A nearly perfect mindfuck
5 stars
Content warning Spoilers for some of the unusual features of this book and minor plot details. No major plot details are included.
Mark Z. Danielewski presents a haunted book by Zampanó with haunted commentary by Johnny Truant about a haunted movie about a haunted house that appears to be sentient, full of sprawling corridors that expand and contract. The surreal journeys through the house are amplified by experimental text layouts which describe experimental filmmaking choices, and with an unbelievable number of detailed fake citations, scattered throughout footnote mazes with three different authors, crossed-out paragraphs, text that changes color and orientation, the whole nine yards.
Throughout all of that, House of Leaves never feels gimmicky. Everything is purposeful. The biggest problem is the long-windedness of the passages attributed to Johnny Truant, and their rather un-sexy sex scenes. Those can be skipped, but they are worth reading as they contain a whole other layer of madness to this web of a story.
