House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves

by Mark Z. Danielewski

Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth -- musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies -- the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.

Now, for the first time, this astonishing novel is made available in book form, complete with the original colored words, vertical footnotes, and newly added second and third appendices.

The story remains unchanged, focusing on a young family that moves into a small home on Ash Tree Lane where they discover something is terribly wrong: their house is bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

Of course, neither Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Will Navidson nor his companion Karen Green was prepared to face the consequences of that impossibility, until the day their two little children wandered off and their voices eerily began to return another story -- of creature darkness, of an ever-growing abyss behind a closet door, and of that unholy growl which soon enough would tear through their walls and consume all their dreams.

Reviewed by empressbrooke on

5 of 5 stars

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In short, House of Leaves is about a house that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.

A bit of a longer synopsis: Johnny Truant finds a manuscript. The manuscript is an academic article about a documentary. This documentary was created by Will Navidson, who discovers that his house is larger on the inside than it is on the outside and decides to explore the strangeness and videotape it as he goes. The academic manuscript about the movie was written by Zampanò, who is blind. Will Navidson's story is told within Johnny's story as the manuscript begins to affect Johnny's life.

House of Leaves is unsettling, disorienting, and terrifying. These words describe not only the plot, but the way the book is presented. On many pages, words go up and down the page. Some parts are printed backwards. The formatting of the text often corresponds with the action going on in the words. There are small chunks where there are only a few words on each page, which, when paired with what the words actually say, creates a strong sense of foreboding. The plot definitely would not have impacted me as much as it did if it was presented in the standard format.

Since the manuscript is a scholarly article about the documentary, Zampanò's parts of the book read like one, with copious footnotes and analysis. Johnny's text reads more like fiction as he describes finding and reading the manuscript. Despite the academia and weaving between fiction and "non-fiction," House of Leaves never loses its rhythm. The academic tone also does not cut into the terror of the narrative; there were times when I had to put the book down, turn on the lights and television, and walk around while breathing deeply in order to shake off the creepiness. To this day, two years after I first read it, I still get chills while thinking about certain scenes.

The fun doesn't stop when you turn the book's final page. The author's sister, Ann Danielewski, better known as Poe, wrote her rather spectacular album Haunted to tie into the book (sample lyrics: Johnny dear don't be afraid / I will keep your secrets safe / Bring me to the blind man who / Lost you in his house of blue). Haunted carries some of the book's creepiness with it by including voice recordings of the siblings' father that they discovered after he passed away.

I really can't convey just what an Experience reading House of Leaves is. Some might find the footnotes and scholarly tone too cumbersome, but you owe it to yourself to give it a chance. And if a door suddenly appears in your house where there wasn't one before, for God's sake, get the hell out of there.

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  • Started reading
  • 1 January, 2004: Finished reading
  • 1 January, 2004: Reviewed