My Two Cents (Book Review): DO NOT GO IN THAT HOUSE by Ruth Anna Evans

I've had the pleasure of working with Ruth Anna Evans both as an editor on the "PUSH!" anthology, which includes one of my short stories, and a cover artist for my upcoming collection, "Hauntings." Earlier this year, I read her short story "Insurrection" and discovered she's as phenomenal a writer as she is an editor and digital artist, and she proves this yet again with "Do Not Go in That House."

This gripping, twisty, terrifying story introduces readers to a lonely young woman named Maggie, who struggles with bipolar disorder, and dreams of finding viral stardom through her true-crime podcast. While researching a new case to profile on her show, she finds herself unable to afford her medication, and lapses into a manic episode in which she feels compelled to purchase a derelict home that had been the site of a grisly unsolved killing. The victim was a young boy named Ezekiel, and now that she's the house's new owner, Maggie has no choice but to try and find out what happened to him. Her search leads her to Ezekiel's surviving family members, none of whom are eager to talk to her, on the record or otherwise. She also has unexplained, terrifying experiences of her own inside the house, including visions of the dead boy, that leave her questioning her sanity. The truth behind his death, she soon discovers, is more horrific than she could have ever imagined.

At around 130 pages, "Do Not Go in That House" isn't a short story, but it's not quite a novel, either. (Although I have to say in all honestly. I wish it had been, because it's so good, I wanted MORE!)

Evans' pacing hits all the right marks, and once you start reading, it's hard as hell to put down. Maggie is a likable lead, and Evans presents her struggles with mental illness, and especially her own tragic realizations that she's behaving irrationally or suffering delusions, both realistically and with great empathy . The house mirrors her emotional state--broken, abandoned, and in sorry disrepair--as well as her isolation. Her livestreams and messages with online friends are her only semblances of human connection; that being said, one of her online friends seems to genuinely care and worry about Maggie, serving as an emotional anchor even as her mania spirals treacherously out of control.

With "Do Not Go in That House," and "Insurrection," Evans has become an "automatic buy" for me, one of those wonderfully talented authors whose work you can't wait to read. You may not know what dark path she'll lead you down next, but you don't care, because she's just so good, you can sit back and enjoy the ride.

"Do Not Go in That House" is available here.