The House that Fell from the Sky got my attention with the interesting plot and amazing cover, but after I started to read I got a bit disappointed. The story started extremely slowly for my liking, and even that it’s a real page-turner and good read, somehow I didn’t really liked the characters. They were more like teenager than adults with their reactions. The novel’s genre was a mix of horror, supernatural and sci-fi for me
It reminded me to Charlie and the Chocolate Factory just in a creepy, scary way, with some twists it was making me feel I read a rewritten version of it for adults. The book had so much potential, a haunted house falling from the sky, everyone is excited and scared from it. Should we go in, shouldn’t we? Is it heavenly, is it from hell? Read it to find out.

The House that Fell from the Sky by Patrick Delaney – 4 Stars
Publisher: Oblivion Publishing
ISBN: 9780578660790

The House that Fell from the Sky is difficult to review, but I thank Netgalley and the publisher for making it available to me for an honest opinion.

I enjoyed the story and loved the imagination put into it. The “House” is really much more than a house. I don’t understand the title at all, nor its characters suggesting it is a house. It appears as a physical, but paranormal, structure covering city blocks and at least seven stories high. Plus, the powers of the “House” go beyond just the physical structure alone and affect anybody close to it. The descriptions of the horror within it are vivid leaving little more to imagine; they are outright, unbelievably frightening. The four main characters (Scarlett, Tommy, Jackson, and Hannah), each with mental flaws or inhibitors that prevent them from moving on in life successfully fit the story well for each has a major disadvantage in facing the horror of the “House” that demands they work together to do so. A fifth character Vincent, a magician from the past who has an unknown, until the end, connection to them helps coordinate the teamwork and direction through the house.

I enjoy horror and began liking the detailed descriptions of the rooms within. However, the repetitive detail for each and every room became annoyingly tiresome to wade through. Hey, I get it. The place is scary, but I really didn’t care after the first four times to know what every crook and cranny looked like. Likewise, the “monsters” or occupants or spirits or whatever descripting are necessary, but later when still more ghouls were introduced, the same descriptions again with minor variances became boring. It was like going through a haunted house at a fair where every so many feet a figure pops out that isn’t much different – it’s the popping out that is scary. Yet, I must emphasize that the initial descriptions were shockingly memorable and provided a clear visual of the horror.

It took 15% to get to any horror. Until then, the four main characters and a few others were the story and that wasn’t well done. Much too much dialogue between the characters and little cohesive foundation. It took me a while to realize that Todd was Chief Briggs and he was Jackson’s father. Plus, Hannah was sort of a “left-town” person with very little description of who she was and details of why. I feel character building should have been done more effectively. This brings me to the “BEFORE” chapters which to me were no more than the author realizing that the initial character introductions were already too long, but the content in those chapters still needed to be told. They were of no real value and became page fillers. So, my summary of character building is that it was overloaded with chit-chat between young adults that acted like teens and from the dialogues I was being asked to form my own opinions instead of the author presenting meaningful meat and potatoes.

Despite struggling through the things that annoyed me, I couldn’t put this book down. The constant horror, twists and turns, and need to continue were gripping. Eventually, the entire picture became clear and the end came, not entirely as expected. However, it was presented effectively and was memorable.

I find that there were many 5-Star parts of this novel, but just enough 3-Star annoyances to make this an overall 4-Star performance. I look forward to improvements in this author’s future books to solidly define him as a great horror writer.

Reviewer: Rich

"Does anyone else feel like we're trapped in some demented version of Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory?"

Haunted House? A house that falls from the sky. This is no Hill House (The Haunting of Hill House). In the beginning I was getting vibes of Under the Dome mixed with Annihilation but nope, it just didn't work for me.

The characters (Jackson, Scarlett, Hannah, Tommy) are in their late twenties and feel as if they could easily be teenagers. The story jumps around from the present to the past and back and forth. Nope, did not work for me either. I did not feel that the back and forth was necessary. I am in the minority here but felt that the book wasn't creepy - weird yes, imaginative, yes, but nothing stood out or wowed me. Nothing, except for the cover - the cover is pretty amazing.

The character of Vincent did some channeling of Dobby (from Harry Potter) in the "it's good to have friends" vibe. He became the most interesting character for me in the later parts of the book. Jackson also was a winner. I felt the rest were a little flat and could have used some oomph.

The premise is good, I will give it that. A house falls from the sky and that is freaky, obviously people are intrigued, and it becomes a media frenzy, but then people just go on with their lives. I would think there would be more hoopla and more daily disruptions to their lives. Nope, let’s just all go have some milkshakes and guilt trip each other. Some dirt on the friends: Scarlett left town, leaving her friends behind. Hannah has not recovered from the death of her Mother. Tommy had an injury that ruined his chances of being a professional baseball player. Jackson is a bartender renting from his father and dreaming of a better life. When Scarlett comes back to town, the friends reconnect but time and distance has strained things. Then there is a contest, those who win get to go inside, spend a night inside the house and win a million dollars (hence the Willy Wonka reference). So, it's all for one and one for all with the four friends. They go inside but will they come out?

If you have not figured it out already, this did not work for me. I had high hopes for this one and moved it up on my list. While reading this book, I felt as if I was reading an entirely different book than everyone else. But we cannot love them all. This one just was not for me. I love a good scary read, but this fell flat for me. I want a heart pounding, hiding under the covers with a flashlight, looking under the bed and in the closets kinda scary.

So not a good fit for me, but there are reviewers who are enjoying this book. Check out their reviews and the book synopsis and decide for yourself. I do appreciate the imagination and creativity involved in creating the house. Speaking of which, I wanted more of the house’s history. Yes, we do get some, but I would have loved a little more. Plus, the first half was slow for me, things didn't really pick up for me until around the 60% mark but that still wasn't enough to save this book for me.

Again, there are reviewers who are enjoying this book so check out their reviews.

I received a copy of this book from Oblivion Publishing and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing for allowing me to read an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased review. The House that Fell from the Sky by Patrick Delaney is a story about mystery, friendship, love, loss, finding oneself, and living your best life no matter what. It's also obviously about a mysterious house that randomly appeared in a dying town one October night. The tale centers around "Sinister" Scarlett, a YouTube vlogger who is a popular horror reviewer with hundreds of thousands of followers.. She has returned home after being away at college for a couple of years. She, her brother Tommy, his girlfriend Hannah, and a bartender named Jackson have been friends forever. After an evening celebrating Scarlett's birthday, everything changed when the house literally appeared on Seventh Street. Naturally the house makes the international news and the police and military show up to investigate. The few who have managed to enter the house have gone insane or committed suicide. The Crow Corp. somehow takes control of the property and holds a lottery to allow people to enter the house. Hannah wins a ticket and somehow all of the friends are allowed to enter the house together. The inside of the house is like something straight out of a Lovecraft story complete with creatures with tentacles. The house is definitely no ordinary house and the events that happen inside it are definitely extraordinary and horrific.
Overall, I really liked this book. Patrick Delaney is an excellent storyteller. I felt like Scarlett and I could be best friends in real life. I definitely connected with her story. Delaney uses a lot of imagery so I could actually visualize the house in my mind. If anything, there was almost too much description of the house that it became a bit too much to where the story started to get bogged down with it, but ultimately it helped with the creepy vibes of the house. I rate this a 4.5/5, but since that isn't an option here, I'm going to round up to a full 5 stars just because Delaney is an excellent wordsmith and I really liked Scarlett as a character.

I really enjoyed this book. This is about Scarlett, her brother Tommy, Tommy's girlfriend, Hannah and Jackson, their friend. One night, a house fell from the sky into the center of their town. No one knows where it came from and there is an odd mist that surrounds it and it is enormous in size. A company buys the property and then holds a lottery for all the residents. If they are chosen, they can spend from sundown to sunup to win a million dollars. Hannah is chosen and brings Tommy. Scarlett and Jackson are invited by a has-been magician from the town to be his guests. What happens between sundown and sunup defies explanation. I felt this was reminiscent of House of Leaves, which I really enjoyed.
I would highly recommend this book!
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Note: Netgalley provided me with an ARC of this delightfully scary work.

It’s difficult to write a review of this book without potentially providing spoilers & it’s best to go in without any clue of what is going to happen in this house of horrors... Just like the characters do! It’s a tense, exciting, atmospheric thriller & I would absolutely recommend it to horror fans looking for something original.

<i>The House that Fell from the Sky</i> is a striking combination of supernatural and psychological horror that will have you turning the pages, trying to delve deeper into Delany’s novel as fast as you can.

Reminiscent of Stephen King and Joe Hill novels, Delaney takes a chance with this story, literally having a large, gothic mansion fall from the sky into the middle of a small town street. Four friends, with a mixed history, immediately develop deep and different connections to this wildly terrifying and intriguing house - one that drives people to commit suicide by stepping near its doors, and causes others to leave in catatonic states.

The stakes are raised when a lottery is formed, daring 3 people to spend the night in the house - earning them one million dollars each if they last until sunrise.

I will leave you there, reader, as you need to experience <i>The House that Fell from the Sky</i> on your own as my words do not do as good of a job as Delany’s at painting the horrors that come with it.

Thanks Netgalley for the ARC.

The house that fell from the sky takes place in a city called winterview. One day a an ominous house appearance from no where. The house has awful effects on anyone whe gets near it, particularly if they manage to get inside. The story centres around friends Scarlet, Tommy, Jackson and Hannah depicting the events which lead to them entering the house and the challenges they face inside.

The part leading up to the characters entering the house is quite lengthy but i think that this is necessary as it helps to build the characters and helps the reader to understand each characters individual perspective.

I really liked the characters especially Scarlett and my heart went out to Jackson throut the book.

The descriptions and scene setting are really detailed its really easy to visualise what the author is trying to portray.

This book keeps you hanging through twists and turns that you wont see coming. Overall i really enjoyed reading this book.

While this book took a while to get to the plot, once it did, I couldn’t put it down.
The writing creates a constant, on the edge of your seat anxiety, and a palatable sense of dread.

“Hannah grimaced, clearing her throat. “Afraid?”
“They should be.” She took another step forward, close enough to touch the girl. “Of what?” 
“The house, silly.” She laughed, coughing up a demonic giggle from her drowned throat. “It’s alive, and it likes to play.”

Big fat nope to that, scariest line I’ve read in a while.

I do have some grievances with this book. The characters are all supposed to be in their late 30’s, and they all felt younger than myself and my friend group- all of whom are 25 and younger. Scarlett, our main character, is so very “I’m average but not beautiful even though everyone would disagree with this- also I’m not at all like other girls, I am funny.” It got annoying really quickly. I don’t know any almost 30 year old woman who thinks wearing converse instead of heels is a personality trait, which brings me back to: Scarlett cannot possibly be 29 based on how she is written.

I wish we had had more time in the house and more time after the fact, rather than the relatively drawn out build up to the entrance into the house. While some of it I can see as important to the storyline within the house, a lot of it was redundant subplot and it took me a while to get interested into the story due to that. I would have liked to know more about Vincent, the magician, and less about Tommy and Jackson, honestly.

All in all, the horror in this book is what really sold it for me, and it delivered well

I loved the atmosphere and the setting of this book. Also the story is very intriguing and makes a good page-turner.
Unfortunately, at some point I got lost in details. The descriptions were far over the top, to the point, where you could summarize several pages in 3-4 sentences.
Overall, I would recommend this book.

Okay, here is what I liked so much about this story:

1) Haunting, mysterious, dilapidated, claustrophobic, gothic, dark house theme with H. P. Lovecraft vibes

2) Intriguing world building and promising theme: Haunting of Hill House meets Stranger Things/Goonies theme

3) Marvelous and brilliant cover: I’m truly hypnotized with creative illustration work.

I was so excited to start this story and learn more about 4 troubled teenagers’ adventure at this surprising, horrifying place with so many surprises.

It was a great story with teenagers who are not so pleased with the hand life dealt them. Hannah suffers from the loss of her mother and she became obsessed with the haunted house because in her opinion this place may be portal for her to reunite with the spirit of her mother. On the other hand Tommy was devastated because his sporting career is over after the unexpected accident ruined his dreams and future plans. Jackson deals with his perfectionist and unsatisfied dad and their problematic relationship. Finally we’re introduced with Scarlett who may have achieved something difficult and became the worst Youtube star. (Maybe she should stop commenting about horrific things!)

I loved the premise and terrifying house theme but I couldn’t connect with the characters and I didn’t enjoy their childish, illogical, boring dialogues. Mostly they were a little under developed and lack of emotional layers ruin their characteristics and turned them into whining spoiled children. But that was just my opinion.

Overall: A great plotline and promising start with not so likable characterization and dialogues. I still want to read more books of the author because he can find really good stories and gripping, high tension atmosphere built around the story also hooked me from the beginning.

I decided to give my solid 3 stars. I still find so many things enjoyable about the book but I unfortunately hated the guts of the characters.

And after writing this review, my NetGalley library is going to be empty for the first time. Yes, you may hear my ugly cries and screaming right now!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Oblivion Publishing from sharing this intriguing ARC with me in exchange my honest review.

I will also be mentioning this book on an up coming episode of my podcast, Genre Junkies.

This was my first title from this author. I was immediately intrigued by the book’s cover and description. I definitely enjoyed the elements of Lovecraftian/Cosmic horror. I think that the author has a firm grasp on the sub genre. He can also write some really poignant storylines and great horror imagery. I was also happy with how Delaney made the niche his own. I didn’t feel like I reading recycled cosmic horror tropes. I applaud him for tacking such an intense and beloved sub genre. Delaney also throws in lots of “Easter eggs” for us hardcore horror fans. He respects and loves horror and it’s audience.

As a female review, I am very cautious of male authors writing female leads. Us women readers can usually tell when a man wrote the female voice. Though Delaney was not the worst example I’ve seen of this (not by far) it was still obvious and irksome. Not too mention the male characters would “describe” the girls in ways we are all really sick of hearing. The women characters who “don’t know how beautiful they are”, “don’t need makeup to be gorgeous” or basically, “aren’t like the other girls”. Both leading ladies in the book fit these tired stereotypes. I hope the author’s future works with female protagonists benefit from some women beta readers and looking at ways to circumvent the tropes.

I had a difficult time following this storyline. It started out pretty good but then became disjointed. The description of the book did not meet what I thought this book was about.

I have to be honest, this book never worked for me. The plot took a long time to get started - I was a third of the way in before it even reached what was described in the blurb - and once it did, it was disappointingly predictable. The characters had great promise but all read ten years younger than they actually were, making them completely unbelievable. The writing focused too much on description and not enough on action, bogging me down in descriptions of 'chocolate eyes' or reminding me how beautiful a character was when they were undergoing something horrific. The idea was brilliant - the house truly creative with some genuinely horrifying elements - but the execution fell horrifically flat for me.

The story focuses on Scarlett Vantassel, a twenty-nine-year-old horror vlogger suffering major burnout and not sure what she wants to do with her life. She's back in her small town after a breakup and feeling disconnected from everyone and everything around her. Her old friends - her brother Tommy, his girlfriend Hannah, and Jackson, the son of the local police chief - have changed, and they're not as close as they used to be. The cracks in their friendship are magnified when, with no rational explanation, a house suddenly appears in their neighbourhood - a house with a sinister aura and a growing association with death.

In principle, Scarlett was a great character. She was chatty, vivacious, and determined to be her own person. However, she never really grew past the stereotypical flighty Millenial. She went to college but didn't graduate, left town after a boyfriend but then the relationship broke down and she was forced back, and - in the eyes of her friends - cared more about herself than she did about them. Her character should have been relatable - and in a way it was, but more as an insecure twenty-year-old than twenty-nine-going-on-thirty. This was exacerbated by her relationship with her dad, Dale. At one point, another character makes a throwaway comment that Scarlett leaving home with her boyfriend broke her dads heart. A woman in her late twenties shouldn't break her parents' heart. Yes, it probably hurts, but parents want their children to have their own independent lives and success - Scarlett was definitely old enough to make that decision for herself.

The other characters also had promise, but were never fully developed. Hannah's character was distilled down to the fact that she was smart AND beautiful, but her mum had died and she'd lost her spark. I could excuse her flatness as apathy after the death of a loved one, but the other characters - with the exception of Jackson - were just as flat. Tommy was the 2D brother and boyfriend, Vincent was wasted potential and contradictions, the other characters just served plot purpose.

Jackson was probably my favourite character - his motives felt believable, and he was a genuinely nice guy. I spent the entire novel rooting for him. This might have been a stronger book written from his perspective instead of Scarlett's - or possibly just written with all the characters ten years younger and rotating points of view.

The writing was my biggest issue. There were some very suspect similes, and piles of unnecessary description, without which the book could probably be a good third shorter. The dramatic moments were regularly thrown away because lengthy description stole all the suspense. Of course, there were well written sections - the descriptions of the horrors of the house were a highlight - but it was unnecessary to keep describing everyone's appearance, or eyes, or detailing some minutiae of their past which never turned out to be relevant. The entire thing needed tightening up, sharpening into something that packed a punch.

I don't want to give too much away about the plot, but it starts slowly, and even once it gets going there are semi-regular flashback scenes which are entirely unnecessary and quite distracting. For the most part, the plot was predictable - and where it wasn't, it almost felt like wasted potential to do something more exciting. There wasn't a single twist that shocked me. In fact, for a horror novel, the plot left me singularly un-horrified. I rarely even felt uncomfortable. For some people, the slow build and simple plot will probably work - but I wanted a bit more shock and suspense.

Overall, this was not the book for me. I hope that this finds its audience, but I am not it.

This book has an expected release date for September 2020, and while looking at the cover and reading the synopsis, it definitely is the perfect book to be released in time for October and spooky season. But unfortunately, all of the appeal and intrigue that this book held and promised ended at the eerie looking cover and sinister sounding synopsis.

This could have been a pretty great horror novel, but unfortunately, it just didn’t work for me. Between the characters, the less than enthusiastic and certainly not gripping, beginning, and the writing itself, this book never fully took off for me or had me completely engaged or invested. It took so long for things to pick up and start to actually get interesting.

I wanted to love this book, and there are definitely some creepy and fascinating parts in it, but the beginning of the story was quite slow, and admittedly, just plain boring, and took what felt like forever to get to the meat of the story. The beginning lacked so much, that I almost nearly DNFed this book, because I just wasn’t feeling it.

There are strange flashbacks in the story, that I just didn’t quite get, as I don’t see how they related to the story at all. They were definitely unnecessary, in my opinion, and could certainly be taken out of the story and it wouldn't be changing or messing anything up.

There were definitely some cool and creepy passages when the characters are finally in the house, but it just took way too long to get there, and I wasn’t invested enough even when there were things that piqued my interest.

I’m very disappointed, and overall, this was a story that never managed to hook me.

I’ve seen a lot of other reviews where people loved this book, so I guess it was one that just didn’t work for me personally. If you are a fan of horror novels and Stephen King, you may end up loving it. I just can’t say the same unfortunately.

I wanted to like this book more than I did. I thought for the story it was too long. The characters were well written, and the story began with a terrifying and unexplainable event. Scarlett Vantassel has come home after dropping out of school. Wanting to make a last horror film review as a vlogger, instead she sees and feels strange vibes as it turns out a large, Gothic looking house has fallen out of the sky and landed in town. The story is about Scarlett and her friends as they try to figure out why the house is there and what is so very wrong with it. About 60% through the book I started skipping ahead to get to the end. I kept wondering if this was a YA book, as it seemed to read that way. I did enjoy the friendship camaraderie between the foursome (five if you count The Magician). They were mostly all so darn cheerful during their experience. A positive attitude is a great attribute, but some of the kids’ emotions seemed incongruent to what was happening in the book. I just couldn’t quite suspend belief enough to thoroughly enjoy this book. The book has potential, and I think there’s an audience that will really like this story, it just wasn’t attention-grabbing enough for me. Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers for an ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

I really wanted to enjoy this one! The description sounded like it would be right up my alley, but it really didn’t do it for me. The dialogue between the characters was a bit immature for me, and the characters (most) are supposed to be in their twenties. It made for some cringe worthy content.

The idea of the book was well thought out and the descriptions were great. I could very easily picture the town and the house.

I would read another book by this author, however I can not recommend this book as it wasn’t for me personally.

This was an interesting premise for a story?! It was interesting and intriguing....but a bit strange at the same time!

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for this arc. Even though horror isn’t a big genre, I’m a massive Stephen King and Joe Hill fan, and is something I want to read more of, so I when I saw this absolutely gorgeous cover I was immediately hooked. My interest was piqued seeing comparisons to Shirley Jackson. However upon reading this I wasn’t completely blown away unfortunately, although I appreciate the efforts of the author trying to do something different.
This follows Scarlett, a horror reviewer on YouTube. In the middle of the night she hears a loud screeching noise that has her bones on edge and a loud noise like a crater has fallen. A house has dropped from the sky. The house gets bought by a corporation and hosts a lottery daring people to go inside. Scarlett’s friend, Hannah, is grieving the loss of her parent and in an attempt to learn more about the afterlife (which she’s convinced the house is connected to) she enters the house. Scarlett and her friends go into the house, too, to save Hannah, and thus begins the nightmare...
Overall this was a fun and a spooky book, but at times the writing style bordered on science fiction with the house falling like a meteorite. Also part of the problem for me was that the author can’t write women well. In the opening chapters I was put off with a page long physical description about Scarlett and how she “wasn’t like the girls on Sports Illustrated and how flat her chest was”. I struggled to connect with the writing. Furthermore this book is over 500 pages long, and it took me ages to make any progress. With better editing, and cuts this could’ve been a better and more tighter book. 2/5.

Please note this is a 3.5.

This book has a lot of positives, but it does take a long time to get started. I absolutely loved the Lovecraftian horror that feeds through this book, with some marvellous eldritch descriptions and twisted concepts that give an incredibly punchy sense of darkness. The story was fantastic, and there are a lot of threads that are picked up and put together to form a sense of mystery and suspense that culminate in some absolutely delicious twists.

However, it did have some drawbacks. The characterisation leaves a bit to be desired, and I was a little disappointed that I didn't connect with especially the main character as well as I could have. A little bit more humanisation would go a long way to making them just that little bit easier to understand and appreciate. With that being said, the ending was incredible, and it carried with it a sense of unease that is sure to leave even the most horror-keen reader uneasy.