Puzzle Box Horror’s book recommendation of the week is The House That Fell From the Sky by Patrick Delaney.
Award-winning author Patrick Delaney grew up in varying cities in the greater Los Angeles County. After leaving the city of Santa Clarita, he relocated in Redding, a small city in Northern California. It was here Patrick began his literary career, slowly writing his first novel. After receiving an Associate of Science degree in Social Sciences at Shasta College he continued his higher education at Simpson University, where he received a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Throughout his undergraduate career he gradually polished his debut novel “Dante’s Town of Terror”, which would go on to win the gold medal in the Independent Publisher Book Awards(IPPY) in the horror category for 2018.
SYNOPSIS
When 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 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.
Review
“Now this is how you do an original take on the haunted house genre! Sure, it borrows tropes and imagery from other books and movies, but not in a bad way. It’s more of an homage to those that came before, while also carving out a unique niche of its own. This book hit a lot of personal likes of mine: a focus on character building, themes of family, friendship, and grief (a la Haunting of Hill House) an irresistible mystery that needs solving, and terrifying scenes of monsters and dark chaos. I love that there’s such a cool mix of horrors (ghosts, ghouls, creepy crawlers, monsters, eldrich terrors, etc). Also healthy doses of Silent Hill, Lovecraft, King, and more. At over 500 pages it drags just a bit in some spots, but overall I was definitely down for this epic tale!”
Ben (@reading.vicariously)
To read the full review, click here!
The House That Fell From the Sky by Patrick Delaney is available now at Horror Hub Marketplace.
Ben’s love for horror began at a young age when he devoured books like the Goosebumps series and the various scary stories of Alvin Schwartz. Growing up he spent an unholy amount of time binge watching horror films and staying up till the early hours of the morning playing games like Resident Evil and Silent Hill. Since then his love for the genre has only increased, expanding to include all manner of subgenres and mediums. He firmly believes in the power of horror to create an imaginative space for exploring our connection to each other and the universe, but he also appreciates the pure entertainment of B movies and splatterpunk fiction.
Nowadays you can find Ben hustling his skills as a freelance writer and editor. When he’s not building his portfolio or spending time with his wife and two kids, he’s immersing himself in his reading and writing. Though he loves horror in all forms, he has a particular penchant for indie authors and publishers. He is a proud supporter of the horror community and spends much of his free time reviewing and promoting the books/comics you need to be reading right now!
