Sarah Langan's Audrey's Door is a creepy and tragic story that definitely flies its novel and movie references. Langan acknowledges those inspirations--Jackson's Hill House, Polanski's movies, Rosemary's Baby, among others--which got me excited. She did not disappoint.
The titular character, Audrey, is a struggling young but talented architect with a bit of an OCD compulsion. She and her boyfriend have just broken up, and she needs to find a place to live. As anyone knows, New York City is very expensive, but she finds an impossibly affordable 2 bedroom rental in a historic pre-war building on the Upper West Side. As an ex-New Yorker who only managed to afford rents in Brooklyn, I, too, drooled at the description. Audrey immediately recognizes the infamous Chaotic Naturalist design of this building called The Breviary, and can't believe her fortune.
As the old saying goes, you get what you pay for. The incredible low rent (for this type of space and in that neighborhood) is a lure by the occupants of the building. Decrepit descendants of the original tenants, the elderly inhabitants have a plan for poor Audrey. They want her to build a door. The others who were lured into this scheme have failed: Audrey's apartment's former occupant wasn't strong enough to build it--that woman murdered her four young children before taking her own life. Another young single woman was sacrificed as an aid to opening the door. And the door Audrey eventually builds--despite her resistance--is a portal to a terrible dark place.
This is another haunted "house" novel, and like all satisfying stories, is more than just about the creaks and looming disaster. We find out how Audrey's particular sensitivities and personal childhood tragedies have shaped her and made her nearly the perfect builder for the malevolent Breviary. We read about Audrey'd boyfriend, who tries his best with Audrey even through his own stumbling messes. The tenants of the Breviary are both pitiful and terrible.
Langan's two previous titles, The Keeper and The Missing are also well worth reading, but I really enjoyed Audrey's Door more. Maybe it's because the story is more intimate; I felt sorry for Audrey while hoping she gets help--mentally and physically. I wanted her to survive, and was very satisfied with the ending. A definite recommendation for this Halloween season.
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