Mark Z Danielewski’s descent into madness, aka “House of Leaves,” is the most terrifying book I’ve ever read. I had the BEST time.
I recommend going in as blindly as possible. You should be aware, however, that it’s a behemoth of a book that lots of people get frustrated by simply due to the formatting. I think it’s a worthwhile effort, but to each their own.
It’s the only book that has made me afraid of the dark, even if there’s a wall behind me. Usually after getting spooked by a piece of horror media you can use the security of pressing yourself against a wall, or hiding under your covers. That really doesn’t help here. The book made me scared of my own house, and the fact that I knew it was empty made it worse! If every book could make me feel like this, well- I’d probably go crazy actually. But it’s why I love psychological horror so much. It’s without the jumpscares I hate from a lot of horror media, with all the terror.
by MaryJaneCrunch
41 Comments
My brother bought me the book for Christmas, I had never heard of it. But he just knew I’d love it and I did. Psychological horror is one of my favourite things and House of Leaves does it so well, the house itself is so creepy and then the story was just so good.
There’s a companion piece called *The Whalestoe Letters*. Might interest you? Unfortunately, I’ve never read it or the original despite loads of positive reviews. The original is excrutiatingly expensive where I live. Is there a specific version/publisher/printing you would recommend? I’ve got a vague idea that there’s important illustrations in some versions and not others … Forgive me if I’m wrong. Thanks in advance for any advice or recommendations you have.
When I realized the chapters are physically reflecting what’s happening in the story… >!and the chapter when the explorer’s team go in, and think they might get lost, while the book was sending me on an exploration through the books pages and I was worried I might not be able to find my way back… !< It’s a pretty spectacular read.
I _just_ started reading this! Saving this post so I can revisit it once I’m done.
I ordered that book to the house, and when it came, my then girlfriend was flipping through it incredulously. I didn’t say anything, just flipped back to one of the first pages: THIS IS NOT FOR YOU
This book gave me wild dreams for months. I let someone borrow my copy and I think I’ll be nervous about it until it’s back with me! It is one of those important books that stayed in my thoughts for so long that I would be devastated if something happened to it.
It was an incredible experience. The moving backwards and forwards following footnotes throughout the book made me feel like I was literally getting lost in the pages of The House of Leaves, much like the characters themselves, who were getting lost in the metaphorical House Of Leaves in the story.
I will always go feral about this book, it’s my favourite
The author’s sister made an album that kind of interacts with the book (which I haven’t read but intend to at some point) that I really like and is worth a listen. It’s called Haunted, her stage name is Poe.
I still regularly think about this book years and years after reading it. I had nightmares about it while reading it and have never had that experience with any other book.
I’ve been trying to read it for over ten years, but it’s such a slow read for me with all the footnotes and everything. The last time I tried reading it, I got far enough along that I started to get scared, and it doesn’t help that I’m already scared of the dark, and I do a lot of reading at night.
I’m determined to finish this book some day, but probably not until I’m sharing a bed with someone
I read it, did not get scared, and found it ultimately a letdown. Just felt like it was a facade without much behind it. But other people seem to love it.
I started reading this book under a flickering light outside of a laundromat at 2am. It really helped set the mood for the whole rest of the book.
Probably my favorite book. Do I like psychological horror? I’ve never been drawn to horror. I’ve always thought it was kind of difficult to suspend disbelief. The real scary shit for me is real pain and death and suffering and I don’t want to read about those. For me, House of Leaves is my favorite book because of it’s creativity. It was unlike any of the hundreds of books that I read before it.
r/books and their pretentious reviews for books your average person will not read. Super niche books that appeal to maybe 0.01% of readers on here. Like no one is saying you should write another PHM review but the amount of reviews I see for this book and Infinite Jest, you’d think they’re equally popular.
I feel like I missed the scary part. There is so much meta-discussion about the family and their actions and a lot of it dwells on word definitions that goes on way too long. The interesting part for me was learning his sister was the singer for Poe which I figured out when I recognized song lyrics in one part of the book (fast slow fast fast slow).
Oh man I totally understand. The experience of reading this book was so unique.
My sister bought me this book years ago while I was in college, and I remember so many people telling me how much it freaked them out and how scary it was – so much so that I put off reading it for a good 10 years. Covid happened and I went back to start reading all my “to read” books on my own shelf and picked it up.
I loved this book. I always thought I hated horror and would be scared by it, but I just really enjoyed it. Maybe horror books are up my alley because I also really enjoyed The Only Good Indians.
I just finished it about two weeks ago myself. It was definitely an exercise in reading but I’m glad I pushed through and finished it. Right after I finished it I had to get on YouTube and watch a bunch of videos to get a further deeper understanding of the story and I’m glad I did
i read this book for the first time when i was 15, almost nobody knew about it. i’m sad to see how divisive it is now – i love that people are discovering it and enjoying it, but the people that don’t like it are very vocal. glad you liked it OP
I’m looking to read a couple of horrors novels (not what I typically read) for the season. Just picked up Something Wicked This Way Comes. Is House of Leaves a good one for my purposes of getting into the Halloween mood?
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Challenging yet rewarding story. A little up it’s own ass about how clever it is, but worth it, because it IS that clever.
Well I’m already afraid of the dark 😅
I’ve heard so many mixed reviews of this book from ones like yours to people who utterly hates it. I still don’t even know what it’s about 🤷🏾♀️ but I’m heavily intrigued
I had just added this to my to-read list, but as someone who really doesn’t like horror, thrillers, or suspense I appreciate reading this post! It’s going to be a hard pass for me now lol.
Of all the books I’ve ever read, House of Leaves may be the one that I most wish I could read again for the “First time”. I’ve heard people talk about adapting it for a movie and I just…I’m not going to say I don’t see the point, but it would have to be so specifically and nearly impossibly adapted in order to properly capture that “impending, spiraling madness” you start to feel as a reader.
Also, I feel like I’m taking crazy pills, but I swear a saw a comic adaption of The Navidson Expedition years and years ago, but I’ve never actually found it. It was just a screenshot of one of the comic cells showing the team entering a very long hallway. Has anyone else heard of this?
I can’t even finish it.
I love this book even though I had to put in a little work for it. It’s a reader’s book for readers. It’s quite unlike anything you’ll find anywhere else
Extremely overrated
*House of Leaves* is a strange book for me, in that the multiple stories being told bored me immensely (but then I have a strange relationship with horror, so don’t take that as a failing of the book), but the **structure** fascinated me immensely.
I think about it in the same way as a incredible building: what’s inside isn’t important to me, but the design of it is something to behold.
I loved the book, but my biggest criticism is that the most impressive typographic experiments in The Labyrinth contained just meaningless lists of objects or references. I made the most challenging part skipable.
I get that placing absolutely essential narrative in there might be counter productive and risk a DNF, but the book contains plenty of interesting commentary that isn’t narratively essential. Would have much preferred having something rewarding to read there.
Anyway, great book. You should read Susanna Clarke’s Piranesi next, or pick up Jorge Borges short stories.
I found it really difficult and off-putting to get into.
Man I wish I could read this book 🙁 I’m blind and have to rely on audible, and everyone I’ve talked to has said it just wouldn’t work in audio format. Maybe one day if my vision ever gets cured
My take tends to be pretty moderate where this book is concerned! I found it a really interesting experience, and I was glad that I read it, but I was ready to move on by the time it was over. I think it had some interesting ideas, but I’m not sure it stuck the landing for me on the level of the actual story. Maybe I’d feel differently reading it now…it was a long time ago.
The curious friends I’ve passed my copy along to have either absolutely loved it, or absolutely hated it.
Didn’t hit me as horror, but I read…a *lot* of contemporary horror, and may be just a lil bit desensitized. (Of course, I say that, but Hell House and certain Adam Nevil books can definitely give me the creeps, so…it’s probably also down to certain things pushing certain people’s fear buttons more than others.)
I read it several years ago and loved the Navidson record sections. The Johnny Truant sections were not my jam.
If you liked this book I recommend I’m Thinking of Ending Things or Piranesi- not the same type of book but the vibes are similar in a wtf is going on?
If you like the effort made and the creativity of this book, consider looking into ergodic literature. It’s some of the coolest literature, of which House of Leaves is one of the gold standards. It’s a niche category, but man is it fun!
This book was awesome. I’ve read it twice. The first time I was reading it, I had to take a break halfway through as it was the dead of winter and I was honestly getting a little depressed. It’s a great book but definitely creeped me out as well. Super cool concept though.
i love house of leaves so much. i wouldn’t say i found it scary, but i enjoyed reading it sooooo much 🙂
I read that book in University, when I was in a dorm room all alone…
This book made me sleep with the lights on and my back to the wall. I insisted on being able to see/touch all 4 walls at a time.
This is the only book I’ve ever stopped reading because I was scared. It literally became too much for me at that time. I still don’t know what they’ll find in the depths.
I’ll return and read it some day.
I should try and read this again. I read about 1/4 but found it so much work and I think got distracted by other things in life and ended up stopping. That being said I was terrified in a way I haven’t been since being a preteen reading Stephen Kings’ books.
100 percent agree. It’s a one-of-a-kind read.
It’s such a cool experience, reading that book. I loved how the formatting made it feel like I was getting lost in the labyrinth right along with them. Between the footnotes, and the footnotes to footnotes, and going back and forth between sometimes hundreds of pages, I felt lost reading. It’s such a creative use of editing and formatting.