How'd you get lost in the House???

[Lunar-Goddess]

Hi all, First of all, I'd like to Introduce myself. My name is Niki aka Lunar-Goddess I'm a 19 year old college student from Seattle, Wa. Secondly, I'd like to ask people on the list to post How they found the House of Leaves and why they love it.

I was given both the book and P(*)E's Haunted C.D. for my birthday by my boyfriend. At first I was drawn to the book because of its twisted type. Then I was sucked into the novel and didn't resurface until It was done. I was also synonymously listening to the C.D. it was the perfect soundtrack to it. I love them both.

Now let me know how you found it and how you like it.

Thanks for your time.

Niki

images/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Inanna]

I found out about the book when I took a Gothic literature class this past semester. Everyone was required to do a 15 minute presentation on an example of the Gothic influence in something modern (I did a kick ass presentation on Twin Peaks!!). This really quiet girl got up and did House Of Leaves. She wrote up a flyer that was typed like the crazy parts of the book. It was a really great presentation and I of course went out and bought it as soon as I could afford it!
Irene

[RandomWildwood]

I found out about Poe through a GF of mine a couple of years ago. She had her first album, Hello, and I loved it. So I kept my ear to the ground, and when I found out that Poe had another album out, I bought it. Inside the CD she makes mentions the book. I didn't think much of it at the time, but later when I joined the Angry Psychos, I came to find out that this book she mentioned was by her brother. The APs reccomended it, so I bought it. Tada. Anyone else? images/smiles/icon_cool.gif

[Sintina]

We bought the CD, then I bought the book. I read it and enjoyed it throughly. I bought it on Sunday June, 3rd and finished it on either Saturday or this past Sunday (can't remember). I got lost in the house because the CD touched me so much.
It was just that original and personal. It was just that awesome, I had to know more! At first, I thought that the book would be autobiographical like the CD. I thought it would be about Mark and Poe's lives.
Boy, was I surprised and delighted!

Random Wildwood: You're one of the Angry Psychos?! Wow. Poe mentions you all on the inside cover of Haunted in all the thank-yous! (can you believe I read all that?) images/smiles/icon_rolleyes.gif

[Bok]

In 1996 I found "Hello" from Poe in the sales-section of the local record store. I knew one song from the radio. The cd was great, and I looked on the internet for some more info. I joined the AP's, and in 1997, someone mentioned that a part of a book that was written by Poe's brother could be downloaded. I downloaded it, printed it, read it, liked it. Last year, I noticed that the enire book was released, and I bought it. Since then, I read it twice, and going for the third.

[Lunar-Goddess]

Awsome everyone. Absolutely Awesome. I love finding books/music that I can crawl inside on so many levels of thinking and Listening and these two fit so well together.

Keep 'em coming.
images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Niki~Lunar-Goddess

[erin]

I bought "Haunted", because I had Poe's debut album and had liked it very much. However, I just couldn't get into "haunted". I decided the reason was because I was experiencing half of a whole, so I went out and got the book. And here we are. I am enjoying the album much more these days, and the book is....captivating.

[Gobo]

I'm one of the few who heard out about the book long before the POE album. It was recommended by several of my friends; the entire theater department at my college was reading it. (Nazareth College in Rochester NY.)

My fiancee and I heard "Hey Pretty" on the radio in the car just after she had finished reading the book. She recognized the parts of the book in the song and got so freaked out I thought she was going to drive us off the road. I looked up the Poe CD on Amazon.com and bought it without hearing anything else on it.

(Another reason why I think WBER is a great radio station. Check it out at wber.monroe.edu. That station in Texas that is pushing the book sounds cool too.)

[driley]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Niki:
Hi all, First of all, I'd like to Introduce myself. My name is Niki aka Lunar-Goddess I'm a 19 year old college student from Seattle, Wa. Secondly, I'd like to ask people on the list to post How they found the House of Leaves and why they love it.

I was given both the book and P(*)E's Haunted C.D. for my birthday by my boyfriend. At first I was drawn to the book because of its twisted type. Then I was sucked into the novel and didn't resurface until It was done. I was also synonymously listening to the C.D. it was the perfect soundtrack to it. I love them both.

Now let me know how you found it and how you like it.

Thanks for your time.

Niki

images/smiles/icon_razz.gif<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[driley]

Sorry about that last reply. I'm a newbie to this discussion area. I first heard of the book and CD from a friend who had heard "Hey Pretty" on "The EDGE" radio station in Dallas, TX. Several of the DJs were really pushing both the book and Poe's CD. My friend went on and on about the weirdness of the passages read by Mark on the song. When I finally heard the song, the passages really grabbed me. I ordered the CD and the book online at Amazon.com and dove in to both simultaneously. Perfect compliment. As someone else mentioned before, this book and CD touches me on many different levels. They are different, yet connected. The book is several stories nested within each other and the CD is also multi-dimensionaly, yet not as obviously (i.e. Poe's own internal struggles and rights of passage as well as a tribute to her late father, AND a connection to her brother's brilliant work). As a hobby-writer, I can only stand slack-jawed and in awe of Mark's brilliant and innovative creativity. It's going to be hard for him to follow up on <grin>.

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Bas:
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

[MicheleVR5]

Long story...saw Poe's Trigger Happy Jack video in 1995 and was like whoa, this chick's psycho! Angry Johnny was a single in '96 and it was on a radio station's new song vs. new song contest 3 times, and 3 times I voted for it like mad, and 3 times it barely lost. images/smiles/icon_sad.gif They ended up adding it to rotation anyway. I joined the Angry Psychos in November 96 and have also been PsYcHo ever since.

As Poe was touring in '97, her brother was putting his novel out on the net. I tried to read it but ended up just reading the intro over and over, and got through the first chapter once. Then I stopped checking the site for some reason, but I fired off an e-mail saying I liked the book.

Years went by...nothing from Poe, nothing from MZD. images/smiles/icon_sad.gif Then one day I got an e-mail from him, first in a series of four.

I managed to get through the new, Flash version of the book from iUniverse before the paper version was published. It wasn't hyperlinked, so you couldn't jump around footnotes, and I didn't bother to skip ahead to the Whalestoe letters when recommended because I would have had to figure out a page number and get potentially spoiled. Reading the book that way puts a different spin on a few things...

The book came out, I met Mark on his solo bookstore tour, and then Haunted finally came out...and through Poe's interviews I realized how deeply personal HOL and Haunted are to them...

[fragileconciousness]

I came across both in kind of a weird way. My uncle was a huge fan of the debut album, "Hello," playing it all the time and whatever...well anyway when "Haunted" came out, me being on a very fixed budget and all, saw that it was two or three bucks cheaper than most of the other albums out, so I was said what the hell. I saw the references to the book but kind of passed them off. I even heard both Poe and Mark on the radioshow loveline and just sort of tuned him out. Until I heard the drive-by mix of "Hey Pretty," I didn't pay much attention to ol' Mark (Since I bought the album kind of early, I don't have the version of "Hey Pretty" with Mark reading the passages. Then I was in a local Books-a-million and the page structures drew me wild, and the next day at some Barnes and Noble shop in a Colonial Williamsburg area, the whole place is covered with William and Mary stuff, I finally bought it. I only mention the location because towards the end of the book, Johnny mentions both Colonial Williamsburg and William & Mary, which was a surprising coincidence for me. Anywho, this post is running particularly long so I'll cut things off. Lastly, let me say that I finished the book tonight, bought it last saturday. When I finished, I was literally breathless, everything was so beautifully crafted and I'm kinda sad to see it's over. But I have yet to venture into the letters so...

[Lunar-Goddess]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Alex:
When I finished, I was literally breathless, everything was so beautifully crafted and I'm kinda sad to see it's over. But I have yet to venture into the letters so...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

I know just what you mean. I finished the book about a week ago and haven't found anything worth reading since. My boyfriends reading it now. I can't wait to hear what he thinks about it.

[Bookwrym]

Was given the book free while I worked in a independent bookstore. Did a presentation for the book in my contemporary fiction book club. I love this book

images/smiles/icon_cool.gif

[wallacebcm]

Tried to ignore it for the longest time, but Poe's magical sounds kept pulling me back in.

The combination of Poe signing with her brother performing spoken word (on Jesse's show) compelled me to drop everything and rush out to spend my last twenty on the book.

Seeing them in Dallas at Fretz park made me glad I bought the book. Watching them on stage the next night completed the picture.

[kadylady]

images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif I heard the drive by version of "Hey Pretty" on the radio & was psyched since I hadn't heard that Poe was coming out with a new album. Meanwhile, my friend Peter had been telling me about this crazy book with passages that you had to read in a mirror. I bought House of Leaves, and somewhere around page 80 I bought the Poe CD - TOTALLY unaware of the connection between the two.
I get to page 89 that same day and I'm thinking "Where have I heard these words before...? 'The longest unzipping of my life'? hmm...OH, WHOA!" Then I realized it, started listening to the Poe cd and flipped when I heard all of her references to House of Leaves.
Kinda wierd that I bought them both in the same week, independent of their influence & ignorant of the connection.
It was kinda fun to find out on my own about it - like a free gift with purchase. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

[kalse]

Hi there,
Finished the book couple of weeks ago. Found out about it through a rather positive book-review in teh paper I work for. Inmedeatly went to the books-tore, but they only had translated copies (in live in the Neteherlands...). Ordered it, recieved it en decided to take a look on the internet on HOL.com. Guess what? Ended up here en started to read (carefully, didn't want any spoilers) about what you all thought about the book. First, I wasn't even aware of Haunted bij POE, but after reading these messages I found out. Ordered the CD, but kept on reading HOL. Finished the book even before I received Haunted (too bad). Have to do it all over again, I guess...
Anyway, loved the book, love the CD (it's actually playing right now on my headphones 5 1/2 minute hallway..., and I'm in my office at the moment!!).
How's Hello by the wat, just as good as Haunted, or different?
And , forgive me for being such an idiot, what is this Angry Psycho-thing? I mean, all the people who mention it seemed to have had previews of the book. Tell me more, so I'm in when the next big thing in Americam literature happens!
Bye,
Egbert

[leentjuh]

I read a review in a magazine and it said something like ' danielewski is a frustrated filmmaker and therefor wrote his book in a filmlike manner, with weird typografy, so the reader is sucked into the book as one is sucked into a film' (or something like that)
I wondered what the hell they meant, so decided to find it and when I saw what the book is like, I bought it immediatly.
Am now being 'sucked into the house' as I read how Navidson, Tom and Reston are trying to rescue Jed, Wax and Holloway and can't wait to read the rest.

[Xenorph]

I'm interested...Most people have come to the book via POE who I have not yet taken the time to aquire. Anyway, I love the idea of finding out how this particular little slice of maddness found its way into your soul. It is really one of the main reasons why I didn't dig the whole Oprah book club thing. The path to the book should be as exciting as the path from there.

Here's mine:

So I'm vistiting the Cultural Mecca of Davenport, Iowa, sitting with a friend of my girlfriend. I get tired of playing Silent Hill, and we start talking about things that are dark and scary. We start talking about fear itself. He picks a book from his shelf and tells me that some of the things I am talking about appear in this book. He then tells me that he himself started to read the book, but stopped because it started giving him nightmares.

After that, I simply had to read it.


*)

[miharu]

Ah, Silent Hill! What a creepy game.. I can't wait for the PS2 sequel to come out, it will actually give me a concrete reason to go out and buy the system.

-miharu

[shadojaq]

We were in downtown Hampton listening to some friends play at a local tavern. My friend Chris introduced me to a couple of really cool people and we all ended up at a local all night eatry. We were discussing movies, plays, and books we enjoyed. They started raving about House Of Leaves.
Being somewhat obsessive about the supernatural and new/innovative writting styles I went out the next day and bought the book. I'm only reading it in bits and pieces because I really don't want it to end. It's the journey that makes the adventure not the destination. Anyway, now Chris is reading it too and falling into it just as bad as I. My wife, however, does not share my excitement, and cannot wait until I finish. images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif
I love being lost in these hallways.

[MicheleVR5]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote
And , forgive me for being such an idiot, what is this Angry Psycho-thing? I mean, all the people who mention it seemed to have had previews of the book. Tell me more, so I'm in when the next big thing in Americam literature happens!

The Angry PsYcHoS (http://www.angry-psychos.com/) are Poe's online fan group. Poe is Mark's sister. In 1997 some of the fans told the group about Mark and his website. There was a letter from Poe on the site, an exhibit or two, and like a blurb from the book. Later the message from Poe was taken down - it was said that they wanted the site to stand on its own. I wish I'd saved Poe's words, talking about their childhood and the book. I wish I had saved the whole site, period. images/smiles/icon_smile.gif It looks like it's been released in Australia so maybe there's still hope for Europe. Her first album, Hello, was released in Europe with an extra track. It's very different from Haunted - no one theme throughout, and very different genres and structures for each song. Just as good as Haunted in my opinion, but for different reasons.

[ August 08, 2001: Message edited by: MicheleVR5 ]

[daniel420]

A friend of mine told me that I should checkout house of leaves, it what printed really weird and whatnot. He had never read the book and jsut thought it looked cool. I like weird books and things like that so i bought it. I jsut started reading it today at work. I got to section IV without ever putting it down. Yes, that means i neglected all my work today. But what can i say I'm hooked. gonna go read now...

[polarbody]

I was traveling through the western states visiting family and potential graduate schools. I was looking at the used books at Deseret Industries (a chain of Morman owned thrift stores found throughout the Morman empire (Utah and Southern Idaho to those out of the celestial loop)...and there it was, with a forlorn purple sticker reading $1.00. House of Leaves 2 color-edition. Apparently it had been there awhile, as all purple stickered merchendise was 1/2 off. Blew my mind. The name had entered my mind's periphery occasionally, but I haven't had time to read anything but simple books (brautigan, bukowski) that require little time or brain-power lately. The best 50 cents I have ever spent.
pb

[duvall]

A friend bought the book after reading about it in Newsweek, of all places. He took a while to start it, but was wholly absorbed. He promptly gave it to his GF, who lost both covers (thankfully it was the softcover..). He then bought a copy for me for Xmas. I read the beginning slowly, then tore through it. I have since coerced two others to buy the book, and I've lent mine to a friend who's already into it...

the book will stay with me forever. images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

[Sebastian]

Interesting, I'd never heard of Poe or any album until I encountered this thread. Must get hold of some stuff. Does anyone know if they're released in England or do I have to Amazon it?
The book itself is quite tricky to get hold of here, very few bookshops have it; I only have a black and white thing which spoils the coloured typography idea rather.It was introduced to me by my very lovely english teacher as something I might be interested in, big thanks to him, as I spent most of easter completely immersed in it.
It was a wholly new experience, I'd never read anything at all like it before, what can I say? it blew me away.
I persuaded 2 friends to read it, who were likewise stunned, although one hasn't managed to finish it cos she keeps freaking out and having to stop.

[deirdre]

I was wandering around Borders desperatly searching for a summer read and found myself in the horror section. I came across House of Leaves and was completely drawn to the book for its obvious reasons.

I'm still trucking through it but am making good progress.

[Aloysius]

Dear Sebastian

Thankyou for recommending this site, its nice to find others who have read 'House of Leaves'. You must thank your english teacher thoroughly for recommending it.

I'm sure your second friend will finish the book in her own time. (yes, Sebastian, I am here and have read your message and am MOST offended!!)

[b_moon]

I heard about the book from a girl I dated about a year ago. I had heard of Poe for awhile before that - always liked the songs on the radio. I didn't pick up the book until a couple months ago however. When I first heard Hey Pretty I hadn't gotten to the part Mark narrates yet, but when I did I recognized it right away. It kinda tripped me out. I did some research and found out he was her brother.

[angel_chick28]

I heard "hey pretty" and "walk the walk" an the radio and HAD to have the CD, when i got it i noticed the address for this web site, and the rest is HoL history.

[psychopath]

Well, I had heard of the book from many of my friends also in the dfw area which were just beginning the book. It kind of drew me in just looking through the twisted language of it all. I bought it that week. I couldn't put it down for a while. I read the whole thing in a matter of days and nights. I lost alot of sleep and haven't been able to sleep since. I know something is terribly wrong now because people have noticed that i am not the same. hard to believe a book can have physical effects on someone, but your mind can make you believe anything.null

[narcissus]

i first found the book in a small inexpensive local bookstore. there it was just hidden on one of the lower shelves, the exciting cover and name made me pick it up. but after reading the blurb i really had to buy it. the next event was i heard the hey pretty filmclip on a local music video program. recognized something strange about the spoken word but at that point i had not reached those parts in the book. in fact i had only read the introduction at that time. a small piece of cardboard i found inside the book informed me of the soundtrack. and so i had to know more. i think HoL is a beautiful and highly intelligent piece of ultra modern literature.

[FlamingJune]

I've just begun to read the book but I can tell... it's just one of those books that connects new pathways in your brain. Anyways, I heard about the book long before I heard the cd, from a friend of mine who I used to talk to alot about intentse literature and art. Everything he said about it enticed me, and I decided that I would read the book after his copy was done with another friend. The copy floated around from friend to friend to friend and now it's all marked with crazy sidenotes everywhere and ranty post-its but I could never manage to get it into my possession long enough to take home and read, so eventually I scrounged up some money and finally bought it. Meanwhile, in the midst of waiting for the shared book to get around to me, another friend bought the Poe cd and we all listened to it. I had heard "Hello" years ago and liked it but had mostly forgotten about Poe aside from the occasional mp3 on my playlist, so it was interesting to see these two things I knew about separately happen to have this huge connection...

[Sebastian]

Aloysius: ha, v.funny, I have no crush whatsoever on said teacher ok? But he does recommend exceedingly good books...
Anyway, is S. still too scared to read on? images/smiles/icon_eek.gif

[Geelpete]

I am just now leaving the house--I saved the Whalestoe letters for last, and read them during lunch today. I still have the "Quotes" appendix to go through, but for all intents and purposes, I'm done.

What got me into the book? Well, I'm a Poe fan (thanks in no small part to WBER in Rochester), and very much enjoyed the "Walk the Walk" single off "Haunted". In May or June, I went out to Boston to visit a high-school friend of mine, and we discussed books a lot. He let me flip through the book he was reading, an attractively-bound, think paperback which contained odd textual deviations at several points throughout. He described it as "unsettling", and described the 5 1/2 minute hallway segment. I was curious, but still had a number of books in my queue.

So I went home and bought the book, and set in its place in line. I also bought the "Haunted" album at his recommendation. After a couple listens to "Haunted", I was very curious. That, coupled with the attractive black cover, forced me to move the book up the queue to the #1 spot.

As an odd side-note: There's a post from a Nazareth art student earlier in this thread. I too attend Naz, and listen to the same radio station. I do not, however, know any art students.

Howdy.

Sean

[Twix]

Hee. Well, like many of the people here, I was drawn into the book by Poe's CDs.

I heard "Angry Johnny" and "Hello" on the radio off and on, but never really thought about them. Around... Oh, I dunno, 1998, '99, someone brought up "Angry Johnny," and I suddenly had this intense desire to find the CD by the person who made it. I looked around, heard positive reviews of Poe's "Hello" CD from all sources. Bought and loved it. In early 2000 or 2001, I heard from a friend that she had another CD coming out. I bought "Haunted" as soon as I saw it (checked local music stores' Poe racks every time I stopped into one) and just ate it up--I thought it was incredible. I first heard about HoL when Poe and MZD were on Loveline together, and MZD was talking about HoL, how it was set up to pace the reader, with chapters with two words to a page, and other ones written very complicated to make you go slow. I thought that sounded really cool, but just put it in the back of my brain. I heard the Drive-By mix of "Hey Pretty" on the radio a few weeks later, and eventually found the lyrics, and at the bottom it said that the passages read by MZD were from his book. That's when I KNEW I had to buy it. I was visiting my girlfriend in Ann Arbor, went to Borders, and read the intro and the first part of the Navidson Record--up to the end of the stuff about Exploration #4's "teaser" release. I was just in love with the whole book (flipped through to check out the neat typography and thought it was insanely cool), checked it out from the local library, and a week afterward, bought it. images/smiles/icon_wink.gif

Kimba

[fatale]

hello. I am Fatale. I found the book long before I found out about Poe's album. I had raved about my find to anyone worthy and it was one of those good friends that told me about the Poe album. I am so amazed by House of Leaves. I loved getting lost in the pages and decoding messages. I still do. I love how I had to be an active participant in the novel, not just a reader of it.

[ August 25, 2001: Message edited by: fatale ]

[Aloysius]

Hey Sebastian!
Just wanted to inform you that I have now finished House of Leaves and did not run away/go mad/scream etc.
I totally loved it, definately in my top three book list of all time!!
See you soon (b-h day!!)
xxx
Aloysius

[bboytwinkie]

I judge books by their covers--only books, mind you. I actually buy books based on their covers, and more often than not, do not read them. My friend was introduced to it through me, and another stole our "idea" (for lack of a better term); now nobody is giving me credit for starting this "fad." I like ice cream.

[darret]

I found out about the House, like a lot of other people, through Poe. Actually, the version of "Hey Pretty" With Mark reading is the first Poe song I'd ever heard. Anyway, a dj on my local radio station mentioned that the song was all quoted from the new book by Poe's brother. I immediately went out and found it.

Even though everyone already knows this, I just have to say again that there is...I don't know, just something about this book. It's haunting me.

I keep writing things and deleting them because I can't figure out exactly what I'm trying to say, but all of you must know what I'm talking about because otherwise you wouldn't be here talking and analyzing it too. Anyway, I'm done rambling now.

[jadresak]

if u guys care. i randomly saw the book in a bookstore cuz i was looking for weird books to take with me to costa rica (group trip thing) anyway, the reason i got it was cuz i read a review on the back which said something about Nabokavian and other stuff which i didnt understand at all. basically, i like challenges

[NuClearG]

I read an article in Newsweek about House of Leaves the week before the book came out. I bought it the day it came out and have read it three times since then. I am thinking of giving it another go armed with all the new ideas I've read here and elswhere on the net.

[Mudo]

I had heard of POE from a friend or two of mine, mostly because they know I enjoy the arcing sounds of truly talented female vocalists (see also Bjork, Cocteau Twins, Garbage, etc). I (sadly) had never pursued finding any music from her though, until I saw "Book of Shadows: Blair Witch 2", and was entranced by the closing song ("Haunted", for those of you who are too cool to like BWP or BW2). I found Haunted in the local record store and bought it, and I too read the liner notes and was intrigued by all the mention of the House. After that, it was as simple as asking the info people at my local bookstore, and now I am a celebrant of both brother and sister.

[offspring8503]

I heard the "Hey Pretty" Drive-By Mix, with MZD reading passages, and I knew it was her brother, but for the life of me I couldn't find out what his name was or what the title of the book was. I probably never would have found out if the local radio station hadn't had a contest giving away Poe's CD "Haunted", and, as the DJ announced, her brother's book "House of Leaves", which was featured in the song. I searched Amazon for "House of Leaves" and MZD came up. Then I took it out and read it, it was awesome.

[Andrea1204]

I got the book way b4 i even knew about Poe's album. My uncle, who knows i love to read, recommended it to me, he said it was amazing, so i started it & literally could NOT put it down. I found it absolutely breathtaking, a little confusing. I didnt even know Poe was MZD's sis or anything about her album until i found this site.
~Andrea~

[jsburn]

I've been a huge POE fan for years. I was dying for the new album to come out at halloween. Well, I got it, and have rarely taken it from the CD player in my car. I kept seeing HOL all over the CD jacket, but could never find the book in the book store. Behind my back one of my friends had found the book and given it to everyone but me for Christmas, all just to infuriate me or to get a head start on the reading so that they would be able to communicate with me about the story. Well, finally, may of 2001 I find the book while I'm working out of town. 3 weeks later I finish, and started to hear the voices, the noises, the little things that Navidson heard. The little things that Johnny heard, the little things that bite in the darkness.


Now I must say that Zampano bings so much reality, so much visualization into the story, and it creates a reality in your mind which is hard to break. The elements of the book, which become three dimensional in many parts, show that seeing is not everything, the feeling is more what's at stake.

Now, as for all the codes in the book, I get so lost. I've never been one to even complete a crossword without cheating. I can only see what's placed in front of me, not deeper into the verbage of someone's secrets.

Now I must say that the house on ash tree lane, it does exist, and Johnny has found it, he found it a long time ago. the house does not stay in one place, it follows the tormented and it enraptures them. Navidson is the key to opening the house.

I hope you all found the key as easily as I did.

JSB

[faust2112]

my oldest brother's wife turned me on to the book at a very trying time in my life. we are both avid readers of richard bachman and at the time i was beginning to let my own personal tyler durden emerge due to my recent separation and subsequent divorce... i also knew that if i had a good novel to escape into i'd be able to weather the storm a lttle better (be careful what you ask for you may just get it!) so i'm having this identity crisis and here comes the navidson record.....johnny got his gun by dalton trumbo impacted my life in a large way when i was a teenager.....this book fucked me up all over the place....i was already haunted by my own life and the crumbling of my sanity.....i went back to using drugs also for a bit during this period and while fascinated with johnny's notes i could completely relate with alot of what he was saying especially because of my newfound love of E....those wicked little pills tearing my mind to pisces.....i had much teenage experience with lsd in the late 80's but rolling is similar/different/an experienceuntoitself.....i enjoy nightmares(orusedtorather) and HoL opened a hallway in my mind that led to me calling out my own name in dreams i don't remeber having (soiwastold)....i'm almost done with the book, still reading the whalestoe letters and savoring my last few days with this marvelous piece of literature....but i was already haunted in the first place and sometimes i want to yell at/thank her for giving me this terribly beautiful burden... everyone i know is tired of hearing me tell them about the damn thing and i think i may reread it entirely after i'm done although i want so badly to pass it on to anyone else interested enough to be engulfed by the hallway.

not much else to say....my divorce is not over yet and i have safely navigated through what i believe to be the worst of the leaves

metallica wrote one song about the first book to get me way beyond what i believed was possible in reading....haunted is on my christmas list and i look forward to hearing it completely with virgin ears. i also want to buy many copies of the book to unleash on the unsuspecting. it is a terrible gift to give i think but my life has been impacted more by this book than i ever thought possible images/smiles/icon_confused.gif yet it has helped me to pick up the pisces and embrace life again with hope renewed.

my new girlfriend will probably leaves me when i make her read it but it must be read by everyone in the world so we all can discuss it as we do the weather.

there is no spoon

[ninziestar]

Wow, I didn't realize that so many people found the book because of POE.

I actually was at my friend's house, and the book was just lying there, and he said it was his brother's and said it was all crazy, and i flipped through it.

I guess, it's weird, I didn't even read any exceprts, that I remember, maybe I did, but I ran out to the bookstore and bought it. Which is weird, because usually I'm really choosey about the books I pick, and I find out a lot about them first, but I'm glad that I just went into the book so blind, beacuse even when he tried to explain it to me, I didn't get it.

I'm glad I went into <font color="blue">house</a> blind, and came out more alive than ever.

[verismo]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by ninziestar:
...
I'm glad I went into <font color="blue">house</font color> blind, and came out more alive than ever.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Hey ninziestar, it's funny you said that! I just posted something sort of abou that over here (http://www.houseofleaves.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002133&p=5).

[doc21tem]

I didn't even know about Haunted until almost a year after I read the book. I was parusing the fiction section of B&N, when I came across this funky book with crazy text and colored words. I immediately had to pick it up and was captivated from "This is not for you" until the very end. Didn't put it down for 2 days straight. Even got in trouble in class (high school) because I was reading when the teacher was lecturing. The book has inspired my own writing in so many ways, and themes like complete darkness and the maddening effects there of constantly resurface in my own writing. It also leaves me in wierd moods. I am currently reading it for the second time, and yesterday I just got done reading the part where the House goes bezerk and Tom dies. Well, I got in the car to go to the movie theatre with the family when my brain just started going off. I didn't have paper, but I did have a pen, so I wrote all over my arms. My parents thought I went crazy, the waitress at TGIF thought I was a loon too. Like I said, the book makes me do wierd things. Anyways, I found out about the CD from this website around Christmas time last year. So of coarse I bought it and absolutely loved it. Even though I listen to mostly punk music, her dark undertones and melancholy vocals just, well, sang to me...

In darkness together we're bringing the light. In darkness together we are forming. The fire tomorrow is born of the night, in darkness together we ignite...

[ThomasJ]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Doc:
I didn't have paper, but I did have a pen, so I wrote all over my arms.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

<font face="Arial">That reminds me of a Christmas party I went to a few years ago.

At the time, I was drinking a lot, and whenever I drank heavily, I would black out and do insane things. This occasion was no exception.

I spent the greater part of the evening polishing off a bottle of Jack Daniel's. At some point, I blacked out again, and from what I was told later, I tried to attack people, or just generally dished out some harsh verbal abuse.

My friend decided it best to remove me from the situation, and drove me to a diner, where he hoped pancakes and coffee would help sober me up. At the diner, I guess my friend and myself had some important conversations.

I say these conversations were important because I seemed to have felt it necessary to take notes on what we had discussed. Unfortunately, there was no paper around, so I wrote the notes on my arms and hands.

What a perfect plan! As drunk as I was, I realized that I wouldn't remember jack shit about what we were talking about, and, unlike a piece of paper, I surely couldn't lose my arms or hands!

Needless to say, the next morning I awoke to find incoherent (http://www.houseofleaves.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic&f=1&t=002165) scribbling all over my arms and hands. The only thing that I could make out was the phrase "DO NOT TRUST XXXXX" written on my hand. I had gone over the phrase an few times with the pen, and it was the only thing that was not smudged away or otherwise illegible due to drunken penmanship. (In this case, "XXXXX" represents the name of an ex-girlfriend.)

I still have a roll of film that I took at the party that is undeveloped. Sometimes, I'm curious to see what's on there, and other times I'm scared to know.

[ July 23, 2003: Message edited by: ThomasJ ]

[pwhite]

The only thing written on my arm is 'John G raped and murdered my wife'.

I can't remember how it got there though.

[driftwood]

who is john galt?

by the way, memento is a fucking great movie

[The Lord of Nothings]

Who is Sammy Jenkins?

Anyway... first post, so I might as well start from the beggining. Three or four months ago, to be exact. Up at college (Simon's Rock, up in Mass.) I had a friend/guru/sidekick named Dave. He's got weird videos and odd drugs and homemade electronic music and other ways to expand my mind, and we always walk and talk and sit and discuss weird things. One of the things he keeps mentioning (along with The Black Box videos and the X-Files, which fit) is this book-- "House of Leaves", which drove him insane for a few months. He often went insane, so this wasn't too odd. Still, he was vague on the book, and his vaguness intrigued me. He said he never got very far-- he was trapped for a few years on the "Riddles Without in 'Riddles Within'" footnote. One day i picked up his copy and read the first bit (preface? introduction?). I had to put it down, but that night ended up with several incredible revelations i can't really describe here. To say the book had any part in them on a concious level would be wrong, but i do not know the workings of the subliminal.
I didn't read any more of his copy. School ended a month later, and I returned to my town to hunt for a summer job. I checked the local library and, on a whim, typed the name of the book into the computer catalog. I found it and took it out (note that its unusual for me to take only one book out of the library). I've been reading it since, and finished it last night.
At a certain point i realized it related to a strange narration i'd heard two years ago on "Vin Scelsa's Idiot's Delight", a local freeform radio show, and found out about the Poe connection. Its still part of the private mythology and symbol language Dave and I concocted, but I feel like i need to discuss it with a larger crowd.

Oh, and I'd write this post backward, but i'm afraid that might be a bit obnoxious.

[Ellimist]

Memento, flash HoL (see MVR5, first page), great thread.

Bizzzzzzzump.

[DrewJQ]

i heard about it because my room mate had read it. he mentioned it one day while my girlfriend was in the room, and she lit up immediately. "oh my god, you read that?!" so i was like.... aw, man, this book's gotta be something. my girlfriend showed me the way it was printed and i thought it was awesome. when winter break rolled around, i decided i would try to tackle a bigger book, because i'd have much more time to read than during the semester. i asked both my girlfriend and my roomate if i should read house of leaves or moby dick. they both said house of leaves by a long shot.

[blueyelie]

How did I get lost in the house? Why, simply, I let myself. I found it to be a solace. An insight; a place to let me realize that the world is truly horrific. So I opened these pages, and I drown my self in the grammar, the punctuation, the codes, the collages, the conundrums cascading into oblivion... and how I loved it.
And endless challenge... like love.
Do I love this book? No, because there are times I don't seek it. But do I want to live without this book... I beleive not.
During a fight with my ex, I found this book. Maybe this book ended that relationship. Maybe I ended it because I wanted this book. All I know is now all I have are the walls of my apartment, my mind, and this book; as well as cds and other books and a bottle of Jameson that I dare not touch to not lose myself in it's emptiness that fills the damp self.
Odd, normally I type like this when I am drinking, yet alcohol has not touched my viens in a couple days...
I can't help but laugh because I realize that I have been lost in the House. This house is life. Simple. It's passion. It's love. It's hate. It's dark. It's light. It's everything you make it. It's everything that never was. It's everything that will be.
It is you who reads it.

[Azriel]

To Tell you the truth my friend ( who is quite the smoker) said that it would be awesome to read it when you are high, I said what and he said HoL. Although I don't smoke I picked it up and couldn't put it back down.

[Shadow Girl]

The book found me last November...through a friend (in the drama room where the majority of my life pans out) of course...after I had said something quite intriguing to her.

I walked into the drama room and flopped into my seat, late like always, and got into a conversation about something stupid that I can't remember I had done that weekend. The person I was talking to, who had heard of lots of the stupid things I frequently do/did, asked me "Why do you always do that s###t!?" to which I replied, "Our lives are but a House of leaves, and so we must live them accordingly: as if they are fleeting and under constant change. Because we never know when the next burst of wind will send that House to some other place and some other set of circumstances and choices."

Another friend who I didn't think was paying attention shot a look at me from her notebook and said "Oh my god! Have you read House of Leaves!?"
I told her that I hadn't and she told me that I absolutely HAD to. I was in need of a good book at the time and she said it was beyond interesting, so I bought a copy.

My all time low: Directly quoting myself from another thread.

[Hekiryuu]

So my way into this house starts with collage back in 2001 or 2002. A friend of mine was in a Psycology course that had HoL as mandatory reading. They showed me the book, and I decided to buy it eventually. No money in collage. So i wrote down the name of the book and author. Lost the note, and found it again in 2003. Went out, bought the book (blu version) for like $10. Read it, loved it, lent it out to another of my friends. Wanted to re-read it in 2004, so i bought another copy (again Blue) and read it. Lent that one out to another friend, got my orriginal back, and proply lost it in a box when i was packing to move away. In 2005 i bought another copy for my soon to be wife, she read it (hated the whole echo section) i read it again, found my orriginal copy, lent it out, moved back to my home town, never saw the orriginal copy i had again, got my second copy back, lost my third copy (i think the second copy ate it ;)

Now i start losing sleep if i dont read it about once or twice a year...
Moral of the story, Phych class causes Psychoses.

[Kathrin]

I saw it at the university library. I like to go around the archives just looking at what kind of new books they have.:smile: I like big chunky books - if they are good, of course. And interest me.
The first time I saw HoL there I didn't check it out. I read the insert text or whatever you call it and KIND OF thought, hey, cool, this sounds like a really special book - reminded me of the time I read "Infinite Jest" (and I still picture myself with that book, sitting on the train, holding it in my hands with my black fingerless gloves, on the way back from doing street music in Basel. Ha, and then my bag got stolen at another library with the book in it, and I had to replace it. But I am being sidetracked now) (which all of you should be used to though):wink: :wink:

Anyway, for some reason I didn't borrow HoL from the library. (Too weird? Because it had been published online at first? Did I not trust it to be good? Or was it just too spooky?? Or too.... fragmented-looking?)
But then,I forget how many weeks ago (2? 3? more?) when I was at the library again I took the book and it was one of those rare WOW!!! books... I don't think I have ever participated in a forum because of a book before, for one thing!!

(As I said, I also did like Infinite Jest, and I did like the Raw Shark Texts, because they are all weird and different and special and kind of... "epic" novels... if that's the right word.)

I like it how HoL combines so many literary genres. Really - yes, courageous!!! Wonderfully courageous. AND: Successfully courageous. I love that.

Kathrin

[Fin]

my girlfriend told me that she thought if i ever wrote a book it would be like this, jump around a lot and stvff you know?
so.
naturally.
i waited for a bout 3 months then bought it then tried to read thru it.
only to find.
that it scared the shit out of me and i couldnt shower anymore without keeping my eyes open **ouch shampoo**
so i put it down.
then i picked it back up (from the beginning) and got about 2wice as far.
then i had to put it down again.
THEN I PICKED IT UP!!
while reading it i kept feeling like it meant a lot to me and to my life etc etc pretty much what probably how everyone who reads it feels it was written for them to help their life or whatever.
then i saw that i had the same birthday as J. Truant, and i flipped.
then i put it down for about a year.
picked it up again. and finished it in about a week.
trivmph.

this is not a book.

[blueyelie]

You know... I never got hit on a personel level with this book. I definetley read it as a story. OR hits on a personel level,but this I find to be a fun past time.

[Shadow Girl]

Both books land on a personal level with me.

I get a kick out of it. Each book hit's a on a different personal area, and the area's are so different but compliment each other...somewhat like the books themselves.

[floodTEMPLE]

When I was in the tenth grade, my English teacher (who was a literally eccentric, insane, mid-twenties guy. Perhaps the book had drove him crazy, too.) gave it to me, and spent about a half hour after school explaining many of the nuances (such as the hidden messages in P's letters, or the explanation of a house that has no end) to me, which of course intrigued me to no end. That was a Friday, and over the entire course of the weekend all I did was read. I read and read and rewrote over his notes in the book and tried to understand the vastness of it, to no avail. So on Monday I came back to high school, and after telling him about how amazed and enthralled I was by this book, he let me have his copy.


I still have the copy today, which has tons and tons of scribbles (both his and my own) in the margins, and all over the page. I almost fell in love with this book, and over time (as any relationship) I will leave it alone for a while, only to find myself re-reading and re-analyzing it merely 6 months later.

This is one hell of a book.

[gh0st]

My friend Jake showed me the book when i went over to his House a couple months ago. He explained the basic plot, basically the Johhny Truant area, and I was hooked without reading it. I don't know how he found it, but we both read it, and have since spread it like AIDS. I know of at least five people who are interested in reading it, and I've already seen about three others reading it.

This book changed the way I look at horror stories. I have never had nightmares from a book. I have never been freaked out by echoes, up untill now. I love this story.


Oh, and I'd never even heard of his sister, Poe, until this thread. Weird...

[floodTEMPLE]

and have since spread it like AIDS


ouch.

that was without tact, sir.

[Farehamer]

You know... I never got hit on a personel level with this book. I definetley read it as a story. OR hits on a personel level,but this I find to be a fun past time.

OR didn't hit on any level with me, I found it a real disappointment.

[Xigz]

I'm a huge fan of the Silent hill video game series. So I was looking at a list is influences for the series, and I saw House of Leaves. That's how I came across it.

[Stellar.]

Friend of mine in math class was reading only revolutions and i was mystified by the construction of the book. i asked him what other books he read and he told me about House of Leaves and i just bought that day
that day was today.

[consider us dead]

i heard of the book a good few years ago now via the band Johnny Truant when they revealed where their name originated from. so i went out and purchased it, the next day i started reading at about 10 in the morning after sticking on the Isis discography (at that point panopticon was the latest release) on random and started to read. the next thing i knew, the door bell went in my house, it was pitch black outside and also 10 at night and my girlfriend was calling round after she had finished work. i hadnt had an experience like that before or since. it completely rekindled my love of literature

[loserkid0177]

i love the band circa survive...
and they made a song called house of leaves..obviously because they were inspired by the book...even some of the song lyrics are backwards..well anyways i was looking up the lyrics on google only to be directed to amazon.com to buy the book...so i read the review saying to read it with the cd and so i did and i fell into a spiral of disillusion and well..you know the whole 9 yards.

[Ellimist]

It's not called that. :lol:

[ortho_stice]

well, for me, i found a door in our house that had appeared out of nowhere and lead into a labyrinth which extended ad infinitum. so a friend told me that the same thing happened in this book, and i bought it and read it.

...i like it.

[Ellimist]

:lol:

:clap:

[Rock Hyrax]

I was lead astray by Willow-the-Wisps.

[shadowboxer]

I was in borders, just above to leave having been unsuccessful in finding a book, and HOL caught my eye. I think it was the size that did it. Initially, anyway...

I opened it up, the layout caught my attention and i bought it. Last one on the shelf.

[shadowboxer]

*about..

[Ellimist]

You can edit and delete your posts.

[shadowboxer]

No thank you