#Spooktober ‘The Last House On Needless Street’ by Catriona Ward

About the book…

This is the story of a serial killer. A stolen child. Revenge. Death. And an ordinary house at the end of an ordinary street.

All these things are true. And yet they are all lies…

You think you know what’s inside the last house on Needless Street. You think you’ve read this story before. That’s where you’re wrong.

In the dark forest at the end of Needless Street, lies something buried. But it’s not what you think…

To illustrate how much I love ‘The Last House On Needless Street’, I have 4 copies of it. Viper Books kindly gifted me a signed proof, I had a hardcover from my Abominable Book Club which I gave to my friend, because she really needed to read it, I was gifted a finished copy of the paperback, and then got the Richard And Judy Book Club paperback (it was half price, you cannot go wrong!) as it had extra bits in it.

It is a horror story for those who think they don’t like horror, a mystery and a thriller which will please the most hardened fan of these genres, and a love story which is unlike anything you have ever read. Trust me on this. I have been a big fan of her writing for some time and honestly, she is an incredibly fine writer who transcends genres and classification, she writes damn good books. In a time where gimmicks and hooks seem to be king , plot is often overlooked but in this readers humble opinion, without a plot, you cannot hope to support a burgeoning narrative, nor begin to care about the characters.

I am going to try my absolute best not to write about spoilers, which is tremendously hard if you have not read the book. Suffice it to say, that this would be the book I would recommend readers picking up if they were to buy one book this month. It is that good.

Still with me?

Here we go.

It begins with an introduction, of sorts, to Ted Bannerman, who strikes you as not altogether in the moment-he even confesses to mixing up past and present-and his memories which are linked to the disappearance of The Little Girl With Popsicle.

He and his family were at the lake, which is close to Needless Street when the girl disappeared, and 11 years later, has yet to be found.

”The young feel pain intensely, I think,because they don’t know yet how deep it can go.”

We are introduced to his daughter, Lauren, with whom he has a fractious relationship, and who he seems to share childcare with, although the mother and he have no ongoing relationship, Lauren is there, and then she isn’t, it seems his relationship only exists, and he starts to live, when she walks through the door. When she is not there, and he visits what we readers presume is psychiatrist/therapist, who he calls ‘the bug man’, he secretly asks for help with Lauren under multiple guises as he is scared she will be taken away.

”Accidents happen in our house.”

The third resident of the last but one house on Needless Street, is the smart, Bible reading cat Olivia, who has a torturous crush on a female tabby cat who pops in and out of the garden, at a pretty regular time.

And there we have our trio, who exist within the sphere of this house, which is closed and unwelcoming (deliberately) to the outside world. It is clear that Ted is a bit off kilter with the outside world, and quite scared of it, which seems to go back in time to that little girl going missing-if it can happen to her, it can happen to anyone.

The house appears emblematic of Ted’s personality-he keeps his treasures (Olivia, Lauren, a musical box, a picture of his parents, a Russian doll) inside, locked away from the outside world. In this place, Ted can control what he sees when he looks out, ad can keep those he loves safe. It discourages visitors, prying eyes, and suspicion, to Ted’s mind, however, from the outside, it is an overgrown, under loved house with boarded up windows.

”I judge people two ways-on how they treat animals, and what they like to eat. If their favourite food is some kind of salad, they are definitely a bad person. Anything with cheese,they are probably ok.”

This fragile equilibrium is maintained y routines that are gone through on a daily basis, without any unpleasant surprises. Until, the only house which is more dilapidated than his, the last house on Needless Street, becomes occupied.

Dee, the older sister of Lauren whose life has been in limbo since she disappeared, has dedicated her life to tracking down any and every person on the beach, by the lake , where Lauren disappeared. This has brought her to a faded photo of Ted, who could very well hold the key to what happened that fateful day.

Even more run down than Ted’s house, we are introduced to Dee as she pulls off the wood which covers the windows, she is pulling the house down, inviting eyes inside, under the guise of being new and friendly. But she wants to move on, and she cannot until she lays her ghosts to rest.

What happens when Dee and Ted meet is for you, the reader, to experience as I do not want to spoil it for you.

It is a complex narrative with 4 distinct voices-Ted, Olivia, Lauren and Dee- which borders magical realism in the way that the very human interactions are contrasted with the way that Catriona explores the natural world. The verdant nature of the woods nearby, the bone white birches which form a skeletal canopy, the stillness of the lake versus the feeling of sand, these are things which can be moved, dug up, and hidden within. What looks like a relatively calm and soothing lake, could be a cover for a hidden danger that has teeth, and is not scared to bite.

What I saw was tiredness, a woman who wanted peace through resolution and revenge, and a man who wanted to live a life that he was too scared of. Both had spent their lives trying to keep danger at bay, in the respect of fear of the unknown, fear of being dislocated, taken away and finally, seen.

It is a gripping psychological horror with a massive heart, it will take you to pieces and put you back together again so that you can say ‘Read this book. Please, read this book.’

And then you will want to start it all over again….

*I don’t know if it is deliberate, because I have been reading so much Stephen King lately, but page 128 nods to ‘Full Dark, No Stars’ *

About the author…

Catriona Ward was born in Washington DC and grew up in the US, Kenya, Madagascar, Yemen and Morocco. She studied English at St Edmund Hall, Oxford followed by the UEA Masters in Creative Writing.