Now, this book never would have happened to me. The second those people showed up at my door, it would have been like “No, I am so sorry. See you later.” I get that it is Old House, but, believe me – the events of my story would have been significantly different.
Honestly, this book had a lot of creepy moments and the atmosphere was unrelenting. I found it extremely cinematic. The descriptions given put many of the images like a still screen from a creepy ass haunted house movie (not really a trope I go to).
The final act of this book was what I enjoyed though. A solid descent into madness (maybe?) takes particular clarity and pacing and I think Marcus nailed it on the head.
Also, Nyarlahotep. It is not confirmed anywhere, but it is NO DOUBT a eldritch horror story. I know Nyarly, obviously. His fingerprints are all over this story. He is affecting both the character and the reader.
Which gets me to my biggest gripe – the ARG element.
The concept is cool, but it isn’t for everybody (I’ll never read House of Leaves). There is absolutely nothing that advertises it as such and it would have been cool to know that in advance. Though you don’t need it to actually understand the story, there’s a lot that flushes it out and makes it a little bit clearer. However, there IS STILL stuff that people haven’t figured out (and there are entire Reddit groups dedicated to this book). It irks me that I can’t just know the whole story when it’s there.
That aspect is great for some, but not really my thing.
However, it kept its hooks in me and kept me turning pages and that’s essentially what an author’s job is.