I had to take this one in slow sips, because, quite frankly, it disturbed the hell out of me. The only reason I read this one at all, is because it's the true story that [a:Jack Ketchum|90070|Jack Ketchum|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1398128441p2/90070.jpg] based his novel [b:The Girl Next Door|179735|The Girl Next Door|Jack Ketchum|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1298460378l/179735._SY75_.jpg|1109091] on.

It always makes me shake my head when people find out I read horror, and they shiver and say, "oh, god, no. I can't handle that stuff," and then go on to tell me how much they adore true crime. My wife is one of those people.

And then I read this book, about absolutely soulless monsters, and I don't understand how any fiction can horrify any more than the actions described in this book. Both in the first half, or the second half.

The first half details the events leading up to a household of people, mostly children, as well as a couple of neighbourhood kids torturing and ultimately killing 16-year-old Sylvia Likens. It's almost unreadable, because it's simply too awful to contemplate there are monsters in human skin walking among us capable of doing this.

The second half details the trial, and how—really, beyond a shadow of a doubt—despite knowing everyone had a hand in the death of a teenage girl, all the lawyers' manipulations, both legal and borderline criminal, to get these people off. I have no idea how anyone with a shred of empathy or humanity could ever represent one of these people, let alone put up a vigorous defense for them.

One of the most horrifying books I've ever read, based on terrible, real life events. ( )

I read this in one sitting. I was already familiar with this horrific crime, and found Dean's research to be thorough enough (although still scratching the surface in terms of background). However the execution of the book was incredibly poor. The writing style was inconsistent and patchy and often times felt like he was wavering between trying to create a pulp fiction account of event and at other moments he was clinical and bland in his recounting of courtroom events. As for my rating, the two stars are based solely on content. ( )

House of Evil is the story of the brutal abuse and eventual murder of Sylvia Likens, a 16 yr old girl, in 1960's Indianapolis, IN.

This story made me sick to my stomach. It was heart wrenching to read what that poor child was subjected to before she was killed. It left me with so many questions and anger towards an obviously then broken system (which isn't much better today). Why would anyone torture someone, especially a child?! Why did no one notice?! Why was CPS not thorough in their investigation when they were called to that house?! Why did Sylvia and Jenny's parents not think to check on their children?! I could go on and on with the questions that this book left me with but I will spare you and let you read for yourself. I am usually on the fence with the death penalty but in regards to Gertrude, I feel that she should have fried to a nice crisp for what she did to that poor child. Everything led back to that evil, sadistic woman. ( )

I saw the movie "An American Crime" first and actually found this a few months later at a thrift store and it's a really good book. Horribly tragic story and I thought Ellen Page looked remarkably like Sylvia Likens. In my opinion the movie was pretty good too! ( )

Such a terribly compelling story of Sylvia Likens. So many questions left unanswered. Why? Why did no one say anything? Why did she not run away? Why did she not defend herself? Why did no one else defend her? One of the worst crimes committed in this country, this book tells the sad tale of Sylvia's last months of torture. I do wish the author would've gone more in depth about the last months Sylvia endured, rather than alluding to them. I also would've preferred a slimmed down version of the trial - too much mumbo jumbo.

This book proves you can get away with murder in Indiana. Terrifying and eye opening. ( )