You may find shock and terror in the vindictive acts perpetrated by this shadowy, malicious force, but the underlying psychological torture is the headline here. By the end, you’ll be begging for more just as this Atlanta neighborhood begs for mercy. Unfolding as a slow burn, The House Next Door is an atypical haunted house story that still manages to keep you petrified for all four hundred of its pages. However, there’s always a high price to pay for taking matters into your own hands when no one else believes you. But with their minds made up, Colquitt and Walter are determined to put an end to its rampaging streak.

And the process continues like clockwork for each ensuing homeowner, ending their residencies abruptly under mysterious and even violent circumstances.Ĭhalking it up to unresolved emotional baggage and bad decision-making, the neighborhood turns a blind eye to what can’t possibly be true: the house has a mind all its own. At least, that’s how it starts, and then it ends with their absconding. They begin exhibiting odd behavior and experience unexpected tragedy, all seemingly attributed to poor discretion and rotten luck. But sometimes even the loftiest of dreams are built to collapse. That is, until a budding, young architect put his mind to the grindstone, creating the perfect home to fit the lot and its newest owners: the Harralsons.Įlated to start their family in this quiet and unassuming neighborhood, the Harralsons finally see their chance to take hold of the American dream. With its oblong shape, the property was deemed too challenging for construction. The lot next to the Kennedys had been empty for quite some time save for an overgrowth of foliage.

This was the time of Colquitt Kennedy and her husband Walter: two suburban acolytes who created a life of comfort and serenity, carving out their own space in an ecosystem that’s only as strong as its newest link. There was a time when the American dream was painted with white picket fences, kids’ stickball matches in the street, and backyard barbeques.

The house next door siddons