Book of the month: House of Hollow-ween

Written by Brooke Forgette

With the colder weather and falling leaves, everyone rushes to watch every Halloween or horror-themed movie to get into the spooky, Halloween spirit. The rom-coms get pushed to the back of the closet, while scary movies get their chance to shine. Why can’t the same go for books? 

It can! And I have the perfect option for this spooky season. So, put Colleen Hoover back on the shelf. Forget stupid romance. Let’s get spooky. 

Three words. House. Of. Hollow. House of Hollow by Krystal Sutherland is one of my favorite books right now. I read it over the summer, and I wish I could read it for the first time around Halloween.

This novel sent chills down my spine on multiple occasions while reading it. Each chapter ends with a cliffhanger, leaving me begging for more. It is a book that you just can’t put down once you pick it up. 

I bought this book from a bookstore in South Jersey because an employee had written a review underneath simply stating that the book changed their life. I’m not sure I would go with such a bold statement, but their statement and description justified spending more money on yet another book. 

I’m going to do my best to not entirely spoil this for those of you that feel so moved to read HOH. 

It starts with the narrator, Iris, going through her morning routine, including her run around town and a phone call from one of her sisters, Vivi. Vivi announces that she is in town for a gig, and their older sister, Grey, is supposedly also in town. Vivi pleads to Iris to skip school and hang out with her during the day. They bicker and eventually hang up. After hanging up, Iris spots a dark, mysterious figure ahead of her in her path, instantly introducing one overarching mystery of this novel. 

Now, I figure this is a good spot to mention the circumstances of these sisters’ lives. When they were young children, they disappeared suddenly off a Scottish street with their parents right next to them! Exactly one month after their disappearance, they reappeared at the same exact spot they went missing from, but they were significantly different. 

The girls were found completely naked on the street! They also now had white hair and completely black eyes with no memory of what had happened the month prior. The sisters also developed a strong bond and power towards each other, so they can always ‘sense’ each others’ presence. So, naturally the sisters and their parents are very over-protective and wary of their surroundings. 

To heighten the suspense, the oldest sister, Grey, never shows up to Vivi’s gig, raising suspicions and causing the other two sisters to search for her. While looking for Grey, Iris continuously sees the dark figure from the first chapter. The girls also find out that Grey goes missing like this all the time, and then turns up out of nowhere completely fine. So, where does Grey go? 

I’m not going to tell you, obviously. 

That’s about all I can justify sharing without completely spoiling the book. But, if you’re looking for a quick, easy, and entertaining book for this spooky season, HOH will not disappoint! My minor summary of it doesn’t do it justice. I mean, don’t you want to know where Grey goes? Or what happened to the sisters when they were younger? Or who the figure is? Where’s your curiosity? Where’s your spooky spirit? ☾