A Visit to the House on Terminal Hill

by Elizabeth Knox

Tom Teal and Albert Barnes are government employees tasked with visiting a hard-to-reach house and convincing its inhabitant, a member of the Zarene family that controls the whole valley, that a large dam project is a good idea. But the Zarenes have their own way of doing things, and they don't take kindly to outsiders…

"A Visit to the House on Terminal Hill" is a prequel to Elizabeth Knox's novel Mortal Fire.

At the publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Short Stories, Horror, Fantasy, Ebooks, Fiction

32 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 11, 2013

About the author

Elizabeth Knox was born in Wellington‚ New Zealand‚ and is the author of eleven novels and three novella and a book of essays.

Reviews

[karen · Rating 3 out of 5]

HERE IS SOMETHING USEFUL TO KNOW!!!

it seems that SOME of these free tor shorts are spin-offs of other, full-length books, which you may or may not have read. like, for example, this one. which i chose as my next "free tor read" because i had read and enjoyed a book by this author before. just not, regrettably, the one set in the same world as this story. BUT I OWN IT! (which is what i shall have carved on my tombstone)

i liked the story: - the atmosphere, the hints of magic, the situation that is a combination of fairy tale and nightmare, but i know for a fact that i would have liked it more if i had some sense of the backstory. it's a decent standalone, but i have a feeling it would be delightful if i understood more of what the hell was going on. and why.

SO - if you are also working your way through the free tor shorts (and you SHOULD!), you may want to read Mortal Fire before you dive into this one, because i am pretty sure it will make this story more resonant. and check before reading the others, because they don't always tell you on the tor site when you are about to read a companion story. RESEARCH!

my usual blow-up of the "cover":



read it for yourself here:

http://www.tor.com/stories/2013/06/a-...

[Jess ❈Harbinger of Blood-Soaked Rainbows❈ · Rating 3 out of 5]

k is for Knox

This is a tor short about which I really don't have that much to say. It takes place in the 50s in a place called the Zarene Valley. Tom Teal and Albert Barnes are solicitors tasked with trying to convince the locals to build a dam that will result in the entirety of the valley being flooded. They come across a large house overlooking the entire valley, a house that will be spared the floodwaters if the dam goes through. A house that is most likely owned by the Zarene family, the mysterious controllers of the valley itself, and most likely occupied by their reclusive son. Teal and Barnes decide one day to pay the man a visit. Since if they can convince the man himself to build a dam, the valley-dwellers will follow. However, as soon as they reach the house, they quickly realize that the man is not what he appears to be, and neither is the house.

I enjoyed the first half of this short story very much. It had a delightfully creepy atmosphere and I was really interested in knowing what would happen. Mr. Zarene is a character that I wanted to learn more about and his weird relationship with the travelers becomes more bizarre as the story continues. However, something happens at the halfway point that stopped me. It became too bizarre and started to take on a life of its own. And that's when I read other reviews of this story and realized that it is connected to another book that Knox has written, Mortal Fire, that I have not read. And so I became a little lost. The ending was weird to me and I found myself scratching my head at the end and thinking


So I settled on a three star because I enjoyed the first half, and the setting and atmosphere, and I am interested in reading the companion novel, if only to figure out what it was that I just read here.

And if you are feeling adventurous and ambitious, you can read this short story here for FREE. Maybe you'll figure it out and come back and tell me that I'm a giant dummy for not realizing what this story was trying to say. The linky is here:
http://www.tor.com/2013/06/11/a-visit...

[Mehsi · Rating 2 out of 5]

My second novella from Tor.com, and I am not sure how I felt about this one. I am confused... very confused even. At points I could make out the story but I would have rather had the story go from start to finish and not start with the scary night, go back to day, flashback to something different, present time, go back to a day before, etc.. It just didn't work for me. There were points I was quite interested in the story, and I wonder if the two guys are able to convince people in that valley. The recluse was just creepy as hell. Still not sure if his intents were malicious or friendly.
Oh, and the idea of dam projects and people talking to the villagers reminds me of Higurashi no Naku Koro ni, and everyone who read that knows how that ended.

[Lata · Rating 3 out of 5]

A creepy finish to my personal short story challenge to read 31 short stories this month. 31st short done!

Creepy guy living in a hard to access house in an area slated to be flooded for a dam. Two guys from the government attempting to get creepy guy, who they think is just a recluse, to accept the coming dam.

[Zuky the BookBum · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And what would you do with Mr. Teal anyway?”

Ghislain’s face softened. “Get him to show me what’s inside him.”

Gulp.

This story left me wanting more. I read through this so quickly and when I reached the end I was shocked that nothing else became of the story.

This was an enjoyable read. The perfect amount of creepiness and some excellent subtle paranormal things going on. I just need more of it! What happened to Barnes, the cow and what what was in that window seat? Why was Ghislain bonkers and living alone in such a large gorgeous house? What happened during the night? Was Cyrus really what he seemed?

So many question, no answers!

[Tiffany Lynn Kramer · Rating 2 out of 5]

Twice while reading A Visit I thought I'd figured out where things were going. The first time I was preparing myself for disappointment while the second I found a growing interest in some otherworldly possibilities. Frustratingly, not only was I wrong on both accounts but the final offered no satisfaction.
It's my understanding that this is a spin off to another of Knox's works and while I imagine that book might offer some proper answers I can't clam to have any interest in picking it up to find out.

[Maggie Gordon · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Visit to the House on Terminal Hill has an interesting feel to it, but it lacked development, so I had a hard time staying interested in the odd little valley. Two government workers hike in to convince a family to give up their land for "the greater good". But one ends up fleeing in the night after seeing strange aspirations, and the other is locked in a window seat. Perhaps expanded, this would be a horrific tale. As it is, it's not particularly satisfying.

[Shane Noble · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very intriguing, but it just left me with a lot more questions.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An extremely short book. An odd story.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wickedly atmospheric. I honestly didn't know what to expect as the story progressed. And while things didn't exactly play out as I was anticipating, they worked very nicely.

-Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal

A Visit to the House on Terminal Hill was a free online read on the Tor.com website on 06/15/13.

[Kimikimi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Another Tor.com short story.

I don't know if my reviewing skills are getting worse or if there is just less to say about these stories.

That said, this story has some of the flavoring of old fairy tales or ghost stories. Some of that bone deep shiver, but without a clear reason why. Nothing much obviously terrible happens, and yet stuff goes on unexplained in the shadows.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Creepy story about some gov't guys trying to convince a family to leave a valley, which will be flooded by an upcoming dam project. Except the house on the hill. Eeek.

[Brosna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story really enhanced my reading of Mortal Fire. I wish I had got to it sooner!

[Audrey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent -- although I think anything that allowed me back into Zarene Valley would be met with a high rating from me.

[Fiona Knight · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great free short - intriguing and weird, and definitely has me ready to read the other books in this universe.

[Lisa Wolf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Set in the same world as Mortal Fire, and best read after reading the novel. I can't imagine it would make much sense otherwise.