Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 41
Beethoven’s Sonata Opus 41 is the first piece welcoming you into THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. When I create a character as an actress as well as a writer, I listen to certain songs and sounds that inspire the world I am building. While I was writing this gothic tale, each morning I played this Sonata on my piano before sitting down to write; it brought me into the dark and delicate atmosphere that inhabits this tale. I lent my piano playing to my character Minerva, the house’s original owner. Minerva’s haunting piano playing lingers in this story well after her death; it is heard by the neighbors on certain days and certain nights of the year. I used this piece as the opening theme in my audio narration of THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. I performed it on a Fender Rhodes piano and altered its original tempo to walk you into this odd House.
Season of the Witch performed by Lana Del Rey.
Lana Del Rey’s sultry rendition of Season of the Witch draws a perfect portrait of the time of year when supernatural happenings take hold of us. The Boread’s (the house’s new occupants) are ushered into their new home by the crisp shadows of this season. As Winter’s winds surround this house, an eerie persistent trouble rattles through each room, as its new family prepares to ring in the New Year. The season of the witch warns of what is to come as the year closes for Rebecca and her beautiful family.
Right Place Wrong Time by Dr. John.
What a wickedly fun song by the iconic blues musician Dr John. I met this New Orleans legend in downtown Manhattan in the early 90s. He swaggered into the room gripping his ornamented walking stick, dressed in vibrant colors with spirals of jangling silver jewelry wrapped around his wrists, beaded with what looked like ancient voodoo amulets. Dr. John reached his hand out to me, each of his fingers weighted with gems that held stories of his travels. He introduced himself as Mac. Mac’s storytelling and singing evoked the power of a Voodoo Medicine man with the grit of a New York gangster. Every dark fairy tale of monsters and myths needs an MC like Mac. Right Place Wrong Time was his 1973 hit. It jumps with a mix of jazz blues and funk talking about the unending cycle of his misfortune. I listened to this song while writing my gothic tale as it conjures up a similar madness as THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET. And the repetition of certain events, that seem to be unavoidable, exist in both my winter tale and Dr John’s lyrics, all with a pinch of humor.
Hotel California by The Eagles.
A song about the allure of what we think we want in place, power and prestige and the price we pay for ignoring the truth. “Mirrors on the ceiling, pink champagne on ice and she said, we are all just prisoners here of our own device.” This lyric says it all. Welcome to The House in the Middle of the Street.
The Game by Echo & The Bunnymen.
The only character in THE HOUSE IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET that sees the truth about the family’s fate and the dark side of human nature is young Ellie. Echo & The Bunnymen’s song, The Game, tells the story of how quickly life’s beauty can shatter. It speaks to the fragility, recklessness and speed of a world without rules played on a lighthearted beat. A song for a young girl dancing through a house of dangerous cards.
The House Where No one Lives by Tom Waitts.
We all know that house from our childhood that sits and sits abandoned in time like The house in my ghost story. These stories of grandeur and decline about the rumored lives of a house’s past occupants are told and retold through the generations. Lost dreams echo in the bones of these houses, waiting for another chance. With Tom Waitts’ brooding raw baritone, this song drops me into a necessary melancholy; a ride through a beautiful forgotten dream that for a moment has been remembered.
One way or Another by Blondie
I’ll wrap this list up with a song from Βlondie, sung by the magnetic power of Debbie Harry. It opens up with a killer guitar riff and Harry’s siren call. The demons in my gothic tale feed off people who let them. The only way to save yourself is fight back. Draw your line and those greedy creatures move on to an easier target. “Im gonna get cha, get cha, get cha , get cha.”
In The House in the Middle of the Street, Jennifer Sklias-Gahan conjures a haunting modern fairy tale of inheritance, secrets, and the creatures we invite into our lives.
When Rebecca and her husband inherit a stately old home, they imagine it as the perfect place to build their family. But as the seasons turn, shadowy visitors begin to arrive—children who are not what they seem, guests with appetites beyond bread. Bound by ancestral debts and ancient instructions, Rebecca and her descendants are drawn into a chilling cycle of desire, duty, and haunting.
With prose that shimmers like a spell and imagery as vivid as a fever dream, Sklias-Gahan offers a dark winter tale that recalls the cautionary power of the Brothers Grimm while speaking directly to the anxieties of our time.
The House in the Middle of the Street is a gothic exploration of legacy, survival, and the perilous cost of letting others in.
Fantasy [ Rare Bird Books, On Sale: February 17, 2026, Hardcover / e-Book, ISBN: 9781644285435 / eISBN: 9781644285671 ]
Jennifer Sklias-Gahan grew up in New York City in a Greek-American household rich with folklore, myths, and oral traditions. Encouraged by her librarian as a child to retell her favorite stories, she discovered a lifelong passion for the transformative power of storytelling. She has since built a career as a writer, actor, and producer, and is the founder of Demivoula Studios and co-founder of 18 Bleecker Films. The House in the Middle of the Street is her debut work of fiction. She lives in New York with her husband and their two children.
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