What do you think?
Rate this book
House Haunted
Four tormented people and a New York City detective are lured to an abandoned house in upstate New York by a spirit called Bridget, who is preparing to break down the walls between this world and the next
288 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1991
6 people are currently reading
139 people want to read
About the author
Al Sarrantonio
140 books132 followersAl Sarrantonio was an American horror and science fiction writer, editor and publisher who authored more than 50 books and 90 short stories. He also edited numerous anthologies.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
October 12, 2020
As part of my exploration of the haunted house subgenre, I decided I couldn't pass up this 1991 Bantam paperback from the great Al Sarrantonio. But it wasn't much of a "haunted house" novel. It was, in fact, one giant mess, yet I know if you are a fan of books from the Golden-Age of paperback horror fiction, this will be the kind of mess in which you would want to wallow.
Let's get the negatives out of the way. This book was more confusing than a Tolstoy novel. The cast of characters was just way too big to have sparsely scattered throughout the narrative like was done here. Someone would be introduced and then you wouldn't pick up their arc again until six chapters later. It didn't help that most character names were so generic that I got Ray, Gary, Ricky, Richard, Peter and Ted confused. If he had added Tom, Tim, Bill, and Phil to the cast, this would have felt more like a 12-step meeting. New characters are being introduced halfway through the book and even into the third act. The main "heroes" of the story are only in the narrative for about three chapters. Otherwise, we follow the rather pointless journeys of four misfits who have mommy and daddy issues from all points on the compass to end up on the menu for an evil demon who takes the form of a beautiful redhead girl.
I think the author's original vision was much more epic than what Bantam could tolerate. They wanted a cheap horror paperback, not "The Stand." So it is quite apparent that narrative arcs are cut short, and parts are just phoned in. If I became interested in a particular character because of a memorable storyline or a mystery of their past, it is never explored. I will include some MINOR SPOILERS as examples.
I became completely engaged in the story of a Polish political prisoner named Jan, and I wanted him to have a more satisfying role in the final act. Denied. There was also a serial killer whose murders were all related to the common theme of tabletop games. Why games do you ask? Well, the author doesn't really provide any tasty psychological genesis for the sociopathic behaviors other than the perp's last name is "Games." And whereas the killer starts off as an intelligent and calculating master of the hunt, he devolves into a raging brute waving a hammer around and shouting "Invincible!" by the finale. Maybe Sarrantonio had just watched Pacino's performance in "Scarface" and had a moment of inspiration, but this choice destroyed an otherwise effective and formidable character. Why introduce so many cool elements to the story to just forget about them or have them be otherwise inconsequential?
On the positive side, if you want horror, this book delivers. Heads are beaten to mashed potatoes. Throats are cut and limbs hacked off. And there is one scene involving a girl in a closet that almost made me wretch. Yes, dear reader, this is not one of those subtle creepy chillers, but a full assault on good taste with violence, gore, and bodily fluids. The pacing is fairly well done, and I found myself looking forward to picking the story up again until its explosive conclusion.
I think that if you are a fan of 80s horror, especially something like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and Stephen King's "It," you will love this book. For me, it was enjoyable but made too many promises it didn't keep.
Let's get the negatives out of the way. This book was more confusing than a Tolstoy novel. The cast of characters was just way too big to have sparsely scattered throughout the narrative like was done here. Someone would be introduced and then you wouldn't pick up their arc again until six chapters later. It didn't help that most character names were so generic that I got Ray, Gary, Ricky, Richard, Peter and Ted confused. If he had added Tom, Tim, Bill, and Phil to the cast, this would have felt more like a 12-step meeting. New characters are being introduced halfway through the book and even into the third act. The main "heroes" of the story are only in the narrative for about three chapters. Otherwise, we follow the rather pointless journeys of four misfits who have mommy and daddy issues from all points on the compass to end up on the menu for an evil demon who takes the form of a beautiful redhead girl.
I think the author's original vision was much more epic than what Bantam could tolerate. They wanted a cheap horror paperback, not "The Stand." So it is quite apparent that narrative arcs are cut short, and parts are just phoned in. If I became interested in a particular character because of a memorable storyline or a mystery of their past, it is never explored. I will include some MINOR SPOILERS as examples.
I became completely engaged in the story of a Polish political prisoner named Jan, and I wanted him to have a more satisfying role in the final act. Denied. There was also a serial killer whose murders were all related to the common theme of tabletop games. Why games do you ask? Well, the author doesn't really provide any tasty psychological genesis for the sociopathic behaviors other than the perp's last name is "Games." And whereas the killer starts off as an intelligent and calculating master of the hunt, he devolves into a raging brute waving a hammer around and shouting "Invincible!" by the finale. Maybe Sarrantonio had just watched Pacino's performance in "Scarface" and had a moment of inspiration, but this choice destroyed an otherwise effective and formidable character. Why introduce so many cool elements to the story to just forget about them or have them be otherwise inconsequential?
On the positive side, if you want horror, this book delivers. Heads are beaten to mashed potatoes. Throats are cut and limbs hacked off. And there is one scene involving a girl in a closet that almost made me wretch. Yes, dear reader, this is not one of those subtle creepy chillers, but a full assault on good taste with violence, gore, and bodily fluids. The pacing is fairly well done, and I found myself looking forward to picking the story up again until its explosive conclusion.
I think that if you are a fan of 80s horror, especially something like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and Stephen King's "It," you will love this book. For me, it was enjoyable but made too many promises it didn't keep.
July 23, 2017
What a fine and eerie page turner. I loved the idea with the compass cross and the evil disguised as alluring girl. The end might be a bit quick but an excellent novel full of suspense with an old tale included. Clear recommendation!
August 8, 2017
I loves me some cheesy 80's horror novels! I remember much of this from my youth with the ridiculous monstrous image on the cover. This spider crab thing with weird hentai tentacles really doesn't do it for me when it comes to scaring me. But again this is dated for its time so you have to appreciate the author's effort with coming up with a good ghost story with some gore and violence. I have to agree that the ending was meh but for what it is, it does bring back memories of being the Fabio romance cover models of its time but with horror. Fun novel and entertaining.
September 22, 2014
Fun book. Sorta devolved in the end to a formula: *SPOILER* "This Being must kill all these people in order to raise enough energy to pierce through the veil to his world," and there was an abrupt revelation at the end that kinda was "meh" but for the most part, an entertaining read.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews