Twelve Nights at Rotter House by J. W. Ocker
It is hard to be sure what makes a good haunted house novel. One would think that by now I have read enough of them to know. Sadly, that is not yet the case. I am still working on it. But whatever the formula is, this book has it. Somewhere between the relatable protagonist, the intriguing story, and the twist ending - this book delivered.
It starts off with a color-by-the-numbers plot device for haunted house tales. The story follows Felix Allsey, a travel writer who specializes in haunted houses. Although he already has a few books under his belt, he is almost entirely ignored as a writer. He is hungry for his breakthrough. When the owner of the notorious Rotterdam House agrees to let him stay there for twelve nights, Felix is pretty sure he’s struck gold. He is later joined by his best friend Thomas and, not surprisingly, that’s when the paranormal shenanigans ensue.
This and some of the other overblow plot devices are saved from banality, however. Felix, who narrates the story, is a cynical, non believing, horror geek. So, whenever you’re tempted to groan at an overused cliché, Felix is right there with you, pointing it out, owning it, and - as it turns out - setting you up to get hit stronger when Ocker inverts more than a few of the tropes.
It has always been a pet peeve of mine that the characters in horror stories never seem to have seen a horror flick or read a scary book in their whole lives. Felix and Thomas are both big fans of the genre, however, and are just as bewildered by their circumstance as any genre fan would be. This allows the story to get meta on more than a few occasions, pulling the haunted house genre apart and offering more insight on this sort of tale than you typically find.
I think what really worked best for me was the style of writing and the protagonist. Some seasoned horror readers may find the “mystery“ of the house and the “spooks” a little on the anemic side for the first two thirds of the book. They get better as the novel goes on. I am a little unsure abut the twist ending. Personally, I saw it coming from a mile away. However, not everyone has read as many haunted house novels as me. Also, and this may also just be me, seeing a twist ending coming has never really kept me from enjoying a book if it is still fun getting to the end. I think Rotter House keeps the quality of the writing and characters high enough that you’ll still have fun, whether or not you see that ending coming.
I recommend this book for all horror lovers. The story does about as much as anybody can to shake up the normal, tired haunted house tropes. I enjoyed the ways in which the book directly addressed haunted house archetypes and tropes. The writing is strong. The characters are fun. And best of all, while I read it, it was hard to sleep.
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