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Summary: <arch>
Review: reading over some of these reviews, it seems apparent that several of these reviewers did a few things wrong in picking this book up. first, this is NOT the kind of horror novel that made Stephen King famous. It's somewhere between horror and fantasy. Second, some of these people seem to have absolutely no Dark Tower background, making much of the story incomprehensible to them. Do Not read this book if you don't have the background. it'll do nothing but confuse and anger you. Third, and worst of all, there seem to have been a few people who didn't even read The Talisman, making the reading of this book 110% pointless. Now, if you've got the background (the four Dark Tower books, The Talisman and Hearts in Atlantis), this book is worth three times what you'll pay for it. Once you get through the first 40-50 pages of the book (i will admit, the writing style gets a little tedious), it's full of great, believable characters, buttloads of suspense, a great story, and a few answers to some of those troubling Dark Tower questions. when i finished this book, i put it down with a sense of satisfaction i don't get very often from books. all in all, one of my 10 favorites of all time, and highly recommended. assuming you've got the background for it. otherwise, don't bother, and DON'T write one-star reviews, dragging down the overall.
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Summary: Too graphic for me...
Review: While I am a heavy-duty Stephen King fan, I was disappointed with this book. I just read The Talisman about 2 years ago and it was a good read even though it was a bit dry here and there. I was very excited to hear about The Black House as it is the long awaited sequel to The Talisman. This story is also a bit dry in a good many places (Stephen King should stick to writing alone - the stories are always better). However, as the mother of a young daughter, I was shocked and horrified at the graphic detail in which a murder scene of a child is described. I can handle pretty much any murder and mayhem King can dish out when it involves adults. If it does involve a child, I know King can get the point across without describing it in such detail. That's just plain disturbing. I was very disappointed. I expect more from Stephen King and he usually delivers.
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Summary: King Is Back!
Review: In this novel, King returns to his classic style of storytelling: an epic tale, a band of great heroes, a powerful child, parallel worlds and enormous stakes. The added bonus is that it returns us to the world of the Dark Tower saga, adding another important piece to that super-epic tale. In fact, I find it hard to believe that Straub wrote more than the first 20 pages or so, since the style is so clearly vintage King. Billed as a sequel to The Talisman, Black House doesn't really continue that story so much as pick up the thread of its main character, Jack Sawyer's, life as an adult. King aficianados will relish this novel as a full-force return to the type of stories that King tells best.
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Summary: Two mediocrities better than one?
Review: Well,the King of schlock is back for another installment of self-repetition and lame references to his other books.The ever so boring Peter Straub(except for Ghost Story)is on board for this not so thrilling thriller.I guess King is doing the old boy a favor.Short but sweet:King is totally out of ideas.Nothing he has written in the last 5 or 6 years has the least spark of originality.He is now on autopilot,relentlessly pursuing more royalty checks while regurgitating by bits and pieces every book he has ever written.I've read every book of Stephen King,but this piece of garbage is the final insult.
Rating:
Summary: A big disappointment
Review: Not only was the experimental narrative style a challenge to embrace, but the book was long-winded and bogged down in detail. I loved the Talisman, but Black House just does not measure up as a sequel.
Rating: 
Summary: Slow start, then better, and then better, until... wow.
Review: I enjoyed this book immensely. It was well written, it had an absorbing plot and the character development was fantastic. When the authors reminisce near the book's end about all of the people (friends and otherwise) that we met along the story's path, it feels like a rundown of old friends -- certainly a telltale sign of good writing.For me, however, the first fifty pages of the book nearly turned me off completely. I say this so that nobody makes the mistake of giving up early, as I almost did! The style of writing, which utilizes the present tense, is so different from what I was used to that it felt distracting and, well, just not right--at least at first. I'm guessing that the authors used this style in an attempt to make us feel more like we were part of the story, but whenever it got too thick with the "let's go..." and the "what do we see here?" commentary, it seemed to have the opposite effect. It stopped me from being completely drawn into the book, which made me set it down far more often than I otherwise would have, and which made it much more difficult for me to pick up again. It took me two weeks to read those first fifty pages. Perhaps I became acclimated to the writing style, or maybe the book simply got, well, better, but I was pulled more and more into the tale after making it through those first pages. The book felt analogous to a ride on an old passenger train: almost painfully slow to start, next moving a bit quicker, suddenly beginning to pick up serious speed and then, finally, sailing along effortlessly, transporting us with ease. The book kept getting better and better right up until the end. I'm a huge Dark Tower fan, in that the first four books were what finally prompted me to start reading for pleasure again, so I was incredibly excited to get the opportunity to read more about the Tower in "Black House". At the same time, when the first references were made to Gunslingers, End-World and the Tower, it struck me almost as though they were "hacked" into the story at the last minute by King. That feeling quickly faded, however, as the two authors did a masterful job of blending the stories together. The book could have stood alone without any of the Tower's storyline, but as a Dark Tower junkie, I have to admit that I was happy to get a small fix from this novel. Those who read "The Talisman" will NOT be disappointed by this book. Time has matured Jack Sawyer, and it has matured both authors, making the result a book that is a captivating read on all fronts. Highly recommended!
Rating: 
Summary: Bleak Book
Review: Get ready to spend your time turning page after endless page in search of something exciting. King and Straub wallow in corn of another dimension here and I found myself rolling my eyes in disbelief as I tried to stay the course and get to the end of this one. I was so looking forward to revisiting the fun I had reading The Talisman and was disappointed at every turn (the territories don't become a major part of the book until a full two thirds into the book). I had to hurdle so many corny, self important passages that I found myself exhausted by the end of this book. Beware!
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Summary: the king of pop culture and the use of straub
Review: have you ever noticed how much pop culture references king can pack into a book? luckily we have straub to hold him back a little. it's supposed to be a sequal to the talisman, but the two aren't really connected. you get to meet some new great characters and some new annoying one. the most irritating is the narrator, who is an entitiy in this book. the whole first section, some hundred plus pages, is a waste of paper. it would be a great (though endless) camera shot. but this isn't a movie. it's a book. the end is a bit of a letdown. i hate it when an author creates miracles just to save the good guys and take care of the bad guys. but the middle is entertaining. we should just really wait for king to finish his dark tower series (i do wonder how straub feels at being used as a device for king's dark tower series). really, was there a point to straub here at all?
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Summary: Blobs of Obscurity
Review: I'm a King fan. Although I've read him, I am not much of a Straub fan. Yet I did read and enjoy Talisman. The problem is that I should have re-read Talisman before attempting to read Black House. Black House's references to Talisman stuff did not click with me. For a good deal of the time I was confused while trying--desparately I might add cuz I wanted to enjoy this book--to recall the earlier book and its details. Not only was I having trouble with the Talismanic (hee-hee) references, with every Straub-written passage I found myself wandering in word mush as I usually do with that author's writing. Where King is crisp and communicative, Straub seems to put obscurity above clarity. Such is probably a Straub writing device which leaves readers floundering about thereby contributing to whatever horror he is trying to depict. Alas, it got in the way of me enjoying this book; a book I was looking forward to. Oh well...
Rating:
Summary: A rarity - a better sequel
Review: I have read - and loved - every single Stephen King book, with the exception of the Dark Tower series, which I found incomprehensibly silly. Traditionally, I did not like Peter Straub's writing, because it was meandering. To me, "The Talisman" combined the worst excesses of both writers - too silly, and too long - and I could barely get through it. What a pleasure, then, to discover that its sequel was an engaging, tightly written story, that demonstrates the maturing in style of both authors. Like Straub's recent "Mr. X", and King's "Hearts in Atlantis", "Black House" has a much more focused narrative, and more believable characters. For the person who leans more toward traditional supernatural horror, and away from novels that border on sci-fi/fantasy, I can't recommend this book more highly.
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