White Flight by Peter O’Keefe

Uncomfortably Dark Horror, 2025

ISBN-13: 9798268263374

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy: Bookshop.org |  Amazon.com

Willow and Joel Ward are struggling with the recent murder of their Black adopted daughter, Diamond. When she became a teenager, they decided to move out of the suburbs and into a predominantly Black neighborhood. This was supposed to open opportunities for their child, make her more comfortable in her own skin, and allow her the chance to live within her community. While their desires are outwardly noble, their past actions and internal voices show something else. Are they really doing it to help their daughter, or show that they are the right kind of white people? Willow especially begins facing her motives when teenage Diamond comes home from school, learning new terms like white privilege, leaving a sign on her door denying white people entry, and still feeling alienated by her peers because of her circumstances. After a heated argument, Diamond is gunned down by the police. Now, the couple has put their house on the market and are getting ready to leave the neighborhood.

However, their problems are just beginning. Since they moved in, strange things have happened in the house. For instance, dropped objects roll on the floor in unpredictable directions. This is nothing compared to what is coming. Between the unknown parties banging on the front door, the rumbling of an unseen train nearby, and the house changing, the Wards and the officer they have called to the scene are in for a night of terror they won’t soon forget. As the couple inches closer to getting some answers, the house decides it has had enough.

There is so much tension in this book, I could not put it down. The Wards as a couple are difficult to sympathize with, as their motives are questioned by the reader, and they are both in denial about so many things, not just the treatment of their daughter. Willow is an outwardly supportive mother, but overcompensates frequently, at the risk of overshadowing her daughter’s identity. Joel, who grew up close to their new neighborhood, frequently demonstrates his own racial bias. I constantly asked myself if they adopted Diamond for the right reasons. The police are insensitive and have clear racial bias. Is it wrong of me to cheer on the house at times? Perhaps, but when the adult characters in the story consistently fail Diamond, in life and death, it is difficult to think of them as trustworthy and capable.

I would recommend this book for readers wanting a haunted house story with themes of systemic racism, social commentary, and familial struggle, such as The Spite House by Johnny Compton, Model Home by River Solomon, and Out There Screaming: An Anthology of New Black Horror edited by Jordan Peele. Highly recommended

Reviewed by Lizzy Walker