A book a day: David Mitchell: The House in the Alley

Original language: English

Original title: Slade House

Year of publication: 2015

Translation: Laura Salas Rodríguez

Valuation: Alright

A great classic of horror narrative is the resource of haunted houses, which we can find for all tastes, from the classic and well-known The Haunting of Hill House to more recent examples, such as the one that appears in Woodworm or, curling the ironic loop, that of How to sell a haunted house by Grady Hendrix. In The house in the alley We also found one, Slade House, located, what a surprise, in the elusive Slade Alley, an alley in the suburbs of London or some nearby town. A haunted house inhabited by ghosts? Vampires? Witches? Well, let’s say all of that at once and none of those things… In fact, we can’t even say that Slade House is a haunted house. in the strict sensebut rather it would be a house? Space? Entity? that offers to those who venture behind its walls what they are most longing for, whether it is a somewhat strange and lonely child, a policeman shouting the Virgin, a young woman self-conscious about her weight or another who is looking for her missing sister. All of them, and some other characters, are entangled in a convoluted plot that spans different moments in time, which in turn occupy different chapters.

A novel, then, with a great fantastic component, perhaps more than pure and simple horror, although it can provide us with the occasional quite disturbing moment. The final explanation of what underpins the entire plot seems, however, too wordy and, therefore, unsatisfactory, since I have always considered that in this genre it is convenient to maintain the mystery as much as possible and leave some room for the suggestion and imagination of the reader. It is true that this short novel is, apparently, related to another much longer one by the same author, bone watches and perhaps (since I have not read it) I wanted to make an epilogue here for it – or for both -; In any case, just as there are very interesting and suggestive details, I think there are other elements that work against the effect that is intended to be achieved. For example, the dynamic between a certain pair of twins, who are reminiscent of Team Rocket from the Pokémon cartoons…

In summary and conclusion: we are faced with a fantastic or “soft” horror novel that, due to the characteristics of its plot and style – more than correct, but without many complications – I think it can be especially liked by younger readers ( those they now call “young adults”) or anyone who likes to have a fun time and a little scared, but not too much. Addicted to the strongest emotions, it is better to abstain.

Other David Mitchell titles reviewed in A Book A Day: Black Swam Green, Ghost Writings, Cloud Atlas