What's the Name of That Book??? discussion
This topic is about
Coșmar de închiriat
SOLVED: Children's/YA
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SOLVED. Fiction book written before 2010 about a boy and his parents that move into a house and turn into werewolves. Spoilers.
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I'm certain I've read this - years ago when I was a teen or twenties, so 80's most likely. But I have no memory of the author or title. I'd have said it was a bit old when I read it.
I think Iulian is looking for the same book in this unsolved post - https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
I notice you're in Romania - what language did you read the book in?
Iulian is a friend, we both read the book.I was in high-school and borrowed the book from the library, and he read it while I had it.
About the language, we are conflicted. I remember it being in Romanian, he says it was in English.
I've posted on other platforms as well but nobody seems to have heard about this book. I think the title had the word 'house' in it, since in the story the house is the one who made the parents transform.
Thank you for those details! If the book was in Romanian like you remember, would the word 'house' in the title have been 'casă', or something else?
Yes, I recall it being something similar to 'the house on the hill', which translated would be 'casa de pe deal'. I tried looking that up but other stories popped up.
I also remember other details, for example: While wondering around, the boy is taken by a group of kids into a tent where they confirm that he is young and won't be affected by the house (because he had no pubic hair, so he wasn't even a teen yet) and they explain everything to him. That the house was a fortress, what it does to the adults, etc. They are also the ones that help him put the traps for his transformed parents.
In the hideout that he found inside the house, there were children coloring books, toys, a bucket + the diary of a girl which wrote that she and her little brother are using the hideout because their parents also started to transform.
At the end, after killing his parents with the silver bullets, he ends up injured and taken care by his grandmother. While tending to his injuries, she puts the Bible in his mouth (for him to bite on I presume) + she wasn't believing his story either.
At first I thought it might have been something by Romanian author Mihail Sadoveanu, but nothing really lines up there. I'll keep plugging away. Let us know if you remember more details!
I think I would've remembered if Sadoveanu wrote about werewolves 😆
I know, and I really appreciate it! At this point I think I should just write a book using the story & details, publish it and wait for someone to tell me who's book I plagiarized.
I've started searching for it on websites with old books for sale, where I found another book that I read when I was younger (The Egyptian Cross Mystery by Ellery Queen) so maybe there's still hope.
I found it!The book is "Coşmar de închiriat" (which translates to nightmare for rent) by Serge Brussolo.
Thanks to everyone that posted here!
Mod
Is this a horror novel for adults or teens?
Thank you!I read it from the high-school library, but I remember it being kinda gory. With all the (much violent) things that teens use to have access to (especially now with all the technology), I'd say it's a horror novel for teens too.
The story begins with a boy moving with his parents into a new house, somewhere into the suburbs.
Every other house in the region has reinforcements at the windows and doors, except theirs.
At night, the house walls glow and the objects inside start to float.
He discovers that the house was made using rocks from an asteroid.
During the war between Americans and natives, the house was used as a fortress where the injured soldiers would heal over night and became hard to kill.
After a while, his very strict parents become very carefree and start behaving like animals (at one point they get undressed and start running around the garden).
While roaming the area nearby, the boy found some totems and traps that resembled those made for bears.
Inside the house he finds a secret hiding with a really strong door and claw markings on it, and proof that in the past other children used that same hiding spot.
During the night, his parents start to transform into monsters, some kind of werewolves, so he is forced to hide.
With help from other children, he lays traps for his parents and manages to inflict damage, but the following day his parents were completely healed with no scratch whatsoever.
In the end he kills them both with silver bullets.
No one believes his story and he ends up getting taken care by his grandmother.