Addison House

by Clare McNally

Come home...if you dare!

Doreen Addison wants nothing more than to provide a good life for her six foster children. When they are forced to move out of their home, Doreen is thrilled to find the perfect house for a bargain price. But is the new Addison House too good to be true? Their reclusive neighbor hints at the house’s grisly history and warns they’ll regret the move, but it's just what Doreen was looking for: a big, inexpensive, and secluded refuge for the children.

Almost from the start, unexplained accidents and strange occurrences plague Doreen and her charges. And some of the children are showing disturbing personality changes. Why is 13-year-old Karen, who loves make up and the latest fashions, suddenly insisting such things are “evil”? What made 10-year-old Randy turn from a happy, rambunctious little boy into a child obsessed with only the darkest passages of the Bible? And who is the mysterious, beautiful woman in black that only 5-year-old Cindy seems to see?

To complicate matters, Doreen can’t help falling for her handsome neighbor, Brendan Delacorte, who offers protection and always seems to be there when Doreen needs him. Can he help her solve the mystery of Addison House, before unseen evil destroys all that Doreen has loved and worked for? The only thing that can save them from destruction is to discover the secret of the woman in black who commands them all to COME DOWN INTO DARKNESS.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Supernatural

298 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 1988

Reviews

[Nick · Rating 2 out of 5]

First up, the cover. Spooky and creepy.

Then the story. Starts out good as Doreen Addison and her six foster children are forced to move out of their current home and find a new house. They find a bargain buy cheap house which they move into. This new home has a grisly history and a neighbour who warns them of the evil in the house.

Then accidents begin to happen to the workmen and the children start behaving in strange and disturbing ways. Who is the women in black who haunts the children? Another neighbour, Brendan Delacorte, wants to help Doreen and she falls in love with him.

The book does not create a menacing, spooky, creepy enough atmosphere. It is there but just not dark enough. It is a horror book that is not that horrifying. It also uses the exclamation mark excessively.

It is clear to the reader that Brendan is not all he seems but Doreen does not recognise this, which I found some what frustrating. It must have been the love blinding her.

It would be a good read for a young teenager as an introduction to horror. Maybe one day I will pass this on to my daughter when she is old enough to be introduced to the world of horror.

[Phil · Rating 2 out of 5]

McNally wrote several horror novels in the 70s and 80s, but this is not one of her best to be sure. Basically a haunted house story, Doreen Addison moves her 6 foster children to a new house, but it turns out the house is haunted! Almost every chapter ends with some visitation by a ghost-- those who remind the children of their former parents (a truly bad lot), who call Doreen a whore and liar, etc. Bad things start happening to the work crew restoring the 'new' house, and several of the kids end up with injuries as well. I imagine this might have been scary if you were 10. Like other paperbacks from hell, this one has a great cover at least!

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

For Doreen Addison, proprietor of an orphan's home known as Addison House, it comes as a nasty surprise to her to hear that the building will soon be sold. She must find a suitable house for herself, her assistant and the six children she fosters, and she must find a home fast. Doreen's search leads her to a beautiful, large house, secluded and rather inexpensive - just the right place for eight people to live.

Apparently, the house has been vacant for twenty years; and there were disturbingly dark stories of murder and suicide told about it. While Doreen was curious about all the rumors she had heard, and secretly wondered what had happened there so long ago, the house was still just what she was looking for. It was the perfect place to set up a children's home.

Soon after Doreen and her young wards move into their new home, unusual things start to happen. At first it was just a crazy old man living in the woods and a dead cat found on the back porch. But then the children began seeing strange things; and hearing blood-curdling screams at night. Several of the children report seeing a beautiful woman dressed in black, and there is a terrible accident down in the cellar.

Doreen starts to believe that something just isn't right about the house. However, her nightmare really begins as children mysteriously disappear. She soon finds herself confronting an ancient and malevolent power far beyond her understanding.

Only one thing can possibly save her and the children from utter destruction: she must discover the dark secret of the mysterious woman in black. Doreen alone must put an end to the repetitive grisly drama of obsessive love and hate...a tableau of twisted passions that has replayed for decades. Come home once and for all...if you dare.

I must say, that after reading Ghost Light by Clare McNally many years ago, I was eagerly looking forward to reading Addison House almost as soon as I received it. This book started out very strongly and I had such hope that it would continue to be a really great story. I was so disappointed.

To be perfectly honest, I thought this book ended up being almost too frightening. Don't get me wrong, I really love reading old-fashioned horror; the creepier the better. Yet, Ms. McNally seemed to be writing the horror book to beat all horror books - one epic horror novel designed to scare the pants off every reader in the world. She seemed to take tiny bits of ten different types of horror and throw them together in one giant cauldron, then she stirred them up to see what came out.

It felt so much like 'kitchen sink'-style horror writing to me, that I wasn't quite sure what was supposed to frighten me and what wasn't. At a certain point, I just stopped caring about the history of the haunting because it was just so intricate that it became thoroughly confusing to me. I had to give this book a C+!

[KWinks · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe it's because I grew up in the 80's but THIS is exactly what I think of when I think of haunted house stories. We don't need to spend the first 80 percent of the book wondering if the main character is going out of their mind, the evil is real. In the first 10 pages, the floorboards slide apart and an evil hand reaches up to grab a book to pull back through the floor. The reader sees the evil even when the characters can't.
Is it campy? Yes, but it is also creepy, and heart pounding. I don't get bothered by much, but the idea of little kids fighting off a an old evil house will do it for me. The characters are not well developed, and the kids speak some weird slang I don't think ever existed, but it's a wild ride.
Now I have to hunt down more Clare McNally.
I'm even more excited because several reviewers stated Addison House is one of her weakest stories.

[TheGoatClan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was like a sandwich...
→The start was great
→The middle was ehh
→The end was 🤩AMAZING🤩

For a start, this book is over double my age and it still impressed me how good it was. Secondly, wow... The ending was magnificent 😍. I love the characters (except the Doreen x Brendan romance because that was a bit weird) especially Cindy who just makes the cover perfectly spooky...
One thing i would say is that i was contemplating stopping reading it when i got the the middle and nothing really was happening... like... wow a child fell out of the attic wow 🙄... but i carried on reading it because i hate myself and im glad i did because that was one fire ending!!!

(also not that anyone cares but i found a Kit Kat wrapper in my book that went out of date in June 1996 that some previous reader was using as a bookmark 🤣😅)

Anyway, great book, I would definitely recommend this book to anyone who likes horror and is looking for a relatively short book to read.

:)

[Jason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Never exactly felt entirely scary. It seemed like while the kids could figure things out for the most part, the adults just kept trying to find logical reason where there was none. Towards the end, with each revelation, I had to keep from laughing because, though the book came in '88, so much of the dialogue felt like a cross between a B-horror movie and a late-90's video game. Even though parts were good, the cheesiness of the end (except the epilogue) kept me from actually entertaining this as a really good scary story. It was just an okay spooky tale.

[Stacy Simpson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book once before awhile ago....I re-read it and found it wasnot as good as I had originally thought. So I added it to the discard pile.

So what does this lesson bring to the table kiddies????? YOu have to read a book TWICE to really find out if you like it or not. Sorry to say that has been a hard lesson for me to swallow!

[Jessica · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, it was okay for waiting room/public transport reading. The writing was meh, but still readable. It felt like the author was going for a slow paced Gothic feel, but it was just annoying and repetitive. What happened to that thing that was living in the walls and stealing food? Ghosts don't need chicken, what was that thing?

[Ashley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 11 and absolutely loved it. It was the height of horror and scared me silly. Fast forward 23 years and I come across it and in a fit of nostalgia read it again.

It appears my literary tastes have matured significantly.

The storyline seems somewhat rushed and rather than building the intrigue and suspense we are thrown straight into it. The dialogue is rather cheesy and trite and I found myself reading it aloud for my husband's amusement.

Despite all that I enjoyed reading it again mainly for the nostalgia. It's definitely a good introduction into horror for a younger reader.

[Dani Noguera · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found an old school book of mine today and in it I had written this was my favourite book. I haven’t read it since I was about 11 (I loved all things horror) and I can still recall the bit with the red hot bath water and the steps down to the cellar made me think of the same ones we had at school! I’m going to reread it now.....wonder if I’m as brave at 39 as I was at 11!

[Toshia Swartz · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was scary and annoying at the same time. It had some wonderful scary moments but then the main protagonist was oblivious and it was annoying. BUT the scary parts were pretty cool so therefore it is not a 2 star. Otherwise it would have definitely been a 2 star rating.

[MollyK · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF @ 90%. Eh close enough.

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Re-reading this. Had first read this when I was about 12 yrs old and found it really creepy. Now that I’m an adult, it was ok.

[John Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good, wholesome ghost story. Not terrifying, but compelling enough to keep me reading.

[Jodi Gonzalez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Keep in mine this was written in 1988. This narrative primarily falls under the genre of mystery thriller rather than horror. Doreen Addison relocates with her orphans. From the beginning, an unexplained accident occurs, and two of the children exhibit signs of personality alterations. She must unravel the mystery behind the three ghosts that are haunting her residence before her children are forcibly removed.

[Laren · Rating 1 out of 5]

I remember really liking books by Clare McNally when I was a young teenager, so when I saw this released as an eBook, I thought I'd pick it up. I'm sorry that I did, because it wasn't at all the kind of book I remember from her. This isn't one that I had previously read by her though, so I don't know if this particular book is subpar for her, or if my grownup tastes really do just exclude her. Based on the writing in this book, I would say the latter, even though deep down, my teenaged self wants to apologize for actually saying that.

[h · Rating 2 out of 5]

It wasn't a *terrible* book, but it wasn't something I would delve in to and truly lose myself. Instead it provided a good Sunday afternoon read. (Toss in a cup of coffee or tea, you're set.) I did get the feeling the ending was rushed, almost like she remembered suddenly "crap, I gotta end this thing.."

[Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book kind of dove off the deep end for me but it was still a very thrilling read. It kept my attention throughout the entire thing and it made me sit on the edge of my seat and always left me wanting to read more. I love Clare McNally and I can't wait to read the next book on my list from her.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not one of McNally's best, but a very enjoyable ghost story! Read my full review here: http://www.dreamworldbooks.com/2014/0...

[Jirou Haruhi]

it is a scary book