It being October, and my turn to choose the book for our family book club, I searched out a haunting. I really wanted a haunted house. I also needed fewer than 400 pages. I searched out award winners and lists, resulting in several candidates: The Taxidermist's Lover, The Fourth Whore, Mexican Gothic, Mapping the Interior (almost won), The Grip of It, The Graveyard Apartment, The Family Plot, The Only Good Indians, Wylding Hall, Hell House, Haunting Bombay (another almost), Property of a Lady, Usher's Passing (loved his Swan Song), Wild Fell, and Burnt Offerings.
In the end, I chose Maynard's House. Met the requirements of length, of haunting, and not 1st person POV. (While some books are great in this POV, A Clockwork Orange probably my favorite, for the most part I prefer 3rd.)
But would I fear reading Maynard's at night in a dark bedroom? No. Not really. I was hoping for some spine tingles, but didn't get any. Some chilling moments, but not due to anything haunted, except maybe in one case.
The ending saved this book from being 3 stars (I mean, after all, it was well written). I almost skipped the last chapter; don't! Really creative and well done ending. 4 stars!
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