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Wednesday, February 18, 2009
title: House
authors: Frank Peretti & Ted Dekker
published: 2006
pages: 372
genre: horror/supernatural thriller
first line: He stood motionless in the entryway, staring at his own shadow splayed before him like a stain upon the floor.
rated: 4 out of 5
I love it when a book unexpectedly makes its way into my hands. That's how I got a chance to read House. I had never even heard of this book before and an acquaintance of mine passed it on after seeing that I read The Ruins and liked it so much.
In House, Jack and Stephanie are driving through Alabama, on thier way to see a marriage counselor.
After getting lost, thanks to a bullying sherriff, they wind up in the backwoods with flat tires and no service on thier cell phones. They decide to hike and see if they can find a nearby town and phone. Instead what they find is a lovely Victorian style house, oddly placed in the middle of the woods. They see a sign saying 'Wayside Inn'. Perfect eh? They figure they can use the phone here and stay the night.
Only problem is, the Inn seems to be abandoned. Once inside, they find another couple, Randy and his girlfriend Leslie. This couple has also had the same problem, flat tires and no cell phone service. What an odd coincidence...or not.
Soon enough, the lights flicker and go out. Then the couples find the strange 'innkeepers' inside the house. Betty, her husband Stewart and thier adult son Pete, all three of whom are not very bright or sociable. And nope, there are no telephones at this Inn. So the couples decide they need to leave, immediately. Only problem is when they try to leave, they see a large man standing outside wearing a trenchcoat, a creepy tin mask and holding a gun. They run back inside, and this stranger locks them all inside the house from the outside. When the guys try the doorknobs, they all fall off, shocker. The stranger then throws a tin can down the chimney with a message scrawled on it.
These are the rules:
1) God came to my house and I killed him.
2) I will kill anyone who comes to my house as I killed God.
3) Give me one dead body and I might let rule two slide.
I know, after reading that message, I was kind of creeped out. As you can imagine, things go from bad to worse. Before they know it, the couples are having to fight for thier lives. And they know something is seriously wrong with the house. They more they try to find a way out, the more lost they become. And as everybody who reads horror stories knows, never go into the basement.
Two sounds reached out to Jack as he sat in the black silence. The first was a distant scream. A woman's this time.
The second was the faint humming again. Closer, much closer thank the scream.
He flicked the lighter and stood, listening intently.
Could it be pipes?
He stepped away from the wall and stopped.
Hmm, hmm, hmm. No. Not pipes. The sound of a child humming, faint but clear.
House reminded me of a mix between the movies Saw, The Strangers and Vacancy. This book was a great read, full of scary moments and suspense. I like a good horror story and this one delivered. Word to the wise, don't read this while home alone or at night.
