Through the midnight door
Description
"This novel is as chilling as it is poignant. My advice? Read it with the lights on." — Megan Collins, author of The Family Plot
Three sisters. Three keys. Three unspeakable horrors.
The Finch sisters once spent long, hot summers exploring the dozens of abandoned properties littering their dying town—until they found an impossible home with an endless hall of doors…and three keys left waiting for them. Curious, fearless, they stepped inside their chosen rooms, and experienced horrors they never dared speak of again.
Now, years later, youngest sister Claire has been discovered dead in that old, desiccated house. Haunted by their sister's suicide and the memories of a past they've struggled to forget, Meg and Esther find themselves at bitter odds. As they navigate the tensions of their brittle relationship, they draw unsettling lines between Claire's death, their own haunted memories, and a long-ago loss no one in their family has ever been able to face. With the house once again pulling them ever-closer, Meg and Esther must find the connection between their sister's death and the shadow that has chased them across the years…before the darkness claims them, too.
As emotional as it is haunting, Through the Midnight Door explores the sometimes-fragile bonds of sisterhood and the way deeply rooted trauma can pass from generation to generation.
"A gorgeously realized, deeply affecting horror story about sisterhood, secrets, and all the things that can haunt someone."— Layne Fargo, author of They Never Learn
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Published Reviews
Publisher's Weekly Review
Owing a debt to The Haunting of Hill House, this chilling horror novel from Monroe (Graveyard of Lost Children) examines the complexities of sisterhood and intergenerational trauma. Growing up in Blacklick, Ill., the three curious Finch sisters are inseparable. One hot summer day, the trio are led by a boy to an abandoned house with a hallway of strange doors. Each sister chooses a door to walk through and experiences an unspeakable terror that they keep to themselves. Years of estrangement later, youngest sister Claire dies apparently by suicide and her body is discovered inside the house, leading elder sisters Meg and Esther to attempt to repair their strained relationship while investigating Claire's death. The sisters learn the importance of forgiveness as they confront their devastating shared memories and the decades-old darkness haunting the Finch family. Monroe's prose is layered with gothic dread as she toggles between each sister's point of view, but the pace occasionally flags and the true scares crest too early, coming long before the underwhelming final reveal. Still, the characters are well shaded and the atmospheric elements are eerie. Monroe's traditional take on the haunted house tale will please readers who like their horror grounded in real emotions. Agent: Joanna MacKenzie, Nelson Literary. (Aug.)
Publishers Weekly Reviews
Owing a debt to The Haunting of Hill House, this chilling horror novel from Monroe (Graveyard of Lost Children) examines the complexities of sisterhood and intergenerational trauma. Growing up in Blacklick, Ill., the three curious Finch sisters are inseparable. One hot summer day, the trio are led by a boy to an abandoned house with a hallway of strange doors. Each sister chooses a door to walk through and experiences an unspeakable terror that they keep to themselves. Years of estrangement later, youngest sister Claire dies apparently by suicide and her body is discovered inside the house, leading elder sisters Meg and Esther to attempt to repair their strained relationship while investigating Claire's death. The sisters learn the importance of forgiveness as they confront their devastating shared memories and the decades-old darkness haunting the Finch family. Monroe's prose is layered with gothic dread as she toggles between each sister's point of view, but the pace occasionally flags and the true scares crest too early, coming long before the underwhelming final reveal. Still, the characters are well shaded and the atmospheric elements are eerie. Monroe's traditional take on the haunted house tale will please readers who like their horror grounded in real emotions. Agent: Joanna MacKenzie, Nelson Literary. (Aug.)
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