The Dollhouse Murders -- Betty Ren Wright

Two things before the synopsis. First: As a friend pointed out, this is a great example of a cover art created based on the title (and possibly the back cover copy) alone. At no point do the dolls actually carry on a conversation with Amy.

Secondly: What was it about parenting in 1980s children's horror fiction made the adults such jerks? Like the mother in Wait Till Helen Comes, Amy's extremely tightly-wound mom seems to view Amy as a live-in babysitter who is a Horrible Selfish Monster of a Sister if she, God forbid, would like some alone time. Yeesh.¹

After a disastrous trip to the mall with her younger sister and a potential new friend, almost thirteen-year-old Amy gets an expected phone call from said friend:

"My mother's taking my aunt and uncle to visit some friends later this afternoon. I know it'll be too late for a picnic, but maybe you can come over for a couple of hours. We can make brownies or something. If you don't have anything else to do, that is."

Like taking care of Luann. Ellen hadn't said the words, but Amy knew what she meant.

"My mom doesn't usually like me to have friends over when she's out, but she said one friend would be okay," Ellen went on. Another pause. She might as well have said it right out--Retarded sister not wanted. (p28-29)

Luckily for Amy -- who very much needs a break from home -- her aunt is in town preparing Amy's (long deceased) great-grandparents' house for sale, and has invited Amy to come and stay with her for a few days. While Amy is there, she discovers a beautiful dollhouse in the attic -- a replica of the house she's staying in, down to the tiniest detail. But there's something strange and scary about it -- the dolls move around on their own when Amy isn't looking. And then she learns about the unsolved murders that occurred in the house, and wonders if there could be a connection...

Okay, so The Dollhouse Murders is awesome. It's REALLY SCARY! Like, STILL! And it's awesome in other ways as well: Amy's difficulties with and similarities to her mother; her desire for independence and an identity as something other than Luann's older sister; her mixed-up feelings -- from over-protectiveness to frustration and annoyance to grateful affection and love -- for her sister; her father's willingness and ability to look at the family situation and understand Amy's unhappiness without making her into The Bad Guy; Aunt Clare's scary (and borderline certifiable) mood shifts and aggressively accusatory assumptions. Actually, I thought Aunt Clare was easily the scariest part of the book, but I'll chalk that up to my adult's-eye-view of the book. 

Fun stuff, and well worth a re-visit if you haven't read it since fifth grade.

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¹Which leads us to this article (unless it was an April Fools' joke...) and to Liz B.'s response to it. I agree strongly with Colleen in that it seems like the author went simply looking for examples to back up her thesis, rather than exploring the genre to See What She Could See. Now, personally, I'm just looking for good reads, regardless of where they're shelved. (There's the added bonus of always being able to give patrons lots of recommendations, but mostly, I am selfishly motivated.) I want the characters in the books I read to be developed enough that they resemble real people. Obviously, how they're portrayed depends on the voice of the narrator, and that, when done well, can add to the strength of the narrator's voice (I love it when the narrator sees someone very clearly one way, but I, as the reader, can see that person another way -- that was what made Emily's voice in Same Difference so fantastic). Wow. I got off track there.  Anyway. The comments at the NYT article are, for the most part, really uninformed and extremely annoying.

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Book source: Borrowed from a friend.

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Comments

[sassymonkey]

OMG! I remember this book. Now I want it.

[Elizabeth]

This book made me look at my dollhouse in a whole new way. I eventually had my parents move it to the garage.

[Carrie]

Oh wow, I remember LOVING this book and finding it so scary! I'm glad to hear that the scare factor holds up!

[Angie]

Scared the crap out me, this book did. I wonder what happened to my old copy?

[Leila]

Dig it out, kids -- seriously worth a re-read!

[Jennie]

I'm glad it holds up (Because I give this book to kids all the time). I'd love to revisit it to look at the adults, but man, just the *thought* of this book still gives me nightmares, so maybe not...

[Cristin]

Oh man, I LOVED that book when I was young! I bet it's still in my mother's basement somewhere, I may need to go dig it out now.

[Brooke Shirts]

Oh-ho, this is the book that everyone in fourth grade passed to each other under their desks. I know I read it, but I can't for the life of me remember a darn thing about it, excepting the dolls moving around by themselves.

As for the NYT article, I'm definitely in your camp, although I'm glad the article cited "Shiver," which had some of the most irritatingly conveniently-oblivious parents ever. Sheesh, the hot werewolf is living with the protagonist for nearly a month before either parent even NOTICES him. Come on.

[Jennifer]

I remember this book terrifying me when I was younger - no wonder I'm still creeped out by dolls.

[Gwen]

This book scared me so much that I got freaked out all over again just reading your review, and it's probably been about 15 years since I last read it. (Naturally, because it was the scariest book ever, I reread it at least five times as a child.)

[Liz B]

this book I read as an adult and found it creepy. But talking about terrifying books...I read a book as a kid that was a short story collection. Something ghostly from Scholastic Book Club, so "age appropriate." One was about a guy who axe murdered his wife, and her ax-murdered body haunted the basement, and a kid moved in. Anyway, that one story and the illustrations that went with it freaked me out so much I threw the book away.

Yes, I said AND THE ILLUSTRATIONS. To my ten year old self, they were horrifying. I think its the only time I ever threw a book out.

On a positive note, the nightmares went away. I have no idea what the name of the book was.

[Leila]

SCARY! Aaaand now, of course, I want to read it. Time to do some research!

[LaurieA-B]

Oh, that Apple Paperbacks cover is so familiar. I think the Barthe DeClements books were also in that imprint; the book I remember most vividly (I think these all came through book fairs or book orders) besides The Dollhouse Murders is You Shouldn't Have to Say Goodbye by Patricia Hermes. Mother dies of cancer. Good book.

[Miss Print]

Thanks for mentioning Just's crazy essay and also pointing me to Liz B's thoughts on it. I'm trying to organize a bit of a response to that essay's claim about the YA parent problem.

As such, this is an official invitation to join my "Finding the 'good' parents in YA Lit" challenge and post your own list of books with "good" parents.

You can find all the information here:
http://wp.me/p6kfM-LB

Thanks!

[Reka]

This book and Jane-Emily by Patricia Clapp scared the bejeezus out of me at a very impressionable age--and I've loved them ever since. The other memorable scare from that age was an afterschool TV version of The House with the Clock in Its Walls, where the old witch's shadow looms up the wall toward poor Louis Barnavelt and she laughs the most terrifying laugh I'd ever heard at that point (I was in third grade). I had to sleep with the lights on for a month after that. The book isn't all that scary, though like all of John Bellairs' books it's wonderful.

[Leila]

Oooh, goody -- I'll have to track down a copy of Jane-Emily. Thanks, Reka!

[kiks lee]

Where is claiborne in and why does barbras husband go into the hospital? please someone help me im doing a book project on it