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Black House (2001)



Before reading: I have been pumped for this one, you guys. I really hope I'm not let down! This is the sequel to The Talisman and it is again co-written with the late Peter Straub. I have a few reasons I've been looking forward to this one. The first is that we don't get too many sequels so that is exciting! Also, I've heard this is the better of the two books and I love me some King fantasy. Apparently this book helps us on the way to The Dark Tower, which I always welcome. Additionally, word on the street is that there may be a third installment on the way. I really hope I'm not hyping it up too much, so let's find out!

After reading: As with all my favorites, this blog will be short and sweet. Yes, this was absolutely one of my favorite books that I have read. It is so different from The Talisman but still has all the same fantastical and magical elements. It feels like a grown up version. I cannot talk enough about how much I love the writing style of this novel. Interestingly, stylistically, it is completely different than The Talisman. However, that did not bother me at all because it was done so well. Really, the reason I loved this book so much had more to do with how it was written than the actual story, itself. 

As per usual, I was so engrossed in the book that I really didn't take many notes. The one's that I did take kind of all blend together so I'm just going to briefly talk about some things that I liked (and didn't like). First of all, this book was very creepy. It was giving Brothers Grimm vibes and I was here for it. This wasn't so much a horror novel, but it definitely played into that with all of the creepy elements. Piggybacking off of that, this was also a very graphic and gory book. I had to stop reading at some points because it got rough every now and again. Besides the writing style, there were a couple other elements that lended itself to being a story that I really enjoyed. One was that it played on one of my personal favorite tropes, the haunted house. King and Straub are both very strong in this realm and definitely played to their strengths. We got some allusions to Hill House and got our first reference to Rose Red. The part in the house itself was my absolute favorite section and I wish it went on even longer. I am very much hoping that if/when we do get a Talisman series it continues into Black House. Of course, another thing I loved about this story was that it was chock-full of references and tied directly and very heavily to The Dark Tower. So well written, so much fun. The one thing that kinda knocked it down my list a little bit (but not much) was the cringe-factor. There were some über corny, almost "catch-phrase" lines said throughout the book that I very much could have lived without. 

Long story short (and Black House is a very long story for the recored) I very much so enjoyed this story. Would 100% recommend that anyone who is reading or has read the DT series to read this series as well. Fingers crossed we do get that third installment because I can't get enough. 

Get in losers, cause next up is From a Buick 8. (Did I use that same joke for Christine? I really hope I did). 

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