Ted Fauster's Blog
November 8, 2019
HOUSE OF WINDOWS | A book review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster
HOUSE OF WINDOWS | A book review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster
House of Windows
by John Langan
A book review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster
I’m a sucker for a good haunted house story.
HOUSE OF WINDOWS delivers.
Here’s the thing: if you’re looking for a quick, jump-scare read then you can pass on this one. The language in this book is slow and syrupy, like sipping an artisanal whiskey cocktail before a lazily rolling Victorian fireplace, Labrador on the rug, snow falling gently outside the windowpane and everything. This is a book best enjoyed in sessions, which is exactly how I digested it.
The writing has a rather pleasingly potent literary style. It is intentionally measured but not slow. Langan quite effectively takes on the voice of widow Veronica Croydon, whose marriage to a lauded professor forty years her senior was in itself something of a scandal. When her husband goes missing following the death of his son Veronica is immediately suspected.
We learn all of this in a most unique way. Veronica bumps into another English professor at a dinner party who also happens to be a horror novelist. Unable to evade a discussion, he becomes the unexpected co-narrator of a ghost story told by a haunted widow through the filter of an unassuming yet transfixed author. And so the tale begins.
HOUSE OF WINDOWS drips with drama and intrigue, both of which build so exquisitely slowly it is at times almost unbearable. But that’s what a good writer does: leaves you wanting for more. It becomes clear very early on that we’re not going to get spooked just yet, because Langan is the variety of writer who believes in the haunted landscape of the human spirit, centering it front-stage for us to examine in minute detail, before delivering the goods. This, in my humble opinion, is what makes all the subsequent scares so goddamn satisfying!
To read this book is to understand the ghosts that can haunt not only one relationship but several generations. It is a study of the degeneration of family, of things best unstated, of the ineptitude of the human mind to truly comprehend the damage one human being can do to another until it is far too late.
You’ll get your scares. Just be prepared to sit down by the fire and hear the whole story first.
House of Windows
by John Langan
A book review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster
I’m a sucker for a good haunted house story.
HOUSE OF WINDOWS delivers.
Here’s the thing: if you’re looking for a quick, jump-scare read then you can pass on this one. The language in this book is slow and syrupy, like sipping an artisanal whiskey cocktail before a lazily rolling Victorian fireplace, Labrador on the rug, snow falling gently outside the windowpane and everything. This is a book best enjoyed in sessions, which is exactly how I digested it.
The writing has a rather pleasingly potent literary style. It is intentionally measured but not slow. Langan quite effectively takes on the voice of widow Veronica Croydon, whose marriage to a lauded professor forty years her senior was in itself something of a scandal. When her husband goes missing following the death of his son Veronica is immediately suspected.
We learn all of this in a most unique way. Veronica bumps into another English professor at a dinner party who also happens to be a horror novelist. Unable to evade a discussion, he becomes the unexpected co-narrator of a ghost story told by a haunted widow through the filter of an unassuming yet transfixed author. And so the tale begins.
HOUSE OF WINDOWS drips with drama and intrigue, both of which build so exquisitely slowly it is at times almost unbearable. But that’s what a good writer does: leaves you wanting for more. It becomes clear very early on that we’re not going to get spooked just yet, because Langan is the variety of writer who believes in the haunted landscape of the human spirit, centering it front-stage for us to examine in minute detail, before delivering the goods. This, in my humble opinion, is what makes all the subsequent scares so goddamn satisfying!
To read this book is to understand the ghosts that can haunt not only one relationship but several generations. It is a study of the degeneration of family, of things best unstated, of the ineptitude of the human mind to truly comprehend the damage one human being can do to another until it is far too late.
You’ll get your scares. Just be prepared to sit down by the fire and hear the whole story first.
October 27, 2019
October 23, 2019
Still Pretty New to Goodreads
I have a confession to make.
I've been on Goodreads since 2009, and I've yet to learn how to properly use this platform. Embarrassing. I'm now taking steps to correct this, including testing out this post feature.
More to come.
TF
https://www.tedfauster.com/
I've been on Goodreads since 2009, and I've yet to learn how to properly use this platform. Embarrassing. I'm now taking steps to correct this, including testing out this post feature.
More to come.
TF
https://www.tedfauster.com/
October 22, 2019
October 21, 2019
October 18, 2019
THE GREEN KANGAROOS | A review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster
The Green Kangaroos
My review of THE GREEN KANGAROOS by Jessica McHugh
http://www.tedfauster.com/2019/10/18/...
My review of THE GREEN KANGAROOS by Jessica McHugh
http://www.tedfauster.com/2019/10/18/...
October 14, 2019
GOLD FAME CITRUS | A review by weird speculative fiction author Ted Fauster
My review of GOLD FAME CITRUS, by Claire Vaye Watkins is up:
http://www.tedfauster.com/2019/10/14/...
http://www.tedfauster.com/2019/10/14/...
October 9, 2019
WEDNESDAY
A crisp 50 degrees outside. Sliding door open. The breeze carries the distant hammering of roofers and the lilting tones of a courting flute.
October 1, 2019
TUESDAY MORNING
rolling thunder
crosses the plains
clouds collide in brilliant
car-crash flashes of white
the dog sleeps
crosses the plains
clouds collide in brilliant
car-crash flashes of white
the dog sleeps
