The House Next Door
by Ellen Oh
Intermediate, Middle School    Harper/HarperCollins    192 pp.
9/25    9780062875822    $18.99

It’s summer in Bethesda, Maryland, when a Korean American family moves into the long-abandoned house next door. Twelve-year-old Rory Parker knows that lurking behind the doors of the newly renovated home are frightful ghosts and hordes of yellow-eyed, rat-sized monsters creeping around in the dark. Vowing to protect his new neighbors from impending danger, Rory turns to his Japanese grandfather, who advises him on how to use salt, iron, and holy water to ward off yokai: “demons, monsters, supernatural creatures.” As Rory befriends new resident Jack, who believes there’s a scientific answer to everything, and his lively younger sister, Mira, they uncover the truth about the ghosts, learn more about the monsters living beneath the house, and work together to defeat the sinister beings preying on small children for their teeth and bones. Inspired by Oh’s formative experience of watching the horror movie Don’t Be Afraid of the Dark as a child (as an opening note explains), the novel explores themes of friendship, family, trust, and teamwork, with Japanese and Korean cultural elements woven throughout. Suspenseful passages lead to satisfying but not-too-scary monster reveals. With lovable characters uniting to overcome a common enemy, Oh delivers an engaging haunted house story with a heartfelt conclusion.

From the November/December 2025 issue of The Horn Book Magazine.