Creep House

by Andersen Prunty

Zombies. Werewolves. Vampires. Mummies. Satanic cults. Unspeakable cosmic horror. Andersen Prunty welcomes you to Twin Springs, Ohio, in his latest collection of horror stories.

Genres: Horror, Short Stories, Bizarro Fiction, Audiobook, Paranormal

184 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 13, 2014

About the author

Andersen Prunty lives in Yellow Springs, Ohio. He writes novels and short stories. Visit him at notandersenprunty.com, where he posts a free story every Friday.

Reviews

[Sadie Hartmann · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of stories all taking place in the same, strange town known as Twin Springs, Ohio.

THE CALMING WOOD- This story is the perfect example of Andersen Prunty's A Game. Short. Compelling. Shocking. Memorable. I will never forget this story. Things just happen and there's no leading up to it or any hints of what's going to happen, Prunty drops horror bombs and keeps going. It's up to you, the reader to decide to keep running along after him or just surrender. This one was good.

MAY TO MAY- This was a nope. I felt like something hideous and nasty would happen and I was not let down. But I didn't like it.

CANDY HEART- Love this story. One of those werewolf stories I will always try to keep in my pocket for upcoming werewolf recommendations. This story and the first one are worth the price of admission.

RUNNING FROM THE ROSES- "The roses were hungry" The eventual death of a woman's granny is the catalyst for some unsettling revelations. I actually didn't quite get what happened the first time I read this story, so on a later date, I re-read it and everything clicked into place. I think there's one section of story that a reader needs to really pay attention to in order to understand what happens in the end and perhaps I missed it the first time around. I like this one.

THE MAN WHO HATED STEPHEN KING- A horror story for fans of Stephen King. *nervous laugh*

THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD OF COMPLACENCY- I have a love/hate relationship with this story. Again, now that I'm acquainted with Andersen Prunty's voice, this is the type of story I come to expect from him. It's immediately compelling and slightly unsettling. There's a growing tension. The ending is horrific and of course, it's extremely off-putting which is why it would be hard to recommend it to people. Prunty is like a personal favorite. I think readers should just come to his storytelling on their own terms and decide how they way to engage with it. Perhaps keeping in mind that not all of his story will land comfortably.

KING CREEP- Case in point: I quit reading this one. Too disturbing and gross. I didn't like what I was reading and I didn't want to find out where it was going.

[Bandit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy things. It's what happens in small towns. I've only read Prunty's Slag Attack before, which wasn't a great introduction to the author. It showcased his talent, but it was nearly all too obscured by the gross factor of the book. This one, however, absolutely redeems Prunty. All the talent, none of the grossness. The horror is nearly all psychological (my favorite kind) and exceptionally well done. The collection consists of 5 or so stories, most tangentially interconnected, all set in Twin Springs, Ohio. Prunty covers a variety of genre favorites here from zombies to aliens, but with a tremendous degree of eerie subtlety and literary panache. And most importantly, originality. Every story offers a new take on the old theme. Very nice. Now this would have been a great introduction to Prunty. Such a quick read too, only about 1.5 hours and well worth the time. Recommended.

[Kaisersoze · Rating 2 out of 5]

My first foray into the world of Prunty, and it most definitely was not the type of thing I enjoy. Seven tales, all tangentially related - at least insofar as their setting - but most were too slow and some were possibly too cerebral for my tastes.

Two of the tales, Candy Heart and Running From the Roses were more my kind of thing as the horror was obvious, the twists clever. But every other tale either suddenly stopped, going absolutely nowhere, or were so weirdly off the wall, I never settled into what Prunty was offering.

Most seem to like this collection, so certainly do not take my review at face vale. Creep House is at least worth making up your own mind over.

2 Weird Convention Friends for Creep House.

[Tyler Spragg · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's a shame I'm not better at reviewing books, because this one deserves a good one.

First off this guy is a spectacular author. This is my ninth Prunty book, and with each one I feel I'm being drawn into a larger web of storytelling than the last. Nods to other stories and locations from other works are becoming more familiar and adding to the mystery of what else may lurk in Andersen's Bizzarro-Ohio universe. To spoil connections from any two books would ruin the fun of discovering it on your own, so have fun if this ones your first. That being said, no one book requires another to stand as a solid story.

So with this collection of short stories, Prunty takes us to Twin Springs, Ohio. We are given seven horror stories that with each, show you just how much you don't want to move here. Being a fellow Ohioan, the slight jokes on the location from time to time really resonate with me. Ohio isn't typically the location you find yourself in when it comes to a horror story, and it's a place I'm now creeped out by even more. Creeps.. Oops. So yes, there are a few of those packed in here. So many creeps. I'd tell you about a few but I'm afraid I'd give away too much. My favorite creeps are in THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD OF COMPLACENCY, and KING CREEP, though picking favorite stories in CREEP HOUSE is a little difficult.

I will say this, if you find you're in Twin Springs and you notice a glowing blue light behind the trees, or you see a man emerging from the woods towards you, keep on driving.

CREEP HOUSE fits right in with the Andersen Prunty books I have already read, and I'm sure as I continue reading his books I will find more connections. Ohio is weird, but he has made it dangerously weird. If you enjoy this, I would recommend SUNRUINED, FUCKNESS, THE SORROW KING, BURY THE CHILDREN IN THE YARD, or HI, I'M A SOCIAL DISEASE. I will only recommend that which I've read, but as far as horror goes, you can't go wrong with any of these.

[Quentin Wallace · Rating 3 out of 5]

If I had to describe this book in one word, it would be confusing. However, I have found that lot of horror short stories confuse me. (For example, Dennis Etchison's THE DARK COUNTRY is considered a classic, but half the time I had no clue what was going on. It's probably just me.)

That being said, if the stories were meant to be disturbing and creepy, they definitely accomplished their goal. My favorite story in the collection was "Candy Heart", which was a pretty straight forward werewolf story.

My least favorite was probably "May to May" because I still don't understand the point of it. I think it was about a female masturbating with a mummified penis, but that was pretty much all that happened, and she seemed happy and fine with it all so..

The stories are all based in the same town of Twin Falls, Ohio, and they were all loosely connected as well, which was sorta jazzy.

The other stories sort of fell in the middle. Some of the sexual content was very disturbing. This wasn't the stuff people do and don't talk about, this was..the next level.

Overall, it was definitely creepy and well written, and if you like existential horror tales this one is for you. If you like it a little more straight forward, you'll probably still like it, just not love it.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creep House is an interesting short story collection that contains a link throughout each story. The link is the town of Twin Springs and the stories are more creepy than outright scary. It's a short collection that plods along slowly which I like because it's not the in your face gross out stuff that most horror writers create. It's the atmosphere that draws the reader and while fans of the gore and violence may find this tame, it's still worth a read.

[Xian Xian · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mr. Prunty is that writer that I would be scared to meet in real life. That sounds a little mean, but it's my true feelings. (Did I write this before?) I read his The Warm Glow of Happy Homes months ago. I don't remember exactly when, but I enjoyed it. It was a novella, it was short, gory, and thrilling. Now here's a short story collection. It's completely different.

"The feeling of contentment would always be followed by the world crumbling beneath her feet."

I wonder if Prunty is a huge fan of old horror movies. Because while reading this, I played the soundtracks, did the jump scare effects whenever my eyes came across the violence, and the innocent little girl voices. "Hey? What is that?" *Gets murdered.*

But like a lot of people stated, the stories were wrapped up a bit too fast. "Oh hey! Look I killed someone! Oh no someone punched me. But I survived. And I walked home like nothing happened. The end." Just kidding that didn't actually happen. But I can probably say the longer short stories were better.

"The only mystery they had left her with was the mystery of who they were and what they were like. She didn't expect them to be anything but mystery."

And as much as I liked the first few short stories, it took a grand fall towards the end for me. I'm not sure if it was because I got tired of it or I was just getting really grossed out by it. Yeah, I said it. I got grossed out by a bizzaro book. The pedophilia, the fornication, the sacks of blood, it was just a little too much. There's horror and grossness, but this reminded me of those people who have weird fascinations with snuff films and watching people die with pleasure. I guess, I just wasn't in the mood for this one. I didn't expect this to be this gross though.

"Really, it was nothing. Just a bad dream. Just a nightmare. And everybody knows nightmares end when we open our eyes."

I guess I was too wimpy for this one. But I was reading this in the middle of the night and I cringed so bad at the last two stories. But eventually I got used to it and was like "meh," for the rest. I did get some weird dreams though.

Rating: 2.5/5

Originally posted here:https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blo...

[Rodney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prunty never lets me down. This horror collection is as good as any of his others. The first story alone is worth buying the book. I enjoyed the way that the stories are subtly connected. I feel grateful that I was able to get an advance copy.
On a side note, the author gives unearths something big in this book, but I will not spoil it. Let's just leave it as "if you have to ask, you'll never know."

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my first read from Prunty and I really enjoyed it. This is a collection of short fiction, and each story is linked by the fact that they take place in the same town. There were several standouts for me in this collection that I’m not going to forget any time soon. My Top 3 stories were: The Calming Wood, Candy Heart, and The Existential Dread of Complacency. I’ve got several other titles from this author lined up and I’m looking forward to it.

[Kirk · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Creep House Prunty delves into the darker areas of horror, and he does so with unparalleled finesse. He covers enough new territory to keep the reader walking the razor line between exhilaration and discomfort. By discomfort I'm referring to moments in stories where you expect something bad to happen but don't want it to. There's a sort of dramatic irony to some of the tales, like "The Calming Wood." The audience has a growing suspicion as to the fate of the protagonist, but then our worst fears are realized, and it is as if some karmic entity has been perverted and redirected towards the innocent in the story. Suddenly those who deserve to face dire consequences are let off lightly. As for those in the story who commit the greatest atrocities, we're left wondering what their fate may be. In this capacity the story's horror rests with its realism. It reinforces the fact that we live in an imperfect world. Simultaneously, there is a surreal element to the story which allows for the karmic perversion to manifest in the first place.

I really enjoyed "The Calming Wood." It is a breath of fresh air compared to a large portion of horror today. Mainstream horror seems to rely on a few basic conclusions, one of which depicts the aggressor as victorious. How droll. I've seen enough films with the maniac swinging his chainsaw/axe/machete victoriously as the sun sets or rises on the horizon. The conclusion in "The Calming Wood" leaves us with the ability to envision our own ultimate conclusion by providing us with a penultimate conclusion, one that wraps up the story for the protagonist, but leaves us wondering about the fate of other characters who become central through a sort of paradigm shift part way through the story.

There's no question that the ending of "The Calming Wood" is intentional. While one reviewer posited that a few of these stories leave us hanging, I can't help but feel that Prunty is challenging the conventions of horror in some respects with the open-ended approach he takes in the first story. However, in stories like "May to May" Prunty appears to leave the audience questioning what happened in the vein of literary fiction. That's not to say that Prunty would lower himself to the level of pseudo intellectual bullshit that is literary fiction today. Instead, "May to May" parodies the kind of "we challenge you to find meaning in the meaningless" approach you would find in the more recent short fiction of Don DeLillo. He does it with finesse . . . and huge black dildos. I like to think of "May to May" as a huge dildo screwing the desperate scrawling of aspiring literary writers across the country. Overall, I can't help but feel that the first two stories in Creep House are an existential fuck you directed towards those desperate to render meaning from the absurd nature of reality. It is as if Ingmar Bergman and John Waters sat down to write a collection of short horror stories.

"Candy Heart" was a great horror story that toys with your anxieties about the loss of innocence. I loved it because the ending was redeeming, and the redemption overwhelms the loss we feel for the character who kicks off at the end. To put it simply, it was like, "Oh shit. I didn't want that guy to die, but at least that other fellow turned out alright." The story has a nice degree of circularity.

Prunty's work is always calculating, and this collection plays with the conventions of story telling to a degree that really shows Prunty's ability to render plot in ways that are both foreign and familiar to readers. There are four other stories in the collection, only one of which I have read so far. So my assessment comes from reading over half of the stories included, but not all of them. I still have three more to go.

[Jade · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. I am a fan of Prunty's work in general and when I saw the cover of this one in my Goodreads newsletter I was super excited--not only is it horror (check), it is short stories (check again) and the cover painting by C.V. Hunt is about as enticing as anything I have seen on the cover of a book in forever. I was not disappointed. The stories are not what one would think of as traditional horror in most cases--I would say that the story "Candy Heart" is closest to that label--but personally I find this to be a good thing--horror needs a boot in the ass in a big way and Prunty clearly has some big boots.
The book is definitely extremely fun for residents of Ohio--so many places are name checked and even the ones with pseudonyms are pretty identifiable for those of us who have lived here all or most of our lives. This reminds me a great deal of Stephen King's fondness for including Maine and it's many towns and areas as well as Lovecraft and his fondness for the same behavior. It adds another layer of realism and identification for readers.
Prunty's incredibly original imagination is on full display here--horror is almost re-defined in many cases--instead of tired tropes being exploited (which has pretty much taken the fear out of most horror for me personally), the feeling of not knowing what is going to happen next is just beautifully done--I literally found myself holding my breath because I had no idea what was going to come next in many instances. That is horror, my friends.
There is also a thread here that connects many of the stories--it's not always the same thread--which makes it even more interesting--you find yourself hunting for that connection in every story. The writing is coherent despite being incredibly bizarre and that is no easy feat. I never felt that things were just being put in to shock or offend--there might be shocking material but it's there to evoke a feeling or explain a situation. There is also a good deal of humor on display here and I enjoy that immensely in this type of fiction--it's always fun to be thinking "ewww" one minute and bust out laughing at the sly comedy inserted in unexpected places.
I would have to say that I could not choose one story as my favorite--it has to come in as a close tie between 2 stories--in other words 2 of the stories were so damned good, I could not choose between them--"The Existential Dread of Complacency" and "King Creep" were both so amazing and so straight up disturbing that I would have a hard time choosing between them. I read both of them with a great intensity of feeling that I can only describe as obsessively interested and slightly nervous at what the hell was going to happen next--anyone who can make me feel that in print has my loyalty forever. Highly recommend.

[GD · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pretty disappointing. This is my third book by Andersen Prunty, and while I really liked the first two (Sunruined and Hi I Am A Social Disease), and I've already bought one more that I haven't read yet, this one was a let down. Andersen Prunty is, as far as I know, one of the darkest, most brutal writers today. I don't know much about him, but he seems to be extremely misanthropic and focused on all unpleasant things all the time. I wonder how he manages regular stuff like buying ice cream.

My main gripe with this book is that most of the stories start off great, with his typical offhand ultraviolence and bizarre events, then, they just... end! Like, for example, the first story here, "The Calming Wood," man it is just awesome, and I was getting stoked for a book full of this, then it just ends. A wandering cannibal with a twisted back walks into a cabin and slashes the throat and wrist of the lone tenant and hangs his body upside down from the rafters before going to sleep. He wakes up and the rope is coiled on the ground, body gone. He hear a dog bark and a girl scream somewhere. He catches sight of the walking corpse of the guy carrying a dead dog and dead girl, decides the next day he will try to catch the guy in a trap. Wakes up the next day in the cabin and there is the girl's body impaled on a stake with the dog's head attached, and the dog's body lying on the porch with the girl's head attached, it's freaky, he walks out into the woods to try to make the trap. Then he's suddenly caught by some local good guys, and in the space of about one page we're told he sees like 40 kid corpses all over the place on the ride back into town, goes to trial, is sentenced to labor, tried to escape multiple times, makes it out once, and goes back to the cabin. End. WHERE THE FUCK IS THE WALKING DEAD MASS MURDERER?

Almost every story ended like this, just awesome, then stop, awesome, then stop. Nothing really seemed finished, except for the last story, which had aliens, a hairless child killer, a pornographer, and references to the 1990s TV show Blossom. That was awesome. The rest of the book was not.

[Horror DNA · Rating 5 out of 5]

When you've already heaped praise on an author, it's usually hard to come up with new ways of convincing readers they have to check out his or her work. In the case of Andersen Prunty, the task is surprisingly easy: all of his earlier short story collections are great, but Creep House, which was just released, is his best so far. While all previous collections are packed with narratives that shine by themselves and sometimes have a few cohesive elements that make the book read like a whole, Creep House reaches a new level of greatness because it reads like a novel told in stories; it's like a disturbing biography of place that walks the line between a very enjoyable horror movie and David Lynch's Twin Peaks.

You can read Gabino's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Brian Mcclain · Rating 5 out of 5]

So as a southeast Michigander I don't get the Ohio references, but the settings are still pretty reminiscent of my area. I've been a fan of Prunty's work for a while now and on a whim picked this up after seeing enough people talk about it. It's not really terrifying horror, but unsettling and just plain weird. There are references to monsters I've never heard of, and new ways of thinking of ones that I have heard of. There's also a kind of interesting thread that pulls them together, so that the stories are happening in similar places with similar people and similar events, in some cases the same between two stories.

[David Bridges · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prunty's done it again. He has laid down another great set of stories. "Running From The Roses" and "The Existential Dread Of Complacency" being my favorites of this book. "King Creep" is by far the creepiest though. Prunty was one of the original indie lit writers I started reading along with Jeremy Robert Johnson and Cody Goodfellow. I encourage those who haven't to pick up Creep House and all the other recent releases from Grindhouse Press. I have read multiple Grindhouse Press books recently and they have all been excellent.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

A solid collection of seven loosely connected stories set in the fictional town of Twin Springs, Ohio:
The Calming Wood ****
May to May ***
Candy Heart ****
Running from the Roses *****
The Man Who Hated King ****
The Existential Dread of Complacency ****
King Creep *****

[Russell Holbrook · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you haven't been to Twin Springs you are really missing out! Call your travel agent today!

[Ryan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prunty writes with a indescribable force-his characters and plots are weird, humorously parched, and not sanitary by any means, but these unequivocal traits work, and I guess that’s why I keep downloading his books. This specific collection has an unvarying tone, and readers that appreciate all types of horror might find some kind of uncanny wisdom in here. Favorites (minor spoilers):

EXISTENTIAL DREAD OF COMPLACENCY-Dark woods, hippies that foolishly oppose the establishment, and a sacrificial infant.

KING CREEP-An erratic porn set, a white-blueish light, and unexpected visitor.

[Donald Armfield · Rating 3 out of 5]

This review is based on the audiobook version. The narrator on this made it sound very light almost like a thriller with a mild taste. I plan on going back to this book in the near future and reading it for myself. “THE EXISTENTIAL DREAD OF COMPLACENCY” was the stand out story for me that suited the narrators voice.

[timj26 · Rating 5 out of 5]

If your a fan of Andersen prunty you know he likes to switch it up
This was a blend of horror from cannibalism to the finding and enjoying of a used sex toy that was very unsettling
Well narrated and the stories tie together nicely highly recommended
I received a free review audiobook and voluntarily left this review

[Alondra Miller]

DNF @15%

I just can't. Maybe I will try later

[Eric · Rating 5 out of 5]

These stories get right to the point. And the point is muahahahahahahha

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was nervous after the first few stories that I wasn't going to end up liking this collection all that much. I absolutely love Andersen Prunty's short story collections - I think I've read them all.

The first story, "The Calming Wood," seemed promising, but the next couple, "May to May" and "Candy Heart," weren't especially scary to me. It was, however, becoming clear that these stories all seemed to share some creepy roots.

The later stories packed way more punch. The second to last tale, "The Existential Dread of Complacency," was my favorite - totally unpredictable, ominous and, at times, hilarious. "King Creep," the last story, offers a pretty wild, kooky (but satisfying) conclusion.

I think this is a definitely a book you read twice.

Oh and if you're from Ohio, you'll get a kick out of the settings, although a few seem to be (semi-) disguised with fictional names...

[Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

Creep House is a collection of stories set in the town of Twin Springs, Ohio and more specifically around one strange house and its various inhabitants. These stories vary on the spectrum between quiet dread and all out mayhem.

I've been a fan of Andersen Prunty for a while but this book may be my favorite of his. His ability to instill feelings with an economy of words is astounding. Creep House has a short page count but I feel like I could spend as much time as I wanted on the book, going back to explore and find things I missed or discover hidden connections between the stories.

Be warned that there is little of the humor that Mr. Prunty has used in his other works. This is grim and dark. I loved all of the stories, but "The Man Who Hated Stephen King" and "The Existential Dread of Complacency" are my personal favorites. 5 stars, recommended for all dark fiction readers.

[Mary Dean · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a unique collection of horror, different from what is the usual out there. If you like off the wall stories, this is the collection for you. I am one of those people. I was very entertained. I had no clue what each story would contain and each one is very different. There were parts that had me legit scared and parts that had me shocked. A must read/listen to serious horror fans. The narrator was the perfect voice to tell these tails. I definitely want to check out more from this author.

[Daniel Volpe · Rating 5 out of 5]

a mix of stories that take traditional horror and twist it. not as good of a collection as Prunty's "Bury the children in the yard", but it was still a good read

[Trevor Woodhouse · Rating 4 out of 5]

easy read, they seemed like they were part of bigger stories so felt a little anticlimactic.

[Bill Williams · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great collection of intertwined short stories. I will be reading more of Prunty's work.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it

Think my fave is the Stephen king one and the alien one. Am certainly going to read more by this author.

[Richard Givan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice stories, mostly arising in domestic settings that bring the horror home to roost all the better.