I read this book when I was a kid. It scared the crap out of me and I recall not sleeping for about a week because the thought of ghosts in an old dollhouse creeped me out. Also, in my mind, it was similar to the dollhouse we get in “A Nightmare on Elm Street” and I had already had several nightmares about, one two, Freddy coming for you that terrified me right before sleep. FYI, my mom almost divorced my dad over letting us watch that and the Friday the 13th movies when she wasn’t around. Back to the book. As an adult, this wasn’t scary, and of course I saw too many plot holes, but this was honestly perfect for me as a kid and though it is a way outdated, I think kids today would still enjoy this one. The version I bought comes with a foreword by R.L. Stine that I thought was just perfect by the way.
“The Dollhouse Murders” follows pre-teen Amy. Amy is frustrated with not being able to separate from her sister Louann. Amy wants to have a best friend she’s worried that Louann will mess things up. With Amy’s mother insistence she include Louann in everything, they have a huge fight with Amy going to her Aunt Claire. Aunt Claire has come back from Chicago and is in charge of getting Amy’s great grandparents home ready to sell. Aunt Claire sees that Amy needs some alone time from her mom and Louann and suggest Amy stay with her for at least a week. Amy’s parents reluctantly agree and Amy is initially happy until she starts to wonder about noises at night, and a dollhouse her aunt shows her that is a replica of the house they are living in. Something appears to be moving the dolls.
Amy is perfectly depicted in this one. We all remember being mad at our mom’s and their insistence our little brothers/sisters be included. What adds a wrinkle to this one is that Louann has brain damage and we are shown scenes with her getting upset, unable to be left alone, and Amy’s mother’s insistence she watch her at all times. I get why Amy wanted to leave and honestly applauded the character of Aunt Claire for calling her out on her crap (the mom).
The biggest thing though for me is that the kids are developed well, and even Aunt Claire. But the parents are really not. I kept forgetting Amy had a dad at one point though the character is shown having a spine here and there against his wife.
The flow of the book was up and down though since we would get to a scene, the chapter would end, and then the next chapter continued that same scene. It would make zero sense to me how BRW was breaking up the story.
The setting of the house/country, and the dollhouse were very creepy though. It didn’t bother me as an adult, but as a kid, the scenes we got with the dolls kept making me freak out.
The ending/reveal though felt a little bit let down. And only because it felt like there should have been more there.
I read this for Halloween Bingo 2025, “Horrid Houses.”
