Rating: 
Summary: No real scares or plot at all
Review: Maybe I have read too many horror books to be scared of them any more, but The House had no real scares in it and even less of a plot. Throughout the story we learn to care for only one of the five strangers and wouldn't it be just like a book of this low caliber that the only character we care about is the only one that dies at the end??? Perhaps the most dissapointing aspect of this book is that it has more aspects of sex and pornography in it than horror, genuine scares and a real plot.
Rating: 
Summary: A twisted bizarre tale of horror sprinkled with suspense.
Review: It is as though the author took every weird dream he ever had and consolidated it into one huge story. Intensely sexual, almost disturbingly so, but Bentley Little does not take that aspect over the edge. Character development was supreme. Despite the number of characters, the author brought each one to life vividly and portrayed both their dark and light sides. There is even a bit of romance, and a bit of sadness mixed in with striking horror and outlandish scenarios. Hats off to Bentley Little, I don't think even Stephen King could have pulled this one off. I would recommend this book as a page turner and a definite dose of horror.
Rating: 
Summary: Avant-garde horror
Review: What gives you the creeps?Would it be the ghost of a recently departed loved one, a glowing, transparent, buck-naked apparition? Would it be the dead come back to life, not as rotting zombies, but fully restored and rejuvenated? What about a doll made from paper cups, straws, cardboard tubes and a wild-looking collage face? Or perhaps the sudden appearance of a path made of hundreds of burnt toasts, lying side by side? Or fruit salad in the toilet bowl and a pice of cheddar plugged into the sink's drain with a red rose stuck in it, discoverd in the empty restroom of an abandoned building? No? Well, Bentley Little is out to convince you that the most outrageous of those concepts can be twisted to become scary. And the most traditional horror imagery is out, turned benign and not-really-scary. With "The House", Little works in a similar vein to what Grant Morrison and John Rozum did in the "Doom Patrol" and "Xombi" comic books respectivelly. In other words, he's not afraid to think strange in public. Recurring to dada, surrealism, and postmodern techniques, he plays with the possibilities to build the scares that make a house haunted. And yet the House is more than a haunted house. Nobody seems to have mentioned it here, but the concept is closer to William H. Hodgson's "The House on the Borderland", in its cosmic overtones, than to Shirley Jackson's "The Haunting of Hill House". But, of course, Hodgson never wrote about black rainbows and the dead hatching eggs. This book also seemed to me like a direct descendant of Thomas M. Disch's "The Businessman", with the way it twists the usual perceptions of what the after life is like. On the down side, no matter how much I enjoyed it, the problem with most books that, like this, go on a wild creativity rampage, is that plot and characterization turn into window dressing for the weirdness showcase. And all the sexual tension! (OK, so I'll admit I found that a good source for the horror in this book, but yet...) It would seem from this and the other book I've read by Little, "The Ignored", that most sex is bad, and the only good sex is tame sex. All the fireworks in this book reminded me of Richard Bachman's "The Regulators", with its surreal, childish landscape and monsters. If you liked that one, or "The Businessman", give "The House" a try. And if you liked "The House", why not search out the other two?
Rating:
Summary: Very intense book but the ending was a let down! :(
Review: I picked up "The House" at a flea market on July 4th weekend. Being a HUGE fan of Stephen King, Dean Koontz and John Saul, I figured I would give Bentley Little a try (never had heard of him before). And I was really glad that I did! I read that book in record time! :) But, I have to say, that when the ending came, I felt total disappointment!! Like many others have said, it was like he ran out of steam when the ending came! I'm not saying that I won't read his other books because I plan to! One bad ending doesn't mean all of them will be that bad.....I'm still a 'new' fan! :) Glad we were introduced! :)
Rating: 
Summary: 90% of a classic
Review: Like the other Little book I've read so far, _The Store_, _The House_ is a fascinating concept, well-told, with a ROTTEN ending. The beginning vignettes, where we begin to see evil creeping into our world, are terrifying. The connections between the characters, visible to the reader in several "Aha!" moments, are well-planned. The creepy life-histories are compelling. But the ending is one of the biggest letdowns I've ever encountered--you could practically see Bentley Little's train running out of steam. All in all, this had some great scary elements. But as a STORY, as in beginning-middle-end, it's not really satisfying.
Rating:
Summary: I Expected Better From This Author
Review: Bently little blew me away with the first book I read from him, "Revalations" and everything else just got better after that, peaking with the unputdownable, gripping "University". Then I read "The Ignored". Vrooom vrooom...sputter. He seemed like he was back up to speed when I read "The Store" and the Ignored was just going to be a temporary glitch. But this book was even worse than "The Ignored" and that was pretty lame. I would never have known this book was written by Bentley Little unless you told me...one of the things I love so much about Bentley Little is his total originality in everything he writes--the themes are unusual, the monster or villian is usually some new, bizarre one no-one ever thought of before (the Mailman) or a startlingly original take on an old theme (Revelations) but this was just so old--it would have been fine if he'd done a new take on the Haunted House story/theme but alas, he did not. I couldn't even really tell you the plot of this book, or about the characters, because it didn't have much of a plot, or characters that you remembered. If I try really hard, I can remember an evil little girl, who some of the characters are sexually attracted to (that part I only remember because it was so gross)and various main characters that we don't care about...plus, the plot was hard to follow-maybe because I was so incredibly bored I had trouble following it. I thought "The Ignored" was Mr. Little's worst book, but I was wrong--I disliked this one even more, sorry to say. Maybe every other book will be decent now...let's hope his next one is better.
Rating:
Summary: Weak, but I couldnt put it down!
Review: "The House" was the first Bentley Little book I have read but it wont be the last. Although I was disappointed in the ending of the book it was a good read. Hopefully the next one I read will be better.
Rating:
Summary: I hated this book!!
Review: I thought this book was terrible! It was trite, made little sense, and seemed unfinished. I will NEVER read a Bentley Little book again! I would have given this book less than one star if that option was permitted!
Rating:
Summary: Terrific, spine-tingling horror tale!
Review: From the moment that I picked up this book, I had the feeling that I was wading into a wonderful netherworld. This novel did not disappoint. Each character gives you a feeling of deja vu, as if you've known someone identical to whatever character is being profiled. Mr. Little ends each chapter with a cliffhanger, as if daring the reader to continue. As the novel jelled, I felt as if I were a fly on the wall, watching the characters go through denial, incredulity, then abject horror as they find out what the house wants from them. Along the lines of Agatha Christie's classic tale, "Ten Little Indians," the climax will leave you hanging in there until the very end of the tale. Be warned--the ending is not what one would expect. But it is indeed a fabulous read!!
Rating:
Summary: A suspensful and chilling horror book!
Review: This book is one that is hard to put down. It is a true horror story and I think that it was better than A LOT of Stephen King books that I've read. I now love Bently Little's book and I am reading the Ignored now and it is awesome! You should read The House!
| 
