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House of Flesh
In the forbidding old house, guarded by vicious dogs, lived exotic, mysterious Lela. Murder was done there, it was said, and other deeds, wanton and eerie.
All-star athlete Harry Wilde retreats to a remote rural village to escape the pain of a failed marriage and the recent loss of the national basketball championship. Seeking only peace of mind, he soon finds himself entangled in an intense and demeaning love affair with a strange and sullen woman whose primal power holds control over his most basic desires. Unable to stop himself from wandering down a path of darkness, the only thing that will save him is his instinct for survival. With its menacing undercurrents of psychological torment, House of Flesh crosses the boundaries of crime fiction and strays into the murkier depths of horror.
All-star athlete Harry Wilde retreats to a remote rural village to escape the pain of a failed marriage and the recent loss of the national basketball championship. Seeking only peace of mind, he soon finds himself entangled in an intense and demeaning love affair with a strange and sullen woman whose primal power holds control over his most basic desires. Unable to stop himself from wandering down a path of darkness, the only thing that will save him is his instinct for survival. With its menacing undercurrents of psychological torment, House of Flesh crosses the boundaries of crime fiction and strays into the murkier depths of horror.
189 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published January 1, 1950
134 people want to read
About the author
Bruno Fischer
103 books12 followersBruno Fischer was the author of 25 novels and more than 300 short stories, a contributor to "Black Mask" and "Manhunt" magazines, and the uncrowned king of the notorious 'weird menace' pulps. He wrote also as Russell Gray and Harrison Storm.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
May 2, 2021
Any review of Bruno Fischer's House of Flesh, should start with a lengthy flowchart of who us in love with who and who is sleeping with who and who is jealous of whom.
Set in a small upstate New York town where everybody knits everybody's business, it's a story where a professional basketball player whose head has been spinning from a turbulent divorce seeks a few months of solitude. He find anything but solitude. Indeed, he's there but a short time when the postmaster's daughter Pollie falls for him. His ex wife Gale shows up and falls for the married veterinarian Dr. Doane, who rumor has it chopped up wife number one and fed her to the dogs. Our basketball player has got starry eyes for Mrs. Doane number two, Leda. And, Bill, the sheriff, use to be engaged to Mrs. Doane number one, Alice. It's kind of the dating game on steroids.
But, what Fischer does here so masterfully is he lets you think the whole thing is merely about who is dating who, like a mid-century gossip board. He just leads the reader along as these doomed romances or hit nights in the hick country town play out. You know there's this creepy rumor about the doctor. You know his pack of dogs can be scary. And, a cabin in the woods is rather isolated.
Fischer warns our basketball player to run fast before he's caught in the black widow's web, but of course he is compelled to stay and let himself fall into the trap. Fischer fills the dark country nights with red hot passion.
You know, if you've read enough of these, where these adulterous compulsions lead. You want to yell at the lead character and stop him, but he can't hear you. He can't hear anyone till he breaks out of his hypnotic trance.
Set in a small upstate New York town where everybody knits everybody's business, it's a story where a professional basketball player whose head has been spinning from a turbulent divorce seeks a few months of solitude. He find anything but solitude. Indeed, he's there but a short time when the postmaster's daughter Pollie falls for him. His ex wife Gale shows up and falls for the married veterinarian Dr. Doane, who rumor has it chopped up wife number one and fed her to the dogs. Our basketball player has got starry eyes for Mrs. Doane number two, Leda. And, Bill, the sheriff, use to be engaged to Mrs. Doane number one, Alice. It's kind of the dating game on steroids.
But, what Fischer does here so masterfully is he lets you think the whole thing is merely about who is dating who, like a mid-century gossip board. He just leads the reader along as these doomed romances or hit nights in the hick country town play out. You know there's this creepy rumor about the doctor. You know his pack of dogs can be scary. And, a cabin in the woods is rather isolated.
Fischer warns our basketball player to run fast before he's caught in the black widow's web, but of course he is compelled to stay and let himself fall into the trap. Fischer fills the dark country nights with red hot passion.
You know, if you've read enough of these, where these adulterous compulsions lead. You want to yell at the lead character and stop him, but he can't hear you. He can't hear anyone till he breaks out of his hypnotic trance.
March 5, 2025
1950
A study in slow creepiness, even after one character is killed violently.
A study in slow creepiness, even after one character is killed violently.
August 24, 2011
It was horror writer David Bischoff, writing in Jones & Newman's excellent overview volume "Horror: Another 100 Best Books," who first turned me on to Bruno Fischer's "House of Flesh" (1950). In his essay, Bischoff mentions that "House of Flesh" is a "Gothic novel for males," reveals that it is his favorite "shudder pulp horror" story, and tells us that this little novel surprisingly sold over 2 million copies in North America alone. The edition that I just finished is the hard-to-find original Fawcett "Gold Medal," but I'm very happy to see that the fine folks at Blackmask have released a new edition for a 21st century audience, as "House of Flesh" is an exciting page-turner that should please most readers...and not just males. While not exactly horror per se, it does contain some gruesome elements, and can be said to be more of a noirish tale with decidedly shuddery overtones.
Told in first person, it reveals the story of Harry Wilde, a pro basketball player on the N.Y. Gothams, whose summer vacation in the upstate burg of North Set turns out to be a very hairy and wild time indeed. Harry has barely been ensconced in his summer bungalow for a few weeks before becoming involved in a torrid love affair with Lela Doane, the wife of the local veterinarian who had supposedly killed his first wife and fed her to his pack of dogs. Harry's summer idyll takes a very sinister turn after he discovers what may be human bones on the Doanes' property; when his and Lela's affair spins out of control; and when a crowbar murder shakes the sleepy town, with Harry as the only suspect. Fischer, an old hand at pulp writing, keeps the wheels spinning deftly in this suspenseful tale, and while anyone who has had some small experience with film noir should be able to foresee the solution to the murder mystery fairly easily, he/she should still be surprised at the numerous curveballs that the author dishes out. Fischer engenders a mood of encroaching angst not only through the use of disinterred bones and packs of menacing dogs, but through his description of the crumbling old Doane house and of Lela Doane herself, a film noir siren in the classic mold if ever there was one. While not exactly beautiful, apparently, Lela turns out to be a woman of overwhelming passions and mysterious, taciturn moods. Fischer also manages to contrive an aura of sultry eroticism throughout his tale, what with the July setting and the numerous scenes depicting female nudity and lovemaking in general. While certainly nothing graphic--surely not by modern standards--these scenes still have an impact today; how risque they must have seemed 57 years ago! (The novel's numerous passages noting the similarity between humans and dogs in heat are not at all misplaced!) Ultimately, by the time most readers turn the last page of Fischer's novel, they will probably be wondering why this one was never adapted for the big screen. What a wonderfully creepy film noir it might have made; I can almost picture Alida Valli playing the part of Lela....
Told in first person, it reveals the story of Harry Wilde, a pro basketball player on the N.Y. Gothams, whose summer vacation in the upstate burg of North Set turns out to be a very hairy and wild time indeed. Harry has barely been ensconced in his summer bungalow for a few weeks before becoming involved in a torrid love affair with Lela Doane, the wife of the local veterinarian who had supposedly killed his first wife and fed her to his pack of dogs. Harry's summer idyll takes a very sinister turn after he discovers what may be human bones on the Doanes' property; when his and Lela's affair spins out of control; and when a crowbar murder shakes the sleepy town, with Harry as the only suspect. Fischer, an old hand at pulp writing, keeps the wheels spinning deftly in this suspenseful tale, and while anyone who has had some small experience with film noir should be able to foresee the solution to the murder mystery fairly easily, he/she should still be surprised at the numerous curveballs that the author dishes out. Fischer engenders a mood of encroaching angst not only through the use of disinterred bones and packs of menacing dogs, but through his description of the crumbling old Doane house and of Lela Doane herself, a film noir siren in the classic mold if ever there was one. While not exactly beautiful, apparently, Lela turns out to be a woman of overwhelming passions and mysterious, taciturn moods. Fischer also manages to contrive an aura of sultry eroticism throughout his tale, what with the July setting and the numerous scenes depicting female nudity and lovemaking in general. While certainly nothing graphic--surely not by modern standards--these scenes still have an impact today; how risque they must have seemed 57 years ago! (The novel's numerous passages noting the similarity between humans and dogs in heat are not at all misplaced!) Ultimately, by the time most readers turn the last page of Fischer's novel, they will probably be wondering why this one was never adapted for the big screen. What a wonderfully creepy film noir it might have made; I can almost picture Alida Valli playing the part of Lela....
February 3, 2020
A mid-century gothic romance for men. Lela lives in a decaying mansion surrounded by dogs and grisly rumors of murder. Men find her irresistible. She finds men useful. Someone's gonna get hurt.
August 10, 2016
Great variation of a fairly typical noir plot telling the story of young basketball player and his obsession with a married woman. The secondary characters like the painter and his family, his ex-wife, and the even dogs really brought the story to life.
December 18, 2020
Another great noir from 1950 that deserves to be ranked with the classics of the genre. Really surprised that this was never made into a movie because it has all the elements. I've seen this one labeled as horror or "male-gothic," but neither of those labels fit as this is straight-ahead noir. Harry Wilde is a pro-basketball player reeling from a divorce and a loss in the final game of the championship series. He goes to the countryside for the summer to regroup. He plays around a bit with young and beautiful Polly Wellman until he meets Lela Doane, the wife of a local veterinarian (who is rumored to have murdered his first wife and fed her body to the vicious dogs he keeps). Harry soon makes the classic mistake that drives so many noir plots as he pursues a torrid affair with Lela. The plot complications accelerate from there as Harry, wanting to have Lela Doane for himself, tries to prove that Doane killed his first wife, starting with a search for her bones on Doane's property. Fischer keeps the plot and the atmosphere thick throughout. Perhaps a bit too much dialog for my taste toward at the very end as it wraps up the way a lot of mystery novels do with the unraveling of the who- and how-dunnit, but all-in-all a great noir.
Want to read
December 23, 2018Synopsis: in a forbidding old house, guarded by vicious dogs, lived the mysterious Lola. It was said that murder was done there.
December 8, 2025
On the whole, a good solid 1950 noir. But the ending is a bit…, I’m not sure if ‘melodramatic’ is the right word; but excessive, Hollywoody…
February 14, 2011
Passionate early Gold Medal. Excellent at points, without a doubt a special book in its style. The plot, in which nothing supernatural happens, is never without the impression of the supernatural. Dr. Doane, one of the main characters, is rumored to have fed his first wife to his aggressive dogs. Lela is described as animal many times, and accordingly she immediately strips naked given the opportunity. Harry, the lead character, is a basketball star on summer vacation, cooling off after an unpleasant and brief marriage. He rents a bungalow four hours outside of New York. Altogether well-told, the striking romance between Harry and Lela is a high point.
August 1, 2018
A Bruno Fischer classic. Well written characters, plot, and dialogue. Fun plot. Suspenseful. Entertaining. Recommended.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews