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The House Next Door
HAUNTED HOUSE
On a whim, Emma Donovan bets her twin brother, Charlie, that she can spend the entire night alone at the spooky, abandoned house next door. The place is seriously creepy, but she's determined to overcome her fears and prove her brother wrong. Until she finds herself reliving a horrific night from the house's past and a passionate love with a handsome -- and strangely familiar -- young man.
When Charlie finds her, he's sure it was all just a dream. Yet Emma has persistent paranormal experiences involving the house and the young man from the past. As her "dreams" intensify, Emma becomes convinced that they are very real...and that she has a dreadful part to play in the supernatural reenactment of a tragic love.
On a whim, Emma Donovan bets her twin brother, Charlie, that she can spend the entire night alone at the spooky, abandoned house next door. The place is seriously creepy, but she's determined to overcome her fears and prove her brother wrong. Until she finds herself reliving a horrific night from the house's past and a passionate love with a handsome -- and strangely familiar -- young man.
When Charlie finds her, he's sure it was all just a dream. Yet Emma has persistent paranormal experiences involving the house and the young man from the past. As her "dreams" intensify, Emma becomes convinced that they are very real...and that she has a dreadful part to play in the supernatural reenactment of a tragic love.
254 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2002
18 people are currently reading
1030 people want to read
About the author
Richie Tankersley Cusick
50 books796 followersRichie Tankersley Cusick is the bestselling young adult author of over 25 titles, including two adult horror titles, Scarecrow and Blood Roots. Her popularity grew at the height of the horror/YA boom in the late '80s/early '90s, particularly with books like Lifeguard , Trick or Treat and Teacher's Pet, just to name a few, allowing her to keep company on the bestseller paperback lists with the likes of R.L. Stine and Christopher Pike. Her fan base expanded about the time she changed publishers to Archway/Pocket Books with titles like Vampire and Someone at the Door.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 96 reviews
September 19, 2012
I read this book way back when I was in maybe sixth or seventh grade. And then I read it again. And again. And again. Ad nauseum.
After not thinking about this book for literally years now, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks: the house next door!
Looking back, this book was probably predictable, badly written, and entirely unoriginal. And yet something about it enticed me to fall head over heels in love with it. I had read my copy at least six or seven times, not to mention the countless times I flipped through and reread my favorite sections with relish.
There's something about it that I adored. I can't begin to try to explain the feeling of warmth that it makes me feel, considering that it isn't a particularly heart-warming story.
I can't even write a coherent review of it, either.
Suffice it to say this: I like to think that all of us have something about us that can't be easily explained or expressed.... something that defies logic and rationality... this book is it for me. It honestly has become a part of my history and self that, even though I've always carried it with me all these years, I'm glad to finally now recognize by its proper origin. I love this book with all of my heart, and forever will want a copy of it at my bedside table.
Now--to figure out what the heck happened to my copy of it from all those years ago!
After not thinking about this book for literally years now, it suddenly hit me like a ton of bricks: the house next door!
Looking back, this book was probably predictable, badly written, and entirely unoriginal. And yet something about it enticed me to fall head over heels in love with it. I had read my copy at least six or seven times, not to mention the countless times I flipped through and reread my favorite sections with relish.
There's something about it that I adored. I can't begin to try to explain the feeling of warmth that it makes me feel, considering that it isn't a particularly heart-warming story.
I can't even write a coherent review of it, either.
Suffice it to say this: I like to think that all of us have something about us that can't be easily explained or expressed.... something that defies logic and rationality... this book is it for me. It honestly has become a part of my history and self that, even though I've always carried it with me all these years, I'm glad to finally now recognize by its proper origin. I love this book with all of my heart, and forever will want a copy of it at my bedside table.
Now--to figure out what the heck happened to my copy of it from all those years ago!
December 29, 2016
Enjoyed this read as pure sweet fun, YA for sure but a great story line! Would recommend.
October 26, 2022
Hmm. I thought this was pretty good and I read it fast, but I wish there had been more present-day romance. Like, here was what I wanted from the ending: The stuff about the town's history was interesting.
September 19, 2010
This book was...awful.
I couldn't even finish the book, it made me sleepy. the plot is so OBVIOUS and so predictable, and the twin telepathy thing was stupid in my opinion. I hated emma and her brother and emmas friend...I hated all the characters. Even Daniel, in hopes that I thought he'd be dreamy and hot and I would go : D whenever I read about him. But nope.
See, this is my whole point on these books. The cover looks amazing. But they make the cover that way to distract readers to read it or buy it is more of the goal.
It was just not good, I don't recommend it to anyone. Anyone who thought THAT was scary obviously has never seen real scary books before. Fail.
I couldn't even finish the book, it made me sleepy. the plot is so OBVIOUS and so predictable, and the twin telepathy thing was stupid in my opinion. I hated emma and her brother and emmas friend...I hated all the characters. Even Daniel, in hopes that I thought he'd be dreamy and hot and I would go : D whenever I read about him. But nope.
See, this is my whole point on these books. The cover looks amazing. But they make the cover that way to distract readers to read it or buy it is more of the goal.
It was just not good, I don't recommend it to anyone. Anyone who thought THAT was scary obviously has never seen real scary books before. Fail.
August 17, 2024
YAY I FINISHED IT IN A GOOD TIMELY MANNER!!!
Okay okay so, all around this story was really easy to follow and get into. I would’ve loved a little more Charlie chapters but then that kind of feeds into Emma doesn’t ever really get anything herself and this story is hers! So overall I’m really satisfied and happy with the story.
Read when you want a pallet cleanser and something easy to digest.
Thank you again Hannah for letting me borrow your copy!!
Okay okay so, all around this story was really easy to follow and get into. I would’ve loved a little more Charlie chapters but then that kind of feeds into Emma doesn’t ever really get anything herself and this story is hers! So overall I’m really satisfied and happy with the story.
Read when you want a pallet cleanser and something easy to digest.
Thank you again Hannah for letting me borrow your copy!!
October 23, 2015
It was very well written and had an interesting plot. It goes well with the Halloween season approaching
February 8, 2021
The first page didn't really warm me to the characters or the story. I didn't like her friend Val, and I thought it was a bad start to the book. Their English assignment is to write about something strange or scary and Val wants to write about Emma and Charlie. Nice. Very flattering to hear your friend thinks you're strange or scary. As a twin, I was irritated.
I was also irritated with the annoying best friend and her vivacious personality and the over-the-top descriptions. I would have just preferred her not to be there. I hate books where there's that best friend that I resent their presence and have no patience for. Val is like a bouncing ball of energy and light that can't stay still or shut up. She's leaning one hip against the vanity table, inspecting her chartreuse fingernails, eating when she's stressed, making faces, brightening. She also thinks the scariest thing would be for no one to ask her to the winter dance. Just my kind of person. Then, if all of that wasn't irritating enough, she catches "her long black hair in an upsweep and began twirling the length of the room." Twirling? Who twirls around like that that's above the age of 5?
She pirouetted a stop, then sashayed to the window. Ugh. I was on overload with all of the descriptions of Val's every move.
It was such an eye-rolling moment when I learned Emma was waiting for a tall, dark and handsome hero, liked old-fashioned things and had antiques in her plain, dark room. Well, weren't we being hit upside the head with the fact that she's reincarnated?
I saw it coming from a mile away; as soon as Charlie came in the room I knew there was going to be something with him and Val. And sure enough, Val's had a crush on him for over 2 years. It was so uncomfortable how he was joking with Emma for some lesbian action with Val, what with the why are you holding hands with each other in the dark comment and not believing they were studying because the light was off, and starting something she can't finish and she knows she'll just get hurt. What brother would want to talk about his sister and her friend together? That's strange. They weren't really, Emma cut the light out when Val told her there was someone in the house next door.
Whenever an author writes about twins being able to read each other's minds and feel each other's emotions I just roll my eyes. Having to read about Charlie having a lifetime of the psychic bond and knowing instinctively which were his thoughts and which were hers, learning to shut them out, having onslaughts so strong he can't block them, picking up on her thoughts, feelings and dreams, keeping her from reading his own thoughts, and getting bad headaches, nausea or brief disorientation was just too much.
The only amusing thing was the banter between them. It was typical sibling bickering and that's always funny to witness. But when Charlie complained about her dreams of the old Farmington house the next morning over breakfast with their mom, and asked why she couldn't dream of naked girls instead, I was grossed out. I just can't understand talking of these things with your sibling. It's so gross.
Their mom asks if they have dates for the winter dance, and calls Charlie a heartthrob because all the girls at school like him. Emma suggests he ask Val, and he said "Yeah, like I'm that desperate" which was mean. Emma tells him Val has been in love with him forever and he's shocked and says Emma is crazy. Charlie asks if Val told her that and Emma says she didn't, she just knows it. I liked the part where there was an odd look on Charlie's face and his control slipped for a second and Emma feels his confusion, pleasure and embarrassment. Would have been better it it wasn't her brother and her best friend! Weird.
Charlie asks Emma why she doesn't ask Val to the dance, since she was the one holding hands with her last night. Okay, seriously. What is up with that?
Emma pushes the issue, saying he has an advantage because he knows her and everything, and Charlie gets up and trips over his chair. He says just when he thought she couldn't get any dumber, which was funny. Emma said Val has always been crazy about him and he's the dumb one if he hasn't figured it out by now, and his mouth drops open again. His mom asks if he's blushing and Emma confirms it. I liked when she whispers to him "And not only that. You just let your guard down, Romeo" and he blushes. It's amusing when their mom tells them try not to kill each other as they leave.
That Monday morning Charlie came up with the bet that if she stayed overnight in the Farmington House he'd ask Val to the dance, which was so the wrong reason to ask her. All week Emma was guilty about it and never wanted Val to find out about the bet, so she was determined to stay not only to get Val the invite and shut Charlie up but to save face. It was sweet how protective Charlie was Friday night. He volunteers to help bring her stuff over there and helps her over the fence. But when they got there the wind sent the door slamming and scared the both of them. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders but she moved away. He said the joke was up and it's time to go home. He was nervous and didn't want her staying there, but she moved away, determined to see it through. He kept grabbing for her trying to get her to come home, said their mom would kill him if she knew he left her there all by herself. And once he knew she'd made up her mind to stay he looked flustered as he awkwardly told her to call him.
It was funny how as soon as Charlie left she said she had no intention of staying inside. She expected Charlie and his friends to come by and scare her so she planned to stay in a good spot so they wouldn't see her, and while they tried to scare her she'd sneak up on them and scare them.
Emma turned into such a baby back in the past, crying and being useless, letting Daniel do all of the work.
She finally gets out of the house and Charlie is there in his jeans, T-shirt and socks. She said he scared her and she hated him and he says I know and I'm sorry. He'd run out like that and was afraid for her, which was sweet.
Pg. 74 Typo. "What are talking about?"
Val comes over the next morning and tells her Charlie called her and asked her to the dance. Val can't believe it and thinks he did it as a joke or as a bet with his friends, even asks Emma if she paid him to do it. That's so disgusting that Charlie always asks Val about the big-breasted cheerleaders that sit behind her in math class. So gross. I didn't like him for his reputation. I loved though when she goes in his room for the ring back, and opens his drawer and he's mad at her and clearly trying to hide something, and she finds a picture of Val in a 2-piece bathing suit. So he really did like Val out of all of the girls at school. It was cute how he tried to say he didn't know how it got there, and he blamed her or Val for putting it there, said they needed to grow up.
I didn't care to be in Charlie's POV. I thought that was a really bad idea. It wasn't necessary and all I really wanted was for Daniel to come into the story. I didn't like hearing about him smoking in his car sometimes with his friends and trying so hard to get rid of the smoke. The way they talked wasn't very realistic for high school aged teenagers. He'd "adored Val for as long as he'd known her" and she was "the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on." Yeah, sounds like your typical teenage guy. And then it just got gross when he mentions all of the ways he'd envisioned Val and himself. And it makes him rage hot and he can't slip up and let Emma see. Ew. Come on, that's Emma's brother. I don't want to hear about him like that! There should only be one relationship in a book, not two, and definitely not that of the brother. So uncomfortable.
She's at the library researching the Farmington house while Charlie goes to the newspaper office to do his own looking. While there she sees the Miss Lobergs and I was disappointed in Emma for having such a bad opinion of them and treating them that way. I like nice characters, not ones prone to rudeness. She's heard they eat children and kill pets or some such nonsense, and when they catch her staring she turns away. She learns Emma's dad owned the whole town and was the richest man. Charlie found a picture of Emma and her dad and Emma looks just like her. There was an article on how Josiah was grieving her death and blamed the stablehand, who he let come to work for him because he was poor, but who he thought had an evil look about him. So he framed Daniel for Emma's kidnapping and said he got home to his barn burning. Emma knows her dad killed them both but got away with the murders. Emma talks about the Emma in the past in first-person POV which makes Charlie mad. He also gets mad that she's wearing the ring and acting like she's the other Emma.
We didn't even get to know hardly anything about Emma before she takes on a whole new identity. And reincarnation doesn't mean you have the same name. What are the chances they're both named Emma? They can be the same person without having the same first name.
Charlie says he's going to be the one to go get her stuff and she says stay away from my house, all possessive of it, and then goes upstairs, still feeling her lover's touch. Oh please.
The tall Miss Loberg turns pink as she says they know Charlie and her sister says they think he's a stud. They're in their 70s I think and turning red over a 17 year old boy? I guess he's 17. I don't think the authors mentioned it once.
I eventually stopped writing things down as I read, just gave up on the whole review as I realized I hated the book and wasn't enjoying reading it at all. I wanted to hurry up and get done with it. Once I realized there would be no happy ending, I didn't care anymore. At first I started out thinking they'd end up together and Daniel would be brought back, because we were led to believe Daniel had died. Then we found out Daniel wasn't the one that died, Emma died. I thought he killed her or left her there, so I thought he was a villain. Then we found out her dad locked them in there or something, and Daniel escaped, and he's felt guilty, which had me wondering how he's locked in the house as a 17 year old guy if he lived out his life...and if he got with anyone else during his lifetime and had a family. That is so messed up. I was absolutely blown away that this wasn't a reincarnation tale about the couple finally being together. No, he felt guilty that she died and so he had to save her from a fire again. I hated that the house burned down and wasn't there anymore. That was such a part of history lost. But the thing I hated the most was that Emma, the main character, ended up single and alone and wanting to feel that kind of love again--WTF, how could she get with anyone else when she loves Daniel?! This was so f'ing messed up--and her brother got with her best friend. Emma sucked as a main character and didn't deserve love. The way she was so obsessed with the past and forsook her family and friends grated on my nerves, so she didn't really deserve happiness, but I wanted her to get with Daniel. Despite her telling Val that her brother only got with her because Emma had made a bet with him that if she stayed in the house he'd take her to the dance, Val stayed friends with her and forgave her, after leaving at first. Val even told Emma they kissed, cuz readers really wanna hear about side characters getting together while the main character is single. I can't believe this atrocity. I thought it would be something like Elizabeth Chandler's Legacy of Lies, with mystery and a little romance and reincarnation. This was dark and dismal in that it was majorly depressing and had nothing going for it. The humor of the bickering between the twins ceased to be funny once the tragedy overtook the story. I found it creepy that the topic of them feeling what the other was feeling was brought up. So, Charlie felt when Emma was with Daniel and the love there. That's sick. I didn't like their bond that he knew what she was dreaming and could feel her emotions. And I'm a twin, so that's pretty bad. The cover was way too good for this abomination of a love story. It hooked me in and I thought I had found one of the great YA mysteries. Now I wish I'd never read it. And I only paid 50 cents for it at a book sale at a library in a neighboring town.
I was also irritated with the annoying best friend and her vivacious personality and the over-the-top descriptions. I would have just preferred her not to be there. I hate books where there's that best friend that I resent their presence and have no patience for. Val is like a bouncing ball of energy and light that can't stay still or shut up. She's leaning one hip against the vanity table, inspecting her chartreuse fingernails, eating when she's stressed, making faces, brightening. She also thinks the scariest thing would be for no one to ask her to the winter dance. Just my kind of person. Then, if all of that wasn't irritating enough, she catches "her long black hair in an upsweep and began twirling the length of the room." Twirling? Who twirls around like that that's above the age of 5?
She pirouetted a stop, then sashayed to the window. Ugh. I was on overload with all of the descriptions of Val's every move.
It was such an eye-rolling moment when I learned Emma was waiting for a tall, dark and handsome hero, liked old-fashioned things and had antiques in her plain, dark room. Well, weren't we being hit upside the head with the fact that she's reincarnated?
I saw it coming from a mile away; as soon as Charlie came in the room I knew there was going to be something with him and Val. And sure enough, Val's had a crush on him for over 2 years. It was so uncomfortable how he was joking with Emma for some lesbian action with Val, what with the why are you holding hands with each other in the dark comment and not believing they were studying because the light was off, and starting something she can't finish and she knows she'll just get hurt. What brother would want to talk about his sister and her friend together? That's strange. They weren't really, Emma cut the light out when Val told her there was someone in the house next door.
Whenever an author writes about twins being able to read each other's minds and feel each other's emotions I just roll my eyes. Having to read about Charlie having a lifetime of the psychic bond and knowing instinctively which were his thoughts and which were hers, learning to shut them out, having onslaughts so strong he can't block them, picking up on her thoughts, feelings and dreams, keeping her from reading his own thoughts, and getting bad headaches, nausea or brief disorientation was just too much.
The only amusing thing was the banter between them. It was typical sibling bickering and that's always funny to witness. But when Charlie complained about her dreams of the old Farmington house the next morning over breakfast with their mom, and asked why she couldn't dream of naked girls instead, I was grossed out. I just can't understand talking of these things with your sibling. It's so gross.
Their mom asks if they have dates for the winter dance, and calls Charlie a heartthrob because all the girls at school like him. Emma suggests he ask Val, and he said "Yeah, like I'm that desperate" which was mean. Emma tells him Val has been in love with him forever and he's shocked and says Emma is crazy. Charlie asks if Val told her that and Emma says she didn't, she just knows it. I liked the part where there was an odd look on Charlie's face and his control slipped for a second and Emma feels his confusion, pleasure and embarrassment. Would have been better it it wasn't her brother and her best friend! Weird.
Charlie asks Emma why she doesn't ask Val to the dance, since she was the one holding hands with her last night. Okay, seriously. What is up with that?
Emma pushes the issue, saying he has an advantage because he knows her and everything, and Charlie gets up and trips over his chair. He says just when he thought she couldn't get any dumber, which was funny. Emma said Val has always been crazy about him and he's the dumb one if he hasn't figured it out by now, and his mouth drops open again. His mom asks if he's blushing and Emma confirms it. I liked when she whispers to him "And not only that. You just let your guard down, Romeo" and he blushes. It's amusing when their mom tells them try not to kill each other as they leave.
That Monday morning Charlie came up with the bet that if she stayed overnight in the Farmington House he'd ask Val to the dance, which was so the wrong reason to ask her. All week Emma was guilty about it and never wanted Val to find out about the bet, so she was determined to stay not only to get Val the invite and shut Charlie up but to save face. It was sweet how protective Charlie was Friday night. He volunteers to help bring her stuff over there and helps her over the fence. But when they got there the wind sent the door slamming and scared the both of them. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders but she moved away. He said the joke was up and it's time to go home. He was nervous and didn't want her staying there, but she moved away, determined to see it through. He kept grabbing for her trying to get her to come home, said their mom would kill him if she knew he left her there all by herself. And once he knew she'd made up her mind to stay he looked flustered as he awkwardly told her to call him.
It was funny how as soon as Charlie left she said she had no intention of staying inside. She expected Charlie and his friends to come by and scare her so she planned to stay in a good spot so they wouldn't see her, and while they tried to scare her she'd sneak up on them and scare them.
Emma turned into such a baby back in the past, crying and being useless, letting Daniel do all of the work.
She finally gets out of the house and Charlie is there in his jeans, T-shirt and socks. She said he scared her and she hated him and he says I know and I'm sorry. He'd run out like that and was afraid for her, which was sweet.
Pg. 74 Typo. "What are talking about?"
Val comes over the next morning and tells her Charlie called her and asked her to the dance. Val can't believe it and thinks he did it as a joke or as a bet with his friends, even asks Emma if she paid him to do it. That's so disgusting that Charlie always asks Val about the big-breasted cheerleaders that sit behind her in math class. So gross. I didn't like him for his reputation. I loved though when she goes in his room for the ring back, and opens his drawer and he's mad at her and clearly trying to hide something, and she finds a picture of Val in a 2-piece bathing suit. So he really did like Val out of all of the girls at school. It was cute how he tried to say he didn't know how it got there, and he blamed her or Val for putting it there, said they needed to grow up.
I didn't care to be in Charlie's POV. I thought that was a really bad idea. It wasn't necessary and all I really wanted was for Daniel to come into the story. I didn't like hearing about him smoking in his car sometimes with his friends and trying so hard to get rid of the smoke. The way they talked wasn't very realistic for high school aged teenagers. He'd "adored Val for as long as he'd known her" and she was "the most beautiful girl he'd ever laid eyes on." Yeah, sounds like your typical teenage guy. And then it just got gross when he mentions all of the ways he'd envisioned Val and himself. And it makes him rage hot and he can't slip up and let Emma see. Ew. Come on, that's Emma's brother. I don't want to hear about him like that! There should only be one relationship in a book, not two, and definitely not that of the brother. So uncomfortable.
She's at the library researching the Farmington house while Charlie goes to the newspaper office to do his own looking. While there she sees the Miss Lobergs and I was disappointed in Emma for having such a bad opinion of them and treating them that way. I like nice characters, not ones prone to rudeness. She's heard they eat children and kill pets or some such nonsense, and when they catch her staring she turns away. She learns Emma's dad owned the whole town and was the richest man. Charlie found a picture of Emma and her dad and Emma looks just like her. There was an article on how Josiah was grieving her death and blamed the stablehand, who he let come to work for him because he was poor, but who he thought had an evil look about him. So he framed Daniel for Emma's kidnapping and said he got home to his barn burning. Emma knows her dad killed them both but got away with the murders. Emma talks about the Emma in the past in first-person POV which makes Charlie mad. He also gets mad that she's wearing the ring and acting like she's the other Emma.
We didn't even get to know hardly anything about Emma before she takes on a whole new identity. And reincarnation doesn't mean you have the same name. What are the chances they're both named Emma? They can be the same person without having the same first name.
Charlie says he's going to be the one to go get her stuff and she says stay away from my house, all possessive of it, and then goes upstairs, still feeling her lover's touch. Oh please.
The tall Miss Loberg turns pink as she says they know Charlie and her sister says they think he's a stud. They're in their 70s I think and turning red over a 17 year old boy? I guess he's 17. I don't think the authors mentioned it once.
I eventually stopped writing things down as I read, just gave up on the whole review as I realized I hated the book and wasn't enjoying reading it at all. I wanted to hurry up and get done with it. Once I realized there would be no happy ending, I didn't care anymore. At first I started out thinking they'd end up together and Daniel would be brought back, because we were led to believe Daniel had died. Then we found out Daniel wasn't the one that died, Emma died. I thought he killed her or left her there, so I thought he was a villain. Then we found out her dad locked them in there or something, and Daniel escaped, and he's felt guilty, which had me wondering how he's locked in the house as a 17 year old guy if he lived out his life...and if he got with anyone else during his lifetime and had a family. That is so messed up. I was absolutely blown away that this wasn't a reincarnation tale about the couple finally being together. No, he felt guilty that she died and so he had to save her from a fire again. I hated that the house burned down and wasn't there anymore. That was such a part of history lost. But the thing I hated the most was that Emma, the main character, ended up single and alone and wanting to feel that kind of love again--WTF, how could she get with anyone else when she loves Daniel?! This was so f'ing messed up--and her brother got with her best friend. Emma sucked as a main character and didn't deserve love. The way she was so obsessed with the past and forsook her family and friends grated on my nerves, so she didn't really deserve happiness, but I wanted her to get with Daniel. Despite her telling Val that her brother only got with her because Emma had made a bet with him that if she stayed in the house he'd take her to the dance, Val stayed friends with her and forgave her, after leaving at first. Val even told Emma they kissed, cuz readers really wanna hear about side characters getting together while the main character is single. I can't believe this atrocity. I thought it would be something like Elizabeth Chandler's Legacy of Lies, with mystery and a little romance and reincarnation. This was dark and dismal in that it was majorly depressing and had nothing going for it. The humor of the bickering between the twins ceased to be funny once the tragedy overtook the story. I found it creepy that the topic of them feeling what the other was feeling was brought up. So, Charlie felt when Emma was with Daniel and the love there. That's sick. I didn't like their bond that he knew what she was dreaming and could feel her emotions. And I'm a twin, so that's pretty bad. The cover was way too good for this abomination of a love story. It hooked me in and I thought I had found one of the great YA mysteries. Now I wish I'd never read it. And I only paid 50 cents for it at a book sale at a library in a neighboring town.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 12, 2012
The title of the book is called The House Next Door. The Auther of the book is Richie Tankerrsley Cusick. The book was pubilsh January 2002. It didnt win any awards. There is 254 pages. I am current reading the book right now. So far there are 3 main characters named Emma,her best friend name Val and Emma's twin brother name Charlie. The book started off in Emma's house.
The setting of the story takes place in Hartville. Next to Emma and Charlies House there is a house called the Farmington house. Emma thinks there is something wrong with the house when she spends the night. So charlie and her set out the find whats wrong with the house. The good guy is Emma,Charlie and a guy named Daniel.Emma thinks Daniel is a ghost who she is falling in love with. Some of the main characters choices they make are the fine out what really happend in the Farmington House. The main conflict of the story is when Charlie and Emma made a bet for Emma to stay in the Farmington house she finds herself reliving a horrific night from the house'past and a passionate love with a handsome young man. The bad guy is Josiah Farmington the father. He killed his daughter name Emma and she looked like Emma to. Someothers charaters are Daniel the ghost and Josiah wife name Samantha Hart.
What the author is trying to say is that love is very strong and be careful to what house you stay in because you dont know that houses past. Sometimes the past will come back and haunt you. I think the auther had something like this done to her and she wanted the right a book on it.
what i like about the book is kept you going and its a mystery and keep you on the edge of your seat. What i didnt like about the book was that it dragout everything. But it was a good book.
Yes i think someone should read this book because if you like mystery then this is your book. There is a little horror in it but i am sure it will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing what going to happend next.
The setting of the story takes place in Hartville. Next to Emma and Charlies House there is a house called the Farmington house. Emma thinks there is something wrong with the house when she spends the night. So charlie and her set out the find whats wrong with the house. The good guy is Emma,Charlie and a guy named Daniel.Emma thinks Daniel is a ghost who she is falling in love with. Some of the main characters choices they make are the fine out what really happend in the Farmington House. The main conflict of the story is when Charlie and Emma made a bet for Emma to stay in the Farmington house she finds herself reliving a horrific night from the house'past and a passionate love with a handsome young man. The bad guy is Josiah Farmington the father. He killed his daughter name Emma and she looked like Emma to. Someothers charaters are Daniel the ghost and Josiah wife name Samantha Hart.
What the author is trying to say is that love is very strong and be careful to what house you stay in because you dont know that houses past. Sometimes the past will come back and haunt you. I think the auther had something like this done to her and she wanted the right a book on it.
what i like about the book is kept you going and its a mystery and keep you on the edge of your seat. What i didnt like about the book was that it dragout everything. But it was a good book.
Yes i think someone should read this book because if you like mystery then this is your book. There is a little horror in it but i am sure it will keep you on the edge of your seat and keep you guessing what going to happend next.
February 1, 2014
I can't tell you much about this book except that I loved it. I will never forget my journey with this book, ever. I got it as a present from a teacher when I was in 6th grade, and I devoured it. And not just once. I read this sucker at least 15 times, and then I moved on to Gossip Girl or something, and never looked back. It's been years, but I always think of this book randomly and it's always fondly. When I say years I mean really... 10 years. Which feels crazy to me. I couldn't remember the name of this book for so long. I just had this surge of nostalgia and started cleaning my bedroom at my parent's house and when I found this I could have screamed, I was that excited. I will be re-reading this again soon.
March 17, 2011
Time travel romances aren't my favorite because they generally aren't too happy of endings, of which I'm a sucker for. However lately I've been more interested in them and was anxious to give this book a try. The verdict? Not so much. It was REALLY hard to get through the first half of the book, it literally took me days, but I kept pushing. I don't regret that I did as it was an interesting enough ghost story, but if you're looking for a good time travel romance like I was, check out "The Splendor Falls". Such a beautiful book with amazing writing and I think I'm going to have a hard time finding one that compares.
February 8, 2016
The novel begins well and moves along only to become bogged down. At that point the author repeatedly mentions the problem - what is Emma to do about Daniel? - as if the reader has forgotten.
The book failed to deliver a reasonable ending. The reader is required to accept that it was necessary and that it solved the problem without any real explanation other than the book needed to end. The author failed to explain Emma losing herself to the "other Emma" adequately; the concept of reincarnation was tossed in but instead of assisting with an explanation it only made the book more unacceptable. The need for a seance was inconsistent as well as actions of the characters.
The book failed to deliver a reasonable ending. The reader is required to accept that it was necessary and that it solved the problem without any real explanation other than the book needed to end. The author failed to explain Emma losing herself to the "other Emma" adequately; the concept of reincarnation was tossed in but instead of assisting with an explanation it only made the book more unacceptable. The need for a seance was inconsistent as well as actions of the characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 10, 2019
Got this at a book fair when I was in sixth grade and absolutely devoured it. I was talking with a friend (some 15 years later) and this book came up as being a childhood favorite. I had completely forgot about it and so I reread it. It brought back so many memories, and even though it is kind of trashy and predictable, I love it so much.
February 15, 2024
The YA paranormal romance that got me into YA paranormal romance.
I have a worn and very loved copy on my bookshelf that I never intend to get rid of.
I made a cute video about it
I have a worn and very loved copy on my bookshelf that I never intend to get rid of.
I made a cute video about it
August 24, 2017
What a great short read about the past intertwining with the present. Great character's! A love affair with a ghost who can't move on, an unsolved mystery from one hundred years ago and of course a haunted house!
March 19, 2009
this girl emma donovan bets her twin brother, charlie,that she can spend the entire night alone in the abandoned spooky house next door. what will happen? i dont know..... YET!
August 27, 2012
I couldn't get more than 30 pages into this book. It's not just the 1980s style writing but it's also the ugly book design. The typeface is just hideous.
October 7, 2024
This was okay, Emma should never have told her friend about the bet though 😂
October 17, 2023
I’m so frustrated with the reviews that call RTC’s books “badly written.” They aren’t badly written at all. Not all of the plots are winners, but that’s more personal preference than anything else. And after having read so, so many of these vintage YA thrillers over the years, I can confidently say RTC’s writing is at the exact opposite end of the spectrum from “bad.”
The House Next Door gets off to a slowwww start. It feels like a romance novel, first and foremost, and since those aren’t my jam, it took me longer than usual to make any real headway. As one of RTC’s later books (2002), I found myself wondering if she’d changed up the formula when I wasn’t paying attention.
In some ways, that’s true—the characters and setting felt more self-contained and bottle episode-y than most of her novels, for example. And while this one won’t take a place amongst my favorite of RTC’s books, it was a creative plot line with a twist of an ending, and at least two charming characters in the Miss Lobergs—a mix between the aunts from Practical Magic and the aunts from A Wrinkle In Time. I wish we’d seen more of them!
The House Next Door gets off to a slowwww start. It feels like a romance novel, first and foremost, and since those aren’t my jam, it took me longer than usual to make any real headway. As one of RTC’s later books (2002), I found myself wondering if she’d changed up the formula when I wasn’t paying attention.
In some ways, that’s true—the characters and setting felt more self-contained and bottle episode-y than most of her novels, for example. And while this one won’t take a place amongst my favorite of RTC’s books, it was a creative plot line with a twist of an ending, and at least two charming characters in the Miss Lobergs—a mix between the aunts from Practical Magic and the aunts from A Wrinkle In Time. I wish we’d seen more of them!
September 20, 2020
A great young adult paranormal romance. Young Emma is visited by an hundred year old ghost named Daniel. Daniel was in love with a young girl named Emma Farmington over hundred years ago. He was the stable boy at her estate where she lived with her cruel father and a servant named Betsey. Daniel one night tired to sneak off with Emma in chances to save her from the torment and suffering she received from her father. They had made it to the barn be Josiah found them, he then stabbed Daniel in the chest with a pitchfork and left both Emma and Daniel to die in the barn fire.
Daniel ends up escaping the fire through a window while Emma parishes. Now he is hunting the new 3
Emma in order to find peace.
Daniel ends up escaping the fire through a window while Emma parishes. Now he is hunting the new 3
Emma in order to find peace.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2020
Most of the 80s/90s YA thrillers I’ve been reading lately revolve around stalkers and/or murderers, so it was refreshing to see a good ‘ol ghost story. There’s even a seance scene in an old, creepy house. It has a lot of classic haunted house/scary story elements which I appreciated, and the writing is compelling. I was invested in Emma(s’) story(ies) and seeing how modern grappled with the changing dynamics with her twin and best friend, while at the same time dealing with a terrifying experience she couldn’t control. Really good build up and tension, but the ending was rather anticlimactic.
June 8, 2020
Sooo...a lot's changed since I first read this in junior high. When you're brand new to the genre, all the tired tropes don't bother you. But I've read quite a bit since then and this was too hard to swallow the second time around. I'd still recommend it for younger readers who haven't explored supernatural romance before, but once you've finished it, there are so many better stories out there, both classic and contemporary, that are worth reading more than once. In fact, if you have any recommendations, please send them my way!
March 8, 2024
what i liked about this book was the strange and misterous setting and place meant within the book like the farmington. I knew nothing about this book before I started reading and I didn't like how it would cut back random times in the past and the book was kinda weird. it challenged me because I had to read deeper into the lines because it was kinda confusing so I had to try and understand the book more which challenged me. i would recommend this to anyone who likes a kinda creepy and strange book but also someone who likes to read between the lines and really think about the book.
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June 30, 2019Anazing
June 16, 2020
I read this book several times when I was in middle school. I'm contemplating reading it again out of nostalgia and curiosity if my adult self would like it.
February 15, 2021
I loved reading Richie Tankersley Cusick's books in high school. I enjoyed this one, but there was a level of lack of practicality in it.
May 4, 2021
Mild teen horror.
December 24, 2021
This was an original, creative, and twisted book. It was a great quick-read to keep me busy during the day and was overall a good story!
December 11, 2022
If you like ghost stories and romance, this is the book for you.
September 13, 2023
I fell in love with this book back in 2002 and it’s been one of my quick favorites ever since. It’s a fast read and very much a teen romance. It’s captivating and makes you want to be in the story.
March 8, 2024
kinda boring and really cliche
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