Thanks for spending the month of October reading The House Next Door with me. Overall, I really liked the characters and the setting and I believe it has stood the test of time pretty well. My only complaint is the epilogue, which really struck a false note with the point of view shift and a truly unnecessary final scene. The effect reminded me of that same final, tacked-on ending in Ann Patchett’s Bel Canto.

If you would like to read more stories about  haunted houses, try:

The Haunting of Hill House (also known as The Haunting) by Shirley Jackson

The House of the Seven Gables by Nathaniel Hawthorne

A Winter Haunting by Dan Simmons

The Dwelling by Susie Moloney

The Year of Past Things: A New Orleans Ghost Story by M.A. Harper

An American Haunting by Scott A. Johnson

Ammie, Come Home by Barbara Michaels

Were the Kennedys right in trying to warn people away from the house next door? Why do you think they were rejected so completely by their friends when they did this? Do you think if they hadn’t started telling everyone they could about the evil lurking next door that the end of the book would have turned out differently?

While The House Next Door was already made into a 2006 TV movie starring Lara Flynn Boyle as Col, Colin Ferguson as Walker (guess Colquitt and Walter aren’t good TV movie names?), and Mark-Paul Gosselaar (that guy from Saved By the Bell) as Kim, who would you have chosen to play Colquitt, Walter, and Kim? What about some of the other characters?

(If there was ever a chance of a remake, I think Diane Lane might make a good Colquitt, Mark Ruffalo for Walter and Shia LeBeouf for Kim Dougherty. And how about Ashley Tisdale for Pie? I think she’d be good in that role.)