Reviewed by Ayrial King for Readers' Favorite

In The Room at the End of the Hall by Lori R. Lopez, the occupants of a decaying mansion, though many, live cut off from any living creature in what could have been a vast estate if it were not so run down. The family that lives here seems to have little, if any, love holding them together: eight children plus their parents, grandparents, and twin aunt and uncle. The tale of this family and this house is told by the oldest child Gemma Garand, a teenager who raised her siblings under the tyranny of her hateful aunt and uncle. She recounts how she and her siblings grew up relying on each other, highlighted by the room none of them are allowed to enter behind a blue door, locked with a special key. They plot to run away one night, but Gemma is forced through the forbidden door to protect them. What she sees in the room changes and scars her in ways she could never tell another until she can put it all behind her, locked away with her family key.

Lori R. Lopez puts the chill in chilling when writing The Room at the End of the Hall, a room that none but two, maybe three, in the entire household has entered and left alive. Entering The Room at the End of the Hall can be easier than leaving if the author deems the reader worthy of carrying its legacy. The verbosity Gemma uses throughout could be off-putting at first, especially for a teenager, but simpler words cannot adequately describe the isolation and imposing threat of the Garand Mansion. Lopez skilfully weaves how the adults around Gemma influence everything within the house and how her very presence could foil all that they have built. This is the perfect story to read to usher in the spooky season.