Return to the Dark House is, as you would imagine, the follow up to Welcome to the Dark House. Now...this one...SOOOO much BETTER! I'm not saying the first one was terrible, but this one develops the plotline and characterization more for the reader. Now that I know where this one went, the first one makes a bit more sense that it wasn't just a whole bunch of horror movies stuffed together It allows me to see the first one with a different perspective and a better appreciation. If you want to know what happened in Welcome to the Dark House...go read that blog post.
In Return to the Dark House, Ivy Jensen is currently in a mental institution or whatever politically correct term you want to use. She is now having nightmares where the murder of her parents has started to blend with the Dark House weekend experiences to the point she's not sure what happened when. For instance, she'll be dreaming the Nightmare Elf is standing at her bed, but when he takes the mask off, it's her parents' killer. Hello foreshadowing! Ivy begins keeping a notebook of clues, questions without answers, and theories of her own. Every so often she demands to speak to a detective and she shares what she has with him, but to her it feels as though they're not listening to her. And honestly, in my opinion, I don't think they're listening to her. Eventually, she pretends she's got her shit together simply to get released because there's no way she can track the others from the Dark House weekend while she's in the crazy house. She gets released and tries to kind of put her life together but it's an epic fail when the Nightmare Elf reaches out to her again via email. She takes the email to the police, but once again, there's not much they do about it because they believe it's a hoax.
Ivy eventually says fuck this, and makes contact with Taylor...the one who got away before the Dark House weekend even truly began. Taylor, also jacked up in the head from finding a dead body in the freezer at the Dark House, decides she'll never be normal and maybe Ivy is the one person who won't judge her. Taylor's life has been hell because so many judge her as a coward for leaving the Dark House before telling the others they needed to get out. They blame her for the others being 'dead'...but we learn maybe they all didn't really die that weekend. Ivy goes to visit Taylor while she's at school and once again the Nightmare Elf makes contact with Ivy and Taylor. Against Taylor's best attempts at persuading Ivy not to, she gives her number to the Nightmare Elf who also just so happens to be the serial killer who murdered her parents!!! Ivy, trying her best not get Taylor involved any more than she already is, leaves in the middle of the night to follow the directions given to her by the Killer. Unbeknownst to her, Taylor follows. The pair end up at an old abandoned Gothic mansion that was formerly a boy's preparatory school. The killer has them go through a series of terrifying tasks in order for Ivy to maybe find the others from the Dark House weekend. You'll need to read to see what kind of tasks...I'm not telling you. I don't like haunted houses so I never would have been able to do this. I would have only been able to sit in a corner and rock myself back and forth...
So...there are these journal entries throughout the book by E.W. who happens to be Killer and apparently his mother was psychotic and liked to torture him with ghost stories about Johnny. She also apparently tried to burn his fucking house down with him inside it. So...now we see where he got his shit from. Oh and then he was haunted while at school by Ricky Slater who was a Sophomore who killed himself. Mother goose...this kid couldn't catch a break...no wonder he's crazy. But...through these journal entries you see he develops an interest in movies. This comes into play considering the elaborate set up of Welcome to the Dark House and now in Return to the Dark House, he has Ivy where a go pro camera on her head so he can videotape the entire thing. This mofo is CRAZY! We learn that he has this weird ass obsession with Ivy...I think predominately because she makes an excellent scream queen. She is the perfect lead actress for his movies. It's all about him and his fucking movies. He has no concern or regard for her, but it's honestly just weird and creepy. There's definitely a major psychological part in this book that is revealed WAY more than in the first one. Personally, I really dig and get into psychological thrillers way more than guts and gore so this was my cup of tea. The guy is screwy and dangerous and obviously doesn't have a day job since he's able to do this bullshit all of the time.
In the end, surprise surprise, Ivy makes it out alive. All of the footage from the experience is gone...taken by the Killer on his quick exit before the cops showed up. I'm not telling you how it all unfolds or who all actually made it out from the first Dark House weekend. I will say, though, I'm ready for the next one! Ivy has charts, graphs, clues, all of this 'I'm going to catch the psychotic serial killer' paraphernalia on the wall of her bedroom. Now that she knows the Nightmare Elf and the serial killer who murdered her parents are the same person, she's dead set on finding him. I really like this new Ivy. There's such development and transformation of her character from the beginning of the first one to the end of this one. She's becoming quite the strong minded young woman, and she's becoming less afraid every time. Her determination to save her friends drives her own despite any fears she may have. I know it's not over yet, and I can't wait for the next installment.
Get on board with this series, kids! It's young adult too so if you have a young adult who's into scary movies...let them read it. There's no sex and very little swearing. If you'd let them watch Nightmare on Elm Street or Halloween then they'll be just fine with this book. If you're an adult and dig scary...then read it. It's quite inventive and detailed. It's not Rob Zombie scary but there's a good bit of suspense that will keep you turning the pages.
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