Review: The House of Long Shadows

The House of Long Shadows by Ambrose Ibsen
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Review: THE HOUSE OF LONG SHADOWS by Ambrose Ibsen
(HOUSE OF SOULS #1)

This novel is incredibly scary. After a lifetime suffused with horror, I no longer scare too easily. But HOUSE OF LONG SHADOWS brought back that rare experience of total terror. It frightened me so much it took three days to read (Monday night-Thursday night) cause I was afraid to read it late at night! I can't wait for the sequel, MALEFIC, in May.

Protagonist Kevin Taylor is a really likeable guy, easy-going, yet driven in his work, with a sad, sometimes terrifying childhood he has striven to overcome. He is VideoTube' s FlipperKevin, a home repair and renovation "genius," very popular. His goal is to host a TV network series, doing house renovations and flipping (fixing-up and restoring). Sounds promising, and indeed, a home improvement network is watching him.

Kevin, a Florida native, decides to find a fixed-upper in the Midwest, to renovate in 30 days with daily video updates on his Internet video channel. Finding a house "with good bones" (sturdy, enduring structure) built about 1975, in a Detroit neighborhood completely abandoned (even the nearby graveyard garners no attention or maintenance).

This wouldn't be a horror novel if everything went swimmingly. Although the house is a steal, and the renovation should be timely, there are very real troubles. The house is infested, and not by termites. This infestation and the consequences for Kevin will keep readers in nightmares for sure.

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