The House That Horror Built by Christina Henry REVIEW

Summary:

Harry Adams has always loved horror moves, so it's not a total coincidence that she took a job cleaning house for movie director Javier Castillo. His forbidding greystone Chicago mansion, Bright Horses, is filled from top to bottom with terrifying props and costumes as well as glittering awards from his career making films that thrilled audiences - until family tragedy and scandal forced him to vanish from the industry.

Javier values discretion, and Harry tries to clean the house immaculately, keep her head down, and keep her job safe - she needs the money to support her son. But then she starts hearing noises from behind a locked door. Noises that sound remarkably like a human voice calling for help, even though Javier lives alone and never has visitors. Harry knows that not asking questions is a vital part of working for Javier, but she soon finds that the sinister house may be home to secrets she can't ignore. 

My Thoughts:

The book starts off a bit slow, setting the scene of the mansion and how particular Javier is about how the cleaning is done. Harry is a single mom providing for her son who wishes she could make more money so that he can have a normal life. She came from a very conservative household and doesn't speak to her parents or any of her family, but she had loved sneaking horror books and magazines into her room as a child. Harry enjoys the quiet of her job - until she thinks she sees a prop move and starts hearing voices behind a door that is never opened for her to clean.

When a death occurs at the mansion after a dinner party, the circumstances change. Harry and her son get evicted from their apartment due to the building being sold, and Javier offers to let them stay until they can find a new place. But things in the mansion seem weirder and weirder, and Javier starts acting strange. Harry isn't the only one hearing and seeing things.

I really like Harry as a character. She is likeable and somewhat relatable with her love of horror. Javier starts off with very little development, but ends up being likeable as well as creepy. Toward the middle, things got really interesting, and it was so hard to put down. However, the ending feels extremely rushed. It feels like there was a chunk of the book missing before the ending sequence, which lowered the rating. Overall, I did like it though.

My Rating: 3 stars