My first impression was, Much ado about nothing. But that’s probably my fault because I have a melodramatic imagination. As someone said on the discussion board, there might have been something under the rock, something scary or at least interesting. The ghost of Queen Anne, maybe. (Okay, bad joke)

BUT the writing is good. It kept my interest. Maybe, though, we could have seen the boy wandering around more inside the house, savoring its quirks and (maybe for him) charms.

BTW, is there any point, beside reinforcing the creepiness of his father, in including “Uncle” Phil?