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The Forever House
"Bram Stoker Award-winner Tim Waggoner consistently delivers the goods when it comes to hard-hitting horror fiction, with compelling characters and dangerous horrors at every turn." - This is Horror
In Rockridge, Ohio, a sinister family moves into a sleepy cul de sac. The Eldreds feed on the negative emotions of humans, creating nightmarish realms within their house to entrap their prey. Neighbors are lured into the Eldreds' home and faced with challenges designed to heighten their darkest emotions so their inhuman captors can feed and feed well. If the humans are to have any hope of survival, they'll have to learn to overcome their prejudices and resentments toward one another and work together. But which will prove more deadly in the end, the Eldred . . . or each other?
In Rockridge, Ohio, a sinister family moves into a sleepy cul de sac. The Eldreds feed on the negative emotions of humans, creating nightmarish realms within their house to entrap their prey. Neighbors are lured into the Eldreds' home and faced with challenges designed to heighten their darkest emotions so their inhuman captors can feed and feed well. If the humans are to have any hope of survival, they'll have to learn to overcome their prejudices and resentments toward one another and work together. But which will prove more deadly in the end, the Eldred . . . or each other?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published March 26, 2020
26 people are currently reading
465 people want to read
About the author
Tim Waggoner
282 books757 followersTim Waggoner's first novel came out in 2001, and since then, he's published over sixty novels and eight collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. He's written tie-in fiction based on Supernatural, The X-Files, Alien, Doctor Who, Conan the Barbarian, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Grimm, and Transformers, among others, and he's written novelizations for films such as Ti West’s X-Trilogy, Halloween Kills, Terrifier 2 and 3, and Resident Evil: The Final Chapter. He’s also the author of the award-winning guide to horror Writing in the Dark. He’s a four-time winner of the Bram Stoker Award, a one-time winner of the Scribe Award, and he’s been a two-time finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and a one-time finalist for the Splatterpunk Award. He’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College in Dayton, Ohio.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
February 24, 2020
I received an uncorrected proof copy of The Forever House in exchange for an honest review. I would like to thank Tim Waggoner and Flame Tree Press for the opportunity.
The Forever House starts with the Eldred family moving into an infamous dwelling in a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Rockbridge. The house in question was host to four murders and a suicide, and has been given the title the "house of blood". With such a tragedy having taken place, most normal people wouldn't consider buying the property. Fortunately for The Forever House, the Eldred family are the opposite of normal. They are akin to a twisted, warped and fiendish version of the Adams family and they feed of dark human emotions such as fear. The family members have names such as Father Hunger, The Werewife, The Low Prince, Grandother, and although these names sound and the characters initially seem, quiet comic, their actions, feelings, and wants are utterly dark.
"The Eldred fall quiet as they breathe deeply, resuming their search for the right scent, the right place. They have no doubt they'll find their stalking ground. They always do."
After they've moved into the house of blood the Eldred's send their neighbours invitations to a house-warming garden party. Although it seems innocent and amiable on paper, the Eldred's ulterior motives are to lure their unsuspecting neighbours into the nightmare property where they will feed on their emotional turmoil and distress. If they enter the house they will find themselves in one of the Eldred family members domains where their worst fears and nightmares are made real in a distorted and perverted reality. Unlike the Eldred's, the neighbours are all too human with their ambitions, fears, desires, flaws, opinions, and views of reality.
The neighbours from four of the properties in the cul-de-sac attend the garden party and are transferred into the Eldred's dark game. We follow the third person viewpoints of and enter the minds of all nine of the neighbours. They are a varied bunch that include a university professor, a father who suffers from gambling addiction, a young, wide-eyed child, a paedophile and also his worried mother. The characters were pretty well crafted and developed when taking into consideration that The Forever House is only 297 pages long.
In the first third of The Forever House, we get to know the characters, being presented with information about their thoughts, views and relationships to their families and also to other people who live in the same street. The final half takes place in the House of Blood where there are few limits to the horrors that are forthcoming. These sections are creepy, intense, disturbing and suspenseful. The Forever House is exquisitely well-written and throughout creates swirling, animated and heightened pictures of harrowing events and encounters. There are numerous horrific deaths, some featuring twisted psychological torment and others that create distressing imagery that will stick with you long after finishing the novel.
I don't think I've read anything like The Forever House before. It weaves horror and suspense in a warped reality with elements of portal fantasy and some Brothers Grimm-esque imagery. Apart from a handful of characters there really isn't a happy ending here so don't go expecting for closure or for the good guys to prevail. Often macabre and sometimes terrifying, The Forever House is a ghastly and grim adventure where the humans might as well be puppets for the inhuman puppeteers who feed off their distress, fear and hatred. The novel is extremely adult in nature overall and much of content could be considered graphic.
One aspect of The Forever House that some people might not enjoy that I thought I would mention is the point of view perspective of the paedophile when he thinks in detail about his infatuation with children, one in particular who is a main character here, and reading about it was sometimes very uncomfortable. His overall character arc is interesting though so don't write him off straight away.
The Forever House starts with the Eldred family moving into an infamous dwelling in a quiet cul-de-sac in suburban Rockbridge. The house in question was host to four murders and a suicide, and has been given the title the "house of blood". With such a tragedy having taken place, most normal people wouldn't consider buying the property. Fortunately for The Forever House, the Eldred family are the opposite of normal. They are akin to a twisted, warped and fiendish version of the Adams family and they feed of dark human emotions such as fear. The family members have names such as Father Hunger, The Werewife, The Low Prince, Grandother, and although these names sound and the characters initially seem, quiet comic, their actions, feelings, and wants are utterly dark.
"The Eldred fall quiet as they breathe deeply, resuming their search for the right scent, the right place. They have no doubt they'll find their stalking ground. They always do."
After they've moved into the house of blood the Eldred's send their neighbours invitations to a house-warming garden party. Although it seems innocent and amiable on paper, the Eldred's ulterior motives are to lure their unsuspecting neighbours into the nightmare property where they will feed on their emotional turmoil and distress. If they enter the house they will find themselves in one of the Eldred family members domains where their worst fears and nightmares are made real in a distorted and perverted reality. Unlike the Eldred's, the neighbours are all too human with their ambitions, fears, desires, flaws, opinions, and views of reality.
The neighbours from four of the properties in the cul-de-sac attend the garden party and are transferred into the Eldred's dark game. We follow the third person viewpoints of and enter the minds of all nine of the neighbours. They are a varied bunch that include a university professor, a father who suffers from gambling addiction, a young, wide-eyed child, a paedophile and also his worried mother. The characters were pretty well crafted and developed when taking into consideration that The Forever House is only 297 pages long.
In the first third of The Forever House, we get to know the characters, being presented with information about their thoughts, views and relationships to their families and also to other people who live in the same street. The final half takes place in the House of Blood where there are few limits to the horrors that are forthcoming. These sections are creepy, intense, disturbing and suspenseful. The Forever House is exquisitely well-written and throughout creates swirling, animated and heightened pictures of harrowing events and encounters. There are numerous horrific deaths, some featuring twisted psychological torment and others that create distressing imagery that will stick with you long after finishing the novel.
I don't think I've read anything like The Forever House before. It weaves horror and suspense in a warped reality with elements of portal fantasy and some Brothers Grimm-esque imagery. Apart from a handful of characters there really isn't a happy ending here so don't go expecting for closure or for the good guys to prevail. Often macabre and sometimes terrifying, The Forever House is a ghastly and grim adventure where the humans might as well be puppets for the inhuman puppeteers who feed off their distress, fear and hatred. The novel is extremely adult in nature overall and much of content could be considered graphic.
One aspect of The Forever House that some people might not enjoy that I thought I would mention is the point of view perspective of the paedophile when he thinks in detail about his infatuation with children, one in particular who is a main character here, and reading about it was sometimes very uncomfortable. His overall character arc is interesting though so don't write him off straight away.
April 13, 2020
THE FOREVER HOUSE has to be one of the craziest books I've ever read and I mean that in the best way possible!
The Eldreds move into "The Blood House." That's what the neighbors call it, anyway. They call it that due to the extremely violent end to the Raines family, which used to live there. Standing uninhabited for many years, the Eldreds understandably cause a buzz of excitement upon their arrival. Shortly thereafter, the neighbors each receive an invitation to dinner at the Eldreds' house, and their lives will never be the same again!
I will inject a bit of real life into this review by saying that the whole COVID-19 thing was going on while I read this. I've had some real trouble concentrating on my reading during this time, EXCEPT FOR the time I spent reading this book. It was creative, funny and scary enough to provide a real distraction from life for me. For that I am extremely grateful.
That said, there was one portion, or perhaps I'll say one character, that was pretty damn silly. And maybe if I had read this during a different time, that would have put me off of this book. However, I DID read it through this terrible time and it provided a good enough escape for me that I was able to overlook that.
THE FOREVER HOUSE was quite a bit of fun, it was creative and original and perhaps most importantly, it distracted me from the horror that is the daily news.
Recommended!
*Thanks to Flame Tree Press for the paperback ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
The Eldreds move into "The Blood House." That's what the neighbors call it, anyway. They call it that due to the extremely violent end to the Raines family, which used to live there. Standing uninhabited for many years, the Eldreds understandably cause a buzz of excitement upon their arrival. Shortly thereafter, the neighbors each receive an invitation to dinner at the Eldreds' house, and their lives will never be the same again!
I will inject a bit of real life into this review by saying that the whole COVID-19 thing was going on while I read this. I've had some real trouble concentrating on my reading during this time, EXCEPT FOR the time I spent reading this book. It was creative, funny and scary enough to provide a real distraction from life for me. For that I am extremely grateful.
That said, there was one portion, or perhaps I'll say one character, that was pretty damn silly. And maybe if I had read this during a different time, that would have put me off of this book. However, I DID read it through this terrible time and it provided a good enough escape for me that I was able to overlook that.
THE FOREVER HOUSE was quite a bit of fun, it was creative and original and perhaps most importantly, it distracted me from the horror that is the daily news.
Recommended!
*Thanks to Flame Tree Press for the paperback ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
July 21, 2022
My thanks to Flame Tree Press, Netgalley and Tim Waggoner. Well, I must say that I'm not a Waggoner fan at all. However, I may have to rethink my opinion and read more from this author. I seldom read reviews, or at least finish the second half of reviews if I know I'm going to be reading the book. I came across a whole review, of which I read half! It convinced me that this book would be extremely bloody and scary. So, I only read it during the day! Good call, for me! I read the first 50 pages, and thought "Lisa, you're too old for this shit!" Yep, the older I get....Anyhow, for me? Daytime reading was a decent choice. The Eldred by day, and Vampires at night! This story was all kinds of messed up! I had no clue how it would end, and I liked that. This is a story that would have given me the true willies if I'd been fool enough to read it at night, and fallen asleep with it in my thoughts. This is one I'd recommend. Just keep in mind though, the older I get, the less able I am to handle some books that I would have sailed through just a few years ago!
April 11, 2020
Really Creepy Story!
The Eldreds have move into a house in a nice neighbor that has been vacant for quite awhile due to a mass murder taking place and the structure is known as "The House Of Blood". The neighbors are very curious about this new family so when they are all invited to an afternoon barbecue they will all attend even though uncomfortable feelings and thoughts about the new family are starting to bother them. The afternoon will bring about some strange occurrences but nothing compared to when the Eldrege decide to call them back over later that night and they will all wish they had never encountered their new neighbors. The wonderful television star Mr. Rodgers would have changed his song if he had only known about the Eldred family. Beware of your new neighbors!
This was a real down and dirty horror story. The Eldreds are scary, creepy, cruel and evil. This book was not easy to read, I almost DNF at 25 percent in but felt I should continue and the story did get better but there were some really uncomfortable parts (pedophilia and incest) that really took away from the fun horror aspect of the book. There were a lot of characters which I enjoyed but unfortunately I couldn't connect with them to really care about what happened to any of them. I'm not sure why there was such a disconnect and the haunted house theme just seemed to go on too long and I just wanted the story to end so I could finally know the outcome of this horrorfest!
I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this copy and any opinions expressed are unbiased and my own!
I want to say that there are many readers who will enjoy this well-written horror book but it may not be for all horror readers and I have given the rating of 3 Horrific 🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!
The Eldreds have move into a house in a nice neighbor that has been vacant for quite awhile due to a mass murder taking place and the structure is known as "The House Of Blood". The neighbors are very curious about this new family so when they are all invited to an afternoon barbecue they will all attend even though uncomfortable feelings and thoughts about the new family are starting to bother them. The afternoon will bring about some strange occurrences but nothing compared to when the Eldrege decide to call them back over later that night and they will all wish they had never encountered their new neighbors. The wonderful television star Mr. Rodgers would have changed his song if he had only known about the Eldred family. Beware of your new neighbors!
This was a real down and dirty horror story. The Eldreds are scary, creepy, cruel and evil. This book was not easy to read, I almost DNF at 25 percent in but felt I should continue and the story did get better but there were some really uncomfortable parts (pedophilia and incest) that really took away from the fun horror aspect of the book. There were a lot of characters which I enjoyed but unfortunately I couldn't connect with them to really care about what happened to any of them. I'm not sure why there was such a disconnect and the haunted house theme just seemed to go on too long and I just wanted the story to end so I could finally know the outcome of this horrorfest!
I want to thank the publisher "Flame Tree Press" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this copy and any opinions expressed are unbiased and my own!
I want to say that there are many readers who will enjoy this well-written horror book but it may not be for all horror readers and I have given the rating of 3 Horrific 🌟🌟🌟 Stars!!
April 8, 2020
THE FOREVER HOUSE, by Tim Waggoner, is a horror novel that had a great blend of supernatural, psychological, and visceral horror. One of the things I loved the most about this story was the phenomenal world building, as we are introduced to the beings known as The Eldred. When you feel you've read about every type of creature imaginable, it's a great treat to be brought something "new".
That's exactly what Waggoner has done here.
". . . Inside each of the Eldred is an infinite emptiness, a void that, no matter what they do, can never be filled . . ."
The start of the novel was basically getting to know--I mean, really know--each of the characters that lived in this subdivision in Rockridge, Ohio. Additionally, we are given insight into the mysterious Eldred as they move into the neighborhood--the "House of Blood", as it was known as by those that were aware of the gruesome murders and suicide that had occurred there some years prior.
". . . People want to feel safe where they live, and they will tell themselves any number of lies to create the illusion of safety . . . "
Things begin to amp up with sections hinting at how the house . . . changes . . . as the Eldred move in. The psychological horror comes into play in a big way here as the "unknown" changes begin to reveal themselves to the other residents, who simply can't process something so different.
". . . Inside this house . . . the line between possible and impossible was a hell of a lot fuzzier than in the world outside."
Preying on the weakness--in some cases, known only through the thoughts of individual characters--is a prime terror tactic here. However, there is also buckets of blood, gore, tortures, and mutilations to satisfy any avid horror fan.
". . . She feared he didn't have what it would take to survive this place. She wasn't sure that any of them did."
While the novel may have felt a bit slow in the beginning with the character building, it was essential to the story to have it all done in the manner that it was. This was the focal point that all of the action centers around.
". . . if you didn't know the rules, then how were you expected to play the game, let alone have a chance of winning it?"
Overall, one of the most original horror novels I've read this year. Everything from the characters, the "antagonists", and the action united to form an unforgettable story that will leave you contemplating it long after.
". . . Reality is like ice cream. It comes in lots and lots of flavors . . . "
Personally, I'm hoping that Tim Waggoner revisits this idea in a future novel, or several . . .
Highly recommended.
That's exactly what Waggoner has done here.
". . . Inside each of the Eldred is an infinite emptiness, a void that, no matter what they do, can never be filled . . ."
The start of the novel was basically getting to know--I mean, really know--each of the characters that lived in this subdivision in Rockridge, Ohio. Additionally, we are given insight into the mysterious Eldred as they move into the neighborhood--the "House of Blood", as it was known as by those that were aware of the gruesome murders and suicide that had occurred there some years prior.
". . . People want to feel safe where they live, and they will tell themselves any number of lies to create the illusion of safety . . . "
Things begin to amp up with sections hinting at how the house . . . changes . . . as the Eldred move in. The psychological horror comes into play in a big way here as the "unknown" changes begin to reveal themselves to the other residents, who simply can't process something so different.
". . . Inside this house . . . the line between possible and impossible was a hell of a lot fuzzier than in the world outside."
Preying on the weakness--in some cases, known only through the thoughts of individual characters--is a prime terror tactic here. However, there is also buckets of blood, gore, tortures, and mutilations to satisfy any avid horror fan.
". . . She feared he didn't have what it would take to survive this place. She wasn't sure that any of them did."
While the novel may have felt a bit slow in the beginning with the character building, it was essential to the story to have it all done in the manner that it was. This was the focal point that all of the action centers around.
". . . if you didn't know the rules, then how were you expected to play the game, let alone have a chance of winning it?"
Overall, one of the most original horror novels I've read this year. Everything from the characters, the "antagonists", and the action united to form an unforgettable story that will leave you contemplating it long after.
". . . Reality is like ice cream. It comes in lots and lots of flavors . . . "
Personally, I'm hoping that Tim Waggoner revisits this idea in a future novel, or several . . .
Highly recommended.
April 11, 2020
We've all had bad neighbors. I imagine every adult has a few neighborhood horror stories....from people who don't close their blinds and display things nobody wants to see...to the usual fare...nosy busybodies, thieves and judgmental pricks. We've all had less than wonderful people residing near us at one time or another.....
But the people in Rockridge, Ohio have it much worse than any loud, pesky annoying people we have ever come across. The Eldreds move into a house infamous for being a site of murders and a suicide. The Forever House is just what they are looking for. Prime real estate. The Eldreds feed off dark, negative emotions. And they are hunting for prey.
The feel of this book reminded me a bit of Needful Things by Stephen King. A sinister presence feeding off the bad things inside a town's residents....destroying them and consuming them because of the secrets, desires and wickedness they are all hiding. What secrets are hidden in ANY neighborhood?? Would the Eldreds enjoy living on your block??
Very creepy story! This is the second book by Tim Waggoner that I've read, and I want to read many more of his books! He never fails to completely freak me out!
Very creepy story with some outstandingly uncomfortable moments! Loved it!
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
But the people in Rockridge, Ohio have it much worse than any loud, pesky annoying people we have ever come across. The Eldreds move into a house infamous for being a site of murders and a suicide. The Forever House is just what they are looking for. Prime real estate. The Eldreds feed off dark, negative emotions. And they are hunting for prey.
The feel of this book reminded me a bit of Needful Things by Stephen King. A sinister presence feeding off the bad things inside a town's residents....destroying them and consuming them because of the secrets, desires and wickedness they are all hiding. What secrets are hidden in ANY neighborhood?? Would the Eldreds enjoy living on your block??
Very creepy story! This is the second book by Tim Waggoner that I've read, and I want to read many more of his books! He never fails to completely freak me out!
Very creepy story with some outstandingly uncomfortable moments! Loved it!
**I voluntarily read a review copy of this book from Flame Tree Press. All opinions expressed are entirely my own.**
August 25, 2021
This is a very good novel of cosmic horror that visits a quiet suburban cul-de-sac in Rockbridge, Ohio. Imagine an X-rated Addams family moving in next door, with horror replacing humor. Waggoner introduces us to the residents, a band of seemingly typical middle-class folk who happen to live next to a house that was the scene of a brutal and violent tragedy. It appears that a sort of standard Twilight Zone story of satire and social commentary with a haunted-house framing will develop, but it goes way past that. There are some scenes of graphic violence and sex, some involving children, that will be way too much for many readers. There is some really dark, disturbing content. I especially liked the ending; I didn't see it coming, but I'll buy it. It's a very well-written novel, but really grim.
March 30, 2020
Thank you Smith Publicity and Flametree Press for my copy.
THE FOREVER HOUSE is a disturbingly dark story of a family and their wicked, macabre, and ravenous ways.
In the small town of Rockridge, Ohio the Eldred family moves into what is nicknamed the “House of Blood” at the bottom of a cul-de-sac. A mother who lived there before had gone insane and murdered her entire family. But that didn’t keep the Eldreds from purchasing the house. In fact, it was one of the reasons this house was so appealing. The very odd, unusual family of five have an insatiable appetite for human despair, negativity, deplorable behavior, and horrific acts. They are ageless, “other” beings that literally feed on horror to survive. The characters are quirky, disgusting, and downright evil so they are the perfect family to build a story around. Let’s just say, you don’t want to be neighborly to this bunch.
Waggoner writes a no-holds-barred type of story where there is absolutely nothing redeeming about its characters. There are some aspects that might be considered over-the-top, but they don’t take away from the enjoyment of this vicious novel. There are some scenes that might be difficult or uncomfortable for some readers - they didn’t bother me, but I should mention it. At the end of the day THE FOREVER HOUSE is exactly what I needed to get my mind off things. Highly recommended if you are looking for sinister characters to devour.
THE FOREVER HOUSE is a disturbingly dark story of a family and their wicked, macabre, and ravenous ways.
In the small town of Rockridge, Ohio the Eldred family moves into what is nicknamed the “House of Blood” at the bottom of a cul-de-sac. A mother who lived there before had gone insane and murdered her entire family. But that didn’t keep the Eldreds from purchasing the house. In fact, it was one of the reasons this house was so appealing. The very odd, unusual family of five have an insatiable appetite for human despair, negativity, deplorable behavior, and horrific acts. They are ageless, “other” beings that literally feed on horror to survive. The characters are quirky, disgusting, and downright evil so they are the perfect family to build a story around. Let’s just say, you don’t want to be neighborly to this bunch.
Waggoner writes a no-holds-barred type of story where there is absolutely nothing redeeming about its characters. There are some aspects that might be considered over-the-top, but they don’t take away from the enjoyment of this vicious novel. There are some scenes that might be difficult or uncomfortable for some readers - they didn’t bother me, but I should mention it. At the end of the day THE FOREVER HOUSE is exactly what I needed to get my mind off things. Highly recommended if you are looking for sinister characters to devour.
March 17, 2020
Originally published on The Nerd Daily | Review by Marla Warren
Terror has a healthy appetite in Bram Stoker Award winner Tim Waggoner’s The Forever House [March 2020, Flame Tree Press].
Move over Collins, Munsters, and Addams, there’s a new breed of nightmarish neighbours coming to town. In The Forever House, a sleepy cul-de-sac with a dark past gets a new lesson in residential horror when the Eldreds move in. The Eldreds aren’t the sort of folks that anybody would race to send the welcome wagon out to, either. It’s not simply because the family of five has just moved into the Raines’ old home, the house at the bottom of the cul-de-sac where a mother went insane and murdered her entire family a few years prior, it’s that everything about the Eldreds—from their car (which makes Vantablack pale by comparison) to their names, to the strange inability to actually get a good look at any one of them (especially the one with the robotic movements and glowing green eyes)—are so frightfully unusual.
Unfortunately, “unusual” would be a rather massive understatement in the Eldreds case, because not only are the five new neighbours decidedly odd, but they are also categorically other. The Eldreds are an ageless, inhuman species that feed on the negative emotions of humans, replenishing themselves on the delicacies of human terror, prejudices, and resentments. Now, the residents of the seemingly quiet cul-de-sac promise a feast of the sort of buffet of dysfunction only suburbia can offer. With heapings of narcissism, bigotry, abuse, and marital discord, the residents of Rockridge have enough skeletons in their closets to fill the metaphorical bellies of the Eldreds for years.
Which, of course, is exactly why the Eldreds chose them. When the residents find themselves lured—and trapped—inside the House of Blood, they’ll have to survive their worst fears and deepest, darkest secrets if they are to have any hope of getting out alive. Even then, it’s probably not going to happen.
Fast-paced, hair-raising, and with a twist ending with enough spin to make you rethink who the real monsters are, The Forever House is the sort of phanta
Terror has a healthy appetite in Bram Stoker Award winner Tim Waggoner’s The Forever House [March 2020, Flame Tree Press].
Move over Collins, Munsters, and Addams, there’s a new breed of nightmarish neighbours coming to town. In The Forever House, a sleepy cul-de-sac with a dark past gets a new lesson in residential horror when the Eldreds move in. The Eldreds aren’t the sort of folks that anybody would race to send the welcome wagon out to, either. It’s not simply because the family of five has just moved into the Raines’ old home, the house at the bottom of the cul-de-sac where a mother went insane and murdered her entire family a few years prior, it’s that everything about the Eldreds—from their car (which makes Vantablack pale by comparison) to their names, to the strange inability to actually get a good look at any one of them (especially the one with the robotic movements and glowing green eyes)—are so frightfully unusual.
Unfortunately, “unusual” would be a rather massive understatement in the Eldreds case, because not only are the five new neighbours decidedly odd, but they are also categorically other. The Eldreds are an ageless, inhuman species that feed on the negative emotions of humans, replenishing themselves on the delicacies of human terror, prejudices, and resentments. Now, the residents of the seemingly quiet cul-de-sac promise a feast of the sort of buffet of dysfunction only suburbia can offer. With heapings of narcissism, bigotry, abuse, and marital discord, the residents of Rockridge have enough skeletons in their closets to fill the metaphorical bellies of the Eldreds for years.
Which, of course, is exactly why the Eldreds chose them. When the residents find themselves lured—and trapped—inside the House of Blood, they’ll have to survive their worst fears and deepest, darkest secrets if they are to have any hope of getting out alive. Even then, it’s probably not going to happen.
Fast-paced, hair-raising, and with a twist ending with enough spin to make you rethink who the real monsters are, The Forever House is the sort of phanta
January 30, 2020
Nothing lasts forever. Well, ok, no, maybe some things do. Love, diamonds, existential sadness, but when it comes to reading, tastes change. Mine did. Significantly. Waggoner used to be an author I really liked back when I read almost exclusively this sort of thing and Leisure Publishers delivered it. Nowadays the books I’ve tried by the author left mostly with indifference. This one faired nicer, it was a nice reminder of Waggoner’s potential, his wild imagination. This is a story of a quiet sleepy cul de sac in a small town Ohio that gets radically woken up into a living nightmare by a new family that arrives one day in a pretty freaking awesome self driving car that would put any Waymo to shame. The Eldreds are such a nice family…two parents, two kids, a granny and a robotic servant, you know, the usual. And the not so usual…they live off the negative psychic energy of others. So the lovely cul de sac is actually less of a new place to live and more of a buffet for them. So now the neighbors will be put through personalized nightmarish scenarios to pump up their fear juices. All bets are off when the feeding time is upon them. Fun story with an unusual (a pleasantly welcome surprise) amount of character development and some genuinely imaginative scares, but in the end just too heavy on the latter for me. The character development is necessary, of course, for that comes next. And you have an assortment of familial strifes to sift through here, the neighbors are all notably racially diverse, deliberately noticeably so, I mean my apartment building in one of the largest melting pot cities in the US has less racial diversity than a tiny cul de sac in nowhere Ohio. And the conflicts aren’t even really race based, a lot of it has to do with sexuality, financial difficulties, personal politics, gender politics, etc. Sexuality is probably the main thing, since Waggoner leans on it as heavily as he does on the gore and guts aspects for his very special blend of horrific entertainment. But no matter how much you might like the characters, don’t get attached, because terrible things are in store for them. Who will survive the feeding time? Read and find out. The novel itself was just ok, but The Eldreds were a very enjoyable creation, a family along the lines of Addams or Munsters, and that’s always fun. Fun read in general, albeit somewhat too much for me in certain ways. I suppose I prefer things of a more psychological nature. But there was enough of that in here to merit interest too. Plus I really liked the ending. So yeah. Genre fans, get ready for a memorable feast At The Eldred’s place where the guests are the menu. Enter if you dare. Thanks Netgalley.
December 30, 2019
If you’ve read Tim Waggoner in the past, you won’t be surprised by how crazy this gets. If you haven’t read him, hold onto your hats (and anything else you don’t want to lose) – you’re in for a wild ride.
In The Forever House, Waggoner brings ancient evils smashing into the present with a dark, gore-filled feast! This is an anything goes kind of book. (Seriously, if you’re a ‘content warning’ kind of reader, consider yourself warned.)
I loved what he did with his characters here. There’s no doubt that some of them are beyond objectionable, but even the worst of them (well, the human ones) show some heart, bravery, and redemption. And there’s a non-human character who stole the show.
Expect blood and gore for days – this isn’t for the faint of heart – but also expect a rollercoaster ride of a read and characters you really root for.
An excellent read!
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
March 22, 2020
Reading THE FOREVER HOUSE was a "it blew me out of the water" experience: so yes, explosive, mind-blowing, mind-boggling, psychedelic, and best of all for this reader: Way Lovecraftian. Multiverses and Hungry Void, almost-immortal races (many), species of Otherness to which all of humanity are only playthings, psychic food to sate the appetite, leftovers to offer to the always-ravenous Gyre. Great character evolution, and not all survive. But this is Weird Fiction: can you really expect a Happy-Ever-After?
I loved it.
I loved it.
March 28, 2020
This was the horror book that I needed right now. I remember reading the synopsis a WHILE back and then promptly forgot about it - I just knew I wanted to read it so I dove into this one, nose first, completely blind, and only hurt myself a little. 😉
Yes to the creepy family that moves into the house where previous murders have occurred. Yes to the diverse families that live in this cul de sac and who are now curious to this new family and their unknown intentions. (Honestly though, if a neighbor left an invite to a bbq on my trash can, I probably wouldn't be prone to go but hey, maybe I'd be compelled unknowingly like they were?)
The opening chapter really piqued my interest but I was also a bit hesitant - is this gonna get a little *too weird* for me. HAHAHA - oh who am I kidding? Rarely is anything too weird for me. Waggoner takes us on quite the interesting journey.. and I loved it. Give me all the creepy feels, creepy he gave me in spades. Such vivid visuals from the insincere, toothy smiles, the white clovers, the face that just doesn't move and the pasts come to life again. But then also give me feelings whether between the families themselves or new ones forged in the intimacy that comes from being in a life and death and death and death situation. Ahem.
I do think there were a couple instances of wanting to teach the reader a lesson that while I understood why was in there, wasn't necessary for the sake of the story and I found a bit annoying rather than helpful. I feel the character(s) this was pointed at didn't need it for their personality to come through. That would be my only critique. The whole of this story is very satisfying. Certain instances may be a bit much for some readers but I thoroughly enjoyed that the author WENT THERE. I'll hitch my horse to anything Waggoner writes.
Yes to the creepy family that moves into the house where previous murders have occurred. Yes to the diverse families that live in this cul de sac and who are now curious to this new family and their unknown intentions. (Honestly though, if a neighbor left an invite to a bbq on my trash can, I probably wouldn't be prone to go but hey, maybe I'd be compelled unknowingly like they were?)
The opening chapter really piqued my interest but I was also a bit hesitant - is this gonna get a little *too weird* for me. HAHAHA - oh who am I kidding? Rarely is anything too weird for me. Waggoner takes us on quite the interesting journey.. and I loved it. Give me all the creepy feels, creepy he gave me in spades. Such vivid visuals from the insincere, toothy smiles, the white clovers, the face that just doesn't move and the pasts come to life again. But then also give me feelings whether between the families themselves or new ones forged in the intimacy that comes from being in a life and death and death and death situation. Ahem.
I do think there were a couple instances of wanting to teach the reader a lesson that while I understood why was in there, wasn't necessary for the sake of the story and I found a bit annoying rather than helpful. I feel the character(s) this was pointed at didn't need it for their personality to come through. That would be my only critique. The whole of this story is very satisfying. Certain instances may be a bit much for some readers but I thoroughly enjoyed that the author WENT THERE. I'll hitch my horse to anything Waggoner writes.
April 5, 2020
So honestly, I think I picked the perfect time to pick up The Forever House. Given the current affairs of today, it was a great way to get away from reality and immerse myself in a wonderfully horrific and gruesome tale.
The Eldreds are moving in to a new home. And not just any home, but one which was the scene of a terrible family slaughter a few years prior to their arrival. And that's exactly why they've targeted it. The Eldreds are interesting beings who feed on emotions and make games out of entrapping their targets. It's really no comparison but they kind of struck me as a twisted Addams Family. You have Father Hunger, the Werewife, two children, a "grandother," some metal head I'm not sure I fully ever understood, which was a good thing, and a creepy car.
And as if that isn't enough, you also have the clueless families who are the Eldred's new neighbors in the cul-de-sac. I think Waggoner creates some of the most unlikable characters I've ever encountered. Characters who you know exist out there in the real world, characters you really feel for, and characters you truly despise.
This book is not for the faint of heart and Waggoner definitely has his own brand of horror. In fact, I still don't know if I've gotten over "the pink devil" from the last book I read by him and now "metal head" will be right there keeping it company. I also think he does a great job of portraying to the reader that it isn't always monsters you need to fear.
Needless to say, I loved every minute of this book. Maybe that's a testament to how twisted my mind really is or perhaps it's a testament of how scary the real world is so I need to bury myself in books which are scarier. Either way, I highly recommend this book to any fans of the horror genre.
Thank you Mr. Waggoner for giving me some "peace" in this horrific world!
The Eldreds are moving in to a new home. And not just any home, but one which was the scene of a terrible family slaughter a few years prior to their arrival. And that's exactly why they've targeted it. The Eldreds are interesting beings who feed on emotions and make games out of entrapping their targets. It's really no comparison but they kind of struck me as a twisted Addams Family. You have Father Hunger, the Werewife, two children, a "grandother," some metal head I'm not sure I fully ever understood, which was a good thing, and a creepy car.
And as if that isn't enough, you also have the clueless families who are the Eldred's new neighbors in the cul-de-sac. I think Waggoner creates some of the most unlikable characters I've ever encountered. Characters who you know exist out there in the real world, characters you really feel for, and characters you truly despise.
This book is not for the faint of heart and Waggoner definitely has his own brand of horror. In fact, I still don't know if I've gotten over "the pink devil" from the last book I read by him and now "metal head" will be right there keeping it company. I also think he does a great job of portraying to the reader that it isn't always monsters you need to fear.
Needless to say, I loved every minute of this book. Maybe that's a testament to how twisted my mind really is or perhaps it's a testament of how scary the real world is so I need to bury myself in books which are scarier. Either way, I highly recommend this book to any fans of the horror genre.
Thank you Mr. Waggoner for giving me some "peace" in this horrific world!
April 18, 2020
My review of THE FOREVER HOUSE can be found at High Fever Books.
It's rare that it takes me a full week to read a book as short as The Forever House, which clocks in at only 288 pages, and I wasn't entirely sure I was ever going to finish it. There were a number of times where I wasn't sure I even wanted to finish it, so strong was the urge to DNF this one. For the most part, I typically enjoy Tim Waggoner, but this one was a slog. I also think it might have been a case of 'the wrong book at the wrong time' for me. People being trapped in a house to be murdered by interdimensional oddities while I am also trapped in a house during a period of self-isolation from the coronavirus and trying not to be murdered by a killer virus outside was maybe not the distracting mood read I was looking for.
Waggoner's books typically deal with the fantastical and supremely bizarre, all wrapped up in elements of cosmic horror with plenty of the grotesque. The easiest classification for a broad segment of his work is simply strange. He writes weird horror fiction, typically grounded by the normal day-to-day and a cast of Common Man humans that you either root for or against. His books also call for a supremely large suspension of disbelief, given the amount of dark fantasy elements he tends to incorporate.
The Forever House is one such book. It involves a strange family that makes The Addam's Family crew look positively milquetoast moving into a subdivision. The Eldreds occupy a house that was the site of a notorious murder-suicide some years before, and they've arrived to make this tiny cul-de-sac their new hunting grounds after luring their neighbors over for a visit. There is nothing even remotely familiar about the Eldreds, largely since they're beings from a higher plane of existence that feed on humans and only vaguely appear human when they want to blend in (but if people look at them too long, that person starts to get eye and head aches).
The Forever House is a sort-of haunted house story, with lots of cosmic horror elements, and the usual Waggonerian elements I've come to expect, which largely involves super strange characters with rather goofy names (here we get villains like Father Hunger, Werewife, Grandother, the disembodied robot head named, appropriately and sillily enough, Machine Head, and Nonsister), doing all kinds of nasty things to the humans they encounter. The main problem, though, is that this book is simply a slog to get through. It's overwritten, with a lot of repetition in the details (we're told in two subsequent paragraphs nearly identical information about a domain called the Gastrotorium, and Waggoner has a tendency to repeatedly introduce the Eldreds by both names, reminding us on multiple occasions, for instance, that Vanita is also called the Nonsister), and a number of otherwise pointless bits of information (do we really need a paragraph on where the light switch is in relation to a patio door in the kitchen that overlooks the yard so people can sit at the table and have a nice view, in a house we hardly spend any time in, in a room that only one character visits once?) that seemingly serve only to boost the word count and meet contractual obligations.
It doesn't help any, too, that the large cast of characters are also not very interesting. There's Isaac, the self-proclaimed genius who believes himself superior to all of his neighbors; Martin, the gambling addicted bigot with Make America Great Again bumper stickers; Neal, who doesn't know how to cope with his wife's recent revelation that she's bisexual; Alex, a college kid; and Spencer and Lola, an obese 40-something pedophile obsessed with the preteen girl next door, and his mother, who murdered her husband. For the most part, these aren't very pleasant characters to read about, and there was more focus on incest and pedophilia than I was really comfortable with. On the side of the bad guys, the Eldreds all felt pretty one note. They have a singular goal as a family unit, even if there is a bit of a divide between the younger generation and their elders, and they go about doing things in the strangest way possible, because that's just what Waggoner likes to write about.
It's not all bad, mind you -- the climax is kind of interesting, in fact, even if I don't fully buy into what the book's resolution points toward -- but it's a very dense, slowly paced read. The Forever House spends an awful long time setting things up while also not doing very much for nearly the entire first half of the book aside from presenting strangeness for strangeness's sake. It takes forever to get anywhere, and then it feels like it never's going to end.
It's rare that it takes me a full week to read a book as short as The Forever House, which clocks in at only 288 pages, and I wasn't entirely sure I was ever going to finish it. There were a number of times where I wasn't sure I even wanted to finish it, so strong was the urge to DNF this one. For the most part, I typically enjoy Tim Waggoner, but this one was a slog. I also think it might have been a case of 'the wrong book at the wrong time' for me. People being trapped in a house to be murdered by interdimensional oddities while I am also trapped in a house during a period of self-isolation from the coronavirus and trying not to be murdered by a killer virus outside was maybe not the distracting mood read I was looking for.
Waggoner's books typically deal with the fantastical and supremely bizarre, all wrapped up in elements of cosmic horror with plenty of the grotesque. The easiest classification for a broad segment of his work is simply strange. He writes weird horror fiction, typically grounded by the normal day-to-day and a cast of Common Man humans that you either root for or against. His books also call for a supremely large suspension of disbelief, given the amount of dark fantasy elements he tends to incorporate.
The Forever House is one such book. It involves a strange family that makes The Addam's Family crew look positively milquetoast moving into a subdivision. The Eldreds occupy a house that was the site of a notorious murder-suicide some years before, and they've arrived to make this tiny cul-de-sac their new hunting grounds after luring their neighbors over for a visit. There is nothing even remotely familiar about the Eldreds, largely since they're beings from a higher plane of existence that feed on humans and only vaguely appear human when they want to blend in (but if people look at them too long, that person starts to get eye and head aches).
The Forever House is a sort-of haunted house story, with lots of cosmic horror elements, and the usual Waggonerian elements I've come to expect, which largely involves super strange characters with rather goofy names (here we get villains like Father Hunger, Werewife, Grandother, the disembodied robot head named, appropriately and sillily enough, Machine Head, and Nonsister), doing all kinds of nasty things to the humans they encounter. The main problem, though, is that this book is simply a slog to get through. It's overwritten, with a lot of repetition in the details (we're told in two subsequent paragraphs nearly identical information about a domain called the Gastrotorium, and Waggoner has a tendency to repeatedly introduce the Eldreds by both names, reminding us on multiple occasions, for instance, that Vanita is also called the Nonsister), and a number of otherwise pointless bits of information (do we really need a paragraph on where the light switch is in relation to a patio door in the kitchen that overlooks the yard so people can sit at the table and have a nice view, in a house we hardly spend any time in, in a room that only one character visits once?) that seemingly serve only to boost the word count and meet contractual obligations.
It doesn't help any, too, that the large cast of characters are also not very interesting. There's Isaac, the self-proclaimed genius who believes himself superior to all of his neighbors; Martin, the gambling addicted bigot with Make America Great Again bumper stickers; Neal, who doesn't know how to cope with his wife's recent revelation that she's bisexual; Alex, a college kid; and Spencer and Lola, an obese 40-something pedophile obsessed with the preteen girl next door, and his mother, who murdered her husband. For the most part, these aren't very pleasant characters to read about, and there was more focus on incest and pedophilia than I was really comfortable with. On the side of the bad guys, the Eldreds all felt pretty one note. They have a singular goal as a family unit, even if there is a bit of a divide between the younger generation and their elders, and they go about doing things in the strangest way possible, because that's just what Waggoner likes to write about.
It's not all bad, mind you -- the climax is kind of interesting, in fact, even if I don't fully buy into what the book's resolution points toward -- but it's a very dense, slowly paced read. The Forever House spends an awful long time setting things up while also not doing very much for nearly the entire first half of the book aside from presenting strangeness for strangeness's sake. It takes forever to get anywhere, and then it feels like it never's going to end.
April 9, 2020
Waggoner puts the dys into dysfunctional, the dark desires into monsters and defines the reality in this story with society’s acne covered underbelly. I have to say, the idea of monsters feeding on people’s negative emotions? It has been something of a theme/topic in my household for a while. It’s a concept that has arisen due to the events in the world and the way unfortunate events and status quo is delivered by media that simply makes one think of scaremongering to feed the panic, in turn to feed the world’s many monsters.
It took the story a while to get going but it was necessary – to get to know all the people living in the cul de sac that the Eldreds have decided to funk up this time. And it’s important to know the characters well – their views on life, their individual wart covered personalities, But once the story gets going, it gets going. And all in all, it’s just a colorful mix and match of everything that can be wrong and taboo in our society – this is what the Eldreds thrive on!
Who are those Eldreds? Glad you asked! They are these beings who feed on negative emotions. Of course, they also create the situations to help people act and feel decidedly out of sorts to ensure every drop of any kind of negative emotion will surface. They are beings that kind of look like humans but also give off this vibe that they’re not quite? It’s as if your human brain sees what it’s meant to see but your senses give off this immense vibe of ‘wrong’.
The Forever House delivered discomfort, standing hair (not in ovation, rather in disgust), fascination and relief that this is, in parts at least, fiction. Goes without saying, this book is perfect for midnight reading, aye. So, heed my warning- unless you’re a hardcore specimen who can take the dirty, filthy humanity with all of its horrors, then this book is probably not for you. Trigger warnings delivered through graphic content. The Forever House is unlike anything I’ve encountered before – packs a punch, for sure, and makes me want to bleach the world of its impurities!
It took the story a while to get going but it was necessary – to get to know all the people living in the cul de sac that the Eldreds have decided to funk up this time. And it’s important to know the characters well – their views on life, their individual wart covered personalities, But once the story gets going, it gets going. And all in all, it’s just a colorful mix and match of everything that can be wrong and taboo in our society – this is what the Eldreds thrive on!
Who are those Eldreds? Glad you asked! They are these beings who feed on negative emotions. Of course, they also create the situations to help people act and feel decidedly out of sorts to ensure every drop of any kind of negative emotion will surface. They are beings that kind of look like humans but also give off this vibe that they’re not quite? It’s as if your human brain sees what it’s meant to see but your senses give off this immense vibe of ‘wrong’.
The Forever House delivered discomfort, standing hair (not in ovation, rather in disgust), fascination and relief that this is, in parts at least, fiction. Goes without saying, this book is perfect for midnight reading, aye. So, heed my warning- unless you’re a hardcore specimen who can take the dirty, filthy humanity with all of its horrors, then this book is probably not for you. Trigger warnings delivered through graphic content. The Forever House is unlike anything I’ve encountered before – packs a punch, for sure, and makes me want to bleach the world of its impurities!
March 1, 2020
This is the second book I've read from this author and I really enjoyed the unique premise. When Waggoner really unleashes, his scenes of horror and revulsion steal the show. There are scenes in this book that truly made my horror nerd heart happy.
While the above worked for me, there were several pieces that just missed the mark, It's odd because all of the things I'm about to mention are things I partially liked and then also didn't. First, the setting. I also live in Ohio and I felt that Waggoner really nailed the feel of small town life here. In fact, he could've very well have been describing my own neighborhood. There were times, though, that it felt a bit overextended, for lack of a better word.. From the almost unbelievable diversity of the characters (diversity is NOT a bad thing), to the way they interacted, it just seemed forced or full of "too much". I think I am doing a terrible job of describing this part; I struggle to find the right words to explain myself here.
Next, the "monsters" in this book have some amazing scenes and I LOVE that they feed off of pain and despair. What they do to the characters in this book borders on extreme psychological horror and I loved it. I wanted the author to really go there with them, though. Monstrous vehicles and truly creepy characters, and then there's a robot head that attaches itself to a dead body. Like the neighborhood, it pushed it too far, it became almost a caricature, and I was looking for something different.
Can Waggoner write? Absolutely. Will I read another from this author? Yes, definitely. Beyond my issues, I did enjoy this quick read. There are plenty of other reviews from readers who loved this book, so be sure to check them out as well. This was just one reader's experience.
While the above worked for me, there were several pieces that just missed the mark, It's odd because all of the things I'm about to mention are things I partially liked and then also didn't. First, the setting. I also live in Ohio and I felt that Waggoner really nailed the feel of small town life here. In fact, he could've very well have been describing my own neighborhood. There were times, though, that it felt a bit overextended, for lack of a better word.. From the almost unbelievable diversity of the characters (diversity is NOT a bad thing), to the way they interacted, it just seemed forced or full of "too much". I think I am doing a terrible job of describing this part; I struggle to find the right words to explain myself here.
Next, the "monsters" in this book have some amazing scenes and I LOVE that they feed off of pain and despair. What they do to the characters in this book borders on extreme psychological horror and I loved it. I wanted the author to really go there with them, though. Monstrous vehicles and truly creepy characters, and then there's a robot head that attaches itself to a dead body. Like the neighborhood, it pushed it too far, it became almost a caricature, and I was looking for something different.
Can Waggoner write? Absolutely. Will I read another from this author? Yes, definitely. Beyond my issues, I did enjoy this quick read. There are plenty of other reviews from readers who loved this book, so be sure to check them out as well. This was just one reader's experience.
March 30, 2020
Holy bloody Moly. What a fantastic grotesque, stomach churning, mind blowing story The Forever House. Can you tell I loved this book? It had everything a horror loving girl could need.
Weird arse flesh eating family ☑️
A cast of dodgy characters, each with their own vices and secrets ☑️
A house with a gruesome backstory ☑️
Horror scenes to make you squirm ☑️
A complete mindf#*k ☑️
Ok, so let me introduce you to the main family who star in The Forever House. They are a creepy arse family of sorts. Father Hunger, Were wife, Nonsister, Car, Grandother, Machine Head, and Low Prince. With names like that you know your not getting The Brady Bunch!!
The Eldreds travel around searching for humans to feast on. Setting up home and creating an inviting environment to lure their victims into. Complete with a makeshift full moon. It's all very weird and surreal, which made me wonder about the sanity of Tim Waggoner's mind to come up with such freakish people. But, I'm glad he did.
When the Eldreds find their next hunting ground. A house on at first glance a quiet unassuming cul de sac. This is when the fun begins. And, where your mind is going to be torn to pieces.
The residents of Rockridge aren't as clean cut as they first seem. We have a compulsive gambler, a man who is still infatuated with his ex wife, a husband who can't get his round his wife being bisexual. A paedophile, a child abuser and a mother who wonders if killing her son is the answer to everything.
Given this is a horror story, and the main purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror into the reader. It achieves this brilliantly. I will say though there is a trigger warning of child sexual abuse and paedophilic thoughts. Which as a parent was very hard to stomach.
If you are after a story that will blow your mind, and question your sanity. And is filled with scenes that will have you squirming and recoiling. Then get The Forever House. The Eldreds are an unforgettable family, that will infest your thoughts.
Weird arse flesh eating family ☑️
A cast of dodgy characters, each with their own vices and secrets ☑️
A house with a gruesome backstory ☑️
Horror scenes to make you squirm ☑️
A complete mindf#*k ☑️
Ok, so let me introduce you to the main family who star in The Forever House. They are a creepy arse family of sorts. Father Hunger, Were wife, Nonsister, Car, Grandother, Machine Head, and Low Prince. With names like that you know your not getting The Brady Bunch!!
The Eldreds travel around searching for humans to feast on. Setting up home and creating an inviting environment to lure their victims into. Complete with a makeshift full moon. It's all very weird and surreal, which made me wonder about the sanity of Tim Waggoner's mind to come up with such freakish people. But, I'm glad he did.
When the Eldreds find their next hunting ground. A house on at first glance a quiet unassuming cul de sac. This is when the fun begins. And, where your mind is going to be torn to pieces.
The residents of Rockridge aren't as clean cut as they first seem. We have a compulsive gambler, a man who is still infatuated with his ex wife, a husband who can't get his round his wife being bisexual. A paedophile, a child abuser and a mother who wonders if killing her son is the answer to everything.
Given this is a horror story, and the main purpose is to create feelings of fear, dread, repulsion, and terror into the reader. It achieves this brilliantly. I will say though there is a trigger warning of child sexual abuse and paedophilic thoughts. Which as a parent was very hard to stomach.
If you are after a story that will blow your mind, and question your sanity. And is filled with scenes that will have you squirming and recoiling. Then get The Forever House. The Eldreds are an unforgettable family, that will infest your thoughts.
March 19, 2020
This is the second book that I have read by Tim Waggoner and I have found his books to be a breath of fresh air. Firstly, he has his unique way of telling a story and gives us plots that do not fit the tiresome realm of horror that we are normally subjected to.
Forever House is a story that gives us the Eldreds which are like the Addams Family without the kooky and the cute. What we get his a group of foes that delve into the subconscious and take personal fears to feed off of them. This is a fantastic premise and love the way the story unfolds.
The characters are exceptional written and very human with flaws, anxieties and secrets. Characters who live on a cul-de-sac as neighbours but no one really knowing the true situation behind closed doors. There is a large cast of characters in the neighbourhood alone and Waggoner has taken special care to ensure that each of these are fleshed out and real. This is quite a feat as it would have been very easy to lose the thread on some of these characters or create two characters that are too much alike so the reader gets lost on who is who. This does not happen.
The Eldreds add to the mix of normal folks are interest and completely awe inspiring. They have a mythos all their own and as I like to refer to them as the dysfunctional Satans of hell Addams Family. The relationship with each other, the reasoning behind what they do combine with their otherworldly being brings the reader focus. These are no ordinary foes but fully fleshed out otherworldly beings with soul and reverence to the plot.
The plot is amazing and fully satisfying for any reader. With three dimensional characters and a plot fully developed by its emotional core. There is a deep sense of urgency that is masterfully handled by the author with the right balance. Characters surprisingly meet there demise and leaves you feeling unbalanced in a good way and the ending is very satisfying indeed.
Overall, this is a great read for the person who is looking for something different from the standard horror, dark fiction realm that we are used to. Think Stephen King and Clive Barker have given birth and we have Tim Waggoner. This is an excellent book that is deep in human emotions and pathos, otherworld existence, murder in a small neighbourhood and the ghost of people’s past coming back to haunt them. No stone is left unturned and the reader will rejoice with the exceptional way Waggoner is able to tell a story. Fully recommend.
Forever House is a story that gives us the Eldreds which are like the Addams Family without the kooky and the cute. What we get his a group of foes that delve into the subconscious and take personal fears to feed off of them. This is a fantastic premise and love the way the story unfolds.
The characters are exceptional written and very human with flaws, anxieties and secrets. Characters who live on a cul-de-sac as neighbours but no one really knowing the true situation behind closed doors. There is a large cast of characters in the neighbourhood alone and Waggoner has taken special care to ensure that each of these are fleshed out and real. This is quite a feat as it would have been very easy to lose the thread on some of these characters or create two characters that are too much alike so the reader gets lost on who is who. This does not happen.
The Eldreds add to the mix of normal folks are interest and completely awe inspiring. They have a mythos all their own and as I like to refer to them as the dysfunctional Satans of hell Addams Family. The relationship with each other, the reasoning behind what they do combine with their otherworldly being brings the reader focus. These are no ordinary foes but fully fleshed out otherworldly beings with soul and reverence to the plot.
The plot is amazing and fully satisfying for any reader. With three dimensional characters and a plot fully developed by its emotional core. There is a deep sense of urgency that is masterfully handled by the author with the right balance. Characters surprisingly meet there demise and leaves you feeling unbalanced in a good way and the ending is very satisfying indeed.
Overall, this is a great read for the person who is looking for something different from the standard horror, dark fiction realm that we are used to. Think Stephen King and Clive Barker have given birth and we have Tim Waggoner. This is an excellent book that is deep in human emotions and pathos, otherworld existence, murder in a small neighbourhood and the ghost of people’s past coming back to haunt them. No stone is left unturned and the reader will rejoice with the exceptional way Waggoner is able to tell a story. Fully recommend.
March 26, 2020
If the Addams Family and the Klopeks (The Burbs) had a love child it would result in the Eldreds'. At least this is my first initial thought of them, this story is my first read from Tim Waggoner and my what a read it was! It was decidedly creepy and right up my street.
The characters are introduced to us in their own chapters, each one unique but not without faults, and this is what the Eldred seem to pray upon and use against them. The Eldred have moved into a house dubbed as the 'house of blood' due to the fact that 4 murders and a suicide took place here, this tragedy seems to be what the Eldred feed on the most and tehy have invited their neighbours in the little cul de sac to come for a cookout and welcome to the neighbourhood kinda party. It all seems relatively normal until we realise the ultimate motive behind the invitations.
This is a messed up creepy book, but I could not stop reading it until the wee small hours (not a good thing as hello it was creepy AF in some parts!) One of the character - Spencer had quite and uncomfortable story line, he was a paedophile steaming from years of abuse at the hands of his father. He lives with his mother and very rarely if ever leaves the house so as not to be be around children, however there is a child living across the road and his inner monologue of thoughts he has about little Vivienne was uncomfortable to say the least, and I guess that is good things as nothing about this book is comfortable!
There is no happy ending in this book, only death and gore! Several deaths are warranted and even celebrated, but others not so much, my heart and head was all over the place reading this book as the pages turned knowing was coming before the person did.
I absolutely loved this book, and can't believe I have not encountered Tim's work before now!!
5 bloody, deadly stars!
The characters are introduced to us in their own chapters, each one unique but not without faults, and this is what the Eldred seem to pray upon and use against them. The Eldred have moved into a house dubbed as the 'house of blood' due to the fact that 4 murders and a suicide took place here, this tragedy seems to be what the Eldred feed on the most and tehy have invited their neighbours in the little cul de sac to come for a cookout and welcome to the neighbourhood kinda party. It all seems relatively normal until we realise the ultimate motive behind the invitations.
This is a messed up creepy book, but I could not stop reading it until the wee small hours (not a good thing as hello it was creepy AF in some parts!) One of the character - Spencer had quite and uncomfortable story line, he was a paedophile steaming from years of abuse at the hands of his father. He lives with his mother and very rarely if ever leaves the house so as not to be be around children, however there is a child living across the road and his inner monologue of thoughts he has about little Vivienne was uncomfortable to say the least, and I guess that is good things as nothing about this book is comfortable!
There is no happy ending in this book, only death and gore! Several deaths are warranted and even celebrated, but others not so much, my heart and head was all over the place reading this book as the pages turned knowing was coming before the person did.
I absolutely loved this book, and can't believe I have not encountered Tim's work before now!!
5 bloody, deadly stars!
August 24, 2023
This book started off SO strong and I was fully prepared to love it and then it all went downhill so fast. It was all over before it even really had a chance to get started and I was left quite disappointed. The story had so much promise at the start and then it just started trying WAY too hard to imitate Lovecraft and I quickly lost interest. So much potential and yet it just didn’t do it for me.
February 26, 2020
*Trigger Warning* A main character is a pedophile and this story is told in third person, so the reader will get all of his thoughts about children and what he would like to do with them, especially with another main character. These parts are very disturbing.
Hallucinations, nightmares, psychic vampires, and one hell of a garden party make Forever House a must- read book for any lover of the horror genre. Tim Waggoner crafts an original tale that is twisted and disturbing to the core. Just like the victims in this story, this book may put you in your own fiendish nightmare.
A group of neighbors in a cul de sac are curious when a creepy new family of five- the Eldreds- move into their sleepy neighborhood. They not only stand out as the new Munster family, odd to say the least, but they move into an old house that has been abandoned for years nicknamed “the house of blood” due to four murders and a suicide occurring there long ago. Most people would avoid this place, but the Eldreds are not most people. They are a twisted, ominous inhuman family that feeds off the fear of others. And they are starving. The Eldreds invite their new neighbors to a housewarming garden party, but instead, each neighbor- who have vices and secrets of their own- find themselves in their own hellish nightmare, each one constructed by each one of the family members. To survive-if that's even possible- the neighbors must get over their prejudices and resentments towards each other, and band together if there is any hope to get out of the “house of blood” alive.
This is truly a chilling novel and one I have been waiting for a long time. Not this one specifically, but one that will actually affect me, and this one did! Not so much scared me, but definitely bothered me.
First, we start out in a location that is already creepy as hell. “The House of Blood” already has it's own sinister past with the murders, and then a group that is what I can only describe as psychic vampires move in, feeling that the cul de sac is not as picture perfect as they seem. And they are right.
Characterization is definitely key to this novel- especially since it is told in third person. We are introduced to a man with a gambling problem, a professor, a child, and a pedophile, as well as a few others- all with flaws that the Eldreds can flesh out. The characters are all well crafted and developed, and not just the neighbors, but the Eldreds themselves. The nicknames of each one seem a bit odd, but easily brushed off, not knowing that each is dark, sinister, and true to their name. First we have the Patriarch- Father Hunger, the Werewife, teenagers Low Prince, the Nonsister, and then the Grandother. But the neighbors are no saints, so the antagonists really have to trump the protagonists and Waggoner did a fantastic job with that! The first half of the book the author uses to profile each one of the neighbors/victims, delving into their flaws that are beneath their perfect exteriors. This might seem boring but it's not and needs to be done. These people need to be heavily imperfect so the Eldreds can feed off their negative psychic energy. So the reader needs to know why each one is picked and why each one's nightmare is constructed to each neighbor's particular major imperfection or unseemly belief or actions.
The construction of the nightmares is phenomenal! The horrors awaiting inside the Eldreds house are grandiose and a bit over the top, but sort of have to be due to the neighbor's ugly transgressions. Each terror awaiting them is specifically tailored to each one of their fears and faults so the Eldreds can feed off the negative energy produced by each individual. Waggoner creates vivid and heightened pictures of the terrifying events. The neighbors are physically and psychologically tormented and Waggoner paints the pictures very well of what each is experiencing. It is creepily intense and unsettling. The most inhumane, twisted ways the Eldreds are tormenting the people is described though frightening and surprising imagery.
Forever House is a mind-blowing, unique gore-fest. Oh yes. There is blood. The atmosphere is eerily set in the beginning just by introducing the reader to the neighbors, some redeemable, some far from it. Each will be playing a very deadly game of survival Tim Waggoner directs in this masterpiece known as the Forever House.
Hallucinations, nightmares, psychic vampires, and one hell of a garden party make Forever House a must- read book for any lover of the horror genre. Tim Waggoner crafts an original tale that is twisted and disturbing to the core. Just like the victims in this story, this book may put you in your own fiendish nightmare.
A group of neighbors in a cul de sac are curious when a creepy new family of five- the Eldreds- move into their sleepy neighborhood. They not only stand out as the new Munster family, odd to say the least, but they move into an old house that has been abandoned for years nicknamed “the house of blood” due to four murders and a suicide occurring there long ago. Most people would avoid this place, but the Eldreds are not most people. They are a twisted, ominous inhuman family that feeds off the fear of others. And they are starving. The Eldreds invite their new neighbors to a housewarming garden party, but instead, each neighbor- who have vices and secrets of their own- find themselves in their own hellish nightmare, each one constructed by each one of the family members. To survive-if that's even possible- the neighbors must get over their prejudices and resentments towards each other, and band together if there is any hope to get out of the “house of blood” alive.
This is truly a chilling novel and one I have been waiting for a long time. Not this one specifically, but one that will actually affect me, and this one did! Not so much scared me, but definitely bothered me.
First, we start out in a location that is already creepy as hell. “The House of Blood” already has it's own sinister past with the murders, and then a group that is what I can only describe as psychic vampires move in, feeling that the cul de sac is not as picture perfect as they seem. And they are right.
Characterization is definitely key to this novel- especially since it is told in third person. We are introduced to a man with a gambling problem, a professor, a child, and a pedophile, as well as a few others- all with flaws that the Eldreds can flesh out. The characters are all well crafted and developed, and not just the neighbors, but the Eldreds themselves. The nicknames of each one seem a bit odd, but easily brushed off, not knowing that each is dark, sinister, and true to their name. First we have the Patriarch- Father Hunger, the Werewife, teenagers Low Prince, the Nonsister, and then the Grandother. But the neighbors are no saints, so the antagonists really have to trump the protagonists and Waggoner did a fantastic job with that! The first half of the book the author uses to profile each one of the neighbors/victims, delving into their flaws that are beneath their perfect exteriors. This might seem boring but it's not and needs to be done. These people need to be heavily imperfect so the Eldreds can feed off their negative psychic energy. So the reader needs to know why each one is picked and why each one's nightmare is constructed to each neighbor's particular major imperfection or unseemly belief or actions.
The construction of the nightmares is phenomenal! The horrors awaiting inside the Eldreds house are grandiose and a bit over the top, but sort of have to be due to the neighbor's ugly transgressions. Each terror awaiting them is specifically tailored to each one of their fears and faults so the Eldreds can feed off the negative energy produced by each individual. Waggoner creates vivid and heightened pictures of the terrifying events. The neighbors are physically and psychologically tormented and Waggoner paints the pictures very well of what each is experiencing. It is creepily intense and unsettling. The most inhumane, twisted ways the Eldreds are tormenting the people is described though frightening and surprising imagery.
Forever House is a mind-blowing, unique gore-fest. Oh yes. There is blood. The atmosphere is eerily set in the beginning just by introducing the reader to the neighbors, some redeemable, some far from it. Each will be playing a very deadly game of survival Tim Waggoner directs in this masterpiece known as the Forever House.
August 8, 2020
You ever have neighbors who you thought were a bid odd, if not downright weird? I have, and I am sure that most of you who might stumble across this review have too. Let me introduce you to the Eldred family, if we can really call them a family at all. We have Father Hunger, the Werewive, the Low Prince, the Nonsister, the Grandother, and last but not least their humble servant Machine Head. They appear to be human but their true forms are the things of nightmares.
The Eldred's are new in the neighborhood. A quietly normal cul de sac in Rockridge, Ohio is about to become their feeding ground. Well, not really quite normal. You see this cul de sac is home to the infamous House of Blood, where an entire family was once murdered. And as you probably could have guessed this is the place that the Eldred's decide to call home.
The first half of this book was slow, but I don't mean that as a negative. It was like the quiet before the storm. Sticking with the storm analogy Waggoner does give us lightning flashes of violence between lulls of calm while we get the opportunity to know and care for the neighbors. Some have insecurities that they are struggling with, while others harbor darker secrets. These are the things that the Eldred will use to lure them unsuspectingly into their domains and conjure up their greatest emotions and fears to feast upon. In a way the Eldred remind me of Stephen King's Pennywise, entities that feed off of the emotions of humans.
Around the halfway point the calm dissipates and the full blown rage of the storm is unleashed as the feeding commences. We move from one grand set piece to another as the neighbors fight for their lives against the eldritch horrors within the house. Chock full of action and gore, horrors both real and otherwordly, Waggoner escalates the danger at every turn until the final few pages, piling up a high body count along the way.
I feel like I should mention that there are scenes of pedophilia in the book, one in particular was quite graphic, but they are all backstory regarding one of the characters and none of them felt grotesque just for the sake of doing so.
This was a blast to read, full of action and eldritch horrors with twists along the way that all led up to a satisfying conclusion. I definitely recommend giving The Forever House a read.
This was my first foray into the writings of Tim Waggoner and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride took me on. I look forward to reading more from him soon.
I received an digital ARC of this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review consideration.
Video review: https://youtu.be/BTp69FM5FjA
The Eldred's are new in the neighborhood. A quietly normal cul de sac in Rockridge, Ohio is about to become their feeding ground. Well, not really quite normal. You see this cul de sac is home to the infamous House of Blood, where an entire family was once murdered. And as you probably could have guessed this is the place that the Eldred's decide to call home.
The first half of this book was slow, but I don't mean that as a negative. It was like the quiet before the storm. Sticking with the storm analogy Waggoner does give us lightning flashes of violence between lulls of calm while we get the opportunity to know and care for the neighbors. Some have insecurities that they are struggling with, while others harbor darker secrets. These are the things that the Eldred will use to lure them unsuspectingly into their domains and conjure up their greatest emotions and fears to feast upon. In a way the Eldred remind me of Stephen King's Pennywise, entities that feed off of the emotions of humans.
Around the halfway point the calm dissipates and the full blown rage of the storm is unleashed as the feeding commences. We move from one grand set piece to another as the neighbors fight for their lives against the eldritch horrors within the house. Chock full of action and gore, horrors both real and otherwordly, Waggoner escalates the danger at every turn until the final few pages, piling up a high body count along the way.
I feel like I should mention that there are scenes of pedophilia in the book, one in particular was quite graphic, but they are all backstory regarding one of the characters and none of them felt grotesque just for the sake of doing so.
This was a blast to read, full of action and eldritch horrors with twists along the way that all led up to a satisfying conclusion. I definitely recommend giving The Forever House a read.
This was my first foray into the writings of Tim Waggoner and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride took me on. I look forward to reading more from him soon.
I received an digital ARC of this book from the publisher through Netgalley for review consideration.
Video review: https://youtu.be/BTp69FM5FjA
January 3, 2020
This is the first book from Tim Waggoner I have read. I didn’t have any expectations, save for the description provided.
Thus, I was very surprised at how the book opened : We see the Addams Family rolling into the town of Rockridge, Ohio. However, it quickly appears they’ve gotten meaner with age. Also, they’ve changed their name to the Eldreds.
They take residence in a house at Brookside Court, a cul-de-sac in which most of their new neighbors all moved rather recently for reasons I’ll keep to myself. As good neighbors, the Eldreds invite the whole of Brookside Court to a cookout. I didn’t invoke the Addams Family for nothing. The mix of absurdity and grotesque was often evocative of Barry Sonnenfeld’s movies.
Those events form the first part of the book, in which we especially learn to know each one of Brookside Court’s denizens, their qualities, their faults, their struggles.
Then, the Eldreds’ trap close onto them all, and the second part of the book starts. A game of survival begins for the humans against those otherworldly beings, in which each character (humans and not) will reveal their true selves. The brave ones and the despicable ones not always being those we would have thought at first.
Don’t be mistaken. It is an horror book, with very graphic content even if never gratuitous. It’s not for the faint of heart, as the grotesque keeps peaking, culminating with a final satisfying twist.
The Forever House is not like anything I’ve read before, proving that there are still original stories to tell. I might find more of them in Tim Waggoner’s previous works. I’m certainly going to look into it.
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.
Thus, I was very surprised at how the book opened : We see the Addams Family rolling into the town of Rockridge, Ohio. However, it quickly appears they’ve gotten meaner with age. Also, they’ve changed their name to the Eldreds.
They take residence in a house at Brookside Court, a cul-de-sac in which most of their new neighbors all moved rather recently for reasons I’ll keep to myself. As good neighbors, the Eldreds invite the whole of Brookside Court to a cookout. I didn’t invoke the Addams Family for nothing. The mix of absurdity and grotesque was often evocative of Barry Sonnenfeld’s movies.
Those events form the first part of the book, in which we especially learn to know each one of Brookside Court’s denizens, their qualities, their faults, their struggles.
Then, the Eldreds’ trap close onto them all, and the second part of the book starts. A game of survival begins for the humans against those otherworldly beings, in which each character (humans and not) will reveal their true selves. The brave ones and the despicable ones not always being those we would have thought at first.
Don’t be mistaken. It is an horror book, with very graphic content even if never gratuitous. It’s not for the faint of heart, as the grotesque keeps peaking, culminating with a final satisfying twist.
The Forever House is not like anything I’ve read before, proving that there are still original stories to tell. I might find more of them in Tim Waggoner’s previous works. I’m certainly going to look into it.
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.
January 3, 2020
This is the first book from Tim Waggoner I have read. I didn’t have any expectations, save for the description provided.
Thus, I was very surprised at how the book opened : We see the Addams Family rolling into the town of Rockridge, Ohio. However, it quickly appears they’ve gotten meaner with age. Also, they’ve changed their name to the Eldreds.
They take residence in a house at Brookside Court, a cul-de-sac in which most of their new neighbors all moved rather recently for reasons I’ll keep to myself. As good neighbors, the Eldreds invite the whole of Brookside Court to a cookout. I didn’t invoke the Addams Family for nothing. The mix of absurdity and grotesque was often evocative of Barry Sonnenfeld’s movies.
Those events form the first part of the book, in which we especially learn to know each one of Brookside Court’s denizens, their qualities, their faults, their struggles.
Then, the Eldreds’ trap close onto them all, and the second part of the book starts. A game of survival begins for the humans against those otherworldly beings, in which each character (humans and not) will reveal their true selves. The brave ones and the despicable ones not always being those we would have thought at first.
Don’t be mistaken. It is an horror book, with very graphic content even if never gratuitous. It’s not for the faint of heart, as the grotesque keeps peaking, culminating with a final satisfying twist.
The Forever House is not like anything I’ve read before, proving that there are still original stories to tell. I might find more of them in Tim Waggoner’s previous works. I’m certainly going to look into it.
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.
Thus, I was very surprised at how the book opened : We see the Addams Family rolling into the town of Rockridge, Ohio. However, it quickly appears they’ve gotten meaner with age. Also, they’ve changed their name to the Eldreds.
They take residence in a house at Brookside Court, a cul-de-sac in which most of their new neighbors all moved rather recently for reasons I’ll keep to myself. As good neighbors, the Eldreds invite the whole of Brookside Court to a cookout. I didn’t invoke the Addams Family for nothing. The mix of absurdity and grotesque was often evocative of Barry Sonnenfeld’s movies.
Those events form the first part of the book, in which we especially learn to know each one of Brookside Court’s denizens, their qualities, their faults, their struggles.
Then, the Eldreds’ trap close onto them all, and the second part of the book starts. A game of survival begins for the humans against those otherworldly beings, in which each character (humans and not) will reveal their true selves. The brave ones and the despicable ones not always being those we would have thought at first.
Don’t be mistaken. It is an horror book, with very graphic content even if never gratuitous. It’s not for the faint of heart, as the grotesque keeps peaking, culminating with a final satisfying twist.
The Forever House is not like anything I’ve read before, proving that there are still original stories to tell. I might find more of them in Tim Waggoner’s previous works. I’m certainly going to look into it.
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for this unbiased review.
February 4, 2020
THE FOREVER HOUSE is another wildly imaginative thrill ride from the twisted mind of Tim Waggoner.
I really enjoyed this gruesome, mind-blowing little tale. Waggoner truly has a way with all things weird, and fans of extreme horror are sure to dig this one. But, it's NOT for the faint of heart!
***Thanks to Flame Tree Press, Tim Waggoner, and NetGalley for this ARC!***
I really enjoyed this gruesome, mind-blowing little tale. Waggoner truly has a way with all things weird, and fans of extreme horror are sure to dig this one. But, it's NOT for the faint of heart!
***Thanks to Flame Tree Press, Tim Waggoner, and NetGalley for this ARC!***
did-not-finish
March 7, 2024not the right book for me
January 28, 2020
The Eldreds are in town for the Feast. Not actually a surname .. but, more of a definable species. They have lived and dined amongst us for millennia. This grouping of the Eldred is composed of Father Hunger ... the elder statesman, father and husband ... known to humans as Arnoldo Eldred. He is accompanied by his wife? the Werewife .... aka Lacresha; the Grandother, Cleora and the teenagers? ( age indeterminate) , Demarcus (aka The Low Prince) and Vanita ( aka the Nonsister). They've slithered into town ... Rockridge, Ohio ... having identified it as a perfect location to set up shop. Specifically, a cult-de-sac called Brookside Court ... the site of a horrific massacre, and affectionately known as "The House of Blood" ... where inexplicably Cherry Raines slaughtered her husband , children and self. Lots of negative juju pervade this house ... even after many years of being abandoned. The nine neighbors inhabiting the cut-de-sac provide a veritable smorgasbord of dark energy for the Eldred. The Eldred feast and are sustained by harvesting the dark, negative emotions of mankind. Shortly after arriving they explore and mindtouch the occupants .... learning of the multiple frailties available for their pleasure: gambling addiction, pedophilia, racism, marital discord, fear of bisexuality, loose morals, and even political divisiveness. The Eldred are veritable psychic Vampires.
Arnoldo pontificates at his backyard cookout that his "family" enjoys anything related to darkness, whether its physical, psychological , or metaphysical. The neighbors note that when he talks, in sort of a rumbling fashion , that his lips pull away to reveal crooked yellow teeth set into cracked, bleeding gums ... and if you look closely there is something small and multi legged skittering around in a gap between an incisor and bicuspid.
Tim Waggoner, the award winning writer, weaves a twisted "Lovecraftian" yarn worthy of the pages of "Weird Tales" in its heyday. His ability to paint his horrific protagonists in a cinematic fashion is spellbinding and results in a graving for more and more delicious details . Perhaps one day we'll be treated to a cinematic adaptation. of this tale . Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an electronic Proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review.
( at readersremains.com)
Arnoldo pontificates at his backyard cookout that his "family" enjoys anything related to darkness, whether its physical, psychological , or metaphysical. The neighbors note that when he talks, in sort of a rumbling fashion , that his lips pull away to reveal crooked yellow teeth set into cracked, bleeding gums ... and if you look closely there is something small and multi legged skittering around in a gap between an incisor and bicuspid.
Tim Waggoner, the award winning writer, weaves a twisted "Lovecraftian" yarn worthy of the pages of "Weird Tales" in its heyday. His ability to paint his horrific protagonists in a cinematic fashion is spellbinding and results in a graving for more and more delicious details . Perhaps one day we'll be treated to a cinematic adaptation. of this tale . Thanks to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing an electronic Proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review.
( at readersremains.com)
March 29, 2020
Holy shit, where do I start with this one?
First off, I'm sorry to say this is the first Tim Waggoner book I've ever read, but it will certainly not be the last. THE FOREVER HOUSE, his newly released book from Flame Tree Press, is a wonderful introduction.
The Eldreds are new in town, and while they seem to have a bit of an Addams Family vibe, the truth is much darker. Imagine a set of psychic vampires, each with their own abilities, who move from town to town, setting traps and devouring prey. We spend the first half of the book meeting the people who live in the neighborhood, all of whom feel real and distinct. Once all the pieces are in place, the Eldreds lure them into their house for a blood soaked night that, as you can imagine, many won't survive.
I won't dare spoil anymore, but I will say that Waggoner shows an impressive range here. Some of the horror is unflinching and absolutely brutal, but there's impressive character work and meaty world-building here as well. He deftly walks the line between thoughtfully constructed characters with deep, sometimes painful lives, and full on B-movie, gore-soaked madness. It's a wonderful combination, one that I don't think a lot of horror writers can pull off in quite the same way.
In short, it's a great read for horror fans of all types, and I really can't recommend it enough. Thanks to Flame Tree for the review copy!
First off, I'm sorry to say this is the first Tim Waggoner book I've ever read, but it will certainly not be the last. THE FOREVER HOUSE, his newly released book from Flame Tree Press, is a wonderful introduction.
The Eldreds are new in town, and while they seem to have a bit of an Addams Family vibe, the truth is much darker. Imagine a set of psychic vampires, each with their own abilities, who move from town to town, setting traps and devouring prey. We spend the first half of the book meeting the people who live in the neighborhood, all of whom feel real and distinct. Once all the pieces are in place, the Eldreds lure them into their house for a blood soaked night that, as you can imagine, many won't survive.
I won't dare spoil anymore, but I will say that Waggoner shows an impressive range here. Some of the horror is unflinching and absolutely brutal, but there's impressive character work and meaty world-building here as well. He deftly walks the line between thoughtfully constructed characters with deep, sometimes painful lives, and full on B-movie, gore-soaked madness. It's a wonderful combination, one that I don't think a lot of horror writers can pull off in quite the same way.
In short, it's a great read for horror fans of all types, and I really can't recommend it enough. Thanks to Flame Tree for the review copy!
November 18, 2024
The Eldreds are moving to this cul-de-sac where the Raines family used to live. Mother Raines killed her husband and 3 children in this home and then cut her wrists on the front lawn. It took a long time to get this house sold, but the Eldreds are doing it. They are moving in. The neighbors who live in that cul-de-sac have strange vibes from that new family. And they are right. Things are about to turn awefully gruesome in the neighbourhood!
This book is very well written, characters are presented to us in details, as well as their backgrounds. Each neighbor has a fear. Waggoner realistically spends enough time getting into their fear; what the source is and how this fear is affecting their lives. I was particularly amazed how one character with quite a disgusting trait, or should I say, psychological condition, turned into a person I felt so sorry for (sorry, trying not to spoil it for you). This shows high-level writing skills to achieve this feat!
If you are into supernatural, horror stories, give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed!
A big than you to Net Galley and Flame Tree Press for a this e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.
This book is very well written, characters are presented to us in details, as well as their backgrounds. Each neighbor has a fear. Waggoner realistically spends enough time getting into their fear; what the source is and how this fear is affecting their lives. I was particularly amazed how one character with quite a disgusting trait, or should I say, psychological condition, turned into a person I felt so sorry for (sorry, trying not to spoil it for you). This shows high-level writing skills to achieve this feat!
If you are into supernatural, horror stories, give this one a try. You won’t be disappointed!
A big than you to Net Galley and Flame Tree Press for a this e-ARC in exchange for a honest review.
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