John Darnielle

From New York Times bestselling author and Mountain Goats’ singer/songwriter John Darnielle—“a master at building suspense” (Los Angeles Times)—comes an epic, gripping novel about murder, truth, artistic obsession, and the dangers of storytelling in Devil House. Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That’s what his mother always told him. Now, he is a true crime writer, with one grisly success—and movie adaptation—to his name, along with a series of subsequent lesser efforts that have paid the bills but not much more. But now he is being offered the chance for the big break: To move into the house—what the locals call “The Devil House”—in which a briefly notorious pair of murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected 1980s teens. He begins his research with diligence and enthusiasm, but soon the story leads him into a puzzle he never expected—back into his own work and what it means, back to the very core of what he does and who he is. John Darnielle has long been known to millions of Mountain Goats fans as a storyteller of uncanny sensitivity and mythic power. In Universal Harvester and Wolf in White Van before it, he has proven himself a novelist of the highest order. With Devil House, Darnielle rises above with a novel that blurs the line between fact and fiction, that combines daring formal experimentation with a gripping tale of crime, writing, memory, and artistic obsession.

A Novel

Devil House

From New York Timesbestselling author and Mountain Goats singer/songwriter John Darnielle comes an epic, gripping novel about murder, truth, and the dangers of storytelling. Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That's what his mother always told him. Years later, he is a true crime writer, with one grisly success -- and a movie adaptation -- to his name, along with a series of subsequent less notable efforts. But now he is being offered the chance for his big break: to move into the house where a pair of briefly notorious murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected teens during the Satanic Panic of the 1980s. Chandler finds himself in Milpitas, California, a small town whose name rings a bell -- his closest childhood friend lived there, once upon a time. He begins his research with diligence and enthusiasm, but soon the story leads him into a puzzle he never expected -- back into his own work and what it means, back to the very core of what he does and who he is. Devil Houseis John Darnielle's most ambitious work yet, a book that blurs the line between fact and fiction, that combines daring formal experimentation with a spellbinding tale of crime, writing, memory, and artistic obsession. Praise for John Darnielle 'A master at building suspense.' -- Los Angeles Times

It was a dark miracle of forgetfulness, a gift of near-erasure. There are few such gifts in a world like ours.

fira

For every iconic pair of murderer's eyes staring blankly into a police photographer's lens, there are unremembered dead in small towns across the country going back centuries.

I think of the candle maker who wants to be king. I try to let him at least hold the keys to the castle in his hand, even if he never gains entry.

david

An unsuspecting indictment of the voyeurism of true crime, and a deconstruction of what we want out of it, and where narrative ends and truth actually exists. The plot is odd and non linear, and I think if it were in the hands of a different author it would not have been as good of a read, but Darnielle's nuanced hand surprisingly kept me locked in. Don't go into this expecting to be regular horror. Its more about the horror of everyday life and human tragedy. The ending might be divisive for some. 

Quentin Gibeau

A book called the ‘Devil House’ and it’s not a horror novel.

Leticia Leal

I am kinda mad because I work at the library and I checked this book out to a patron and said, “Oh, I am reading this book too!” and he said, “How are you liking it?” I replied, “I am about half way through and I am enjoying it thus far!” Now the patron is going to come back and try to talk to me about it and I will have to say, “I didn’t get it.” I don’t like that.

This is the kind of book you read and you don’t think it’s scary until you have to get up in the middle of the night and then all of a sudden you absolutely cannot stand being in the dark. A slower paced read about the true crime genre that really made me think about my participation in horror and crime culture generally. 

Kari Oanes

i went into it not knowing that to expect and it still wasn't anything i could've expected. it gets a bit convoluted at times, like trying to keep hold of a thread that goes everywhere, but it was a new reading experience i enjoyed; really made me think about the things you can do with The Craft, the experiments and risks you can take.

Jerilynn Hallett 

Simon Lund Larsen

What a strange and wonderful book. Highly recommend starting with the author's Wolf in White Van to get a feel of how he writes.

And highly recommend listening to the audiobook read by the author himself.

I'll probably come back to this review to expand thoughts but -

I found Devil House to be surprising. I'm not one for true crime and I think a lot of this book helps me describe why. Also a refreshing use of the physical format.

Anyway, it's the only book I've ever finished that made me go "wait, what?" and immediately start it again.

Patrick Cartelli

I'll probably come back to this review to expand thoughts but -

I found Devil House to be surprising. I'm not one for true crime and I think a lot of this book helps me describe why. Also a refreshing use of the physical format.

Anyway, it's the only book I've ever finished that made me go "wait, what?" and immediately start it again.

Devil House hit emotional peaks for me at a few different points that left me uncertain about when the next turn would be. 

In the end the story was surprisingly caring, thoroughly human, and only mildly stomach-turning.

August Stone

Devil House hit emotional peaks for me at a few different points that left me uncertain about when the next turn would be. 

In the end the story was surprisingly caring, thoroughly human, and only mildly stomach-turning.

alina s

I don’t fuck with the Mountain Goats and this novel proves why

JOHN. DARNIELLE

From New York Timesbestselling author and Mountain Goats singer/songwriter John Darnielle, an epic, gripping novel about murder, truth, artistic obsession, and the dangers of storytelling. Gage Chandler is descended from kings. That's what his mother always told him. Chandler is a true crime writer, with one grisly success ― and movie adaptation ― to his name, along with a series of subsequent lesser efforts that have paid the bills but not much more. But now he is being offered the chance for his big break: to move into the house ― which locals call 'The Devil House' ― in which a briefly notorious pair of murders occurred, apparently the work of disaffected 1980s teens. He begins his research with diligence and enthusiasm, but soon the story leads him into a puzzle he never expected ― his own work and what it means, the very core of what he does and who he is. John Darnielle has long been known to millions of Mountain Goats fans as a storyteller of uncanny sensitivity and mythic power. In Universal Harvesterand Wolf in White Vanhe has proven himself a novelist of the highest order. With Devil House, Darnielle rises above with a novel that blurs the line between fact and fiction, combining daring formal experimentation with a gripping tale of crime, writing, memory, and artistic obsession.

Madhuri Sridhara

DNF at 56%

I saw the other reviews and tried my best to keep at it but this is where I end my journey with this book.

This is a complex tale of of a true crime writer who after writing a few books, comes upon the less known story of "The Devil House', which I'm sorry to say isn't as spine-tingling as it sounds.

Rather, this book is about the narrator trying to do justice to the story of what really happened at Devil House by writing the truth in as much as truth can be written about something that happened a long time ago. It's meta, it's a great idea but unfortunately I didn't resonate with the story at all. 

There were times where I was lost because there is no set format to the book. It tells multiple stories, including one about "The White Witch" which is about the narrator's first book. This is actually an interesting story.

But the main story about Devil House is long and boring. I'm sure there are others who will find it interesting and will love it but it just wasn't me.

To me, the entire book was lost in clunky writing and shifting formats. 

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribe UK for the e-arc.