The House Inside

by Norman Partridge

A changed and merciless sun beats down upon a suburban backyard. A boy falls dead beneath its unforgiving rays…and his toys come to life.A plastic cowboy and a rag-tag band of survivors set off in a miniature covered wagon, searching for answers as they cross the blistering wasteland that leads to the dead boy's house and the shadowy safety of the toy box they call home.But the boy's house isn't empty, and it isn't a refuge. Other survivors wait inside—a squad of plastic soldiers, a porcelain ballerina, and a spider that hunts its prey in a dead little girl's dollhouse—all of them fighting a desperate battle of survival in a world where nothing that casts a shadow is safe.An 11,000 word novella by Subterranean Press favorite Norman Partridge, with cover and interior illustrations by Alan Clark.

Unknown Binding

First published January 1, 2003

About the author

Norman Partridge’s fiction includes horror, suspense, and the fantastic—“sometimes all in one story” says his friend Joe Lansdale. His compact, thrill-a-minute style has been praised by Stephen King and Peter Straub, and his fiction has received three Bram Stokers and two IHG awards.

Partridge’s career launched a series of firsts during the indie press boom of the early nineties. His first short story appeared in the second issue of Cemetery Dance, and his debut novel, Slippin’ into Darkness, was the first original novel published by CD. Partridge’s chapbook Spyder was one of Subterranean Press’s inaugural titles, while his World Fantasy-nominated collection, Bad Intentions, was the first hardcover in the Subterranean book line.

Since then, Partridge has published pair of critically acclaimed suspense novels featuring ex-boxer Jack Baddalach for Berkley Prime Crime (Saguaro Riptide and The Ten-Ounce Siesta), comics for Mojo and DC, and a series novel (The Crow: Wicked Prayer) which was adapted for the screen. His award-winning collections include Mr. Fox and Other Feral Tales and The Man with the Barbed-Wire Fists. Partridge’s latest novel, Dark Harvest, was chosen by Publishers Weekly as one of the 100 Best Books of 2006.

Whether working in mainstream markets or the independent press, Partridge’s vivid, exuberant writing style has made him a fan favorite. Never content to be pigeon-holed as a writer, Partridge continues to defy categorization. A third-generation Californian, he lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Canadian writer Tia V. Travis.

Reviews

[Mike Kazmierczak · Rating 4 out of 5]

At just over forty pages, this book probably qualifies more as a chapbook than anything else. I would imagine that the story will eventually make its way into one of the short story collections that Partridge does. And if it does, it will be a good thing. The story is a solid piece of entertainment. A bunch of toys become sentient only to immediately face the threat of a sun that is more powerful. How or why they "woke up" is left unanswered as well as the details behind the sun being closer, hotter or stronger. Instead the toys must deal with a force that is strong enough to kill the humans and now melt many of the plastic toys. The lack of an explanation is really the only negative that I could possibly see with the story, but then many times things like that don't need to be explained. No clear explanation is ever given behind Romero's zombies but that doesn't stop people from enjoying the living dead. Anyway regardless of the lack of reason why it happened, THE HOUSE INSIDE is still a good read and something that should be enjoyed.