This book was a fun middle grade read that I liked a fair bit. The themes of friendship is very strong in this one and the concept of the monster was so interesting and unique! I went into this thinking that this will be entirely about the ghosts. But let us be frank, its a twist that was done done very well. I loved how Hazel, the ghost lady in the story, has the reputation of not liking children when the truth is quite sadder. The ghosts were full characters of their own with really emotional arcs. The best part were the cat and the dog though. Tansy and Petey deserve all the love.

I though this was a fun, fast book about a boy who is determined to save his new neighbors from whatever is haunting the house next door. I loved the boy’s creative intensity when figuring out what could work to keep the creatures from stealing away the five-year-old sister. It also has great food, a cool and dog, and a wonderful Halmeoni.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for this DRC.
#TheHouseNextDoor #NetGalley

This was pretty bizarre, and not in a fun way. The writing was messy, the dialogue choppy, and many of the interactions between Rory and Jack just felt... inorganic. Also, for a haunted house story, this wasn't very scary. Gross, yes, but not scary. I liked the descriptions of the food better than anything else.

Creepy and gross but not very scary. I’d hand this to my more timid younger middle schoolers who was a good spook with lots of heart and humor. Definitely a fun quick read.

A good mystery and light horror book for early middle grade readers. The plot did drag on around 60% of the book so the ending felt a little rushed.

I enjoyed Ellen Oh’s Spirit Hunter series, so I was super excited to read her latest spooky middle grade book. Although this wasn’t my favorite book by this author, I still thought this was a lot of fun. It had ghosts, a creepy house, and scary little monsters.

This was a quick and short read. The action seemed to happen very fast, and some parts felt rushed to me. I didn’t feel like there was enough time to get to know the characters before all the crazy monster action happened.

I did like the moments with the ghost and the little monsters. I think some parts of this will scare younger middle grade readers.

I do like Oh’s writing and I look forward to her next middle grade book.

I’d recommend this book to middle grade readers and lovers of spooky middle grade.

3.5⭐️

I really enjoyed this story. I love the spooky vibes and the legends of the tooth fairy and bone fae. Loved the way it talks about different cultures, wish there was a glossary though to help better understand the things talked about. And I wish we could have seen the boys tell the adults that the lady next door wasn't mean. My son really likes the story as well he is 10.

I LOVED The House Next Door. Books for kids are really bringing it in the horror space and I had so much fun reading the descriptions of the Korean and Japanese dishes.

Rory is stressed out because he's seen how horrible the house next door is. After seeing multiple people move out, including his friend who ended up in the hospital twice due to some creepy creatures in the house, he's super worried about his new friends Jack and Jack's younger sister Mira.

THND was a very quick and fun read without being TOO scary but still pretty creepy and gross, especially when the creatures are taken out. I liked the reveal of who the creatures were because it wasn't what I expected. Kids who like some horror and mysteries will definitely like this!

I loved the Korean and Japanese cultural elements in this — I’m always here for stories that let me learn more about different cultures.
What I didn’t love? The messiness. The dialogue often felt like the characters were performing for the reader instead of actually talking to each other — like they were in a play and needed the audience to catch up. It pulled me out of the story more than once. The core idea was solid and had real potential, but it just didn’t fully come together for me.

I absolutely love, love, love Ellen Oh. Positives of this book are the length (young people will pick it up and read it), the type of haunting (just enough for young people), and the believability of the characters. The tone seemed flat throughout and very straightforward. While the plot asked for scariness, the delivery did not add the necessary tension.

I had so much fun with this haunted house story with a really cool twist. I love how the author brings in both Japanese and Korean culture into this middle grade winner, and the main creatures are creepy and cool and the ingenuity of the kids will make readers cheer. It is a very quick story that will keep younger readers engaged to the very end. The final third is absolutely action packed and so much fun.

This short story was cute, fast paced, and reminded me of a campfire story told amongst a group of friends. This told the story of two neighbors, and the haunted house between them. while one boy is trying to help a brother and sister next door who happen to have creatures that dwell in their basement. There's quite a bit of build up, but in that time we get to know the characters. There's a big family component, with lots of love for family members and animals. There was a big emphasis on food and cooking together. I found all this cute and endearing. The story tied up neatly in a bow, it was a fun read, overall.

A fun , age appropriate scary story. I enjoyed the story overall but it felt rushed at times, and at others it felt like something was missing. The content itself is age appropriate while still being scary and fun for young readers.

While I liked the idea of this story, I did not enjoy the writing in the book.

It feels like we are just dropped into the scenes that are needed to tell the story rather than ushered in with additional details. It made for a very choppy reading experience. The dialogue was a very similar feel, like the characters were saying what needed to be said to give the information needed in the scenes rather than conversations feeling organic.

Honestly, a highly shortened version would make a great spooky ghost story to tell around a campfire, but I didn’t enjoy it as a book.

I did, however, enjoy getting to learn about Korean and Japanese cultures, especially through the delicious foods they ate in the book.

Thank you HarperCollins Children’s Books and NetGalley for an advance copy of this middle grade novel!

Fun fast read for upper elementary and middle school aged kids. This spooky story gives a twist on a special mythical figure and legend. There are ghosts, but there's also good humor for the kids to lighten some rather scary moments. I enjoyed the Korean and Japanese food dishes described too!!

I want to start off saying that I love middle grade and I read it often. Middle Grade can be scarier than adult fiction. This was awful, I hated every second of it