For a book as short as this was, I struggled to get through it, mostly due to lack of interest. I don't even really have it in me to type up as long as a review as I typically do. I guess my expectations going into it were too high because I'd frequently seen it hyped up as a must-read classic of the genre. What I got instead was a genuinely creepy house that was struggling (and failing) to be noticed by the strangest cast of characters I've come across in a while.

This book was written in the late 1950's and it definitely felt dated in content and style. The characters felt strange and inconsistent, the dialogue did not sound anything at all how real-world conversations flow, and any time something supernatural happened there was a collective shrug and a sense of "that was weird... anyway..." None of these characters behaved in a way that made any sense, and if that was the point, if the house they were all staying at was meant to have some corrupting or evil presence that made people go insane, it wasn't explained well and it didn't seem to have a point. Honestly the house itself was my favorite part of the book; it was carefully and lovingly described and ended up being more interesting than the characters who were staying in it.

Interesting setup and premise, kind of a let-down in execution. I'd be hard-pressed to recommend this one unfortunately.