Submitted by ttwicecolouredd t3_zvj0ev in books

I’m about 50 pages away from finishing the book (barring appendices, most of which I’ve already read). This book has been so hyped up - and this isn’t to say I haven’t genuinely enjoyed it! But it’s been made out to be terrifying and I just haven’t gotten that yet (and I usually steer clear of horror because im a baby). I’ve been super intentional about how I’ve read it: slowly, only during the day when someone else is home, etc. so maybe that’s why! But I’m just super curious if I have it coming, ya know? 😂

9

Comments

You must log in or register to comment.

danellender t1_j1prnll wrote

To me the book is more an artistic work. One extensive rabbit hole is the footnotes. Careful reading reveals at least one of them that references an obscure but real person, a scholar, who wrote a real work of scholarship that is referenced in the book.

Others have purportedly found embedded messages in the words written in the book since it was written.

All of the phenomena within and around the the House of Leaves transform it into a concept piece that threatens to be endless as it snarls back in and around itself.

17

gnatsaredancing t1_j1pe06y wrote

I have never read a book with more completely unrealised potential.

7

bhbhbhhh t1_j1pftqw wrote

Those two portentous-seeming dreams that Bill has were what really unsettled me about the book.

6

MasqueOfNight t1_j1qtprb wrote

To me, the horror of the book came fairly early on. Not so much from the events of the story, but the implications of it, and how certain concepts resonated with my own thoughts and experiences in life. More psychological horror than overt, I suppose.

I'm not someone who gets scared easily by fiction, it's been a long time since anything had done it for me, but House of Leaves left me genuinely uncomfortable/looking over my shoulder more than once. The style of the writing definitely contributed to that as well, having to change the way I read it made me feel way more immersed in the material.

6

daven_callings t1_j1tj41r wrote

I read it when it first came out, and I found it genuinely disturbing, as did most of my friends at the time. Some of us even started having nightmares and paranoid experiences related to the book.

I’ve read it several times, and as I’ve gotten older, I find it not at all scary, in fact it’s a wonderful concept piece that satirizes academia research and media, explores typography, and delves into some interesting psychological realms. I also love the hidden messages, games, and cross-over with the author’s sister, Poe, on her album “Haunted”.

5

laudida t1_j1q1imo wrote

Nah, the book is good but has issues. I loved the story about the actual house but everything else was quite weak for me.

3

AtomicSquid t1_j1q8obj wrote

I am in the minority here because I thought the house part was cool and everything else was beautiful lol, it is one of my favorite books, the echo chapter 👌👌. I feel like I'm reading a different book than everyone else lol

3

AtomicSquid t1_j1q8b9n wrote

It is one of my favorite books, and it is not horror. Everyone hypes it up so you're expecting Steven King, but it was never scary to me reading it. Extremely beautiful I thought though, and creepy/suspenseful/unsettling/surprising at times, but people set the wrong expectations. You should be safe lol

3

NiteNicole t1_j1r9fx2 wrote

I found it super boring and all style, no substance.

3

kaygeeboo t1_j1sufii wrote

I always found it to be an amazing satire of an overly-researched thesis paper (the anecdotes are the star of the book!) which was hilarious for me but that's just my opinion

3

DrDirtPhD t1_j1ptfgz wrote

I'm on the fence about it. As mentioned, I feel like there was a lot of potential there that just didn't really get realized. I found the framing story to be weak and annoying, although I did enjoy the story about the actual house.

1

rascortoras t1_j1qf9ku wrote

That book was an imperfect riddle... That's why I loved it. Best mysteries are flawed

1

otmike70 t1_j1shu97 wrote

If you haven’t found it terrifying with 50 pages to go it isn’t going to happen.

1