Two Sides of a Very Haunted Home

Built & reviewed by D.J. Gibson build #197
Review kit supplied by FifiJoy.

Some book nooks invite you into a cosy café. Others offer a peaceful library. FifiJoy’s The Witch House gives you a spooky swamp, ritual equipment and a skeleton in a coffin. The estate agent would probably describe it as “a character property with scope for improvement”.

In this FifiJoy The Witch House review, I build a two-sided Halloween book nook that combines a layered swamp scene with the interior of a witch’s decidedly unconventional home. It has lighting, sound and a mirrored room that makes the supernatural tenant look rather less alone than she ought to be.

Which side is the front? That is entirely your decision. One offers the approach through the swamp; the other lets you inspect the accommodation. Neither suggests that the owner is expecting a visit from the housekeeping inspector.

Summary Table

What is in the FifiJoy The Witch House kit?

There is a substantial mix of MDF, printed acrylic and mirrored components, with an electronics package that does rather more than simply switch on a lamp.

• A full-colour instruction manual
• Seven printed MDF boards containing laser-cut pieces
• Two printed wall panels and one base panel
• An electronics kit with circuit board, USB-C port, speaker and touch control panel
• Two LED bundles, containing four and three LEDs respectively, plus a colour-changing LED strip
• Four printed acrylic panels and two acrylic boards containing cut pieces
• Two acrylic dust covers
• One acrylic mirror board containing cut pieces and one two-way mirror
• Artificial moss, a mini hammer and a ruler

The printing is high quality, and the laser cuts sit well within their intended printed areas. I found the pieces easy to remove. There are also spares for many components, including some of the more fragile ones: always reassuring when the scenery already looks as though something unfortunate has happened to it.

Before building: test all the electronic functions

The first job is to test the electronics. Do this before anything becomes enclosed by floors, walls or suspicious vegetation.

The touch control has several operating states. During my initial test, one light string appeared not to work on the first tap, but it only illuminated on the second. The sound also operated on the second tap, then switched off on the third, leaving a lights-only setting.

In other words, work through the touch settings before deciding a component is faulty. A light that is waiting for its cue is considerably easier to deal with than a genuinely dead one, and this particular house already has enough inhabitants who qualify for that description.

Instructions and difficulty: the house is less frightening than the manual

A first look through the instructions made this seem a somewhat daunting project. Once I started construction, however, the physical build proved relatively straightforward. I worked on it after work over four consecutive evenings, completing a section each night.

That is my own building pattern rather than a guaranteed completion time, but it illustrates how naturally the kit divides into manageable stages. The main complication is the manual’s incomplete guidance on reconnecting and positioning the electronics. I would call this an intermediate build, largely because you need to recognise those gaps and plan around them.

The witch has apparently included a small test of initiative. Unfortunately, it concerns the circuit board rather than anything useful, such as turning spare MDF into gold.

Building the base and its colour-changing ritual floor

Construction starts with the floor and base panels. Ritual objects sit around a star-shaped opening in the floor, with the colour-changing LED strip installed underneath. It is a strong starting point for the atmosphere: this is clearly not going to be a kitchen extension.

The speaker attaches to the base plate, and side pieces build up the enclosure. Its wire passes through the indicated floor opening before the floor is fitted, enclosing both the speaker and the LED strip below.

Pay attention to the routing here. These early stages establish where several electronic components will live, even though the manual does not adequately explain the final reunion of all their wires.

The mirrored witch room: one resident, apparently unlimited company

The first-floor witch room begins with a mirrored floor, an acrylic witch and the rear arch. Three mirrored wall panels follow, then the front arch and two-way mirror. Together, these create the infinity-room effect that becomes one of the finished kit’s most distinctive features.

Two LEDs fit into the ceiling panel before the room is closed up and the walls are glued into position. I used the adhesive stickers on the sides and back to hold the assembly while the glue set. Those stickers are hidden in the completed model, so they can quietly do their job without becoming part of the interior design.

The door and frame then fit in front of the arch. Two rear wall panels go to the right of the room, and a table sits along the left edge. The result starts to feel like a complete little setting rather than a collection of eerie accessories.

Mirrors are an effective way to make a miniature room seem larger. Here they also give the witch the apparent ability to hold a committee meeting with herself. I suspect the minutes would be dreadful.

Upstairs: crooked shelves and a cauldron with a cold fire

The next section builds onto the rear wall of the house side. There are broken and crooked shelves, damaged windows, a table crowded with ritual components, a ladder and a cauldron suspended from bone supports. It is a pleasingly disreputable collection of details.

One missed opportunity is the fire beneath the cauldron. It has no dedicated light, which is a pity in a kit that uses illumination so effectively elsewhere. A glow beneath it would have helped bring that particular corner to life.

Once assembled, this entire wall section fits into the base behind the first-floor scene. Building it separately makes it easier to work on the individual details before they become part of the enclosed house.

The attic: storage space with a permanent occupant

The attic adds a skeleton in a coffin, a chest and other scattered objects. The coffin also conceals the light fitted in the floor to illuminate the level below. It is a practical piece of scenery, although I would hesitate to list “concealed lighting” as the skeleton’s principal achievement.

The roof fits next, with a light fed through its opening. That light attaches to a tree branch using a clamp and glue before the branch is installed in the floor. Artificial moss covers any wiring that remains visible.

This completes the house side, giving you several distinct levels to inspect. The broken architecture and cluttered rooms carry the theme consistently, without requiring the lighting to do all the atmospheric work.

The swamp side: layered acrylic gives the scene depth

Turning the model around takes the build outdoors. A large foreground tree carries a hanging sigil, and a second acrylic witch stands in front of an LED already installed during the base construction.

The manual oddly tells you to run that LED at this later stage, even though it has already been fitted. It is worth checking back before treating that instruction as a new task. There is enough witchcraft in the scenery without making the same light appear in two places.

Smaller scenic pieces attach around the scene and to the outer wall panel, which fits on the right. Four printed acrylic panels then slot into the rear, creating layers of scenery and a convincing sense of depth within the narrow space.

The broken bridge combines MDF and acrylic, with another large tree and its broken branch positioned behind it. This side offers a very different viewing experience from the house interior, which is what makes the two-sided design worthwhile. You are getting two complementary scenes rather than simply a decorated back wall.

The important wiring warning: reconnect everything before step 120 closes the wall

Before fitting the outer wall at step 120, reconnect all the electronic components, position the circuit board and test every function. This is the most useful advice I can pass on from my build.

After the initial power-on test, the instructions allow you to disconnect components from the circuit board to make installation easier. They explain light placement across several stages, but do not properly explain when everything should be reconnected or how the board should be secured.

At step 71, the circuit board appears in an illustration without a clear instruction to install it. By step 120, the manual tells you to connect the wall-mounted USB-C port back to the board, showing a photograph with only that wire connected. The next step installs the outer wall, enclosing the area where the wiring gathers.

If you followed the earlier suggestion to disconnect everything, this is your last convenient opportunity to restore those connections. The manual ought to make that explicit. A haunted house can reasonably contain mysteries; the electronics instructions should not be one of them.

For the board itself, double-sided adhesive offers a way to secure it in the wiring area. Whatever arrangement you use, check that the connections are complete and the wires are clear of the closing panel. Test the lights, sound and touch settings before committing to the wall.

Finishing the house and fitting both dust covers

Once the electronics work as expected, the side wall can be installed. Front frames fit to both viewing sides, followed by the top panel, which carries the touch control and the remaining LED.

With the top attached, the two dust covers complete the enclosure. Having a cover for each side is a useful inclusion for a model that invites viewing from both directions. The witch may prefer a neglected property, but there is no reason to supply her with actual household dust.

Lighting, sound and the finished effect

The completed Witch House has a strong eerie atmosphere. The colour-changing floor, scattered lighting and mirrored witch room work together particularly well. The infinity effect adds a theatrical flourish to the lower room, while the layered acrylic gives the swamp its own sense of distance.

The sound is more subdued. With the base resting directly on the surface beneath it, the speaker’s output is muted. I also found it louder with the dust covers removed.

If you would like more volume, spare pieces could be used as feet to raise the base slightly. That is an optional modification rather than a necessary part of construction. Try the model in its intended display position first: a quietly sinister swamp may be preferable to one that announces itself every time somebody passes the bookshelf.

The lights-only setting is particularly welcome here. It allows the visual effects to do their work without requiring a permanent soundtrack to your evening.

Who would enjoy this Halloween book nook?

I would recommend The Witch House to an intermediate builder who enjoys dark fantasy, theatrical lighting and a scene full of details to discover. The two-sided format is especially appealing if you can display it somewhere that allows you to appreciate both views.

The physical construction was more approachable than the initial instruction review suggested. However, the missing circuit-board guidance means I would be more cautious about recommending it as a first-ever book nook. Some previous experience will help you spot what the manual leaves unsaid.

My main reservations are the incomplete wiring directions, the unlit cauldron fire and the muted speaker. None prevented me from enjoying the finished model, but all are useful to know before starting.

Final verdict: an entertainingly sinister addition to the shelf

FifiJoy’s The Witch House is an imaginative Halloween book nook with two worthwhile scenes, good-quality printing and a satisfying combination of acrylic layers, mirrors and lighting. It kept me happily occupied over four evenings and rewarded the effort with something that looks distinctly different from either side.

The instructions need a clearer explanation of the final wiring connections. Plan for that, test before closing the wall, and the build itself is much less intimidating than its resident would like you to believe.

For a Halloween or dark fantasy collection, this is a really enjoyable addition. Just do not expect the witch to tidy up before visitors arrive. Judging by the attic, she has been postponing that job for quite some time.

For another build from the same manufacturer, read our Fifijoy Hillside Cottage review, or explore more hands-on book nook reviews.

Bring home the witch — and save 20%

Fancy a little supernatural property development of your own? Get 20% off The Witch House from FifiJoy through our shopfront. The witch keeps her skeletons; you keep a little more of your money.

Visit our FifiJoy shopfront and save 20% on The Witch House →

The Witch House photo gallery