All Hail the House Gods

by Andrew J. Stone

Long live the House Gods! Author Andrew J. Stone (The Mortuary Monster) envisions a unique dystopia where harmony and happiness means feeding our children to sentient, human-eating houses. Can the House Gods be defeated? One family is about to find out...

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Bizarro Fiction, Horror Thriller, Novella, Science Fiction, Monsters

134 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2018

Reviews

[Janie]

All Hail the House Gods intrigued and affected me all the way through to its closing lines. In a world where houses hold supreme dominion over humans, rules and customs are placed to keep the peace between humanity and the superior edifices. Children are sacrificed to appease the house gods, and couples are trained to mate at young ages to provide the necessary sacrificial fodder. Rather than thinking for themselves and questioning the rules, most people choose to blindly follow their forebears and continue the ongoing rituals. Couples mate to provide sustenance for the gods, unmindful of true relationships.

One couple dares to attempt to enforce change. Their methods, however, prove to be opposing. The wife forms a group that seeks to bring about physical revolution, while the husband believes in peaceful reasoning. While neither faction is strong enough to put an end to the way things are, they each wholeheartedly defend their approaches. The final outcome of this story is heart-rending. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an imagination, a sense of humor and a strong belief in decency.

[Olethros]

-Sensibilidad acusada bajo la presión del grotesco trasfondo.-

Género. Narrativa fantástica.

Lo que nos cuenta. El libro Alabad a los Dioses Casa (publicación original: All Hail the House Gods, 2018) nos presenta a Katie y Kurt, pareja desde hace casi diez años y padres de un buen número de hijos, fruto de su compromiso con las leyes del Comité de Acoplamiento, a los que ven una vez al mes en el Remanso de los Retoños. Cuando uno de ellos es seleccionado para el sacrificio ante los despiadados Dioses Casa, la pareja es completamente dichosa por contribuir a la protección de su comunidad frente a las peligrosas entidades, pero poco a poco van cambiando de opinión y poniendo en duda la estructura social en la que viven.

¿Quiere saber más de este libro, sin spoilers? Visite:

https://librosdeolethros.blogspot.com...

[exorcismemily]

"Sounding like a mechanical choir, they sing: "All hail the House Gods."

All Hail the House Gods was fucking weird and I loved it. This is a novella about a dystopian society who maintains peace by feeding child sacrifices to sentient houses. It was creative and so, so odd.

I am newer to bizarro books, but I enjoy what I've read. I think that this one had a lot of layers, and it went deeper than I expected. It had some plotlines that were reminiscent of other dystopian stories like The Giver, but was still very unique.

One of the most fun things about this book is the weird language. It's almost impossible to read through this book without snickering at the main character talking about his wife's "furry furnace".

This book takes you through all the emotions besides just amusement - it's also thoughtful, sad, shocking, bleak, and fascinating. I thoroughly enjoyed reading All Hail the House Gods, and I can't wait to read more from Andrew J. Stone.

[Danger]

Dark and weird, this fairy tale for adults dives deep into its own high-concept premise to deliver to us a 100% original world. Stone is a mighty fine writer, and this is a mighty fine book.

[Shane Douglas Douglas]

In this edition of “What the Hell Did I Just Read” I take on the sophomore work of a young artist who I firmly believe is a major up and comer in the field of subversive bizarro literature. It was not too long ago, mere months, that I discovered the bizarre, surreal, nightmarish magic that is Andrew J. Stone. His novella The Mortuary Monster literally altered my opinion–previously mostly negative–about bizarro horror fiction and my attitude toward it and toward this author in particular is further cemented by his most recent novella, All Hail the House Gods. A product of his times, and of the strange environment we find ourselves living in these days, Stone takes on some heavy subjects involving a frighteningly believable dystopian fascist society, one whose citizens choose the comfort and safety of conformity over the importance and responsibility of choice. This is to my thinking the most significant of all the myriad sub-plots he’s chosen to embrace in this second effort from Strangehouse Books and it is in its way quite similar to the theme he took on in his first outing, depicting characters foundering in an unacceptable situation they either have no control of or have turned a blind eye to.

“I opened my mouth and silence slipped out. I didn’t know what to make of Devin’s proclamations. His words certainly carried some weight, but why would those in the Coupling Caucus, why would the Mayor, continuously fulfill their role if they didn’t believe it? It’s obvious why the regular residents would serve their routine. Dissent carries severe consequences. But who could enforce punishment for dissent on the Mayor? Could comfort and fear truly be the sole sources keeping our city afloat? Can it be at all possible that the Coupling Caucus neither actively believes in their purpose nor has an ulterior motive?”

Like it’s predecessor, All Hail the House Gods delves into the complexities and pitfalls of family politics, this time digging deeper into interpersonal dynamics and branching out to include societal foibles and failings. Stone presents us with a psilocybin fueled fever dream of Lynchian proportions, delving deep into the inner workings of his main characters and painting them with deft strokes of technicolor luminosity, letting us slowly, steadily come to know and care about them through the narrative lens of naive conformity we encounter in the somewhat imbecilic and not entirely likeable protagonist. Kurt adheres almost religiously to what he views as his civic duty, living on a steady diet of aphrodisiacs and coupling with his wife Katie regularly in the effort to produce the minimum required single offspring per year for the sacrificial edification of their overlords, the evil sentient house gods who conquered humanity five centuries earlier. But when their son is chosen by lottery to be eaten in the regular ritual sacrifice, Katie rebels, forming the Collateral Damage Cooperative and vowing to thwart the Coupling Caucus and the house gods in every possible way.

All Hail the House Gods is exciting to me on many levels, not least of which is the incredibly unique, utterly original premise that could only be born in the depths of a beautiful imagination, but most notable of which is that, where his freshman effort, The Mortuary Monster, was a really great read, this book demonstrates a marked improvement on the authors confidence and talents, showing him to be a scholarly practitioner and ardent student of the Art that is the English language. So let me wrap this up with an admonition or two. If you shy away from bizarro horror fiction, and make no mistake, this is pure horror fiction, it’s understandable. Straightforward bizarro, in its absurdity and sometimes outlandish premises is not for everyone. But Andrew J. Stone is not your average bizarro author, endeavouring to gross you out and make you repeatedly bellow, “What the hell..” He’s an artist in the true sense of the word, dedicated to his form and striving with every outing to improve his skills and produce the best work he’s written to date. Mark my words. Stone is a superior talent in his field and with All Hail the House Gods he shows himself to be a rising star and an author every true horror fan should have on their radar. If you read only one so-called bizarro story this year, or even in your lifetime, make it a book by this brilliant young creator. Make it this one.

[Steve Stred]

** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **

I’ve followed Stone for a bit on Twitter and he’s always seemed like a nice enough guy. Throughout this time, he’s offered up ‘All Hail the House Gods,’ for review a few times and for whatever reason, I’ve always passed. I wasn’t sure if this was a novella for me or not. I have read a few Bizarro releases and have typically loved the base story but at times disliked some of the character interactions.

Recently he offered it up again and this time I decided to reach out. Boy, am I glad I did.

The last time I read something that felt this different, this unique and truly engulfed me in its story was ‘A House at the Bottom of the Lake’ by Josh Malerman.

In my view, this was more post-apocalyptic folklore than anything Bizarro.

We follow a couple in a dystopian future where in order for humans to survive in this new future, they must systematically sacrifice their own children to sentient Houses who live on the other side of the river. This felt like Mad Max meets a children’s cartoon but in the best way possible.

The role of humans is now to procreate, continue providing children to the Gods so that they don’t destroy the remaining inhabitants.

As things unfold, Stone gives us brief glimpses of the past, of what led to the current situation and I loved it. While I wanted more, I think he gives you enough, fills in the gaps so that we see the why, and can connect to the main characters.

The plot moves along when our main characters wife decides she will not let her children be sacrificed and Stone uses this as a great way to create and build tension but also gives us tangible reasons as to why some of the decisions that follow are made.

Then the ending. Wow.

I absolutely loved the ending and it absolutely worked for me –saying that, I can see why for some this could end up being a divisive ending. It was blunt, to the point and had a great air of finality, but for some they may insist that Stone could have expanded it. I personally loved it and am so happy he wrapped things up how he did.

This is a book that falls firmly into the ‘what did I just read’ category, but in the best way possible. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I’m kicking myself I didn’t read it sooner. It has very topical themes rolling throughout it, but at the same time it was a great read that lets you suspend your belief and let Stone throw his imagination at you.

This one’s going to be staying with me for some time.

One of the best things I’ve read in years.

[Lucas Sierra]

Ni un cuerpo más para los dioses de la muerte

Los dioses casa son gigantescos. Tienen dos pisos, algunos. Tienen tres pisos, algunos. Tienen porche, y tapete de bienvenida, y ventanas con cortinas que cuando están abiertas permiten observar su interior. Dentro de los dioses casa no hay sangre, no hay músculos. Hay casa, y esa casa te digiere, te traga, te hace parte de su sustento. Mueres en el interior y tus huesos dan la bienvenida a los próximos tributos, al próximo bocado. Morir en casa no es un sueño aquí, morir en casa es una obligación religiosa y cultural, un mandato social ineludible, un delirio colectivo de familias que envían a sus hijos a cruzar el puente hasta su muerte. Como si fuera un gran honor.

Me sorprende la escritura de Stone. Le exige al lector. Le demanda seguirlo en sus elucubraciones. No resuelve las preguntas de su mundo. Lo crea, lo hace habitable, y permite el juego. Me sorprende el lenguaje de Stone. Crea todo un sistema de metáforas centradas en el habitar, en el hogar, en la poética del espacio. Consigue hacer versos eróticos con vigas, y estufas, y alfombras, y no es patético en el proceso. Es sexy. Lo mismo con la muerte, lo mismo con el dolor. La vivienda como campo semántico y la ficción como pregunta. El culto a la propiedad privada por excelencia. El culto que demanda sacrificios de sangre. Nuestros cuerpos, nuestros hijos, degollados ante una mansión gótica, ante una mansión victoriana, ante una casita campestre de modesto ladrillo expuesto.

Si esto es una parábola la escucho converso. Si esto es una alegoría la celebro. Si esto es la piedra angular de otra construcción mayor espero el resto sean sacos de dinamita. Porque aquí hay una invitación a demoler que deberíamos escuchar. Porque no quiero más cuerpos ofrendados a los dioses de la muerte. Porque mejor la intemperie, sí, de lo humano que existe sin otro fin que existir. De lo humano que se celebra en los límites de la tribu. De lo humano que clandestinamente madura su rencor para romper los muros que impiden la vida.

Aunque sea en vano, aunque no sepamos si al final habrá salvación alguna o si estamos condenados a morir aplastados por los cimientos nobles de una construcción tan vieja, tan grande, y tan preciosa como las viviendas de los fundadores y todos los cadáveres que las habitan.

[Kiera ☠]

This was a WILD ride. An insane dystopian world where humans are obligated to sacrifice their children to the House Gods. I was mesmerized by the entire read, unable to put it down. I need to understand what was happening and where this was going.

Stone did a phenomenal job creating intricate character development in 133 pages. This was insanely good, you have to check this out!

[Tracy]

I have been on a mission to expand my horizons within the horror genre. There are so many subsets within this dark and lovely world, and I began to realize that I was doing myself a disservice in reading more of “the usual” day in and day out. Not that “the usual” is somehow boring or lesser, but I began to see glimpses of things I had not yet experienced, and off I went.

A few weeks back, Andrew Stone offered All Hail the House Gods (his second novella) up for a special sale on Twitter, and after seeing trusted friends mention how much fun they had with this one, I jumped. My journey into the world of bizarro horror began.

This novella takes place in a dystopia/utopia, slightly reminiscent of that of Lowery’s The Giver in that everyone has their place/job and the community works together for the greater good. But the greater good in THIS world involves child sacrifice to hungry houses. I don’t want to get into any more details regarding plot - what I have mentioned so far is only slightly more than the synopsis. I will say that I jumped right into this book and my acceptance of the bizarre world I found myself in is probably the reason this tale worked so well for me.

I find Stone’s writing engaging. This strange little world is described perfectly and the linguistic gymnastics that take place, including the naming of everyday things and body parts, delighted me. It IS horror, but it is fun and gory horror.

Is this an analogy or commentary on modern society? Perhaps. Most dystopian fiction is. To me, any society (like the one in this story) that depends upon the destruction of youth and the willing participation of adults in this destruction, is one that is lacking. But this book is not preachy and I may be really reaching for that interpretation, but the thoughts did occur to me, so I wanted to share. Perhaps overshare, but that’s what I do.

Looking to expand your horror experience? Always wanted to dip into the world of bizarro fiction? Give this one a try.

[Horror DNA]

All Hail the House Gods is a goofy twist on a dark concept that lands well with the reader. As with his previous book, The Mortuary Monster , Andrew J. Stone doesn’t shy away from lurid descriptions when needed. Taking the enslaved-human-race trope and making a left turn departure like this keeps the story fresh and adds depth to the plot without getting too serious about it. Particular attention is devoted to the description of the House Gods, as it becomes clear from descriptions of 19th century Gothic buttresses, Corinthian columns and one-story ranches that a good amount of architectural research went into this book.

You can read Matt's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Brendan]

Andrew J. Stone’s second novella, All Hail the House Gods, is a near-perfect work of Bizarro fiction. It’s engaging, fiercely imaginative and highly original. This is the work of a writer at the top of his game. As you turn the final page, you’ll find it hard to believe that Stone is only at the threshold of his career.

The story follows Kurt Nolan and his wife Katie Mara. The couple inhabits a future where humanity has lost a war to beings known as House Gods. These sentient, crab-walking houses demand a daily sacrifice as a way of preserving peace. For this reason, humanity has been tasked with breeding sacrificial lambs or “God fodder” under the ever-watchful eye of the Coupling Caucus. When Kurt and Katie lose one of their children to the House Gods (through a Shirley Jackson-esque lottery no less) their lives are forever changed. In their sorrow, they decide to stage a revolution with the hope of overthrowing their brick and mortar overlords. So begins one family’s struggle against the impossible.

In many ways, All Hail the House Gods is a spiritual successor to Stone’s debut novella, The Mortuary Monster. Both explore the family dynamic and delve into the joys and anxieties of parenthood. However, All Hail the House Gods expands on the ideas explored in The Mortuary Monster, and does so with greater focus and depth, showcasing Stone’s rapid evolution as a storyteller. The result is beautiful, hilarious and heart wrenching. For the most part, this collision of tones is satisfying (in my mind it’s one of the facets of Stone’s unique brand of Bizarro) but sometimes the humor can be a little jarring, especially when injected into an otherwise serious moment. It’s not enough to take you out of the story, but it’s definitely noticeable. When it works though, Kurt’s naïve, jocular voice will have you laughing out loud. Case in point, the ridiculous sex scene toward the beginning of the book. It’s impossible to keep a straight face when he describes his junk as a “plank” or his wife’s genitals as a “furry furnace”.

Despite its humor, the novella beats with a heart of darkness. This is especially true with it comes to the House Gods themselves. They’re the perfect antagonists: unknowable, driven only by their need to subjugate and devour. The idea behind them is simple but genius. Stone has taken the concept of a house, which is meant to evoke feelings of comfort and security, and rendered it into something terrifying. Front doors become inescapable jaws and the smells wafting from inside are transformed into a pheromone used to lure prey to their doom. Their appearances throughout the story are surprisingly few, but when they do appear, it’s usually as a threat waiting patiently in the background. Stone gives us just enough to speculate and share the fear of his characters.

Another one of the book’s greatest strengths is its attention to language. At times, the spare but textured prose evokes the works of Latin American authors of Magical Realism, or the absurd futility of Kafka. My only gripe is that sometimes the dialogue feels stilted and at odds with the narrator’s casual, modern voice. Again, though, like the rare instances of disjointed humor, this is a minor criticism.

All Hail the House Gods is a future masterpiece of Bizarro fiction. It stands alongside the early endeavors of Carlton Mellick III and Kevin L. Donihe. It transports the reader through the full spectrum of human emotion, from humor to heartbreak, dread to happiness. I can guarantee you have never read nor ever will read anything like it again. Needless to say, I’m incredibly excited to see what Stone unleashes on the world next. All Hail the House Gods and all hail Andrew J. Stone. (from yesclash.com)

[Mark M J Green]

In a unique dystopian world where harmony and survival depend on offering children to sentient houses, a small group of people try to discover if the House Gods can be defeated. Is it possible to lay a trap for them, or are there good House Gods that don't feed upon our children? One family is going to find out.

I found myself immersed in the world of the House Gods. In a way, the tale reminded me of a good science fiction novel, especially during the opening chapters. Phrases and objects are introduced without needless exposition. We may be familiar with the words used, but the context and meaning are different for characters in the story, and Stone doesn't waste time explaining those things. They are left for the reader to interpret and decipher. The meanings are revealed through dialogue and character interaction. Some words may be used in a different context to what we are used to, but it won't take a genius to understand what is meant by 'plank' or 'soil.'

Or 'furry furnace.'

I'm pretty sure that everyone is going to know what the 'Collector' does without needing an explanation.

I've realised as I write this that explaining All Hail the House Gods isn't an easy task. Most things I've mentioned probably won't make sense or will sound too strange and weird. Some people will decide that the book isn't for them. And that's fine; we're not all going to enjoy the same things, but missing out on All Hail the House Gods is missing out on something very unique. I found myself falling into a state of acceptance whilst reading. Nothing seemed too strange or unusual. It simply was the way of the world. Did this make me as compliant as the characters who willingly followed orders to procreate to sacrifice? Perhaps. But again, that's what is so clever about it. If you like to dissect a story for the hidden meanings, and all the nuances of social and political layered within, then you are going to have a great time with the book.

That kind of analysis is way above the workings of my meagre brain, so if you are like me, and want an original story that is as enjoyable as it is unusual, then All Hail the House Gods is the book for you.

[A]

This is the strange and wonderful dystopian horror novella I didn’t know I needed it in my life!

Here’s the set-up: an alternate sort of reality where houses are not only sentient, but they rule the land and they are hungry for human sacrifices. What happens when the humans have had enough?

I loved the way the story just dumps the reader in. You don’t have any clue what’s going on and you have to read carefully to put together the details of the reality that these people are living in. It is weird and gets weirder by the page. I loved it.

The main character is very compelling, and I appreciated his journey. He begins as a total acolyte of the system and buys into what they’ve been told they have to do. When the seeds of rebellion start to sprout around him, he isn’t so sure. Then, he takes his own journey to a new way of thinking. It is quite a load for such a short tale to carry.

The ending is perfect—it left me wanting so much more. I hope there might be more of this strange world to come from Stone.

[Alister Mairon]

No siempre tener fe en que las cosas irán a mejor es el camino correcto...

En un mundo ignoto, la humanidad perdió la guerra y vive ahora sometida bajo el yugo de los Dioses Casa: deidades de cemento y hormigón cuyo único objetivo es devorar a las crías de las pareja reproductivas humanas, obligadas a procrear y engendrar vástagos para satisfacer el hambre de estas perversad divinadades.

Cuando su hijo mayor es sacrificado a los Dioses Casa, algo se rompe dentro del matrimonio de Katie y Kurt. Mientras ella toma el camino de la resistencia para derrocar la opresión, aún si ello amenaza con poner fin a la paz, él transita el sendero de la esperanza y se aferra al diálogo como método para acabar con el sistema de sacrificios humanos y salvar a sus otros hijos de un destino atroz.

Mil gracias a Ediciones Vestigio por traer en español esta corta pero intensa historia donde, desde lo metafórico y el humor, se abordan temas de gran calado. ¿O acaso la precariedad de nuestras vidas en este sistema no es un sacrificio permanente a los Dioses?

[Cassie Daley]

Full review on my blog!
https://letsgetgalactic.com/2021/01/2...

4.5 stars, rounded up!

What a strange little book! I loved this one – it wasn’t what I was expecting at all, and honestly, that made it so much better.

This is the first time I’ve read anything by Andrew J. Stone (although he recently released another book you can grab here!), and I managed to squeeze it in right before the end of 2020. It’s novella length, which is perfect for a quick trip into the bizarre land of the House Gods – and can we just mention, without spoiling anything, how terrifying they are? Yikes!

Although this is a fictional novella, the setting and story could serve as a commentary even on our society and world today. I won’t go too far into the details since this is such a short book and I don’t want to give too much away, but I will say that there were many times while reading that I’d compare something happening in the book to a situation from the real world, and I enjoyed that I could make these comparisons without anything in the book coming off as preachy or “too much”. I really like stories that are told about communities that have adapted to specific customs and rules. Although not specifically horror, books like The Giver, The Hunger Games, and Never Let Me Go share stories of future communities and worlds where certain parts of society are seen to be operating at “peak function”, but at what cost? Although different in genre, these stories all share a similar theme: the cost is usually too high.

As a reader, I personally sometimes struggle with certain elements – world building, for example, is really difficult for me to get invested in, because I often find that I can’t fully immerse myself. This is why I sometimes have a hard time with high fantasy – I love the idea of made up, magical worlds, I do! But it’s harder for me to get into than, for example, more urban-based fantasy set in the real world might be. That’s all said to point out that in House Gods, Stone builds an entire dystopian, futuristic, weirdly magical world with its own full set of rules & terminology, and I STILL didn’t have a single second of trouble becoming completely absorbed in the story – which is saying something for me! I had a lot of fun with the different terms and meanings behind familiar words, and liked that we got to learn a little more about the way this community is run.

Overall, this was an excellent way to end my year of reading – engaging, weird, hopeful, and wonderfully gory. I’ll be on the look out for more by Stone, including checking out his first published book soon!

[Matt (TeamRedmon)]

I've never read anything quite like this. It's a totally bizarre and original take on a fallen and reshaped society. I don't even know what to call it, it's not dystopian, but it's close. It's not post-apocalyptic, but it's close. Here's the gist of the story. Hundreds of years ago, houses became sentient. We don't know why, and it's never brought up; they just are accepted as living beings in the story. No, it doesn't make sense, but who cares. When the houses woke up, there was a war between humans and houses, which went very badly for humans until a peace agreement was made. Humans would live under the thumb of the House Gods and make regular human sacrifices to them. There's a lottery, and the winner gets to march across a bridge into the open front door of a House God and gets eaten.

The people in this society live in tents. They are forced to constantly "couple" or have sex in a never-ending quest to provide more sacrifices to the House Gods. When a child is born, they are taken away from their parents and raised by the state. Don't worry; the parents get to visit for like an hour per year, so it's all good. Naturally, people aren't 100% on board with this society, and discord and rebellion are brewing. Where the story goes from there, only the House Gods know.

I really loved this story. It's a window into a world that we cannot understand, and we are given little to no explanation of why things are the way they are. They just are. There's no attempt at explaining the digestive system of a House God, and I greatly appreciate that. Too much explanation, in this case, would have stolen the joy of the story. If you're in the mood for a genuinely bizarre read that will leave you scratching your head in the best way, read this book.

[Caleb Wilson]

Part dystopian horror, part absurd comedy, and part heartfelt debate about how to fight systemically entrenched oppressors. The horror could be said to stem from a millennial anxiety about the changing nature of adulthood: things that previous generations took for granted, that you'd grow up, that you’d raise a family, that you’d own a house, are distorted and made grotesque. Your family only exists to satiate monsters. Your house isn’t yours; you belong to it. You won’t grow up, because the state of childhood no longer exists. Yet throughout, the writing has a lightness and wit that made me smile, unless something awful was happening at just that moment. There are no real villains, apart from the faceless and characterless minions of the system and the Houses themselves, which are the system. Stone is great at presenting characters simply and sympathetically, and I wanted nothing more than to see these people succeed, though the difficulty of their struggle is best portrayed by a single, darkly funny image: that of a brave or foolish hero, who has decided to fight a house, and who is armed with only a bow and arrow.

[Alyson Escalante]

All Hail The House Gods is not a subtle book, but our current political context does not demand subtlety. AHTHG offers an effective and haunting look into human desperation, resistance, and often fatal compliance. A tail of ravenous sentient houses and a deranged society totally devoted to satiating an endless hunger, AHTHG does an exceptional job of recognizing the horror and mind-boggling violence at the core of political struggle.

While AHTHG has lofty ambitions and operates at a highly allegorical level, it still succeeds as a grounded story about real and fleshed out people trying to survive horrific conditions. The characters are well developed, and the bizarre setting does not impede empathizing with the very relatable and human emotions that play out through the book. Andrew has an exceptional ability to capture the experience of human desperation, of being backed against a wall with no real options, of being forced to make unconscionable decisions. This is a feeling that anyone who has felt the weight of poverty and need knows well, and those who have experienced precarity and desperation will feel an intense connection to the characters here.

Overall, AHTHG is a disturbing page turner that I finished in a single sitting. Its message is pertinent and its delivery is often horrifying. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys dystopian fiction, speculative fiction, and horror. It is a great read.

[Charles]

I'm not a fan of gratuitous sex in books, and this is the second book in a row I've read that has a lot in it. Much like that other book, however, sex is integral to the plot, and it works. Particularly the author's inventive choice of words that avoid graphic depictions of the act.

ALL HAIL THE HOUSE GODS is a wonderfully twisted dystopian horror story where sentient houses control society, and sex is integral to maintaining balance. It's a fairly quick read. The words flow nicely and are never boring. My only issue with the story was I was hoping for a different ending. Not that it doesn't work, it just didn't work for me. I think I wanted something bigger.

Check this book out if you are into strange, mind bending, anti-authoritarian tales.

[Austin Hatch]

House Gods hits you with a furious pace, clever plot, and endearing characters. It’s a book that feels like it ends too soon because you just barely started reading it and you just want more. A.J. Stone is one hell of a storyteller.

[R D Doan]

A story of a world where houses eat people who are forced to sacrifice their young. This tale takes the reader on a journey through the eyes of a man grappling with what he has been told to believe and what he feels is right. Along the way, you will question what to believe and what will ultimately happen to our protagonist until the very end. A great, quick read with lots of emotion and heart packed in such a small package. I would definitely recommend it!

[Coral]

This is a strange book and I loved it.

[David Agranoff]

Really neat book, I have to admit this type of Surrealist fiction is not exactly my genre, but AJS is a All Hail the House gods is the second book by bizarro newcomer Andrew J Stone. I enjoyed his darkly humorous debut Mortuary Monster when it came out last year. I enjoyed that novel enough though it was a little out of my wheelhouse. It was a weird enough of a book I am not sure it was directly in anyone's normal reading pattern. That is a good thing. It was like a surrealist hammer novel with tongue firmly planted in cheek.

There is a certain sarcasm that comes with AJS's work but in All Hail it is a much darker vision with a few funny turn of phrases. Stone is a word smith and the tightly composed prose is what sets this super bizarre dystopia apart from other works of Bizarro fiction. The plot is about a society where people are forced to breed and sacrifice their children to the House gods. This is a not so thinly veiled totalitarian state and makes this novel almost a surrealist take on the Handmaid's tale.

It certainly seems timely as the supreme court is in the balance with the swing vote that might crush Roe V Wade happening any day now.

The book comes to a head when the two parents at the center of the story decide they have had enough. What I liked about All Hail The House Gods is that it is a political and revolutionary story told in a surrealist way. Responding to the times much in the way Deadite has intended to do this year with releases like the school shooting themed novel Crisis Boy by Garrett Cook and My climate change novel Ring of Fire.

This is a good time for topical bizarro and if you like your weird thoughtful and with a message you can't go wrong with Andrew Stone's second book. It was a slow start for me but once I got into the themes I was to ready to hail the house gods.

[Sara Tantlinger]

All Hail the House Gods is an intense, twisted, and fascinating story that captures an impressive amount of world-building elements not always seen in novellas. Stone layers his mythos with love, loss, sadness, and sacrifice all weaved around a war between humankind and the House Gods. Many elements reminded me of Jackson's "The Lottery" mixed with Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, but in the most sick, bizarro ways possible. Beneath the wonderful prose lurks darker, more existential questions about good, evil, and the price of rebellion against a cruel world.

[Diamond]

I am so so glad I had this book recommended to me, and now I want to recommend it to you! This story is like the bizarro lovechild of Orwell and Vonnegut, with all the dystopian horror, bits of humor, hope against hope, and human eating House Gods one would expect in such a book. I don't want to accidentally give anything away by gushing too long, but this is one of my top reads of the year, and one to be experienced!

[Libros Prohibidos]

Alabad a los dioses casa es un libro raro y que pertenece a un género del que tal vez es el único referente y al que podríamos llamar distopía inmobiliaria. Pero mejor no exagerar, de esta fábula del poder y su respectivo contrapeso pueden derivarse otro tipo de conversaciones, que hacen de este libro bizarro una lectura breve y entretenida.

Reseña completa: https://libros-prohibidos.com/andrew-...

[Tony]

“Beguiling tale of a society which worship carnivorous houses”

There is nothing better than reviewing a book, with little in the way of expectations, and then realising you have stumbled upon a little gem. Andrew J Stone’s highly imaginative 140-page novella “All Hail the House Gods” led me along one of those rare literary paths and I was genuinely disappointed to reach the end of. I wrapped it up almost in one sitting, such was my tunnel vision into his strange world. As I approached the final pages, it looked likely to be heading towards an infuriating cliff-hanger, or potential sequel, however Andrew Stone concluded it beautifully with a final page which remained with me long after I finished. I will lay my cards on the table; I really loved “All Hail the House Gods” and highly recommend you give it a try.

If you read fifty novels in 2019 you are not going to find many with an odder story than this beguiling treat. It’s set in a world where houses are treated as gods over humans, the houses are also mobile, being able to move around and live on the other side of a bridge (‘Harmony Crossing’) from where the humans of the story are based. The people live in tents, existing in a never-ending cycle where they continually have to procreate, boosting a dwindling population. Once a woman gives birth, she keeps the baby for thirty days, before it is removed and sent to a new home (the ‘Offspring Oasis’), where all the children live together, almost as if they were orphans. However, the parents are permitted to see their children for thirty minutes once a month. After giving birth, if the woman is not pregnant again within a couple of months she (and her husband) are effective breaking the law and are reported and checked out and quizzed upon whether they are having enough sex.

“All Hail the House Gods” has a highly unsettling attitude towards sex. Why must couples procreate all the time? Why must they have children all the time? At regular intervals the society has a lottery of children’s names, in which the ‘winning’ name is sacrificed to the House Gods lurking over the bridge. This regular sacrifice is a great honour and the parents of the children eaten by the House Gods are expected to be very proud of their family’s great sacrifice. The core of the novella centres upon a clever concept: many of us would be okay when it is the child of another family being the chosen sacrifice, however, we might not feel the same when our kid’s name is called, no matter what the powers that be believe. So, there is a quiet rebellion in the air.

Worshipping mobile-houses which are living entities is a bizarre one, but Andrew Stone brings the idea to live startingly well in a story that rarely wastes a word, and also drip feeds how the current situation came to pass. I was fascinated by the occasional sneaky reference to the House God War of fine-hundred years earlier and how the sacrifice of children became a way of negotiating a partial truce between mankind and house. Then further revelations that there are different generations of houses, some of which might not actually eat people! There was just so much going on in this wonderfully crafted story.

Back to sex… Andrew Stone uses his own vocabulary for this sort of stuff, for instance, the penis is referred to as the ‘plank’ and it is against the law not to have sex at least twice a day (as dictated by the ‘Coupling Caucus’). Soups with strong aphrodisiacs are common-place to ensure the males are continually rising to the occasion! Children are taught from a very young age to experiment with sex as much as possible. Pre-pubescent children are told to try to practice this, even if they are too young to ejaculate or have no emotional attachment to the opposite sex. There is one powerful, but excruciating scene, when a father quizzes his son on what he has/hasn’t done in the bedroom department, when he is obviously very uncomfortable and not at all ready.

The novella opens with Katie and Kurt about to hand over their latest child, Kurt Jr, to the ‘Collector’ to join his elder siblings Haley, Jude, Mitch, Ruthie and Paul in the ‘Offspring Oasis’ where sadly their children do not recognise them particularly well. Why would they when they only see them for thirty minutes per month? Interestingly, and cleverly, the story is told in the first person by Kurt who for the most part is happy to go along with the flow of things and follow the lead of his wife. As most people are, until one of their own children are sacrificed to the House Gods. In actual fact, Kurt gives us a hint of where the story is heading in the opening sentence: “Katie wasn’t always an anarchist. Or rather, as she likes to put it, a political activist.”

“All Hail the House Gods” was a clever, original, curious and moving read which I urge you to check out. I have never come across this author before but will certainly be investigating his other fiction. It is an outstanding example of how that in fiction sometimes ‘less can be more’. Other writers may have spent a hundred pages laying the ground strokes in their world-building in a story such as this, whereas Andrew Stone does it cleverly with the minimal of effort. A truly excellent novella.

[Garret Schuelke]

*NOTE: I was given a PDF copy of this book in exchange for both an honest review and a blurb for an upcoming book of my own*

The best way I can describe ALL HAIL THE HOUSE GODS by Andrew J. Stone is that it is a slow burn of a novel. This is in contrast to most dystopian, apocalyptic, and even Bizarro literature that I'm used to, and that is a good thing.

By slow burn, I mean it in three ways. First, while it has the tropes of dystopian and apocalyptic literature--a desolate landscape, an authoritarian government, the characters engaging in resistance--it is not in your face (i.e. brutal) as it is in classics like 1984, Brave New World, or even The Iron Heel and Fahrenheit 451. This gave me more time to absorb and appreciate the world that makes up AHTHG, and to come up with my own interpretation of how it is. Stone does play around with concepts and labels though. For example, while a building called "The Offspring Oasis", and a government official called "the Collector" are pretty much self-explanatory, sexual practices are described in such ways as "pug". It is weird, but considering what the world of AHTHG is like, kind of makes sense.

The second reason for my slow burn description are the main characters themselves, married couple Kurt and Kate. Stone makes them out to be nearly on different sides of the political spectrum--Kurt is reformist, Kate is revolutionary--but they're not the dystopian heroes in the same vein as Winston Smith (1984). Kurt is a submissive man who is religiously supportive of the system at first--even willing to basically gamble his children's lives away in a card game--but even when he comes around to wanting to change the system, he rather do it by getting help from what he believes are "good" House Gods. Kate, on the other hand, forms a resistance group that seeks to destroy the House Gods entirely, but seemingly sabotages it both by her own expectations and hard line rules for the group (such as kicking out a couple who got pregnant--again, despite the type of world they live in-- even though she ends up having another child of her own shortly after). It is hard to really hate on either character though because, like in real life, neither is put on a pedestal, and you have to consider the type of environment they were raised and live in.

Third reason is the Bizarro elements, which mesh with the dystopian elements pretty thoroughly. The House Gods are literally that: houses. It took me awhile to figure this out, since I was expecting something vastly different (thus, my interpretation). I finally realized what they were when Kurt expressed his desire to work "hand in wall" with the House Gods--the line itself made me chuckle.

Combined with being a little over 100 pages in length, ALL HAIL THE HOUSE GODS is a pleasant addition to a readers Dystopian collection--and makes for a quick, easy ebook read.

[Amy Vaughn]

All Hail the House Gods is a fun dystopian page-turner. Ok, I guess you have to be a certain kind of reader to label something a “fun dystopian” anything, but if that can be a thing, this is that thing.

I was immediately reminded of Ursula K. Leguin’s short story, “The Ones who Walked Away from Omelas.” It has that same eerie feel, where either everyone is brainwashed or everyone is making the best of a bad situation, and that ambiguity is maintained.

It reads smooth and fast, keeping you wondering “What’s going to happen?” while in the back of your mind, the symbolism of a society based on sex and procreation in order to feed houses burbles away, adding depth to a thin and straightforwardly told novella.

Stone does a great job of keeping you with him right up to the very last words.

[Matt Lewis]

Picture it: you live in a grim dystopian village. You are taught from birth that the only purpose you have is to be a breeding machine, to eke out a meager existence...

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