THE HOUSE THAT HORROR BUILT - Christina Henry


Harry Adams is a single mother raising a teenage boy in the post-COVID world.  She's willing to do anything to provide a better world for her son and she takes whatever job she can get, currently it's cleaning houses.  Being a fan of horror movies, when horror film director Javier Castillo is looking for a new cleaner, Harry goes for the job.  The house is practically a museum to the genre films she has grown up with and she likes having the opportunity to clean for Javier.  He has just one rule for Harry - to never enter a specific room.

When Harry hears what sounds like human voices behind the door she must never enter, she wonders what might be going on, but keeps her head down and goes on with her work.  When she's sure she not only hears voices but someone actually calling for help ... she keeps her head down and continues her work. She needs to support her son, Gabe, after all, and it's best not to get involved.

But there are things here that Harry, a regular in the house, simply can't ignore forever.

Author Christina Henry has penned some of my favorite horror novels, so expectations are always high when she's got a new book out.  This one, however, really fails to deliver. 

The set-up is unremarkable but definitely serviceable for a horror story - an average person in a house filled with objects of horror from the most horrific films ever. But the set-up shouldn't last for 80% of the book and that's what this feels like. Harry's lack of concern for the house and constant reminding us that she's working for her very good son, grows stale quickly.

I've written before: establishing and maintaining a sense of horror for an entire novel is very difficult. We need a rise and fall in horror that builds, culminating in a terrifying climax.  We don't get any of that rising horror here - just a last minute climax that doesn't quite come out of nowhere, but we were never appropriately led into it.

Looking for a good book? The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry misses the mark with a slow page-turner that doesn't provide the suspense you want in a horror novel.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

2-1/2 stars

* * * * * *

The House That Horror Built

author: Christina Henry

publisher: Berkley

ISBN: 9780593638217

paperback, 317 pages

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