The Other House

One Christmas Wish. One Deadly Nightmare.

Five years after a tragic Christmas Eve accident claimed her entire family, Maggie Whitaker is still struggling with grief and survivor’s guilt. Alone in her childhood home with only her loyal golden retriever, Ryder, she longs for one more Christmas with the people she lost.

When the house across the street mysteriously transforms into a replica of her childhood home, Maggie sees her deceased parents and siblings waving from the window. But what appears to be a Christmas miracle quickly becomes a terrifying trap. Her family isn't what it seems, the house won't let her leave, and something evil is determined to keep her there.

Trapped in a twisted Christmas nightmare, Maggie must confront monstrous versions of her loved ones and the guilt that has consumed her for years. To survive, she'll have to do the unthinkable: destroy the family she desperately wished to see again.

Discover a chilling Christmas horror story about grief, survival, and the terrifying price of getting exactly what you wish for.

Excerpt from the book

On Christmas Eve, Maggie Whitaker huddled on the couch with her dog, Ryder as the opening credits rolled for the old black-and-white version of A Christmas Carol. Wind whistled through the cracks in the old windows, but the logs burning in the fireplace chased away the chill.

Her childhood home held many good memories, overshadowed by the worst day of her life. Five years ago, her parents and both of her siblings were killed in a tragic accident on the way to midnight mass. The family minivan had skidded on a patch of ice, plummeting off a bridge into the frigid river below.

Maggie hadn’t gone with them as planned. She’d come down with a bad case of the flu that ended up saving her life. On her darkest days, the guilt of surviving made it difficult to get out of bed. She coped by working from home and setting her own deadlines. The quality of her marketing analytics and advertising campaigns kept her clients happy and the bills paid.

She’d budgeted and worked hard to hang onto this house and finish school. Selling and buying something smaller, or renting an apartment, would have made her life easier, but she couldn’t do it. She couldn’t face packing away her family’s stuff. She went in their rooms to keep the dust bunnies under control but didn’t move anything. Erika’s collection of teddy bears sat on her made bed, and her mother’s partially read Christmas romance novel still sat on the end table in the master bedroom.

“You would’ve loved them. I wish we could spend one more Christmas together as a family.” Maggie stroked the soft fur on Ryder’s stomach. “I’m so glad I found you. I don’t know what I’d do without my special boy.”

The golden retriever stared at her with the same patient and non-judgmental brown eyes Maggie had lost herself in at the pet adoption event. Without pausing to consider the extra responsibility she’d be taking on, she’d signed the paperwork and had brought him home. Ryder proceeded to shed on everything she owned, took over half of the bed, and stole her heart. During her worst days, he gave her a reason to get out of bed in the morning.

Trying to shake off the bittersweet memories haunting her, Maggie shifted her gaze to the snowstorm outside her window and the neighbors’ houses across the street. The lights hanging on the edges of the roofs and blow-up decorations on frozen lawns contrasted against the soft white background.

Earlier in the day, Maggie tried to combat her depression by decorating the house. She turned on the exterior lights she hadn’t bothered to take down, then dragged her father’s nativity scene out of the garage and onto the snow-covered lawn.