "respectable" family after all. This is supposed to be a real ominous revelation, but it only works if you share Siddons's apparent disdain for people born into non-nuclear families. Furthermore, if anything, I would assume the opposite about possession. Isn't it almost a cliche that wealthy, "respectable" southern families harbor dark secrets and live under old-timey curses?
Overall though, despite a few complaints, this is an enjoyable horror novel with a good small-town atmosphere, written by an author with an understanding of suspense and dread. Glancing through Siddons's bibliography, however, I don't notice any other novels that seem to be about, say, Satanic children, possessed houses, killer crocodiles, homicidal classic cars, human sacrifice, cursed amulets, spooky Tarot readers, occult takeovers of small towns, television channels that are actually portals to other dimensions, hotels that are actually portals to hell, children who use their psychic powers for evil, or mutated insects dragging commuters into the darkness of the New York subway system. It's a shame. Her other books instead look like respectable high-society romances, which means I won't be reading them, but it also makes her lone foray into the supernatural a little more impressive.
May 6, 2019
"The madness lay next door."
3.5⭐
I have pretty mixed feelings on The House Next Door. I loved some of it, and didn't care for other parts. The synopsis of this book seemed so perfect for me with the mix of horror and domestic suspense. I really enjoyed this book overall, but I felt like something was missing at times.
I wish it would have been a bit more sinister. It kept feeling like it was building to something, and then it would just sort of flatline. However, I was invested the entire time I was reading.
I feel like the ending was rushed, and not explained very well. I was intrigued by the final reveal, but I wanted more information and foreshadowing. It didn't necessarily feel believable because there wasn't enough in the rest of the book to back it up, but I think it had potential.
This book was written in the 70s, and I wasn't really wild about the concept that the potentially haunted house would utilize its evil to "turn people gay". So dumb 😂. This felt like too much of a moralistic tale at times, and the things that were happening in the house just weren't sinister for the most part.
Again, I liked the concept of this book, and I think I would like to see it adapted as a modern movie. It's a fun story, but it had a few too many plot holes for my liking.
3.5⭐
I have pretty mixed feelings on The House Next Door. I loved some of it, and didn't care for other parts. The synopsis of this book seemed so perfect for me with the mix of horror and domestic suspense. I really enjoyed this book overall, but I felt like something was missing at times.
I wish it would have been a bit more sinister. It kept feeling like it was building to something, and then it would just sort of flatline. However, I was invested the entire time I was reading.
I feel like the ending was rushed, and not explained very well. I was intrigued by the final reveal, but I wanted more information and foreshadowing. It didn't necessarily feel believable because there wasn't enough in the rest of the book to back it up, but I think it had potential.
This book was written in the 70s, and I wasn't really wild about the concept that the potentially haunted house would utilize its evil to "turn people gay". So dumb 😂. This felt like too much of a moralistic tale at times, and the things that were happening in the house just weren't sinister for the most part.
Again, I liked the concept of this book, and I think I would like to see it adapted as a modern movie. It's a fun story, but it had a few too many plot holes for my liking.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,475 reviews