Audrey’s Door, by Sarah Langan, is the sort of haunted house tale that is truly a
hallmark of the new gothic: a 1700s mystery with a 21st Century sensibility. Audrey Lucas is a
powerful and memorable main character. Langan’s gritty, realistic take on the construct of a
house paralleling that of the construct of one’s mind presents a challenging, yet entertaining
story.
When Audrey seeks out the most unlikely of places to live, a nearly condemned residence in
New York, the reader is immediately aware that she is not your typical heroine. Her new home,
The Breviary, is the last of the Chaotic Naturalist style of homes, with uneven floors and walls
that do not meet at right angles. People had died in these types of homes, but for Audrey, a
brilliant architect, this was intriguing. Her enthusiasm is tempered, however, by the fact that
a family died in her house, and not as a result of the poor construction of the home.
Child of a demented mother and from a rural background, Audrey is determined to make a life
for herself in New York City. She is haunted by dark visions and a strange command to build a
door. Is she succumbing to her mother’s madness, or to something supernatural?
Langan’s writing is intelligent and atmospheric, very much in the tradition of Stephen King.
Readers will be entranced by the sophisticated prose and genuinely surprised by unexpected
twists. Langan is a major new talent in the horror genre.