This is the hotel where our nightmares go…
It’s where horrors come to be themselves, and the dead pause to rest between worlds. Recently widowed and unemployed, Richard Carter finds a new job, and a new life for him and his daughter Serena, as manager of the mysterious Deadfall Hotel. Jacob Ascher, the caretaker, is there to show Richard the ropes, and to tell him the many rules and … traditions, but from the beginning, their new world haunts and transforms them.
It’s a terrible place. As the seasons pass, the supernatural and the sublime become a part of life, as routine as a morning cup of coffee, but it’s not safe, by any means. Deadfall Hotel is where Richard and Serena will rebuild the life that was taken from them…if it doesn’t kill them first.
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I used to hate literature classes where the teacher asked you what the author meant by things in a story/book: Why were the curtains blue? Why did he walk on the left side of the street? Maybe that’s why I didn’t really enjoy this book that much. I think that the author was trying to say things through the story, but I am not sure what he was trying to say.
The main character, Richard Carter, is a recent widower after his wife, Abby, dies in a tragic fire. He is at loose ends and trying to raise his 10 year old daughter, Serena. When he sees an ad in the paper for a job as a Hotel Manger at a remote Hotel, he applies even though he knows nothing about managing a hotel. In fact, I never figured out what he had done as a career before this job.
A man named Jacob comes to interview him and immediately offers him the job. Richard accepts without really knowing what he will be doing.
Without going into too much detail, I found this book to be extremely weird and hard to follow most of the time. First of all, Richard is a true wimp and allows his young daughter to be put into dangerous situations after their arrival at the Hotel. The first story involves a werewolf (I think) who smells Serena’s menstrual blood and comes after her (TMI if you ask me!). But, instead of taking Serena and running for safety, Richard just seems to go along with the flow.
Then, he becomes involved with a vampire and still stays at this creepy place. Every time he asks Jacob what is going on, he gets some vague/philosophical answer. “There’s death of the body and then there’s death of the spirit.” “Sometimes a mirror is just another door.”
You also have Abby’s ghost floating around the Hotel and Richard isn’t sure whether he wants to be around her or not. As I read this book, I kept thinking of all the “B” horror movies I have seen and found myself wanting to slap him for staying in this place.
The book is classified as horror, but to me it was more of a fantasy/psychological tale, with much of the book being dreams/hallucinations (you never really know what is “Real”). Sure, there are werewolves, vampires, evil cats, ghosts and other unnamed creatures, but they were more creepy and dreamlike than horrid.
The most interesting part of the book IMHO were the journal entries from Jacob, as he related the history (in part) of this Hotel. I think that this story had a lot of potential, but just fell short for me. The narrator, Matt Godfrey, does a good job and held my interest. All in all, I just wanted the whole thing to be over and done. The chapters were very long and I think that they were first written as short stories, then put together (in a way) for this book.
I was given the chance to listen to the audiobook version of this book through Audiobook Boom! and chose to review it.
I love books that focus on creeping dread, and this story delivers. About 2/3 of the way through I found myself actually feeling sad that the book was going to end, because I wanted to spend more time in its world!
I found this very hard to read. It was disjointed and difficult to follow. It seemed like someone’s discombobulated memory of a nightmare he couldn’t quite remember upon awakening, but decided to write anyway.
Bizarre
Not the best thing I’ve read.
Original take on loss and death and dealing with tragedy.
The characters are well developed and atmosphere is creepy but very original. Light and dark meet on a regular basis.
A good read
It’s an easy read. Fascinating premise. Interesting characters.
Interesting, but sometimes had to follow.
This book was different. It is about unique characters. Not my kind of book.
If you like everything wrapped up in neat packages, this is not your book. I liked the concept and the characters. I’d have liked to have seen a little more day-to-day detail, but the setting is well presented and the characters come in all kinds. Kept me interested. I could read another book set in the Deadfall Hotel.
I found the book to be confusing in regard to the new caretakers acceptance of any and all situations at the hotel.
The main character was a wimp who was totally unrelateable!! Some avenues that should have been explored weren’t, and some that were shouldn’t have been! The werewolf was cool, but the preacher and his family/followers just didn’t make sense!! I want a book about Jacob, the former caretaker! And Enid and her son! They would be way more interesting than Richard the wimp!!
A little confusing at times, but still interesting enough to keep you reading
I was engaged in this book as I could easily visualize the rooms and the characters vividly. This is not your usual Hotel, but one for those “more unusual guests!” A fun read that I did not put down until the end. Reminiscent of “The Shinning” in more than one way! Good writing and suspense.
Worth a read. Great fun!