The House That Samael Built

by Ruby Jean Jensen

Come with Tara,
beautiful, impetuous Tara, to Black Swamp Manor.
Amy, flowerchild and child-mother, is soon to give birth and has begged Tara to journey here to help her.
Discover with Tara,
in this mansion of the damned, that all babes are not innocent, all hippies are not loving, and a house where nobody lives is not necessarily uninhabited...
Come with Tara to
The House That Samael Built

Genres: Horror, Gothic, Fiction

285 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1974

About the author

Ruby Jean Jensen

Born McDonald County, Missouri, USA, March 1, 1927

Died November 16, 2010

Website http://www.rubyjeanjensen.com

Twitter RubyJeanJensen1

Facebook www.facebook.com/Rjjhorror

Ruby Jean Jensen authored 30 published and 4 not yet published novels, and over 200 short stories. Her passion for writing developed at an early age, and she worked for many years to develop her writing skills. After having many short stories published, in 1974 the novel The House that Samael Built was accepted for publication. She then quickly established herself as a professional author, with representation by a Literary Agent from New York. She subsequently sold 29 more novels to several New York publishing houses. After four Gothic Romance, three Occult and then three Horror novels, MaMa was published by Zebra books in 1983. With Zebra, Ruby Jean completed nineteen more novels in the Horror genre.

Ruby was involved with creative writing groups for many years, and she often took the time to encourage young authors and to reply to fan mail.

Ruby Jean, a supreme story-teller, quickly captures and holds your attention. Her books, written for adults, are also suitable for adolescents and young adults. She continues to have an enthusiastic following in the Horror genre.

Reviews

[Ronald Foster · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tara knew that she had to escape her home town, and she traveled to San Francisco. There she accidentally fell in with a group of hippies, and quickly began to feel protective of young, pregnant, Amy. When the group suddenly decided to go elsewhere, Tara committed to herself that she would stay with them until Amy had the baby. They all soon landed in a dark, old house in Louisiana. Before long, they began to feel a presence in the house, and started to learn a few things about the past history. The very first novel that Ruby Jean had published, this book is indicative of her rapidly emerging style. The readers quickly develops empathy with the main characters, and their motivations and responses in the face of challenging circumstances make sense. The overall effect is that you are drawn into the story, and can hardly wait to see where she takes it. This novel is classified as a Gothic Romance, and indeed Tara finds suitors awaiting her . . .

[Thomas · Rating 4 out of 5]

This certainly isn't a perfect book (rushed ending aside, it contains some seriously dated gender roles, even for a book in the 1970s, and it struggles too hard to be a clean book, substituting "bleeping" for any serious profanity), but damn if Jensen doesn't get the atmosphere just right in this book. Jensen's earlier books were more Gothics than true horror, but this had more horror than I would have expected. I can forgive a lot with a first book, especially one that captures the chills the way this one does. This is probably closer to 3.5 stars, but I'm feeling generous.

[Rick · Rating 2 out of 5]

Story of a group of hippies that end up in a dilapidated swamp house in Louisiana with an extremely gruesome history. It opens terrific, but wanders into extremely long segments that slog along. but still a solid jumping off point for Jensen, who improved immensely.

[Stacy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reminds me of the creepy, gothic like horror movies they used to show on television in the late 60's and early 70's. I enjoyed the eeriness of the storyline, but it had too many instances of taking God's name in vain. The character's, in my opinion, almost reminded me of Manson's followers with their cultlike hippy vibes, without the murderish ways. I guess that was why they were the perfect victims for the old mansion. Enjoy!