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Holt House
It's a quiet house, sheltered, standing in a mass of tangled old trees called the Holtwood. Raymond watches it. He's been watching it, through a gap in the fence at the bottom of the garden, for weeks. Thinking about the elderly owners, Mr and Mrs Latch, who took him in one night when he was a frightened boy caught up in an emergency. Mr Latch showed him something that was kept in a wardrobe in the spare room. He can't remember what it was. He only knows how sick it made him feel. Raymond watches Holt House. He has to remember what he saw. He has to get inside.
101 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 33 reviews
July 1, 2018
In the peaceful garden of Holt House, time seems to pass differently. Mr and Mrs Latch follow a practised routine: he mows the lawn and works in his shed; she cooks breakfast and hangs out the washing. Fenced off from the surrounding wood, the Latches' garden is untouched, perfect. Their world moves slowly.
Outside, there is a voyeur – Ray, who visits daily to press his eye to a hole in the fence and quietly watch the Latches. He is obsessed with a memory. When he was a boy, his father left him with the Latches after his mother was taken ill. Then, he is convinced, he discovered the kindly couple's hospitality was a mere facade. Mr Latch showed him something in the back of a wardrobe – something that 'repulsed him, changed him'. Ray can't remember what the thing was; only that it made him feel sick and terrified.
Over the course of the book, the reader will discover what Mr Latch showed Ray, and will see shifts in Ray's character that transform him from a mildly sympathetic character to a much more sinister presence. We will come to understand exactly why he is camping out in the Holtwood. Perhaps we can forgive Ray's outdated attitudes towards women – the story is set in the early 1970s, after all – but then, perhaps they are a clue we should be paying careful attention to. Ray also seems to be uncommonly preoccupied with the presence, or lack thereof, of otters; what, in the world of Holt House, do the animals symbolise?
Holt House is an eerie horror novel, but it is also a comment on the nature of what is now referred to as toxic masculinity. I imagine the book holding Ray up to the reader and slowly revolving him. He looks perfectly acceptable at first, and then the figure turns a little to the side and you start to see the rot, the damage, the wrongness. (Like that thing in the wardrobe.) Vey also has a powerful grasp on the uncanny, one that grows stronger when Ray breaches the boundaries of Holt House. In my personal favourite scene, he flees the house only to find himself in an alien landscape. It becomes clear that strange sense of time slippage might be more than just a seductive trick. Here, the author does a fabulous job of evoking, for want of a better phrase, a past idea of the future, and I was reminded of Jeremy Dyson's excellent story 'An Encounter by Water'.
This is the first book in Dead Ink's Eden Book Society series. The Society is purportedly a publisher of horror novellas whose works were, for almost 100 years, only made available to a private list of subscribers. The six novellas planned to launch the Kickstarter campaign – of which I was a backer – ostensibly originate from 1972. They are written under pseudonyms by Andrew Michael Hurley, Alison Moore, Aliya Whiteley, Jenn Ashworth and Richard V. Hirst, Sam Mills, and Gary Budden.
I was excited about this series from the moment I first read about it, and have been eagerly waiting to get my hands on Holt House for months. When I finally received it, I breathlessly devoured the book as quickly as I could, and of course, I'm dying to know which of the above writers is masquerading as L.G. Vey. (I'm familiar with all of them – to some degree – with the exception of Whiteley.) Is it a red herring that it focuses so closely on a male character? I can certainly see the Latches, and some of the uncanny domestic details, fitting into Moore's oeuvre. But there's also a strong flavour of folk horror, more reminiscent of Hurley.
I can't deny I'd like to find out, but it's nice to have a genuine bit of mystique around the author's identity – very much in the spirit of the whole Eden Book Society exercise. In any case, I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading the next novella.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
Outside, there is a voyeur – Ray, who visits daily to press his eye to a hole in the fence and quietly watch the Latches. He is obsessed with a memory. When he was a boy, his father left him with the Latches after his mother was taken ill. Then, he is convinced, he discovered the kindly couple's hospitality was a mere facade. Mr Latch showed him something in the back of a wardrobe – something that 'repulsed him, changed him'. Ray can't remember what the thing was; only that it made him feel sick and terrified.
Over the course of the book, the reader will discover what Mr Latch showed Ray, and will see shifts in Ray's character that transform him from a mildly sympathetic character to a much more sinister presence. We will come to understand exactly why he is camping out in the Holtwood. Perhaps we can forgive Ray's outdated attitudes towards women – the story is set in the early 1970s, after all – but then, perhaps they are a clue we should be paying careful attention to. Ray also seems to be uncommonly preoccupied with the presence, or lack thereof, of otters; what, in the world of Holt House, do the animals symbolise?
Holt House is an eerie horror novel, but it is also a comment on the nature of what is now referred to as toxic masculinity. I imagine the book holding Ray up to the reader and slowly revolving him. He looks perfectly acceptable at first, and then the figure turns a little to the side and you start to see the rot, the damage, the wrongness. (Like that thing in the wardrobe.) Vey also has a powerful grasp on the uncanny, one that grows stronger when Ray breaches the boundaries of Holt House. In my personal favourite scene, he flees the house only to find himself in an alien landscape. It becomes clear that strange sense of time slippage might be more than just a seductive trick. Here, the author does a fabulous job of evoking, for want of a better phrase, a past idea of the future, and I was reminded of Jeremy Dyson's excellent story 'An Encounter by Water'.
This is the first book in Dead Ink's Eden Book Society series. The Society is purportedly a publisher of horror novellas whose works were, for almost 100 years, only made available to a private list of subscribers. The six novellas planned to launch the Kickstarter campaign – of which I was a backer – ostensibly originate from 1972. They are written under pseudonyms by Andrew Michael Hurley, Alison Moore, Aliya Whiteley, Jenn Ashworth and Richard V. Hirst, Sam Mills, and Gary Budden.
I was excited about this series from the moment I first read about it, and have been eagerly waiting to get my hands on Holt House for months. When I finally received it, I breathlessly devoured the book as quickly as I could, and of course, I'm dying to know which of the above writers is masquerading as L.G. Vey. (I'm familiar with all of them – to some degree – with the exception of Whiteley.) Is it a red herring that it focuses so closely on a male character? I can certainly see the Latches, and some of the uncanny domestic details, fitting into Moore's oeuvre. But there's also a strong flavour of folk horror, more reminiscent of Hurley.
I can't deny I'd like to find out, but it's nice to have a genuine bit of mystique around the author's identity – very much in the spirit of the whole Eden Book Society exercise. In any case, I'm thoroughly looking forward to reading the next novella.
TinyLetter | Twitter | Instagram | Tumblr
December 7, 2022
This falls into the category of horror that is probably very appealing to many other readers, but only serves to baffle and incense me. It is riddled with perplexing elements and infused with a dream-like atmosphere throughout that had me questioning the truth of every single of aspect that occurred. I was expecting this to be a straight-forward tale of paranormal spookiness and, instead, found there was a concluding twist that made this a clever parable for toxic masculinity and a darkly fantastical tale.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, L.G. Vey, and the publisher, W.F. Howes Ltd., for this opportunity.
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to the author, L.G. Vey, and the publisher, W.F. Howes Ltd., for this opportunity.
February 6, 2021
Raymond, a young man harbouring dark secrets, returns to the small town of his childhood. He camps in Holtwood, near Holt House, where elderly Mr and Mrs Latch live. Once, during a family emergency, the Latches had taken him in for the night. What he experienced then still fills him with dread, even though his recollections are vague and confused. Ray now seeks answers and closure, but finds more than he has bargained for.
This novella is the only work of fiction by the elusive L.G. Vey. Originally published in 1972 by the Eden Book Society, a small, subscriber-only press, it has been re-released by Dead Ink Press as the first of a number of planned reissues from the Society's back catalogue. This promises to be a veritable feast for lovers of horror fiction, as publications of the Society are practically impossible to trace, the stuff of urban legend and literary mystery...
As for the novella itself, it is an eerie and, understatedly disturbing work. The fluidity between the natural/animal and urban world gives it a tinge of folk and landscape horror (otters have never seemed more uncanny). Ultimately, however, the terror portrayed is metaphysical in nature : the peculiarly masculine fear of mortality, of growing old and lonely.
The more surreal aspects of the story have more than a whiff of 70s psychedelia. Indeed, the novel is markedly of its time - given the references to 70s culture (such Chopper bicycles outside the village shop) one would be forgiven for suspecting that this is in fact a work by a contemporary novelist emulating vintage horror. And this might well be the case. With the Eden Book Society, one never knows...
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
This novella is the only work of fiction by the elusive L.G. Vey. Originally published in 1972 by the Eden Book Society, a small, subscriber-only press, it has been re-released by Dead Ink Press as the first of a number of planned reissues from the Society's back catalogue. This promises to be a veritable feast for lovers of horror fiction, as publications of the Society are practically impossible to trace, the stuff of urban legend and literary mystery...
As for the novella itself, it is an eerie and, understatedly disturbing work. The fluidity between the natural/animal and urban world gives it a tinge of folk and landscape horror (otters have never seemed more uncanny). Ultimately, however, the terror portrayed is metaphysical in nature : the peculiarly masculine fear of mortality, of growing old and lonely.
The more surreal aspects of the story have more than a whiff of 70s psychedelia. Indeed, the novel is markedly of its time - given the references to 70s culture (such Chopper bicycles outside the village shop) one would be forgiven for suspecting that this is in fact a work by a contemporary novelist emulating vintage horror. And this might well be the case. With the Eden Book Society, one never knows...
https://endsoftheword.blogspot.com/20...
June 14, 2018
Wonderful! So much is packed into this creepy and heartbreaking little book. It's just begging to be made into a film.
February 12, 2019
L.G. Vey only wrote one short novel in his own short lifetime. Published in 1972 it has been brought back to life by The Eden Book Society, a private group which has existed for 100 years. Last year Dead Ink books secured the rights to publish its entire backlist, a century of unpublished British horror.
Raymond watches the old couple who live at Holt House through a hole in the fence, the old building standing alone in a clearing in the wood. He has a frightening memory from there, of the days the couple took him in as an 11 year old while his parents were ill. As the story unfolds Vey’s skill is that the reader is unsure who to believe, is Raymond’s narrative to be trusted? Often surreal, and always gripping, this is from the halcyon days of British horror, days when the genre attracted many of our best writers, and enjoyed a higher profile.
Raymond watches the old couple who live at Holt House through a hole in the fence, the old building standing alone in a clearing in the wood. He has a frightening memory from there, of the days the couple took him in as an 11 year old while his parents were ill. As the story unfolds Vey’s skill is that the reader is unsure who to believe, is Raymond’s narrative to be trusted? Often surreal, and always gripping, this is from the halcyon days of British horror, days when the genre attracted many of our best writers, and enjoyed a higher profile.
August 8, 2020
The cover of this book is what attracted me to review it. As I started, the introduction tells of the rarity of this book and the others in its collection published through The Eden Book Society.
Although I am a big horror fan I must admit to never hearing of the Book society so upon finishing I did a little research.
The Eden Book Society was established in 1919 by the Eden family a private publisher that passed through generations and existed for almost 100 years publishing British horror to a group of confidential subscribers.
The books were written by pseudonyms rumoured to be the greatest horror authors of the day but now Dead Ink Press have acquired the rights to the collection of books and archives publishing them to the public for the first time, wow!.
Now the book, well, memory plays a big part to this story. As it starts with Raymond a young man camping out in Holtwood, the place of his childhood near Holt House the house of Mr & Mrs Latch. Raymond's purpose is to cure his obsession with a memory he has from his childhood that haunts him. As a 11yr old child he was left with the Latches one night when his parents needed to go to hospital. His memory is vague but he remembers been shown something but he doesn't know what in a wardrobe in a bedroom in that house but whatever it was it it sickened him and it shocked him to his core.
Raymond peeks through the hole in the fence and watches the couple.
Through this story we find what he was shown and the changes in the characters as the tale is told from alternate perspectives. But are the narrators reliable? the hints at misogamy and comments made about women add a sinister edge.
Without doubt the tale has a very creepy dark feel to it. Atmospheric in the explanation of the rural nature, landscape and wildlife particularly otters (eek!). The story is deep and multilayered.
Quite surreal but very enjoyable. I found the narrators easy to listen to and the sound quality change from the introduction to the actual story gave it a authentic vintage 'wireless' sound.
I read American horror and I'm currently reading books off the Paperbacks from Hell ( Grady Hendrix) list which include a lot of the forgotten horror books from the 70's and 80's so it was nice to have a comparison with a British horror book of the same era.
A audio book I would highly recommend and kept thinking about long after I had put it down.
My thanks go to the publishers and Netgalley in providing this copy in return for a honest review I will certainly be seeking out Eden Book Society's further books that are released.
September 1, 2020
This was such an eerie and compelling experience! I'm extremely happy that The Eden Book Society is finally starting to make these rarities available to the public, because they truly are hidden gems and classics of the genre of horror/suspense/gothic stories.
Holt House is a house like no other, hidden in the woods in the peaceful countryside. Nothing too special about it and yet fascinating and compelling to anyone who sees it. It seems to exist outside of time and anyone who ends up there.... doesn't leave.
I don't want to give spoilers, because this is such a short but so impactful story, but the ending is... well, quite the bone chilling twist.
And it also an interesting take on toxic masculinity and abuse of power by men in general that has stood the test of time, even though this story had been lost and forgotten in time for over 40 years.
The narration was superb and really gave you all the spooky atmosphere that this story entails.
I definitely recommend it and I hope to read more of these hidden gems from The Eden Book Society.
Thank you to NetGalley and W.F. Howes Ltd for allowing me to listen to Holt House.
#HoltHouse #NetGalley
Holt House is a house like no other, hidden in the woods in the peaceful countryside. Nothing too special about it and yet fascinating and compelling to anyone who sees it. It seems to exist outside of time and anyone who ends up there.... doesn't leave.
I don't want to give spoilers, because this is such a short but so impactful story, but the ending is... well, quite the bone chilling twist.
And it also an interesting take on toxic masculinity and abuse of power by men in general that has stood the test of time, even though this story had been lost and forgotten in time for over 40 years.
The narration was superb and really gave you all the spooky atmosphere that this story entails.
I definitely recommend it and I hope to read more of these hidden gems from The Eden Book Society.
Thank you to NetGalley and W.F. Howes Ltd for allowing me to listen to Holt House.
#HoltHouse #NetGalley
August 31, 2020
2,5/5. An horror story that was okay but unfortunately I cant say I enjoy it a lot. A bit too generic and with very little to offer to the genre. It was okay, but you know... that okay feeling that a book left you, you wont say it was bad, but at the same time if your only memory of it was, it was okay, well...
October 22, 2020
Audiobook ARC provided by Netgalley in exchange for my honest review.
I was really looking forward to this. I loved (and still pretty much like) the idea behind the Eden Book Society and the anonymous man collecting all the books they published. I also loved the idea of listening to the first of these books as an audiobook, as it reminded me of The Magnus Archives - one of my life's great pleasures. With that in mind, I even got my husband to listen to Holt House with me because Magnus Archives is our together-thing. Man, did he hate this book.
I didn't hate it, as such, but I didn't like it either. For me, the problem can be divided into two parts. But first, the good part: the narration. I can't fault any of the narrators at all, and purely as a listening experience, it's fantastic. However, this just makes my issues with the book that much more glaring. Firstly, the story itself reads like a short story you'd find in a prescribed anthology in high school, like Monkey's Paw or The Lottery (it's important to note that I still can't stand either of these, and these types of short stories never play well with me). I could very easily hear my English teacher ask: "What is the symbolism of the otters?" or "Discuss the theme of violence against women." None of this makes it bad, per se - it just puts this story smack dab in the middle of a genre that I can't stand.
The second part of the issue is how this story fits into the overall story arc of the Eden Book Society and its books. These books are supposed to be unsettling and exude some kind of otherworldly weirdness that can tie them all into the idea that someone would spend his entire life collecting and guarding them from other greedy hands. If that's the case, Holt House just does not make for a good first piece. It just doesn't fit the scene that the introduction and outro set for the listener. This first one is supposed to hook the reader on the series to follow, and that just didn't happen for me. I do think I'll give a next one a try and see how it goes, but I'm dubious.
I was really looking forward to this. I loved (and still pretty much like) the idea behind the Eden Book Society and the anonymous man collecting all the books they published. I also loved the idea of listening to the first of these books as an audiobook, as it reminded me of The Magnus Archives - one of my life's great pleasures. With that in mind, I even got my husband to listen to Holt House with me because Magnus Archives is our together-thing. Man, did he hate this book.
I didn't hate it, as such, but I didn't like it either. For me, the problem can be divided into two parts. But first, the good part: the narration. I can't fault any of the narrators at all, and purely as a listening experience, it's fantastic. However, this just makes my issues with the book that much more glaring. Firstly, the story itself reads like a short story you'd find in a prescribed anthology in high school, like Monkey's Paw or The Lottery (it's important to note that I still can't stand either of these, and these types of short stories never play well with me). I could very easily hear my English teacher ask: "What is the symbolism of the otters?" or "Discuss the theme of violence against women." None of this makes it bad, per se - it just puts this story smack dab in the middle of a genre that I can't stand.
The second part of the issue is how this story fits into the overall story arc of the Eden Book Society and its books. These books are supposed to be unsettling and exude some kind of otherworldly weirdness that can tie them all into the idea that someone would spend his entire life collecting and guarding them from other greedy hands. If that's the case, Holt House just does not make for a good first piece. It just doesn't fit the scene that the introduction and outro set for the listener. This first one is supposed to hook the reader on the series to follow, and that just didn't happen for me. I do think I'll give a next one a try and see how it goes, but I'm dubious.
October 25, 2019
A perfect creepy and triste novella that pulls on real emotional and thematic depths for its atmosphere and imagery. I'm a little scared of otters now.
Personally I absolutely do not get the concept behind this series. You'd have to be very familiar with the actual set of authors to care who really wrote what, and the made-up version is so mundane it doesn't add any layers of intrigue or creepiness. I picked up a proof context-free and read it as what it purported to be. My reaction on discovering it was really a modern by a different author was a resounding '... ok'.
Personally I absolutely do not get the concept behind this series. You'd have to be very familiar with the actual set of authors to care who really wrote what, and the made-up version is so mundane it doesn't add any layers of intrigue or creepiness. I picked up a proof context-free and read it as what it purported to be. My reaction on discovering it was really a modern by a different author was a resounding '... ok'.
January 4, 2021
received an ARC of this book thanks to NetGalley and publisher W.F. Howes Ltd in exchange for an honest review.
What an absolute treat this was! I am a longtime classic horror fan but I had never heard of the Eden Book Society and I am delighted to discover them. I think the idea of a secret publishing society of horror books is already incredible, and the fact the recordings have been discovered and are now being shared is even more amazing. I wasn't sure what to expect from Holt House but it did not disappoint.
There are two things I would like to make clear about the audiobook. Firstly, it is an old recording and it does sound like one. However, once I got used to the slightly muffled sound, this did not matter in the slightest. The narrators are great and put a lot of passion into their acting, and it is definitely clear enough that I wasn't struggling to hear it. The second thing is that this is very short, maybe around 3 hours in total minus the introduction and follow-up interview/comment parts. It's a great story so it didn't bother me but I was a little surprised at first and might have been bothered if I'd paid a lot for it.
The story itself is great. It starts with an old house in the forest and a creepy coat made of otter skin, and from there the story develops in the most wonderful way. I never knew what was going to happen and I found myself completed fascinated by the directions it took. The narrators definitely helped here. I got completely absorbed into the world of this book and the great voice acting was a huge part of it.
I don't really want to say anything more as the book is so short, but if you like the feel and atmosphere of classic horror then this is definitely worth checking out. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for the other books hopefully being released, and I am excited at the thought of more hidden gems being uncovered.
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
What an absolute treat this was! I am a longtime classic horror fan but I had never heard of the Eden Book Society and I am delighted to discover them. I think the idea of a secret publishing society of horror books is already incredible, and the fact the recordings have been discovered and are now being shared is even more amazing. I wasn't sure what to expect from Holt House but it did not disappoint.
There are two things I would like to make clear about the audiobook. Firstly, it is an old recording and it does sound like one. However, once I got used to the slightly muffled sound, this did not matter in the slightest. The narrators are great and put a lot of passion into their acting, and it is definitely clear enough that I wasn't struggling to hear it. The second thing is that this is very short, maybe around 3 hours in total minus the introduction and follow-up interview/comment parts. It's a great story so it didn't bother me but I was a little surprised at first and might have been bothered if I'd paid a lot for it.
The story itself is great. It starts with an old house in the forest and a creepy coat made of otter skin, and from there the story develops in the most wonderful way. I never knew what was going to happen and I found myself completed fascinated by the directions it took. The narrators definitely helped here. I got completely absorbed into the world of this book and the great voice acting was a huge part of it.
I don't really want to say anything more as the book is so short, but if you like the feel and atmosphere of classic horror then this is definitely worth checking out. I will be keeping my eyes peeled for the other books hopefully being released, and I am excited at the thought of more hidden gems being uncovered.
Overall Rating: 4/5 stars
August 14, 2020
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
It was a nice change of pace to go for a novella rather than a novel. The premise of the Eden Book Society (with both the foreword and the afterword playing beautifully into the mythos of this mysterious collection of horror novellas) made picking this up and easy choice.
The story itself is intriguing and never stops being so. Just when you think you've an idea of what's going on, Holt House changes the script and keeps you wanting to plough on.
The idea of a mysterious house surrounded by the woods is the setting for many a horror story, none reach the uniqueness of Holt House. In all my time of reading horror, I don't feel as though I've experienced a story that changed so much across so short amount of pages.
The audio book was recorded with that old style recording sound effect, so you get the lovely crackle that you might on an old tape recorder. It adds a certain charm to it that only adds to the uniqueness.
The character work feels simple and uninspired until you get through a bit of the book and realise how wrong you are in that thought. The simple character work is only a layer adding to the overall product and has a feel of being far more involved than the simple beginnings would have suggested.
All in all, I really enjoyed this audio book and look forward to more from the Eden Book Society.
It was a nice change of pace to go for a novella rather than a novel. The premise of the Eden Book Society (with both the foreword and the afterword playing beautifully into the mythos of this mysterious collection of horror novellas) made picking this up and easy choice.
The story itself is intriguing and never stops being so. Just when you think you've an idea of what's going on, Holt House changes the script and keeps you wanting to plough on.
The idea of a mysterious house surrounded by the woods is the setting for many a horror story, none reach the uniqueness of Holt House. In all my time of reading horror, I don't feel as though I've experienced a story that changed so much across so short amount of pages.
The audio book was recorded with that old style recording sound effect, so you get the lovely crackle that you might on an old tape recorder. It adds a certain charm to it that only adds to the uniqueness.
The character work feels simple and uninspired until you get through a bit of the book and realise how wrong you are in that thought. The simple character work is only a layer adding to the overall product and has a feel of being far more involved than the simple beginnings would have suggested.
All in all, I really enjoyed this audio book and look forward to more from the Eden Book Society.
August 16, 2020
Really enjoyed this audiobook.
The narration, which is crucial to my enjoyment of an audiobook, was perfect. It captured the atmospheric mood of this short tale perfectly and also setup the concept of the Eden Book Society.
I listened to this tale on a hot sunny day while I painted my fence. I was utterly absorbed and the mundane task of fence painting flew by!
I really hope there are more tales from the Eden Book Society as this one left me wanting more. On looking at the website I’ve discovered there are a further five tales. I’ll definitely be looking out for the full collection on Audible. They would be a perfect listen on a dark winter night.
Kudos to everyone involved in this production.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dead Ink Books, Cinder House Publishing Limited for this early audiobook.
The narration, which is crucial to my enjoyment of an audiobook, was perfect. It captured the atmospheric mood of this short tale perfectly and also setup the concept of the Eden Book Society.
I listened to this tale on a hot sunny day while I painted my fence. I was utterly absorbed and the mundane task of fence painting flew by!
I really hope there are more tales from the Eden Book Society as this one left me wanting more. On looking at the website I’ve discovered there are a further five tales. I’ll definitely be looking out for the full collection on Audible. They would be a perfect listen on a dark winter night.
Kudos to everyone involved in this production.
Thanks to NetGalley and Dead Ink Books, Cinder House Publishing Limited for this early audiobook.
August 4, 2020
Rating: 3.5 stars
Thanks to Whole Story QUEST for the review copy of this novella.
This is a short tale but a really interesting one. I listened to it in one sitting, and while it had a slow-ish start, it built into something fascinating. This was something I really wasn't expecting, and I'm glad that a friend recommended it and that I was able to get ahold of a copy, There's a huge amount of depth and interest packed into this little novella, and I'm super excited to hear more from the Eden Book Society - a fascinating concept that I'd never heard of before. Holt House covers tangled issues regarding memory, the reliability of the narrator, guilt and purgatory, all hidden behind a creepy story involving otters and wardrobes.
Thanks to Whole Story QUEST for the review copy of this novella.
This is a short tale but a really interesting one. I listened to it in one sitting, and while it had a slow-ish start, it built into something fascinating. This was something I really wasn't expecting, and I'm glad that a friend recommended it and that I was able to get ahold of a copy, There's a huge amount of depth and interest packed into this little novella, and I'm super excited to hear more from the Eden Book Society - a fascinating concept that I'd never heard of before. Holt House covers tangled issues regarding memory, the reliability of the narrator, guilt and purgatory, all hidden behind a creepy story involving otters and wardrobes.
August 1, 2020
Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for giving me an audiobook edition in exchange for an honest review.
Listening to this felt like listening to an episode of The Magnus Archives podcast. Initially, I expected this tale to be relatively boring as it started off slow. However, the more the story came along, the more I felt what the fuck about it.
This short tale really surprised me with both the tale at its raw value and its underlying messages of repentance and purgatory of sorts. The descriptor doesn’t do it enough justice, honestly, and you just have to read or listen to this to experience it fully.
I can’t wait to read more of the Eden Book Society collection!
Listening to this felt like listening to an episode of The Magnus Archives podcast. Initially, I expected this tale to be relatively boring as it started off slow. However, the more the story came along, the more I felt what the fuck about it.
This short tale really surprised me with both the tale at its raw value and its underlying messages of repentance and purgatory of sorts. The descriptor doesn’t do it enough justice, honestly, and you just have to read or listen to this to experience it fully.
I can’t wait to read more of the Eden Book Society collection!
August 10, 2020
I listened to the audio book of this title, which was a unique experience. The audio recordings are based on a previously unknown narration which was rediscovered, so it’s not a new production. I hadn’t realised that before I started, but the introduction was great and made the situation clear.
Sadly, I felt that the old fashioned narration did take away some of my enjoyment (we’re spoilt with such good voices these days!) but the story itself is fantastic.
Looking for a classic haunted house story on audio? Look no further!
Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of the audio book 🌟
Sadly, I felt that the old fashioned narration did take away some of my enjoyment (we’re spoilt with such good voices these days!) but the story itself is fantastic.
Looking for a classic haunted house story on audio? Look no further!
Thank you Netgalley for my review copy of the audio book 🌟
September 28, 2020
Traditional horror, just my cup of tea! I was lucky enough to be given a copy of Holt House by L. G. Vey, in audiobook form in exchange for an honest review and quite honestly - I loved it! It's a really creepy story about Raymond who has been watching Holt House for weeks and thinking about Mr and Mrs Latch, who own it. He's only been inside once, when he was a boy and Mr Latch showed him something that was kept in a wardrobe, but he can't remember what it was, he only remembers how sick it made him feel...what happens is a real treat for horror lovers.
June 27, 2018
A wonderfully creepy book, this is the first novella in the Eden book series and now I can’t wait to read the rest of them. The story is told through Ray, and begins with the mystery of him trying to solve what happened to him as a boy in Holt House. However, this story is multi-layered and as the book goes on more and more mysteries start to assault the reader. Here there really is something nasty in the woodshed, but not necessarily what the reader expects to find.
July 18, 2020
This is one of those stories that's written solely to wrap around its theme. It smacks you over the head with its point until you feel like you're being lectured at. Everything is too tight, too neat, and you wish the author would forget about the message and pay more attention to the story. That said, it was well written and readable enough, but by the end I was rolling my eyes and muttering 'yes, yes, I get it already'. Good thing it was short.
January 9, 2021
Filled with the surreal and the uncanny, Holt House is a nightmarish tale that proves a house doesn’t have to be haunted to hold terrors. This creepy novella really kept me guessing about where it was going and exactly what was wrong with the house and its occupants. What I appreciated most was the ambiguity of whether the real horror lay with the supernatural or within the main character himself.
June 11, 2021
I found "Holt House" to be deeply sad, a lot sadder than I imagined it would be. I love Andrew Michael Hurley's writing (here he's writing under the pen name L. G. Vey), and as with all of his books, this one has left me uneasy and unsettled. The more I think about it, the more I see the connections to toxic masculinity mentioned in the blurb. That said, I raced through it and did enjoy it... so that's a disturbed and uneasy 4 stars from me.
October 25, 2022
After Rosemary's Baby, I was craving more readable horror and this novella definitely scratched that itch. I could honestly not put it down, and read the majority of it over two nights in bed. It gave off weird vibes at first, but I loved the turn it took towards to end. Originally published in 1972 (check me out reading oldish books), very excited to check out more of these forgotten horror novellas.
July 29, 2018
Hauntingly creepy. A slight feel of folk horror about it, although that's not all that's going on. An exploration of masculinity and monsters.
I'm really glad I backed the Kickstarter for this year's subscription to the Eden Book Society and if this installment is anything to go by we're in for a treat!
I'm really glad I backed the Kickstarter for this year's subscription to the Eden Book Society and if this installment is anything to go by we're in for a treat!
July 28, 2020
I love the elaborate conceit behind this series of novellas, but this one struck me as... okay.
The most interesting aspect is considering the sex of the author, as you will see it described by different reviewers here as misogyny OR a critique of toxic masculinity. Is it both? Neither? Are gender roles the real trap? Or is "Vey" playing with the biases of the reader?
The most interesting aspect is considering the sex of the author, as you will see it described by different reviewers here as misogyny OR a critique of toxic masculinity. Is it both? Neither? Are gender roles the real trap? Or is "Vey" playing with the biases of the reader?
August 12, 2020
I enjoyed this creepy novella especially as I listened on audio, the two introductions set the scene nicely. The main reader was perfect at creating atmosphere and extremely good at distinguishing between different characters.
I'm intrigued to listen to or read more from the Eden Book Society.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the Audio book in return for a honest review
I'm intrigued to listen to or read more from the Eden Book Society.
Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the Audio book in return for a honest review
November 3, 2018
A little overwhelmed by the stench of misogyny but nevertheless a creepy little tale that kicked into gear about halfway through.
July 27, 2020
This is an eerie book that is beautifully narrated.
The story is gripping and keeps you glued. I finished the book in one sitting and i didn't guess the ending of the story which I really like too.
The story is gripping and keeps you glued. I finished the book in one sitting and i didn't guess the ending of the story which I really like too.
May 24, 2021
2.5 stars
January 16, 2022
Short, quick read but full of creep factor!
February 16, 2022
A faux-seventies creepy folk horror success - I definitely recommend the audiobook experience.
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