When we meet Eric Ross, he is looking at an advertisement looking for people to stay in the Masson House. He is traveling cross-country with his two daughters, Dess and Stacy, while trying to be forgotten and un-noticed. Thus begins this slow-burn horror novel
I’ll be honest, I picked up this book for the cover. I’m a sucker for a great cover design. I also love a good haunted house story. And this is a good haunted house story.
The story is told by multiple characters: Eric the father and Dess his 18-year old daughter are the primary narrators, though sometimes we hear from Stacy, Eric’s five year old daughter, Eunice the owner of the spite house and a number of other characters.
Here’s what we know: The house is haunted and Eunice’s family is cursed. She wants proof of the afterlife especially because she carries a heavy load of rich, white person guilt. You see, everything about the spite house revolves around one of her ancestors lynching a number of young men.
We know that Eric is running from… something, but we don’t know what. We only know that something happened to Stacy and she needs to be kept safe. But the Ross’ need money to build a safe life and Eunice is offering a lot of that.
I could not put this book down, but it is not a fast read. The story is spooled out a little at a time, bouncing between now and what has happened before, both in regards to the house and to Eric Ross. I’ve noticed sometimes when the backstory is given out in pieces, that I feel cheated. “Why couldn’t they tell me that already?!?!” Not so with The Spite House. I always wanted more but found myself satisfied with how much story I was given when I was given it. This book was just so beautifully written that it was a delight to read.
I am one of those people who forget the details of what I’ve read (and then leave vague Storygraph reviews like, “this ending was so good!” but I can’t remember what it was). Since this is my blog, I am going to include spoilers as a reminder to myself and maybe someone else who doesn’t remember what happened. If you really want to know what happened but don’t want to read the book (really if you like horror you should, tough), here are…
Book Spoilers. Click at your own risk.
So here’s the deal: Stacy died of a brain infection. It broke up the family. One evening, Eric and Dess found Stacy wandering home, alive. But (pretty much only known to us, the reader), she has a connection to the dead. This is never actually addressed, but felt like it didn’t need to be. Her mom doesn’t know she’s returned because how do you tell the family their dead child has come back?
Eric’s grandfather, it seems, maybe died in a fire and also returned from the dead. No one is sure, but Eric (a child that maybe should never have been born) has a strange connection to the afterlife.
The ghosts in the spite house are evil and want to consume the life of anyone who enters. These evil ghosts are actually the niece and nephew of the house’s long-dead owner who believe he was a caring uncle but really, he killed his niece if only by not trying to get her help when she fell and hit her head. But he also pushed her, so he is at fault. Both she and her brother actually disappeared in the house.
The ghosts in the house want to know how Stacy came back from the dead (as do all the ghosts she encounters) but Stacy doesn’t remember coming back and doesn’t understand what they want. Because she’s five.
So instead, the ghosts decide they want to keep her and find out, but Eric makes a deal to leave part of himself in the house. So the house continues to haunt him in his sleep while he builds a new life with his children (though he doesn’t expect to live long due to the physical strain of the haunting).
Eunice dies and is taken by the house in a public manner. We don’t know what happens to her after she dies but the house is sated to have the last of her family line.
Should you read this book: 100% yes. It is very good. This is author Johnny Compton’s first novel and I really can’t wait to read more.
Do you read any horror? What are your favorite books? Let me know in the comments.
