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Infinity House
Mama had always forbade Mike from going to the old house…she said it was pure evil, that the devil lived there. Grandmamma did, too, back when she could still think straight. Hell, everybody in the poverty and crime-ridden Oak knew to stay away from it.
But when a drug deal goes bad, and Mike is left penniless and desperate, he and his younger brother, James, do the unthinkable. In the dead of night, they sneak onto the unkempt property in search of rumored treasures.
Beneath the thick shadow cast by the deserted home, they find what they are looking for.
But brothers get greedy. Enticed by the promise of enough riches to get them out of the doomed neighborhood, the pair enters the house.
And soon discover that the truth can be much worse than legend.
INFINITY HOUSE -
Time is ever rotting, and the flies and maggots will devour every moment before it passes.
"Shane McKenzie has a wonderful grasp of the dark and terrible. He truly understands what terrifies us and his love for the horrific comes through in every ghastly sentence he composes."
-Wrath James White, Author of THE RESURECTIONIST
But when a drug deal goes bad, and Mike is left penniless and desperate, he and his younger brother, James, do the unthinkable. In the dead of night, they sneak onto the unkempt property in search of rumored treasures.
Beneath the thick shadow cast by the deserted home, they find what they are looking for.
But brothers get greedy. Enticed by the promise of enough riches to get them out of the doomed neighborhood, the pair enters the house.
And soon discover that the truth can be much worse than legend.
INFINITY HOUSE -
Time is ever rotting, and the flies and maggots will devour every moment before it passes.
"Shane McKenzie has a wonderful grasp of the dark and terrible. He truly understands what terrifies us and his love for the horrific comes through in every ghastly sentence he composes."
-Wrath James White, Author of THE RESURECTIONIST
140 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
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154 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
September 25, 2012
1.5 Stars ***********SLIGHT SPOILERS***********************************
I wanted to read a book about a creepy house so bad. Sometimes you get exactly what you ask for. The house was all this book had going for it. The characters, Mike and James, left a lot to be desired. They said and did some very far-fetched, baby/child-like things. Mike got jacked (using street slang) by a Mexican (that's what the book said).
The Mexican stole his stuff and ran. Mike, gangster Mike, then cried like a bitch-ass (excuse the language) and wiped snot on his arms. In comes his younger bro, James, carrying some loot he found at the Infinity House. A house that no one goes to cuz it's haunted. James just happened upon some bling and they decide to go back at night. Yes, I said night. From there I read about more crying and snot, some maggots and flies, and some really sub-par writing. Example:
Mike stood up, walked past James until he was plopped down in the couch.
If you see nothing wrong with this sentence, good for you.
I had to think on this. Okay, he walked past James, which somehow plopped him inside the couch. WTH?
This, my dear writers, pull the reader out of your story. From this moment on I was on high alert for potential mistakes.
The ending made me feel like I just read a script from a Tales From the Hood episode.
Could have been way better~ Just below OKAY
I wanted to read a book about a creepy house so bad. Sometimes you get exactly what you ask for. The house was all this book had going for it. The characters, Mike and James, left a lot to be desired. They said and did some very far-fetched, baby/child-like things. Mike got jacked (using street slang) by a Mexican (that's what the book said).
The Mexican stole his stuff and ran. Mike, gangster Mike, then cried like a bitch-ass (excuse the language) and wiped snot on his arms. In comes his younger bro, James, carrying some loot he found at the Infinity House. A house that no one goes to cuz it's haunted. James just happened upon some bling and they decide to go back at night. Yes, I said night. From there I read about more crying and snot, some maggots and flies, and some really sub-par writing. Example:
Mike stood up, walked past James until he was plopped down in the couch.
If you see nothing wrong with this sentence, good for you.
I had to think on this. Okay, he walked past James, which somehow plopped him inside the couch. WTH?
This, my dear writers, pull the reader out of your story. From this moment on I was on high alert for potential mistakes.
The ending made me feel like I just read a script from a Tales From the Hood episode.
Could have been way better~ Just below OKAY
October 9, 2021
Fun and quick book with very disturbing imagery and a not-so-happy ending. It would've been nice to learn what the Infinity House actually was and who its owner was, but it was still a decent story. Not great, but not bad either.
August 8, 2024
Shane McKenzie will never write a bad book!
This is your common haunted house story with a strange and awesome twist to it! Our two main characters are having trouble in their bad neighborhood and visit an abandoned house, hoping for money and riches, but they come across entities they must face to survive.
This was definitely a page turner, hooking me in and needing to know what happens next. It is a twisted tale that will mess with your mind and make you question what is going on. Super entertaining and highly recommend!
4/5
This is your common haunted house story with a strange and awesome twist to it! Our two main characters are having trouble in their bad neighborhood and visit an abandoned house, hoping for money and riches, but they come across entities they must face to survive.
This was definitely a page turner, hooking me in and needing to know what happens next. It is a twisted tale that will mess with your mind and make you question what is going on. Super entertaining and highly recommend!
4/5
April 29, 2012
I liken the experience of reading Shane McKenzie's debut novella INFINITY HOUSE to what I suppose Lassie's little buddy, Timmy, experienced falling down that well. You think you know what you're doing going in, not worried about the consequences of fooling around near an old, abandoned well. I'm fucking Timmy, after all, I'm a blond-haired, blue-eyed little prick with an awesome dog, what the fuck could happen to me? You think I'm going to let some shitty, forgotten well scare me? Fuck that and fuck you.
And then you're falling, tumbling, down into the dark, faster than you even realize, all manner of horrific ideas running through your mind, including such thoughts as, oh fuck, I'm falling down this well, which is likely filled with monsters and evil and snakes and bones and spiders and raccoon urine and clowns. And then you hit the bottom.
That's this book. It's got the monsters and the evil, but instead of spiders, you have flies, and instead snakes, it's maggots. A sea of maggots up to your chest, and rotting meat, disgusting stench, liquefied nastiness. INFINITY HOUSE is the story of Mike and his little brother James. They live in The Oak, a ghetto where Mike sells weed out the front door to pay the bills. His grandmamma is infirm and his mother is dead and only Mike is left to care for James.
Mike is ripped off by a customer toting a shotgun and loses his stash and his cash, but little brother James comes home with money in hand. He found it over at the creepy haunted house that everyone in The Oak knows to steer clear of, but with no money and no more weed to sell to make some money, Mike and James head to the house to see what more they can find. OH SHIT MIKE DON'T GO IN THAT HAUNTED HOUSE YOU DUMBASS IT'S HAUNTED BY A CHILD-KILLING FREAK! STOP SMOKING THE MARIJUANA IT'S DESTROYING YOUR SENSES!
That's about all the setup you need, and all the setup you're going to get because by the time Mike and his little bro step inside the house, you're headed straight down that well. The story takes off like a roman candle at that point, piling on one slippery, slimy, disgusting, horrific scene after the next until you finally splash down at the bottom and try to catch your breath, or at least keep from ralphing in your lap. I won't lie, there are a few passages in here that got my stomach turning. I expected this book to be nasty, but it still managed to get to me.
But that what's it's supposed to do. INFINITY HOUSE is straight up gross-out horror, and it doesn't even attempt to be anything more than that, which is cool. McKenzie, in an interview included in the back of the book, says as much. He's out to shock you, stun you, make you feel queasy, uncomfortable, lightheaded, sick, whatever he can get. If the idea of millions of squirming maggots and rotting, mushy meat squishing under your feet is too much for you, then you'll probably want to take a pass on this one. But if you dig that sort of thing, McKenzie is a name to watch out for.
Personally, I don't go out of my way to seek out the extreme horror, but I don't reject it out of hand, either. I think it takes skill to write a story that's both compelling and also over-the-top nasty at the same time. That type of book can get tedious and just flat gross real fast. To his credit, McKenzie doesn't let it get to that point. He doesn't give us a lot of characterization when it comes to Mike or James, but he trades that in for a short little rocket ride of gore that will be over before you know it, if you can just hold out to the end. I'm intrigued and looking forward to what he comes up with next.
And then you're falling, tumbling, down into the dark, faster than you even realize, all manner of horrific ideas running through your mind, including such thoughts as, oh fuck, I'm falling down this well, which is likely filled with monsters and evil and snakes and bones and spiders and raccoon urine and clowns. And then you hit the bottom.
That's this book. It's got the monsters and the evil, but instead of spiders, you have flies, and instead snakes, it's maggots. A sea of maggots up to your chest, and rotting meat, disgusting stench, liquefied nastiness. INFINITY HOUSE is the story of Mike and his little brother James. They live in The Oak, a ghetto where Mike sells weed out the front door to pay the bills. His grandmamma is infirm and his mother is dead and only Mike is left to care for James.
Mike is ripped off by a customer toting a shotgun and loses his stash and his cash, but little brother James comes home with money in hand. He found it over at the creepy haunted house that everyone in The Oak knows to steer clear of, but with no money and no more weed to sell to make some money, Mike and James head to the house to see what more they can find. OH SHIT MIKE DON'T GO IN THAT HAUNTED HOUSE YOU DUMBASS IT'S HAUNTED BY A CHILD-KILLING FREAK! STOP SMOKING THE MARIJUANA IT'S DESTROYING YOUR SENSES!
That's about all the setup you need, and all the setup you're going to get because by the time Mike and his little bro step inside the house, you're headed straight down that well. The story takes off like a roman candle at that point, piling on one slippery, slimy, disgusting, horrific scene after the next until you finally splash down at the bottom and try to catch your breath, or at least keep from ralphing in your lap. I won't lie, there are a few passages in here that got my stomach turning. I expected this book to be nasty, but it still managed to get to me.
But that what's it's supposed to do. INFINITY HOUSE is straight up gross-out horror, and it doesn't even attempt to be anything more than that, which is cool. McKenzie, in an interview included in the back of the book, says as much. He's out to shock you, stun you, make you feel queasy, uncomfortable, lightheaded, sick, whatever he can get. If the idea of millions of squirming maggots and rotting, mushy meat squishing under your feet is too much for you, then you'll probably want to take a pass on this one. But if you dig that sort of thing, McKenzie is a name to watch out for.
Personally, I don't go out of my way to seek out the extreme horror, but I don't reject it out of hand, either. I think it takes skill to write a story that's both compelling and also over-the-top nasty at the same time. That type of book can get tedious and just flat gross real fast. To his credit, McKenzie doesn't let it get to that point. He doesn't give us a lot of characterization when it comes to Mike or James, but he trades that in for a short little rocket ride of gore that will be over before you know it, if you can just hold out to the end. I'm intrigued and looking forward to what he comes up with next.
May 8, 2012
Shane McKenzie is a former editor for Pill Hill and part owner of Sinister Grin Press and with those two credentials, plus the many short stories of his I've had the joy of reading. This was a release I was looking forward to.
Now I'm a sucker for several things when I buy a horror novel; scary looking houses on the cover being one of them. I have no idea what attracts me to those types of books, though honestly I don't like haunted house stories, just not a fan of ghosts. But damn it all if Shane didn't up the ante and change that with Infinity House.
The story starts off with a bang as Mike finds his world overturned when a drug deal doesn't go right and all his stash and money are stolen. His brother James though changes there circumstances with a huge wad of cash he found at the one house everyone is told not to go near. As he mother said..."Pure evil, the devil lived there." But seeing as how the boys are now in need of some money they set out to find as much as possible.
And once they enter the house...
My god, I swear this novel has more ooze, rotten meat, oceans of maggots, swarms of flies and creepy scary children then any book I've ever read. I couldn't put it down till I finished. Shane masterfully describes the inner workings of a normal world gone askew into a hallucinatory nightmare better then ten dozen other novelists. He writes with a quick brutal style and you'll sit on the edge of your seat as you root for Mike and James to escape the Infinity House.
I would hate to ruin a great story for anyone so before I do, get a copy of this you won't be disappointed. This was just released by a new company Gallows Press and they did a top notch job of both editing for common mistakes (honestly I was so absorbed by the story I may have missed them) and the flies and maggots that decorate every page. And as an added bonus you get a short story "I didn't Mean To Hurt You" and an eye opening interview with Shane conducted by Liam Davies.
After this I'm looking forward to more horrifying stories from Shane. (note to self add Shane to list of authors you would most likely kidnap and force to write, I'm sure he would look nice tucked between Wrath and Lee.)
Now I'll leave you with a gross little sentence from within these dripping stinky pages..."The girl cackled as she grabbed handfuls of maggots like candy from a grisly piñata." Come on I bet you just want to know...don't ya...
Now I'm a sucker for several things when I buy a horror novel; scary looking houses on the cover being one of them. I have no idea what attracts me to those types of books, though honestly I don't like haunted house stories, just not a fan of ghosts. But damn it all if Shane didn't up the ante and change that with Infinity House.
The story starts off with a bang as Mike finds his world overturned when a drug deal doesn't go right and all his stash and money are stolen. His brother James though changes there circumstances with a huge wad of cash he found at the one house everyone is told not to go near. As he mother said..."Pure evil, the devil lived there." But seeing as how the boys are now in need of some money they set out to find as much as possible.
And once they enter the house...
My god, I swear this novel has more ooze, rotten meat, oceans of maggots, swarms of flies and creepy scary children then any book I've ever read. I couldn't put it down till I finished. Shane masterfully describes the inner workings of a normal world gone askew into a hallucinatory nightmare better then ten dozen other novelists. He writes with a quick brutal style and you'll sit on the edge of your seat as you root for Mike and James to escape the Infinity House.
I would hate to ruin a great story for anyone so before I do, get a copy of this you won't be disappointed. This was just released by a new company Gallows Press and they did a top notch job of both editing for common mistakes (honestly I was so absorbed by the story I may have missed them) and the flies and maggots that decorate every page. And as an added bonus you get a short story "I didn't Mean To Hurt You" and an eye opening interview with Shane conducted by Liam Davies.
After this I'm looking forward to more horrifying stories from Shane. (note to self add Shane to list of authors you would most likely kidnap and force to write, I'm sure he would look nice tucked between Wrath and Lee.)
Now I'll leave you with a gross little sentence from within these dripping stinky pages..."The girl cackled as she grabbed handfuls of maggots like candy from a grisly piñata." Come on I bet you just want to know...don't ya...
July 8, 2014
A strangely swift read (was it really 140 pages??) that piled on the grossness as it hurtled toward its highly predictable conclusion. Certain scenes within the house were very effective, but a heightened suspension of disbelief was required to get to them. Readers with flies or maggot aversions are advised to stay well away.
3 Walls of Rancid Meat for Infinity House.
3 Walls of Rancid Meat for Infinity House.
August 1, 2020
I'm not gonna write a full review for this as it was rather short and I didn't enjoy it at all. I like books about weird houses, but the only thing weird about this house was it seemed to be made of meat and, of course, was full of maggots. This fell super short for me and to be honest I think i'll forget about this one pretty quick
December 19, 2021
I Was finally able to get a copy of this book. Infinity House has been compared to The People Under The Stairs, which I can see why. Two totally different plots though. The Oak is one of my favorite settings now in a book after reading this. It also has a short story that was very disturbing.
December 15, 2013
this was pretty fucked up book. very very nasty
July 26, 2015
Dnf. Very disappointing from one of my favorite authors.
October 9, 2019
Breathtaking speed, concise prose, a sinister old man who wants to play with you forever and some classic horror elements combined in marvelous new ways: welcome to Infinity House, Shane McKenzie's superb gore fest. This is horror for genre fans with a strong stomach.
You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
August 5, 2021
No plot
The book didn't need the filth in the text. No plot . Meds to have some substance to be a story.
The book didn't need the filth in the text. No plot . Meds to have some substance to be a story.
September 1, 2013
Cool looking cover. I have heard about the author from other author reviews and he keeps coming up when I look for books by authors I read on Amazon, so I figured what the hell. I was not disappointed. This short novella had dead rotting bodies, maggots and body fluids oh my. The gross out factor was high for such a short book but it was effective and memorable. A great addition to the authors I read and will be reading more Shane McKenzie.
October 26, 2012
Shane Mckenzie is a cool new horror writer in the vein of Wrath James White, Edward Lee and JF Gonzalez. He writes splatter fiction with love and passion. INFINITY HOUSE is a haunted house story. I won't spoil the plot but there's loads of flies and maggots. It'a nice short read. If you love underground horror you won't be disappointed.
August 27, 2014
Nasty!
Awful, gross story but very well written. I kept catching my face with an "oh, yuck!" look on it... first time I've kept a lock like that through a whole book! The book did it's job.
Awful, gross story but very well written. I kept catching my face with an "oh, yuck!" look on it... first time I've kept a lock like that through a whole book! The book did it's job.
February 12, 2015
Another awesome story by shane
Great story fast intense freaky and gross. I love shades writing and I am quickly becoming a huge fan of his works. Gotta love all his character s. Great world building skills. This one doesn't disappoint.
Great story fast intense freaky and gross. I love shades writing and I am quickly becoming a huge fan of his works. Gotta love all his character s. Great world building skills. This one doesn't disappoint.
August 17, 2012
Eerie, creepy and gross - and a little sad, as well. Thoroughly enjoyed it!
December 27, 2016
see my review on bookie-monster.com
October 6, 2014
If you like gore, than read this, I think it was disgusting !!!
December 23, 2013
Great twisted tale
January 22, 2014
Didn't do much for me I'm afraid. Similar to Edward Lee's romps in hell which I don't much like at all. Was a quick read.
April 10, 2014
Ewwwww!!! Eww Eww!! I don't even want to think about the maggots anymore!!
July 21, 2016
Ugh, I feel dirty now. Creepy
November 19, 2015
Mixed
I liked the start and it was a fast read. A little predictable, except for the end. That was rough.
I liked the start and it was a fast read. A little predictable, except for the end. That was rough.
April 10, 2016
This is one of the nastiest haunted house stories I've read in awhile. Pretty gross. That's a compliment. If you like haunted house tales in the nightmarish, gory vein, check this one out.
March 29, 2017
Pulls you in like the House itself.
Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews