Nightmare House by Clegg

You ever read a book, and think well it wasn't bad, but it wasn't good? That is Nightmare House to me. Granted, this is a book in a series. I will give Clegg this; it works perfectly fine as a stand-alone novel. Something I adored about the story was the house. Harrow is a character of its own just as much as it is the setting. Pocket noted Harrow to have been built as a maze, one that just kept growing by the owner, Justin Gravesend. Harrow is full of hidden passages, illusions, and creepy corners. Clegg built a setting and a character in one, just as King did in It. Though, I do feel the line that compared it to the Winchester home was a bit over the top to make it stick. It didn't need this comparison to be great. 

We follow Ethan Gravesend, Esteban, as he uncovers the nightmare of family secrets. You would think finding out that your parents are not your birth parents is enough, right? Wrong. In this novel, things just get worse and worse for him because of these secrets. While the book flowed very smoothly and it was interesting, I found it as just another book. Not much stood out to me here. Moments where I thought Esteban's grandfather was his father existed. I also had doubts Alf and Maggie were real people. So, the book does provide nice twists to what you feel versus what is a reality in it as neither of these concoctions I made in my mind was right. 

I did feel bad for Matilde for awhile. She was locked away from the world, had her child taken from her and given away, and never lived with her love in peace. However, when she possessed her son and was full of nothing more than hatred, jealousy, and anger, I lost compassion. While I understand her bitterness, she slithered her way around Esteban's mind and heart by using his desire for closeness. I also enjoyed that we got to watch the possession from the person trapped inside their own body. Esteban killing Pocket was a great scene.

Harrow, on the other hand, was an elaborate puzzle. It grew with the other characters in the novel. It was a creepy old house, to a mystery, to a crypt, and a summoning platform for gods and goddesses. While I am not sure I believed the deal with the high demon ended up in the daughter, a god's sacrifice makes sense. See, with demons, we notice the deals revolve around payment in the first-born son, not first-born in general. You see this done well in Paranormal Activity. Harrow, itself, saved this novel by the mystery it was. Sure, Gravesend family secrets added some spice, but really, I would only continue the series for the house. 

In the end, Esteban lives in his birth father's cottage and refuses to enter Harrow. Harrow was turned into a school by Alfred, with the understanding that access to the crypt and other passages in the house be sealed. This agreement between the two staples the house as a character. It is not just a mere haunting where demons or ghosts run freely around; the passages and crypt, looking-glass of the actual architecture are why they exist. Think of the basement of the control center in Cabin in the Woods. Ancient gods must be fed through this blood sacrifice of horror movie tropes. 

On a side note, I was reading some Amazon reviews for this after I finished it. A lot were saying stick through it to the end. Now, if this were from Hill House, I would understand. However, this novel's plot and pace ran very smoothly. I was never bored getting through it. So, I have to say, those Amazon reviewers must not read much haunted horror. 

And, of course, for everyone's sake, the ending was not much to me but not bad. (I am on to you, Scott.) I understood it as a series (much better done than dare I bring up Breeding Ground). But Esteban being 100 years old, still alive, waiting around for Maggie's ghost that he "saved" from the house to come back around was just too moronic for me. He saved her spirit. She is no longer going to come around to him or Alfred. I think the house here was playing more tricks on them accordingly, leading to the continuance of this Nightmare House.