A review by yvo_about_books
The Haunting on West 10th Street by Helen Phifer

3.0

 Finished reading: October 17th 2023


"For the first time in her life, Maria felt the realization come crashing down on her that she was wrong. There were things in existence that couldn't be explained."

*** A copy of this book was kindly provided to me by Netgalley and Storm Publishing in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! ***

I've enjoyed Helen Phifer's writing in the past, so I couldn't resist adding this reprint of the first book of a paranormal thriller series to my TBR. The blurb sounded like it was going to be perfect for spooky season, and I've been looking forward to dive in... I'm not sure if it was the reading slump talking, but unfortunately I did end up having mixed thoughts instead. I'm not saying it's a bad read, but some elements worked better for me than others.

I can't deny that I still love the premise of The Haunting On West 10th Street. The brutal murders, the satanic ritual, the house with a bad vibe... It all has so much potential, and the paranormal horror element is most definitely very much present in this book. Things can get pretty graphic, and the descriptions of both the house and the horrors inside were well done and really set the right atmosphere. The dual timeline helped add more suspense and tension as well, as you slowly learned more about what happened in 1952 that seemed to have started it all. For that reason alone I could appreciate both timelines almost equally, which doesn't happen often.

BUT. And here is where it mainly went wrong for me with this story. Sadly, there is a lot of focus on the romance in the plot, and we have to contend with not only TWO love triangles but also a cheating element. To say that I strongly dislike both tropes is an understatement, and their appearance really put a damper on things. I personally feel this story would have worked so much better without the romance; I felt like it undermined the impact of the rest of the story. A strictly friendly banter between Maria and her partner would have added so much more than the whole pining vibe.

I also can't say that I was a fan of the main characters in general. There was just something about Maria that made it quite hard to warm up to her, and I felt like her character lacked fleshing out. The same goes for the rest of the characters for that matter; there were a lot of cliches involved and not enough dept in general. It's a shame, because as a result I didn't really care too much about what happened to them, and I wasn't as invested in the outcome as expected.

In short, there were things I enjoyed in The Haunting On West 10th Street, but there were also elements that made it harder to properly enjoy this paranormal thriller. The romance kind of spoiled things for me, and the pace itself wasn't as fast as expected. The paranormal horror element was well developed, but as a whole I don't think I will be continuing this series. 
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