House of Secrets (2013 novel)

House of Secrets

First edition hardcover
Author	Chris Columbus, Ned Vizzini
Cover artist	Cliff Nielsen
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	House of Secrets
Genre	adventure, action, fantasy
Publisher	Balzer + Bray
Publication date	April 23, 2013
Media type	Print, e-book, audiobook
Pages	490 pages
ISBN
Followed by	House of Secrets: Battle of the Beasts, House of Secrets: Clash of Worlds

House of Secrets is a 2013 children's novel by Chris Columbus and Ned Vizzini. The book was first published on April 23, 2013 through Balzer + Bray and is the first book in the House of Secrets series. The book follows the three Walker family children as they attempt to find a secret book and rescue their parents in the process. Rights to the book were sold in 12 different foreign territories.

Of the book, Columbus has commented that he was inspired to write the series after seeing the popularity of the Harry Potter series and its effect on young readers. Columbus has also remarked that he views the book as a "cousin" to his 1985 film The Goonies.

Cordelia, Brendan, and Eleanor Walker are less than pleased when their parents purchase the creepy yet too-perfect Kristoff House, especially after a mysterious woman called Dahlia Kristoff appears and demolishes it. She claims to be the "Wind Witch" and the daughter of the original owner of the house, Denver Kristoff. The three Walker children are horrified when they can't find that their parents and that they're trapped in a novel written by Kristoff himself. Having read the book previously, Cordelia knew that they would soon meet a new person, Will, a member of the National Flying Corp from World War One which Cordelia later kisses dramatically as a selfish act for The Book the wind witch wants them to retrieve. They soon find strange things and learn that they are not just trapped in a single book, but inside three of them. The Wind Witch suddenly appears before them, saying that their mission is to find a secret book that she can't touch. She also promises to release their captured parents if they do so. They go on an adventurous trip to find the book, escape from the hurdles, and save their parents.

Columbus originally began working on the House of Secrets in 1999 as a screenplay entitled Stones of Time, but chose to adapt it into a novel after realizing that the film would be too expensive to produce at that time and also because of his obligations for the Harry Potter film series. Due to his inexperience with writing novels, Columbus brought in Vizzini to assist in the writing of the novel. Columbus and Vizzini wrote the book by the two e-mailing the first few chapters back and forth until they had "about 100 pages". They sent the completed portion of the book to publishers and were picked up within about 1–2 days. After completing the manuscript, Columbus and Vizzini solicited the advice of J.K. Rowling, who recommended that they add more character development to the novel as it "[moved] too fast".