CONGRATULATIONS! You’ve won a role on LET’S SWITCH HOUSES! Your life is going to change. We promise. Your dreams will come true. Everything you’ve ever wanted, we have it. This is a chance of a lifetime. Come inside. Switch with us.Angela and Terry return home after several grueling months of filming the popular television show, LET’S SWITCH HOUSES!, only to find their residence in ruin. Sure, … residence in ruin. Sure, the décor and framed photographs are the same; the color of the walls hasn’t changed; the furniture sits unmoved. But something is off. Their quiet New Jersey home feels tainted. Angela can sense it. Crawling inside her. Infecting her mind. Poisoning her thoughts.
Then the nightmares begin. Awful, lucid visions that cause her to question her own reality. What happened at 44 Trenton Road while she was gone? Just what did she do, that bizarre woman who claims she can communicate with the beyond? Who is she exactly? Angela aims to find out, but the further she investigates, the deeper into madness she descends. How far will she travel before she loses the trail of clues? Or worse—before she loses her mind.
THE SWITCH HOUSE is a short novel for fans of supernatural thrillers with a dark twist. Includes three bonus short stories.
more
An odd, tragic, and mind-bending tale.
This book surprised me. It would have been easy for this story to become a gimmick, but Tim Meyers did an excellent job with it. Stephen King laid out his definitions of horror vs terror. This story falls squarely in King’s terror definition. It’s such a crazy concept built off of the simple idea of “something’s wrong, but I don’t know what it is … yet.” Really excellent horror/terror novel.
I try to approach each book I read with an open mind, but with the hopeful expectation that it will, at the very least, be a decent read. I want to let the author do their thing and then judge for myself how well their story worked for me. Overall, I think I’m pretty good about selecting titles that should work for me based on their synopsis. Sometimes I’m disappointed, sometimes I’m pleased. The best, though, is to discover a work, particularly from a new-to-me author, that proves itself to be positively exceptional.
The Switch House is a slim novel that absolutely rocks right from the get-go, firing on all cylinders the whole way through, catapulting readers from one crazy violent encounter to the next. Tim Meyer takes a no-holds-barred approached to the scenes of bloody mayhem, and there were a few impactful moments that made me wince. He also proves strikingly adept at crafting psychological horror, and one big reveal in the book’s climax wrung me dry, my heart lurching as I mentally screamed “HOW COULD YOU?” at one character.
Meyer uses tragedy as the framework here, building his house of horrors around it, revealing additional levels of complexity with each chapter. Bereft over the loss of their child, Angela and Terry sought an escape from their normal lives by auditioning for, and winning a spot in, the reality show, Let’s Switch Houses! Returning to their normal lives isn’t easy for Angela, especially after she spots a hole in the bathroom wall that peers into…well, elsewhere. She begins having vivid nightmares, realizing that whoever lived in their home during the swap did some very dark things there.
There’s so much I want to say about this book, but I fear that so much of it would dive headlong into spoiler territory. I will say that The Switch House is twisty as all get-out, and is the kind of read that will have you questioning the reality of the events and the characters depicted here. I found myself flip-flopping a few times on whether or not Meyer intended this to be a straightforward narrative and on the reliability of Angela’s viewpoints. I think I have my answer, but I suspect yours may be quite different.
Despite its short page count, there’s an awful lot to digest here. The Switch House is slim in pages, but filled to the brim with concepts and ideas. Meyer pulls in cosmic horror, psychological horror, chaotic and frightening depictions of hell, plenty of paranoia, and bucketfuls of bloody mayhem. It’s a rare thing indeed when I finish a book’s prologue and already find myself questioning whatever life choices I’ve made that I’m only just now discovering Tim fucking Meyer. How the hell have I not read this guy before? That’s gonna change real fast, I can tell you that right now.
A solid story from one of my favorite authors. Haunting occult and ghost story mashed up with reality television. Can’t get the tale out of my mind. It was so good.
This was an awesome psychological horror story!
A small backstory:
Angela and Terry Shepherd are on a reality show called “Let’s Switch Houses” and they switch their house with a woman who is recently a widow for a period of two months. Eventually, Terry and Angela finally get their own house back but something just doesn’t feel right and the atmosphere of the house has changed.
Angela starts having nightmares/visions/hallucinations which strains her relationship with Terry, but it is when Angela finds out that the woman who had lived in her house had done some rituals is when things spiral out of control for Angela and she wants to find out what exactly happened in her house!
Who is the widowed woman? What did she do in Angela’s house? Does Angela find out the answers to what happened? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!
Thoughts:
This was my first time reading this author and I was drawn into the story right away. When the character Angela starts having the hallucinations I could feel the frustration of how she was feeling as she tried to figure out if she was really going batty or if something really did happen in her house.
The pace is fast and the writing style just flowed along. The story kept me guessing of what was causing Angela’s predicament. There were two major twists near the end of the book that really sent me reeling and I read the last few chapters within a couple of hours! I have a few more books by this author and looking forward to reading them. Giving this book five “nightmare” stars!
The Switch House is a story of relentless horror, enducing psychedelic terror on nearly every page. Tim Meyer penned a thrilling and brilliant tale that will keep reader’s guessing till the bitter end. This is contemporary horror at its finest.
This book was odd and creepy, I enjoyed reading it! some parts definitely had me on my toes!
The Switch House by Tim Meyer is a tale that will keep you on your toes as you try to figure out what’s going on within the walls of this house. There is a hole that shows scenes from nightmares, there is a heavy sense of dread, and there is a horrible weight resting on the shoulders of the couple after the day that everything changed…
While a short novel, this is one that I got totally caught up in! I couldn’t wait to see what happened next. Phew. What a trip!
This tale was so wonderfully written! It was my first read from Tim Meyer and I definitely can’t wait to read more!
This is my second go-around with one of Mr. Meyer’s releases (the first being KILL HILL CARNAGE) and all I can say is WOW! Tim is putting out some amazingly fun, gore-y, horror that will appeal to a wide scope of readers.
While the previously mentioned KILL HILL CARNAGE is a more straight-forward creature feature, The Switch House is that rare breed of horror; emotional.
This read has a straight forward premise – a grieving husband and wife are selected to appear on a reality TV series where they switch houses with another grieving person (in this case an elderly woman) to try and help them jump start the healing process.
What a great Hallmark TV movie right?
Wrong. Oh so very wrong.
The beauty of the writing/storytelling here, is that it continues to descend deeper and deeper into madness while bringing the reader further and further along in your emotional attachment to Angela (the main-main character). Every page pushes you to the brink, while letting you adjust your grip on the edge of the seat. As every chapter finishes, you find yourself glancing at the clock, knowing full well you will be reading another chapter.
A surprising thing I found with this tale, was that it is exceptionally dark and twisted, with very minimal full on gore, and that is refreshing. While I do love my gore and violence, feeling unsettled sometimes can be so much more disturbing than blood.
I have one minor annoyance from the reading, and that was the other main character (Angela’s husband) Terry. The character works well, but ultimately I think I wanted a bit more to relate to him and to how he reacts and acts throughout.
Lastly, Tim added on a few short stories afterwards, which is always a great bonus. I won’t go too far into them, as I don’t want to give away any spoilers about them, but I found them to read like the after-credits scenes of a good movie.
Overall this book is a must read and if it is currently on your TBR pile, move it far up the stack, and read it next. Tim has delivered once again, and I can’t wait to see what he serves up for us next.
4.5 stars!
THE SWITCH HOUSE, by Tim Meyer, originally caught my attention with the synopsis, but even then I didn’t expect it to become such a compulsive read! The premise was a reality TV show called: LET’S SWITCH HOUSES! The contestants are usually chosen from those that are trying to move on from a tragedy of some sort–of course, the more extreme, the higher the ratings. Angela and her husband, Terry, are selected to switch houses with a Ms. Rosalyn Jeffries for two months of filming.
Angela and Terry are hoping the change will help them to heal from a “tragedy” in their lives, whereas Ms. Jeffries is an altogether different . . . character.
“. . . Divulging secrets exhausted her until she had no more emotion left, went home feeling like a husk of her former self . . . ”
Back at their own home at 44 Trenton Rd., NJ, Angela can’t help but feel something has fundamentally . . . changed.
Tim Meyer weaves this dramatic tale of suspense, secrets, and psychological horror together so flawlessly that I drifted into the storyline and felt myself effortlessly carried along from scene to scene. This book would have been a one-sitting read if I didn’t have to feed my own kids occasionally–that’s how real it felt to me. I just didn’t want to disengage from it at any point.
“. . . I think you understand my meaning. . . ”
The descriptions of what Angela sees are so detailed, that even the most observant reader will have difficulty in assessing whether or not these are “real” or delusions of her mind. It’s precisely this type of writing that keeps you needing to turn those pages, unable to stop. Meyer captures our attention, and he doesn’t let go.
“. . . the truth didn’t come out that easily . . . ”
The dramatic shifting of atmosphere–both visual and mental–had me constantly on my toes, having to go on gut instinct alone on what I felt was the actual “reality”. Even then, this novel was nowhere near as simple as that.
“. . . Maybe her actions opened a locked door, let in whatever was waiting on the other side.”
Overall, this story impressed me considerably in all areas. The characters were complex and–whether we believed in what they thought or not–THEY believed, and this made them very grounded and “complete” to the reader. The atmosphere and various points-of-view that showcased different, distinct impressions of it, came off as authentic from the individual sources.
“. . . Dreams don’t lie. Not in this house . . . ”
The intricacy of this novel was phenomenal, and therefore kept my mind going over its different areas long after I’d finished the book. I couldn’t stop obsessing over the characters and scenes here, and that–to myself–is a sign that I’ve read a really great story.
Highly recommended!
Angela and Terry are a couple still reeling from a “tragedy” that occurred in their lives. In hopes to help their failing marriage they agree to go on a reality show where they “switch houses” with another person. After the show is over they return to their home, but to Angela it does not feel right. She is already seeing a psychiatrist , and she cannot tell if what is happening at her home is real or the result of mental issues. What’s really happening in the home, and what occurred there while they were away living in another house. And how does it all tie into the “tragedy” that they refuse to talk about.
Tim Meyer’s is no stranger to horror. I have read a few of his past books, but somehow this story just feels more personal. The story has a small cast of characters and keeps itself centered around the couple and their home. It is the tale of a marriage on the rocks, loss, terror and the uncertainty of someone with possible mental illness. The story is quick and well paced out. The character of Angela is very believable. She is not sure what is going on and what might happen with her and her husband. The dreams or hallucinations she has range from the small, somewhat childlike, to horror on a Barkeresque level. It also touches on the “reality show” world we all live in now. What could really happen if someone else lived in your house for a month. Do you really know what goes on.
Another aspect of the story is the mentioned “tragedy” that occurred. Slowly through the story more and more is revealed. (But not here)
I do have to admit I had a hard time at the end of this story. Not because I didn’t enjoy the story, no quiet the opposite. The story flows and is pretty much non-stop from beginning to end. The problem for me was one single act that occurs toward the end that will just tear your heart out. It is a act that is so horrible that you just have to stop and let it soak in, especially if you are a parent. I sat for a few minutes after reading it and then continued on. I was not disappointed with how the author tied it all up in the end.
THE SWITCH HOUSE gives us a story of horror mixed with a very tight psychological thriller that will keep you guessing till the end.
You will not want to miss this one.
As a bonus there are 3 short stories included in this edition. My favorite being “How to Kill a Bear with a Bow and Arrow”.
2 likes
Not a favorite
interesting premise, but lacked clarity, for me, to what was really going on, no place along the line did I once go, oh I see what is coming. I am sure people who like this style of story/writing will thoroughly enjoy it.