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Habit
Manchester, the present day. Michael's life is about to change. For better or worse is hard to say. Sharing a flat with his mate Dig, who rarely bothers to get dressed, Michael divides his time between the Job Centre, his sister Mand's and the pub. He meets Lee when she is thrown out of the Job Centre and takes refuge in the pub.
- GenresHorror
176 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 2012
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62 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
November 21, 2023
Stephen McGeagh's debut novel is pretty remarkable, mixing urban decay and community disenfranchisement, with good old fashioned horror. Michael divides his time between cadging freebies, collecting welfare pay-outs getting drunk, when without realising it, his life takes a huge turn after meeting a young women being thrown out of a welfare office. Great debut set in the underbelly of Manchester in the North West of the UK. This one was highly rated by UK Amazon reviewers. 8 out of 12, firm Four Star read from me.
2013 read
2013 read
March 20, 2019
I recently saw the movie adaptation, social realism meets horror really intrigues me, and was thoroughly surprised to discover that it came from a novel. This mix of genres is not something i’m accustomed to; much more likely to find a grimy, poverty stricken crime novel cross my path than anything resembling this fantastic debut. The horror is written with subtlety, completely overshadowed by the nightmare of being poor and aimless in working class England, and Mikey’s journey from aimless dole bludger to rootless cannibal makes for compelling reading.
May 30, 2023
It was actually a really good book, enjoyed it the full way through and read it quite quickly. Good story, engaging, maybe a bit hard to follow at some points but was still a very good read.
A bit out of my genre pool but I had to read it.
Seemed to have an open ending with thoughts of a sequel? Get it written mate
A bit out of my genre pool but I had to read it.
Seemed to have an open ending with thoughts of a sequel? Get it written mate
December 12, 2025
First read:
Amazing story, but I think it could have been much better if the horror scenes were more graphic, like in a splatterpunk book. The film has that, and it makes it a cult film IMO.
Anyway, good story, very original and set in Manchester, which is a bonus. Well, actually I read the book for that reason, since I lived there for some time, and I can never ever get it off my mind. BEST CITY IN THE WORLD.
Re-Read:
I still get really spooked even when I already know the story after reading the book previously, in addition to watching the film twice (which is slightly different). Now I appreciate more the writing, and that is why I am giving it more stars. It is brilliant.
Stpehen McGeagh, if you are reading this, please continue writing. Specially stories like this.
Cheers mate!
Amazing story, but I think it could have been much better if the horror scenes were more graphic, like in a splatterpunk book. The film has that, and it makes it a cult film IMO.
Anyway, good story, very original and set in Manchester, which is a bonus. Well, actually I read the book for that reason, since I lived there for some time, and I can never ever get it off my mind. BEST CITY IN THE WORLD.
Re-Read:
I still get really spooked even when I already know the story after reading the book previously, in addition to watching the film twice (which is slightly different). Now I appreciate more the writing, and that is why I am giving it more stars. It is brilliant.
Stpehen McGeagh, if you are reading this, please continue writing. Specially stories like this.
Cheers mate!
February 10, 2013
This is one of the best debut novels, hell best novels full stop, that I have read in years. Everything about it is superbly done with excellent characters and a sense of place that plonks the reader right in the grim reality of life on the bottom rung of society. This warts and all depiction of the real world makes the weird elements all the more effective and coupled with a taut, streamlined narrative style create an engrossing read that propels you through the book at breakneck pace. Highly recommended.
February 18, 2022
It’s written in loose, baggy, conversational sentences. Almost like a first draft.
The main character is damaged, disengaged and hollowed-out. When we’re introduced to him he’s sitting on a bus waiting to catch a glimpse of a girl who gets on at a regular time;
“Sat there because when she gets on I’ll be able to scope her out again. Well nice. Fit as.”
Soon he becomes involved with another girl who introduces him to a massage parlour, Seventh Heaven. After an experience in which a dying and bloodied man interrupts his coitus with a prostitute at the aforementioned massage parlour, he is initiated into a cabal of possible vampires/cannibals/crazies.
The fact that the ‘vampires’ are located at a massage parlour rather than, for example, an old-peoples home, is important.
The book revolves around heterosexual male fantasies of women, but the author undercuts this by giving his main character a sinister edge. He’s not trying to elicit sympathy for him. At one point he talks about an event when, as a child, he was beaten by boys who were seeking revenge for something he’d done to a girl. This event is described from his point of view as the innocent fumbling of children, but the description invites you to imagine the scene from the girl’s point of view as something darker.
The ending reminded me of final scene of Let The Right One In; Our vampire couple heading off on a train to a new life. But they’re opposite images. In The Habit, the train becomes a metaphor for the lack of agency of the protagonists.
It’s a great book.
The main character is damaged, disengaged and hollowed-out. When we’re introduced to him he’s sitting on a bus waiting to catch a glimpse of a girl who gets on at a regular time;
“Sat there because when she gets on I’ll be able to scope her out again. Well nice. Fit as.”
Soon he becomes involved with another girl who introduces him to a massage parlour, Seventh Heaven. After an experience in which a dying and bloodied man interrupts his coitus with a prostitute at the aforementioned massage parlour, he is initiated into a cabal of possible vampires/cannibals/crazies.
The fact that the ‘vampires’ are located at a massage parlour rather than, for example, an old-peoples home, is important.
The book revolves around heterosexual male fantasies of women, but the author undercuts this by giving his main character a sinister edge. He’s not trying to elicit sympathy for him. At one point he talks about an event when, as a child, he was beaten by boys who were seeking revenge for something he’d done to a girl. This event is described from his point of view as the innocent fumbling of children, but the description invites you to imagine the scene from the girl’s point of view as something darker.
The ending reminded me of final scene of Let The Right One In; Our vampire couple heading off on a train to a new life. But they’re opposite images. In The Habit, the train becomes a metaphor for the lack of agency of the protagonists.
It’s a great book.
May 1, 2020
Michael is an unemployed lad in Manchester who passes the time in the jobcentre or in the pub. One day he’s out getting drunk when he meets Lee, who introduces him to her “Uncle” Ian. One thing leads to another and he gets a job as a doorman at a massage parlour in the city’s Northern Quarter. One night he witnesses the very violent death of one of the punters and he’s soon sucked into a world that he doesn’t understand and knew nothing about.
This is a novel for anyone who's wondered what goes on behind various dodgy doors. When in my twenties, I used to go out a lot in London’s Soho, which had a great number of bars and clubs. Soho has cleaned up a lot since it’s infamous heyday in the 1960s, but there are still a number of “walk-ups” - flats that host prostitutes - and clip joints. These were often forbidding and seedy doorways and one couldn’t help but wonder what went on inside them.
This is a novel that answers that question, albeit in a Quentin Tarantino/George Romero-esque way. This is a disturbing, but also brilliantly imagined novel, and while none of the protagonists are particularly likeable, they’re all very compelling. This is a short novel, just under 200 pages, but it’s wonderfully written, and if you like your fiction dark and chilling, then this is a must-read.
Habit has also been made into a film, apparently, and while I haven't seen it yet, having read and enjoyed the novel, I'm definitely going to seek it out.
This is a novel for anyone who's wondered what goes on behind various dodgy doors. When in my twenties, I used to go out a lot in London’s Soho, which had a great number of bars and clubs. Soho has cleaned up a lot since it’s infamous heyday in the 1960s, but there are still a number of “walk-ups” - flats that host prostitutes - and clip joints. These were often forbidding and seedy doorways and one couldn’t help but wonder what went on inside them.
This is a novel that answers that question, albeit in a Quentin Tarantino/George Romero-esque way. This is a disturbing, but also brilliantly imagined novel, and while none of the protagonists are particularly likeable, they’re all very compelling. This is a short novel, just under 200 pages, but it’s wonderfully written, and if you like your fiction dark and chilling, then this is a must-read.
Habit has also been made into a film, apparently, and while I haven't seen it yet, having read and enjoyed the novel, I'm definitely going to seek it out.
February 14, 2022
'Habit' is a powerful debut.
The literary voice of McGeagh is very much his own; intimate, subtle and unflinching. The Manchester setting fits perfectly the grey, grim snapshot of humanity, which everyday nature blends seamlessly with the horror of the novel's plot.
It had kept me turning pages, really enjoyed this one.
The literary voice of McGeagh is very much his own; intimate, subtle and unflinching. The Manchester setting fits perfectly the grey, grim snapshot of humanity, which everyday nature blends seamlessly with the horror of the novel's plot.
It had kept me turning pages, really enjoyed this one.
October 28, 2014
Habit is a great bit of literary horror. It counterpoises classic, violent, maybe-supernatural horror and the downbeat quiet horror of human nature. To say Habit is bleak would be putting it very mildly indeed, you'll never look at the piss-stinking streets of Manchester, or it's shuffling, downtrodden inhabitants the same way again.
Habit never really makes it entirely clear what the employees of Seventh Heaven are doing to the clientèle in the basement, but it's definitely nothing good, and leaving it open like that suits the style of the novel.
Where Habit really shines is the characters, which are about as far from the glamorous clichés of mainstream horror as it's possible to get.
My only slight criticism would be around the ending, which I felt was a little low key and open-ended, where I was expecting something more 'genre'. Partly because of this, I can see Habit might not work for some of the more literal-minded horror readers, who're looking for capes and bats and hot vampire sex, but you know what - it's not that kind of book.
Habit is not a long or difficult novel. I read most of it it in evening and late one night and then finished it off the next morning. I felt strangely grubby afterwards and in need of a nice relaxing massage and a cup of tea.
I think I might settle for just the cup of tea.
Habit never really makes it entirely clear what the employees of Seventh Heaven are doing to the clientèle in the basement, but it's definitely nothing good, and leaving it open like that suits the style of the novel.
Where Habit really shines is the characters, which are about as far from the glamorous clichés of mainstream horror as it's possible to get.
My only slight criticism would be around the ending, which I felt was a little low key and open-ended, where I was expecting something more 'genre'. Partly because of this, I can see Habit might not work for some of the more literal-minded horror readers, who're looking for capes and bats and hot vampire sex, but you know what - it's not that kind of book.
Habit is not a long or difficult novel. I read most of it it in evening and late one night and then finished it off the next morning. I felt strangely grubby afterwards and in need of a nice relaxing massage and a cup of tea.
I think I might settle for just the cup of tea.
December 18, 2013
I quite liked Habit, even though I would have preferred it to stay more firmly rooted in reality rather than veering off into fantasy. I liked the writing style; there was a good voice there, and it was that that kept me going. A compelling read overall, and I would recommend it.
July 11, 2014
What a load of absolute tosh!
I'll give it 1 star just because I did feel the need to finish it, and in parts I did like the writing.
Story was ridiculous and I can't believe that some people clearly feel it constitutes a good read?
Nuts.
I'll give it 1 star just because I did feel the need to finish it, and in parts I did like the writing.
Story was ridiculous and I can't believe that some people clearly feel it constitutes a good read?
Nuts.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews