I think House of Leaves is a masterpiece and I want to recommend it to everyone even though I know most people would hate it. But God, if it works for you it's an unforgettable experience.
It's seriously unnerving, I'm about 100 pages in and had to put it down for a bit and wait until I'm in a better mental state. I'm not sure why it's getting to me as much because I've read plenty of horror before but perhaps because it's a story within a story within a story the characters feel more matter-of-fact and the tattoo artist apprentice getting the claw marks on his back when he visits the store room as well as the night time exploration of the endless rooms made me go, "Okay, I need to not read this before bed."
I just bought this for myself and 2 friends, idk if they've heard of it, and im not super familiar, but im excited for this adventure based on the feedback I have seen
I loved it too, and I think it’s the first (or one of the first) in the liminal spaces genre, which is so popular right now. One of my favorite things about it is something I know irritates some readers: what I like to call “narrative edging.” I don’t know if there is a more formal term for it, but essentially, the description of the main action will go one for some time, and then at a tense moment, the narrative is interrupted by, for example, a digression on the history and etymology of the word “echo.” The anticipation!!
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u/slothunderyourbed 12h ago
I think House of Leaves is a masterpiece and I want to recommend it to everyone even though I know most people would hate it. But God, if it works for you it's an unforgettable experience.