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bobmetal's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bmacenlightened's review against another edition
3.0
Good start, get's a little weird, ends relatively satisfyingly.
rock_n_reads's review against another edition
4.0
My first introduction to Bryan Smith’s writing was his short story “Pilgrimage” in the Welcome to the Show anthology. After reading that, I knew I wanted to check out his novels. I’ve had House of Blood on my shelf for a while, and I couldn’t have picked a better time to read this one. I was wallowing in my emotional wreckage during the holidays, listening to and reading stories that made me cry. Everyone knows that I love to experience “all the feels” when I read, but sometimes one just needs a break. I decided that I’d read at least one book that might not make me cry, and this was that selection.
I was not disappointed by this story—it had all the makings of an entertaining piece of horror fiction. I’ll admit, when I read the synopsis, I was intrigued, but it had me thinking the story might be similar to those I’ve experienced in movies such as “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “Wrong Turn”. While I would’ve been happy reading a common tale of backwoods terror, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this story had a unique premise.
House of Blood is not just a slasher story about friends who wander into the wrong place at the wrong time—there is a lot more to the story than what’s at the surface. I really felt like I was watching a great horror film while I was reading this. I thought that the pacing was well done, as there are minimal lulls in the action. While I didn’t personally connect with any of the characters, I definitely found myself rooting for some of them to make it out alive, and I enjoyed the dialogue. Overall I thought this novel had great balance—there’s plenty of sex, violence, and gore, but it’s not all thrown in the reader’s face at once. The author also gives just enough detail—it’s straight to the point without bogging down the story or boring the reader.
This was just the type of book I needed to shake up my reading, and at this point, there’s a lot more room on my shelf to explore the splatterpunk and extreme horror subgenres. I am excited to read more from Bryan Smith in the near future!
I was not disappointed by this story—it had all the makings of an entertaining piece of horror fiction. I’ll admit, when I read the synopsis, I was intrigued, but it had me thinking the story might be similar to those I’ve experienced in movies such as “Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or “Wrong Turn”. While I would’ve been happy reading a common tale of backwoods terror, I was pleasantly surprised to discover that this story had a unique premise.
House of Blood is not just a slasher story about friends who wander into the wrong place at the wrong time—there is a lot more to the story than what’s at the surface. I really felt like I was watching a great horror film while I was reading this. I thought that the pacing was well done, as there are minimal lulls in the action. While I didn’t personally connect with any of the characters, I definitely found myself rooting for some of them to make it out alive, and I enjoyed the dialogue. Overall I thought this novel had great balance—there’s plenty of sex, violence, and gore, but it’s not all thrown in the reader’s face at once. The author also gives just enough detail—it’s straight to the point without bogging down the story or boring the reader.
This was just the type of book I needed to shake up my reading, and at this point, there’s a lot more room on my shelf to explore the splatterpunk and extreme horror subgenres. I am excited to read more from Bryan Smith in the near future!
bloodonsnow's review against another edition
1.0
I read the sequel to this book and figured I'd read this one in hopes that it would make more sense.
So, uh, there's a weird subdimension under Tennessee where Evil BDSM Superman lives and made a weird little BDSM city and some girl cures him with her vagina but not enough and then that girl's ex-boyfriend leads a revolt with Jim Morrison or something in the BDSM town and there's another French girl who uses sex magic to watch it all and she has a cat.
... oh, and a token sassy black female friend. But she died. Womp womp.
It still doesn't explain the ninja clan in the second book. WHY NINJAS. SERIOUSLY.
So, uh, there's a weird subdimension under Tennessee where Evil BDSM Superman lives and made a weird little BDSM city and some girl cures him with her vagina but not enough and then that girl's ex-boyfriend leads a revolt with Jim Morrison or something in the BDSM town and there's another French girl who uses sex magic to watch it all and she has a cat.
... oh, and a token sassy black female friend. But she died. Womp womp.
It still doesn't explain the ninja clan in the second book. WHY NINJAS. SERIOUSLY.
innae's review against another edition
4.0
Surprisingly entertaining...I did get a little confused at times, had to go back and refresh which character was which. The ending impressed me, much better than many horror novels where they tend to peter out at the end.
melihooker's review against another edition
5.0
House of Blood is a gripping horror thriller that is impossible to put down. Based on the opening set-up of the novel, I expected a Texas Chainsaw Massacre throwback, but it turned out to be so much more. A group of college friends take a detour and end up lost and very low on gas. When they arrive at an old country home, they expect to find a phone and some help but instead find a house of unimaginable horrors. Otherworldly psychos, sexually twisted freaks, and an underground world of insane phantasmagoric wonders, House of Blood is an epic nightmare for fans of splatterpunk horror.
paperbackstash's review against another edition
4.0
House of Blood is the debut novel of Brian Smith, but from the rich writing and the intriguing plot, you can't tell it's a first. The beginning got me hooked, the middle kept me there, and the ending was strong.
Pros:
Smith uses a simple, straightforward manner to inject his poison in the reader’s bloodstream. His prose is pronounced, clear, and focused.
The pace starts off swift and strong, stays in the air the whole way through, keeps lifting higher and higher, never putting its feet down on the ground.
Some of the events are almost offensive they're so disturbing, and while on the surface this plot looks generic, it's certainly not.
Cons:
Smith misses the mark with his characters. Dreamweaver comes off weak and whiny, Master is a good character but a bit confusing, Mrs. Wickman is too stereotypical to be believed, and all the really good characters were killed off too soon or not explored enough.
The dialogue worked sometimes, but other times it just...well, gee, golly, gosh, fizzled out.
Overall though, this gets a high marking. I recommend it to all horror fans - read this one when you get the chance, it's not for the birds.
Pros:
Smith uses a simple, straightforward manner to inject his poison in the reader’s bloodstream. His prose is pronounced, clear, and focused.
The pace starts off swift and strong, stays in the air the whole way through, keeps lifting higher and higher, never putting its feet down on the ground.
Some of the events are almost offensive they're so disturbing, and while on the surface this plot looks generic, it's certainly not.
Cons:
Smith misses the mark with his characters. Dreamweaver comes off weak and whiny, Master is a good character but a bit confusing, Mrs. Wickman is too stereotypical to be believed, and all the really good characters were killed off too soon or not explored enough.
The dialogue worked sometimes, but other times it just...well, gee, golly, gosh, fizzled out.
Overall though, this gets a high marking. I recommend it to all horror fans - read this one when you get the chance, it's not for the birds.
acknud's review against another edition
3.0
The only thing that saved this book was occasional episodes of good writing. Mostly it was just drivel and tired reused plots. Also, the writer could do the courtesy of at least knowing something about a subject before putting it in a book, i.e. a Glock does not have a safety!
pqlibrarian's review
4.0
This book caught my interest early and held it for the entire story. Pretty gruesome.