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August 14, 2010

Book Review: The Uninvited: The True Story of the Union Screaming House by Steven A. LaChance

by Hollis Jay


Throughout The Uninvited: The True Story of the Union Screaming House, I kept wondering when the book that was thinking about burning in my backyard was going to become scary. Yes, Steven A. LaChance is a new author to the field and yes, he is writing a novel based on supposedly real life events. But, his work is dull and dry. It does not speak of true life or of the experiences brought on a haunted house. All in all, it lacks in the element of entertainment and realism. It's almost as if LaChance doesn't know where to begin and where to end. I wonder if he ever sat down and wrote out an outline for his novel.



The escapades that he attempts to take aren't even enough to create an unsettled environment. One never looks behind them while reading his book nor do we keep the lights on in order to feel safe. This is truly a horror novel that has omitted all horror and suspense. The gravity of this novel centers on his family, but we are not even brought into the mundane world of reality. Somehow, he settles into a niche of the commonplace and remains there. There is no decent into terror. No unsettling reality where they realize that they are not alone in their home. It just happens, as an everyday occurrence would in an everyday home. I wish that I hadn't spent my well earned money on this book. I was drawn into the hype of a good cover, and a well written explanation of the plot. If anything this book taught me how not to write my own stories, and for that I am grateful.




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