Horror Book Preview: Read or Skip? --The Forever House by Lisa Stone

 

Home sweet home. Not in a horror story, of course. In horror, homes are infamously infested with evil spirits who do not appreciate trespassers. 

The Forever House is one such tale in a long list of haunted house stories. But does this one stand out? Let’s find out below. 

THE FOREVER HOUSE Plot Summary

Jasmine moves into a new house with her husband Mark and their two daughters, Leah (10 years old) and Isabel (8 years old). She believes this is going to be her Forever House. 

However, there is something wrong with this house. Temperatures drop, unexplained swarms of insects appear, and dying plants. It’s almost as if someone doesn’t want them there. 

THE FOREVER HOUSE Horror Book Preview with My Take

Jasmine is being shown around the house by a woman whose name she doesn’t remember. Apparently, introductions have been made before Jasmine started roaming around the house with the owner, which may have been a couple of minutes ago. Before Jasmine leaves, she and the owner exchange names. 

So does that mean Freya, the current owner of the house, just let Jasmine, a stranger, around the house without proper introductions?

However, this isn’t the only inconsistency in the story. Much later, Jasmine meets with Freya’s daughter, whom she isn’t introduced to but whom she assumes to be a 14-year-old. Back in her flat, Jasmine somehow knows the daughter’s name.

The Forever House is a bit difficult to get into at first. It follows the typical haunted house tropes: freezing rooms, strange figures at the window, and moody daughters who never want to leave their previous home. 

The author appears to be in a rush to get all the character introductions done and then insert a perfunctory “haunting” incident to pique interest. There’s nothing new here when it comes to the story. 

Even the protagonist is a bit dull. Jasmine appears to have a routine and seems bored. Or rather, the author appears bored describing her. Mark is a manager of some grocery stores and always talks about his work before he asks her about her work. 

This seems to be a common complaint Jasmine has in just the first six chapters. There’s clearly some resentment going on with how Mark and she are not close anymore, and how self-absorbed he is. 

After Jasmine takes a look at the house, she arranges for the family to see it too. Her daughters are not interested, and Mark wants to jump into the first house that seems decent enough because their flat rent agreement is not being renewed. 

Jasmine keeps feeling chilly in the living room. Once she leaves with her family, we find out that Freya has indeed been keeping a secret from the family. She and Madison get into an argument about being honest about haunted houses. 

Then there’s James, whom Freya calls her partner at first, and then husband. He has been helping put up a show for the guests to make it look like they all live happy lives at this house. But the truth is that they always keep the living room locked. For some reason, there’s a rumbling that happens every now and then, which sometimes lasts about fifteen minutes. The family has to wait in the car until it's over. 

By the end of the excerpt, Jasmine and her family have moved in. They are having breakfast at their new house, and Jasmine is thinking of putting flowers in the garden. 

Read or Skip?

This is a hard one. I do enjoy haunted house stories, and I am sort of interested in where this one will go. But the writing is a bit clunky, and you feel disconnected from what is going on. Jasmine has got to be the dullest character in all of the haunted house stories I’ve come across so far. 

This one will, unfortunately, be a SKIP for me. I am curious about it, but I hope I can find spoilers instead of having to read an unimaginative, monotonous story that relies heavily on cliches. 

However, I have heard good things about the author and will be checking out her other books. 

Check out the book on Amazon and let me know what you think.