Number 29- This House isn't Haunted but We Are- Stephen Howard

 

This was an impulse buy on the basis of that title, and the fact that it's very short.  Indeed I did finish it in just a couple of hours.

Simon and Priya have just moved to a dilapidated cottage on the North Yorkshire moors to try to renovate the house and their marriage.  Their young daughter has recently died in a tragic accident and their relationship is suffering as a result.

The third character in the book is the House itself. All three characters take turns narrating chapters.

This is a very clever take on the classic haunted house story. The chapters narrated by the House are told in an unusually effective second person POV. Simon and Priya sound different enough in their narrations that I have no complaints on that score.

My only quibble about this book is that the ending feels very rushed. Up until that point it was a well written and creepy tale of a couple dealing with extreme loss and the house that tries to fix them.  I would happily have read much more of this story if it existed.

There are shades of ghost story and cosmic horror in this small tale of personal grief and the need to be wanted. I will be keeping an eye out for more by Stephen Howard.  He is a talent to keep a sharp eye on.