Book Review: House of Dark Shadows by Robert Liparulo

At first glance, it looks like any other creepy story. Average teenage boy is pulled from the city life that he loves to live in a creepy old house in the country, far away from friends and any kind of fun there may have been. While exploring the creepy old house, he finds some thing that sends him and his family spiraling into an adventure filled with terror. But look a little further into the House of Dark Shadows, and you will find, like the protagonist of this book, that not all is as it seems.

Xander is your average teenage boy who is forced to forsake his passion of short-filmmaking and his friends in the city and move with his family out to Hicksville, USA, otherwise known as Pinedale. But here is where the typical story changes. While Xander is decidedly grumpy about the move, he rarely expresses those feelings aloud, trying to make the best of the move rather than moping about it. The family is very close, and while he has a few typical squabbles with his siblings, they all stick together when it really matters. Far different from many young adult novels today, where family is often seen as a nuisance.

The emphasis on family sticking together despite the circumstances is very refreshing, as are film-buff Xander’s numerous references to films and television both classic and modern. The story is creepy, but not too frightening for the younger teens, and while it is a young adult novel, I as an adult found it well worth the read and will definitely be following the rest of the series. However, from a Christian author and publisher, I was disappointed at the lack of references to faith in the book. Perhaps that will change in Watcher in the Woods.

In the meantime… I’ll be avoiding the basement.