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Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite
The House in the Middle of the Street by Jennifer Sklias-Gahan is a modern fairy tale with a dark pulse, centered on a mysterious inherited home and the secrets it harbors. The story begins with Rebecca and her husband moving into the house, a beautiful place steeped in old family history and strange warnings passed down through generations. On New Year’s Eve, two children, Happy and Virgil, arrive at the door, asking to be invited in. What seems like a simple act of hospitality quickly turns unsettling as Rebecca discovers these visitors are not ordinary. As the night unfolds, the house reveals its true nature, tied to jars that contain sorrow and hidden pain, and to the dangerous hunger of the creatures who return year after year. The story follows how family debts, grief, and unspoken rules can echo across time.
Jennifer Sklias-Gahan writes in a lyrical, rhythmic style, almost as if telling a cautionary story aloud by firelight. The pacing is swift yet dreamlike, unfolding in recurring patterns that mirror the strange visitors' annual return. The author uses vivid fairy-tale imagery, such as winter winds, golden-sealed jars, and birdlike transformations, to create an eerie, hypnotic atmosphere. The language is simple on the surface, yet has a haunting weight through repetition and ritual. Readers who enjoy folklore-inspired stories, symbolic horror, and modern myths about what we allow into our lives will find The House in the Middle of the Street especially compelling, particularly for its sense of warning and its lingering moral about being careful who you invite inside. The story is similar to the works of Shirley Jackson, known for her dark, psychological, and haunting tales.
