We all walk a fine line between caution and paranoia. It’s always hard to guess if the person walking behind you on a dark street is following you or just happens to be going the same way that you are going. It’s difficult to determine if the salesperson who knocks on your door is selling something or has more sinister intentions up their sleeve. When we’ve been warned but choose to ignore those warnings, then the decisions we make are specifically on us.
The House in the Middle of the Street by Jennifer Sklias-Gahan, is a short story that serves as an old-fashioned cautionary tale that reminds us to listen to these red flags. Not only can these decisions affect our lives but the lives of the generations that come after us.
The House in the Middle of the Street plot summary
When Rebecca Boread and her husband inherit an ominous home from Rebecca’s Aunt Minerva, who died in the home one New Year’s Eve, they are left with instructions for the keeper of the house. Ignoring those instructions, the two settle in and await the birth of their daughter while the home’s caretakers, Nestor and Agatha, stay on to keep up the house.
On New Year’s Eve, after the birth of their daughter, Rebecca decides to bake some fresh bread. The smell of the bread attracts two children, a girl named Happy and a boy named Virgil, to the home. They knock on the door and ask for a slice of bread. As if in a trance, Rebecca invites them in as her husband looks on disapprovingly. What follows sets off a chain of events that follows a long line of horrific incidents that have taken place in the home, all because someone allowed these two children to step foot inside.
The characters
This story is more plot-driven than character driven. And our players are pretty much stock characters who act as chess pieces in this morality tale. Rebbeca’s husband isn’t even named. Her Aunt Minerva has an interesting backstory, but she feels more like a legend than a person. The caretakers, Nestor and Agatha, and their daughter, Eleanor, are the wise yet powerless servants who become mere victims in the story.
The mysterious children have the most personality with their eerie noises and cryptic requests. They are the ringleaders of this story and contribute to the fantastical and horrific elements.
The message
The House in the Middle of the Street is a dark, ghostly tale that contains a mixture of horror, fantasy, and morality to create this sinister story about a haunted house and the years of negative energy that has been collecting inside it and the evil that it attracts. This curse centers on Rebecca’s family as they continue to make the same mistakes and let in the wrong people who then literally peck away at them until there is nothing left.
The non-blood relatives are more suspicious of the two pushy children who arrive at the house every New Year’s Eve. But they are overruled by Rebecca who mindlessly caters to their every request.
We all have those family secrets and horrible stories that we shrug off or sweep under the rug. And Rebecca’s lack of awareness as to who she is letting into her house mirrors our tendency to give the wrong people too much slack. And in doing so, it leads to real consequences that continue to trickle down the family bloodline until one super observant relative is able to learn from the past, recognize the evil for what it is, and come up with a plan to break the curse.
Unique marketing from its author
The House in the Middle of the Street is available both as a print and audiobook. Sklias-Gahan, an established actor, has created a kind of radio play version of her story which is acted out by the author with accompanying special effects. It has a slow, melancholy tone to its narration followed by moments of sheer surprise, adding to the creepiness of this already chilling tale.
Proceeds from the sale of the story will go to CASA-NY, which advocates for children and youth in New York City foster care. So, by reading a story with two villainous children at its center, you’ll be helping actual children in need.
My recommendation
I recommend The House in the Middle of the Street to anyone looking for a quick, spooky read. It’s void of gore or language for those who aren’t looking for anything gruesome or obscene but rather an old-fashioned ghost story with a universal message and all of the makings of a traditionally scary tale.
I like how the pacing, particularly the audiobook narration, is slow and descriptive, like an old Victorian gothic tale. But as a modern reader, I would have liked to have had a little more dimension to the characters so that I could better root for them, or in some cases grieve for them. But as it is, it’s an engaging, old-fashioned, spine-tingling story.
My rating
An interview with Jennifer Sklias-Gahan
What are some of your favorite horror stories, or what horror tropes, characters, or creatures most interest you?
I prefer a good old-fashioned Gothic Horror story from Victorian-era novels like Wilkie Collins’ The Woman in White, Edgar Allen Poe’s American Goth classics to more contemporary ones like John Logan’s reimagination of the original gothic characters in his TV series Penny Dreadful. I thought Logan’s gathering of Frankenstein, Dr. Jeckyl and Mr. Hyde, Dorian Grey, etc., sharing the same world in 19th-century London was brilliant!
I am most definitely obsessed with Rod Serling’s TV series from the 50s and 60’s, The Twilight Zone. Every New Year’s Eve, when The SYFY channel has their 24-hour Twilight Zone marathon, my family knows the television is mine. What a visionary Serling was!
Along with being influenced by the dark themes of battle between humanity and unnatural forces of evil that lead the narrative in Gothic horror, I am also inspired by the Greek myths that I grew up with. My uncle first introduced me to Greek myths while we traveled back to our ancestral village in the Spartan mountains of Southern Greece. He always accented the practical lessons within the stories that were magnificently mapped out in the extreme worlds of The Gods and The Humans shared.
When I was about ten, my uncle saw how enchanted I was by his storytelling and gifted me a collection of Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tales. That opened up a special place for me to escape into as a child, a world where good and evil battled it out and amazing possibilities were created.
At that time, my elementary school librarian noticed that I always signed out books in that genre and asked me which story was my favorite. I told her, “The Little Match Girl.” She challenged me to memorize it by week’s end and share it with the grade below me during my recess time. I met the challenge. I so enjoyed being the storyteller and bringing others into a mystical world with me!
That was the moment I knew I wanted to read, write and be part of telling stories in any way I could. It brought me to the most magical and fantastic space on earth.
One message in the story is to read the instructions before agreeing to take something on. What is a time that you forgot to read the instructions and it came back to haunt you?
Often. That’s why I had to write about it! So many times I have complicated life by not seeing what was clearly laid out in front of me. We don’t always have to reinvent the wheel, just take a moment to notice the details.
Do you have a favorite character?
Well, I love a good villain so Happy is a lot of fun, but I’d say my favorite character in “The House in the Middle of the Street” is Minerva…and you will see why as the story continues.
Is there a reason why the house number is 17, or was this just a random number that you chose to help describe the book?
Yes, there is a reason. I’ll leave it at that!
Generational trauma is another theme of the story. Rebecca’s family keeps their family’s baggage in glass jars. What advice do you have for readers who have inherited their family’s glass jars?
That is quite the question; thank you for it. As the story says, “I unsealed all the jars and let what was held in out.” I am Greek, so trust me, there is a fair amount of inherited trauma along with receiving and being part of a deeply meaningful culture.
I think we all come to points in our lives where we see what patterns have been passed down to us, and we get the chance to make our own decisions about where we come from and how much of it really belongs to us in our present-day lives. I had to look at “what those jars were holding and keeping secret.” I saw and acknowledged what those who came before me sacrificed and noticed when the betrayals and harbored resentment became thick blankets of shame that created family patterns that distorted their lives and values, little by little destroying what was really meaningful in life.
I had to decide what I wanted to take with me and what I needed to find a way to leave behind. The arts have gifted me with a way to transform the hurts and the traumas in my life by lifting them into the inspiration of a story, a role, a piece of music, or a poem.
My maternal grandmother came from alcoholic parents, her sister suffered from mental illness, and near the end of her life, she collected empty bottles in an outside room. As my grandmother aged, she could no longer paint the larger canvases, so she began taking empty and painting strong, gorgeous, and delicate flowers on them. The bottles became quite popular in her community, and many people would come to visit her, bringing a bottle for her to paint on for them.
One day I asked her how she first began creating these blooming bottles. She answered me simply, “I will make beautiful what is not because I can.” She taught me what I needed to do in order to heal.
And as my gothic tale suggests, there are simple instructions for the keeper of the house, “Struggle to concentrate,” “Listen to learn,” and “More will be revealed.” And the final moral lies here, “Beware of the Creature of More, and lastly be selected who you invite in.” When someone or something is wrong, tell them clearly to leave!
Why did you choose New Year’s Eve as the day that the children come to visit the house?
New Year’s Eve holds a magical space for expectations of what is to come and what we are leaving behind. So much excitement and sometimes so much fear filled in this time as the changing of the old guard passes to the new one, on the very last day and night of the year.
Do you have plans to adapt this story into another format, such as a film?
This story has its seeds from a feature-length film I am writing. The worlds do overlap, and the story will continue. I would love to create a cinematic version of this tale and am exploring that possibility in a few ways.
How did you get involved in CASA, and do you have any other information to share about the organization in order to further inspire readers to consider purchasing your story in order to support it?
I have had experience with child abuse and neglect in the past and have seen how it ravages and destroys individuals and communities. I think the safety and advocacy of abused children is the most important task there is.
FOR MORE THAN FOUR DECADES, CASA HAS PROVIDED SUBSTANTIVE ADVOCACY FOR ABUSED AND NEGLECTED CHILDREN IN THE FAMILY COURTS THROUGHOUT NEW YORK.
CASA of New York State (CASANYS) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, governed by a board of directors, that provides ongoing development, training, technical assistance and resources to local CASA programs across the state. Currently, there are 15 local CASA programs providing advocacy, support and mentoring services in 27 counties. Last year, over 600 CASA advocate volunteers served 2,565 children in New York and devoted 18,000 hours to children, families, the child welfare systems and family court.
CASA of New York State is a member of the National CASA/GAL Association for Children. There are nearly 1,000 state and local CASA and Guardian Ad Litem (GAL) programs across the United States. To qualify for membership with the National CASA/GAL Association, state and local programs must comply with national program standards including rigorous quality assurance guidelines, must ensure that all volunteers are trained using the national pre-service training curriculum and must adhere to the National CASA Core Model.
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The House In The Middle Of The Street
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A riveting review of this interesting and gripping book! Loved reading the interview as well and learning a bit more about the author and the world’s creation.