Up until this point, we have only been given vague hints and speculations about what is to happen to the Navidson/Greene family. The story had to slowly build and provide us with background information in order for us to fully grasp the depth of what was happening without fully answering any questions. The tactic is immediately changed from the beginning of the chapter.
In Chapters 4 and 5 we are finally and formally introduced to the horrors of the house on Ash Tree Lane. Chapter four begins with a simple statement that the family in the Navidson Record had just come back home after spending four days in Seattle for a wedding, but upon returning to the home, they discover something is different. It is not something that can easily be identified or explained. The children are unfazed by the change, but Will and Karen notice it immediately.
After some investigating, the couple finds a door that was not there before they left for Seattle. The door opens to a hallway that ends in another door, connecting the parents’ and children’s’ rooms. Rightfully terrified, the parents contact the police to explain what’s happened, but officers are unsure what to do as there is no protocol for what they jokingly explain to be a carpenter breaking into the home and installing two doors. Hearing the absurdity of the situation, Will and Karen laugh about it but still remain uneasy.
I understand the situation would be hard to grasp because it is unexplainable how such a thing could happen. One day you leave for a trip and when you return your house has grown two additional doors and a hallway. That should scare anyone. What I am unable to understand is how the couple were able to laugh off the situation and go along with it. I would immediately want to leave. Unbelievably, acquiring an additional hallway is the least of their ever-growing list of problems.
Attempting to discover an answer, Will Navidson attains the blueprint of the house only to reveal more discrepancies. First, there is a crawlspace indicated in the blueprint connecting the two rooms but no hallway and definitely no doors. Another being the dimensions of the house. The blueprints have the house drawn to scale but incorrectly lists the correct length of the house. Yet again determined to find answers, Navidson measures the interior of the house and finds it to be larger than the blueprint. Wanting accurate measurements, Navidson goes outside to measure the exterior. Much to his surprise, the exterior constantly measures smaller than the interior. After consulting several individuals, the two start avoiding the topic and pretending their house is fine.
Again, I am unable to understand how they would be able to ignore such a factor, but they would soon have more to worry about.
Much like before, a new hallway reveals itself in the house. This time there are no doors, only an opening, and a hallway long enough for its ending to be obscured from view. Karen reacts rationally as soon as the discovery is made and demands a door be put up and exploration of the hallway be banned. Navidson is unhappy with Greene’s demands. In a drunken lapse of judgment, Navidson allows his curiosity and frustration to propel him into exploring the hallway.
There is no good excuse for Navidson’s actions. If the first hallway was not enough to scare the family or the discrepancy of the size of the house, I believe the second hallway should have been enough to scare the family into moving. These are not events that would encourage me to explore. The family should have moved long before now and will continue to pay for their deliberate ignorance.
Walking the length of the hallway took less than a minute. At the end, Navidson discovered a dead end. After turning around, Navidson discovers a door previously not there and decides to go through it. This decision continues each time Navidson reaches a dead end only to discover a new door until he realizes he has become lost. Realizing the danger he has gotten himself in, Navidson panics and begins aimlessly running. It is not until he begins to hear his daughter’s voice that he discovers a path out and back into his living room.
Chapter five ends with Navidson in denial of what had happened. He instead chooses to believe that after entering the hallway, he became scared and panicked more than was necessary. Either way, Navidson makes a decision I can stand by and declares that the family must move as the house is no longer safe.
I am unable to comprehend why it took as long as it did for the family to decide to move. Sadly, we as readers know this decision is made too late. The unfortunate events for the Navidson/Greene family are just beginning.
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