CHARLIE AND THE CHOCOLATE FACTORY MEETS LOVECRAFTWhen twenty-nine-year-old Scarlett Vantassel comes to the conclusion that her life doesn’t resemble any of the things she actually wanted for herself, she drops out of school and moves back home, attempting to reconnect with the people she left behind. But a shadow falls over her return one early October morning when a sinister house miraculously … house miraculously appears in the center of the city, sparking a media frenzy that attracts attention nationwide.
Soon after the newspapers label it, “The House that Fell from the Sky,” Scarlett’s childhood friend Hannah becomes obsessed with the idea that the house holds the key to discovering whether there really is life after death. Undeterred by her friends’ numerous warnings, Hannah becomes increasingly consumed with the desire to enter the house, convinced it would allow her to reconnect with her recently deceased mother.
Despite a series of escalating events suggesting that the house may be more dangerous than anyone ever thought possible, a privately owned company seizes control of the property and hosts a lottery to lure the city’s residents, promising the winners a large cash reward if they dare to enter the house. To Scarlett’s horror, Hannah uses her vast wealth to secure a spot among the winners to gain access to the house.
Now, it’s up to Scarlett, her older brother Tommy, and her friend Jackson to face their fears and journey into a place where nothing is ever quite as it seems, and decide if they can help a friend in need, or if Hannah truly is lost.
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The House That Fell From The Sky by Patrick Delaney is a comforting horror tale that I think readers are going to find creepy and delightful at the same time. I recommend this book to fans of the genre looking for a ominous supernatural story not like anything else you’ve read recently, I promise. Delaney is an incredible storyteller that leaves nothing to the imagination. I’m confident readers will find this book to be gratifying in that the author knows how to set the reader up for a satisfying experience.
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I received a physical ARC of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Let’s begin with the cover. I know, I know. Don’t judge a book by its cover. However, this cover captures the imagination. Red with silhouettes of people falling toward the menacing house. It’s impressive!
Moving on to the basics. In a depressed US town near Halloween, a huge, ominous house seemingly falls from the sky. The place defies investigation by law enforcement or the military. Only a few unlucky souls enter the place for a scant few minutes, but they leave without their mental faculties. Spin forward a year later, and a mysterious corporation holds a lottery offering citizens of the town an opportunity to spend a night in the Sky-fallen House.
Next, I’ll distill this long book into a simple description. The story follows four disgruntled Millennial friends and a famous-but-largely-retired magician who win entrance into the fateful house. This portion reminded me of the golden ticket from Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory. In truth, the book nods to many great works and pop culture, from Lovecraft, Jackson, and King to horror video games and music. Inside the house, the group explores the surreal environment.
Don’t expect story lines tied up with black and red bows. Many causes, mysteries, and motivations remain unsolved in this book, so fans of spelled-out conclusions are in for a disappointment. However, fans of the genre might enjoy picking out the references throughout this novel.
This was not the best horror I have read, but it still made for a decent, fairly original read. A huge mansion type of house just lands on top of a part of a town and no one can figure out where it came or what the motivation was. It will not let anyone get inside at first, even with the military and scientists trying everything they know. I cannot really say I ever really connected with any of the characters. Pretty much all of the main characters have issues/drama going on, and the author spends a good bit of time on that and a little less on the actual house than I would have liked. So that made it a little harder to want to pick up and read some days if I was not in the best of mood in the first place, knowing I would be reading about others’ drama issues. It still made for a good book though. Just one of those horrors with a little more drama in it than I like.
I would have given this book 5 stars but the use of the F word was way over the top and very distracting from the book. Over all a really good read.
The House that Fell from the Sky is a work of pure imagination. If Roald Dahl had experienced nightmares every single night of his life, he’d have written this book.
There’s a lot to like about this book – the horror aspect is a total mash-up of Stranger Things + Alien + Stephen King, the characters are for the most part intriguing, and the writing is incredibly detailed.
My issue with the book stems from the various back-stories – told in a series of flashbacks. The central plot about the house that mysteriously fell from the sky one October evening is very strong – the author definitely knows how to paint a horrifyingly beautiful picture with words. The back-stories felt a bit forced, and I honestly didn’t think they added anything to the story. The group’s foray into the ‘haunted’ house is the star of this book, and its in those chapters that the author shines.
Overall, I think it’s worth reading, but if you want to skip over some of the ‘Before’ sections, you will still find this a fascinating read.
Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review. It is set to be published in September 2020.
“The House that Fell from the Sky” by Patrick R. Delaney starts with a very original premise, which soon morphs into a not-so-original revisiting of the haunted house trope.
It takes forever for the plot to get started – the first 76 pages are just characters talking and talking – and even when things actually start to happen, there’s still too much chatting and very little action. It felt like the whole story only occupied about 100 pages or so, and the other 400-something pages that make up the novel are just a filler, only there to make the book longer.
A lot of clichés of the horror genre are recycled in here, without the author bothering to develop a fresh approach to any of them.
The narration would have benefited from the application of the “Show, don’t tell” rule and from some serious editing–the prose is inflated with adverbs and adjectives, and besides there are some pretty hilarious typos, such as “the cat’s tale” instead of “the cat’s tail” and things like that.
The characters are not particularly nice or intriguing–I found myself not caring much whether any of them lived or died.
There are some pretty heavy influences from Stephen King and Lovecraft, but it’s not as good as the original.
The characters were not likable. Do people that age really talk like that?
The premise for the book is promising, but I had a hard time getting through it. After a while the content got so convoluted, the characters so over-the-top troubled and the descriptions of the moods and scenes so forced as if trying to outdo each other that I debated several times just giving up on the book. Sometimes less is more. I made it to the end, but was left questioning myself if I had missed something.
NOT MY STYLE
i really liked the book. but in the end there were quite a few unanswered questions. if it weren’t for those i would’ve given it 4 stars.
An irresistible mystery leads the reader down a rabbit hole of horrors in Patrick Delaney’s disorienting epic, The House That Fell from the Sky. You’d be advised to read it with the lights on, but in this world, that’s the first thing to go out. Better trust Delaney, then, to guide you out of the dark… or deeper into it, as he quite literally brings the house down.
This book will unnerve you. It will make the impossible feel plausible-a timely sort of horror that is perfectly poignant for the 21st century.
Patrick Delaney has orchestrated the first unique haunted house story I’ve ever read. It is bold, fresh, and terrifying. This is the new bar for a haunted house story.
SO IMAGINATIVE!!!
When I first received this novel, it blew me away with its size. In a lot of ways, this book is a creepy version of “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” in a good way! The first thing I recognized was Patrick’s writing style. He gives you enough description to picture every part of the story and the characters. But what worked for me was Patrick’s wonderful imagination. There were so many details that the story takes the reader over.
For some, the length of a book can be a factor, but I found comfort in the size. It is one of those rare books that you dig in and let the story overwhelm you. Because I’m a fan of Stephen King, I enjoyed all the descriptions in this book and the way the author takes his time to unfold the surprises!
If you are looking for a book that has a little of everything: Horror, mystery, and thrills, you will absolutely love this novel! Pick it up today.