House of Leaves
 

Has anyone read this? I've been hearing a lot about it, as a horror novel. It's weird "visual" writing style has me interested. I've done a bit of research trying to find out if it's worth reading, or actually scary, but all I've found is literary criticism, and essays galore.

I have searched my public library's catalog, and apparently it's not there. I can usually convince a librarian to order it for me but my favourite librarian who usually orders comics for me no longer works there. I just want to know if it's any good before I buy a copy.

Let me know if it's a good read.

In the lyrics to "Poe"'s song "Haunted" it mentions the title:

"There's always a way
Here in November in this house of leaves
We'll pray"

I don't know if there's any relation to the book though.

Picture of Poe
http://i883.photobucket.com/albums/a...pater/poe3.jpg

Oooh Poe is a singer of some kind. I assumed Edgar Allen Poe until I saw the picture.

Anyway downloaded the book to read a few chapters, then deciding if it's worth buying. Longest torrent ever btw.

Gimmicky horseshit.

Really? Guess I'll take your advice over the couple of indie kids who swore by it. I have read 20 pages so far, and my worry is that I have already figured out the plot. It's gonna be the same as every short story I've read. Someone dies solving a mystery and leaves a journal or something, someone finds that journal and obsesses over the mystery behind the death, they die and leave behind a journal etc. etc.

Of course some Indie kids swear by it, but a lot of these kids haven't read Robert W. Chambers' The King in Yellow. Check that out instead. Danielewski uses a lot of smoke and mirrors to compensate for his lack of talent and did not invent metafiction, contrary to the beliefs of the red plaid Hot Topic pants community. For a similarly puzzling and intellectually playful book with more heart, a lot of laughs and a bigger mindfuck fact6r, I'd recommend Eckhard Gerdes' My Landlady the Lobotomist. But, if you're looking for that kind of creepypasta style scare go with Chambers. He was the first and the best. The feeling in your spine when you put down that book isn't "somebody has cheated me" but one of crossing a threshold. Another book prized by the Indie set that I feels delivers a bit more is The Raw Shark Texts.

I'll read all of them! Compare and contrast. I'm excited :D

My friend just lent me a book I have to read quick and get back to her though, then the creepy stuf.

It's a good idea to read things that people tell you are brilliant or are crap I find. I read House of Leaves because in On Writing Horror, I think it's Nick Mamatas says it's sublimely creepy. Also metafictional and weird is my book Archelon Ranch. It features dinosaurs, zombies, a mall ravaged by dollar store hotsauce wars and a character who has turned against the narrative and will destroy it no matter what the cost. Consistent five star reviews from critics. Sold FOUR copies in the states that I didn't sell myself (I sold 20). Sorry, had to bring it up in the House of Leaves thread because it's about writing and reading but still has fun shit happen and deep emotional content.

i actually liked the 'core' narrative of House of Leaves (the pieced together story that is in the documentary) and have long thought that the core narrative of the house and the extra door could be a great movie. however, like doc, i got exhausted by the endless frustrated-grad-student literary meta-fiction, which seemed to me to just diminish rather than enhance the story. i liked raw shark texts but wish it had a bit more comic (cause it wasnt' any kind of scary) - i could see it as a film with simon pegg but really played for laughs

Definitely. Raw Shark texts sort of feels like an episode of Futurama. The premise at least.

i read a truly bizarre novel recently -not horror but in the kind of tradition of surreal, funny and in many ways disturbing - i think it was called Elect Mr. Robinson for a Better World (or something like that) it was by Donald Antrim. darkly funny and bizarre but i really enjoyed it

Bumping this - Really interested to see what your take is on it, Zero and Doc. I trust both your opinions (and Zero, I loved Raw Shark Texts). Thanks for the notes.

I heard about House of Leaves because a lot of aspiring writers on the NNWM forums were saying that this was the scariest book that they'd ever read. Which, of course, left me intrigued.

I have it coming in to me from the library, and I am anxious to give it a try, though now wary based on Doc's critique. Sometimes I have a hard time getting over experimental writing, but we'll see. The problem is that I'm a slow reader - I read every. damn. word. so something like this is intimidating but I am still incredibly intrigued.

MissM - Did you ever get around to finishing it?

Also - Doc - Just requested The King in Yellow through my library - Thanks for the rec!

So... What do you think?

@chrono

friend of mine just finished it and he swears by it. I found it slow and maybe a bit too methodical at first so I didn't continue reading, but now I'm thinking of trying again. only problem is, I have a billion books on the go right now. :(

A friend of mine tried reading it a while back. Told me it took him like 5 months to get through cause it was so complex but was incredible once finished. I think i remember him saying the there were chunks that had to be held upside down and facing a mirror to be read? Would love to read it though dont think id have enough time to devote to it.

Hmmm - Well, it just came in via library loan, so I'll be giving it a try sometime soon. I'll let you know what I think. LOVE the feedback. Thanks. :)