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A review by ghostlyweeds
A House at the Bottom of a Lake by Josh Malerman
3.0
3.5 ⭐️
Let it be known ahead of time that I have a pretty substantial phobia of large bodies of water, even more so if it’s a naturally occurring large body of water. I also watched the movie that was based from this horror novella over a year ago and found it to be ‘just okay’. However I realized that some of the atmosphere haunted me even a year later so I decided to go to the original and give it a go.
I struggled a bit at the beginning to get a grasp on the writing style. Simple but repetitive, it felt a little juvenile at times but considering the two characters are 17 it really just reminded me how susceptible they were. I was about damn near addicted to this once the house becomes revealed to us. I only put it down long enough to do the mandatory adult responsibilities before I was diving back in. The atmosphere was so stunning and haunting and every scene of them under water made me feel claustrophobic and practically starved for air.
I always struggle with the ending of things… I wonder whether I’m just too simple-minded to catch what the actual meaning of it all was, or if the ending was just that simple. I don’t fault the books that I read, I just have to take it with a grain of salt.
Let it be known ahead of time that I have a pretty substantial phobia of large bodies of water, even more so if it’s a naturally occurring large body of water. I also watched the movie that was based from this horror novella over a year ago and found it to be ‘just okay’. However I realized that some of the atmosphere haunted me even a year later so I decided to go to the original and give it a go.
I struggled a bit at the beginning to get a grasp on the writing style. Simple but repetitive, it felt a little juvenile at times but considering the two characters are 17 it really just reminded me how susceptible they were. I was about damn near addicted to this once the house becomes revealed to us. I only put it down long enough to do the mandatory adult responsibilities before I was diving back in. The atmosphere was so stunning and haunting and every scene of them under water made me feel claustrophobic and practically starved for air.
I always struggle with the ending of things… I wonder whether I’m just too simple-minded to catch what the actual meaning of it all was, or if the ending was just that simple. I don’t fault the books that I read, I just have to take it with a grain of salt.