I picked up Butterfly House on a whim on a cold January day and was immediately drawn into the story of two people who thought the perfect house was described by an ad that read "musty, dusty, and guaranteed haunted." Okay, T.K. Sheils, you got me. Tell me more.

Sabrina Osterling and Jackson Rutledge couldn't resist a haunted house. That was why they both showed up in the realtor's office at the same time after the ad ran for a supposedly haunted house. But that was the only common thread between them. In truth, they couldn't have been more opposite.

As they toured the Butterfly House, Sabrina and Jackson discover it had been built for two people just like themselves, a family that couldn't get along. Each side duplicated the other except for a large, slightly crooked tower that supposedly didn't start out crooked.

It is financial limitation and the intense desire to own the Butterfly House that cause Sabrina and Jackson to put their differences aside and take up residence together – as acquaintances only. She would take the east side and he, the west. But isn't it funny how sometimes houses have ideas of their own?

What follows is an intense and deliciously scary story of two people and a wonderfully haunted old house. I don't want to reveal even a smidgen of the beautiful detail of this story so you can discover the joys of Butterfly House on your own.

TK Sheils has masterfully written this story for horror and non-horror fans alike. The friction between Sabrina and Jackson is wonderful to experience and the third character of the Butterfly House creates the most enjoyably frightening story I have read in a long time.

It is unfortunate that TK Sheils is no longer with us to write more stories of this caliber, but he has left us Butterfly House, a masterpiece of enjoyable fiction. I highly suggest you give it a go. You won't regret it.
 
Reviewed By Sabine Maurier
© January 2008