Soul Eater by Dana Brookins

Outside the village of Edgar Falls, in the abutting Pellam Woods, a house is being built.  A mansion, really, being assembled piece by piece. A reconstruction at the behest of a person or persons unknown.  Not much happens in Edgar Falls and since the factory, the town’s major employer, is getting close to shutting down, the town’s populace is enjoying the mystery of who is building this mansion. But soon bad things start to happen. Personalities change, horrible house fires kill occupants, and more. Twelve-year-old Bobby Topin senses the house is behind these terrible events and is somehow controlling people to do its bidding.

This book was originally published in 1985 and was reprinted in 2018 as part of an effort to resurrect forgotten horror “classics”. Yes, this is essentially a haunted house story, but unlike any I’ve read before.  While I enjoyed the setup of the story as well as parts of the unfolding plot, I think the novel really ran into trouble by overloading us with way too many characters and their individual subplots.  I really didn’t need to know every single townsperson and what their individual problems and life complications were.  More than once, I lost track of the main plot thread and wondered where the story was going. 

The final chapters brought everything back in line and the final payoff was OK, if a little bit predictable. No attempt was made to reveal the nature of the house and its evil. I had to be content with an “it was just evil” sort of explanation.