When I finally realized who author James Dashner is, having never seen the "Maze Runner" books or movies, it only seemed logical to order this novel. After all, I have lived in the 'Deep South" for 42 years, my oldest daughter lives in South Carolina (the setting for this tale), and I love to read books of this genre. Unfortunately after I ordered and received it my health took a turn for the worse and I had to deal with my own silent killer. After managing to defeat this real-life threat I was determined to catch up on all (or at least most) of my missed opportunities.

Confucius said "no matter where you go there you are". What he meant was 'if you don't like yourself, or you haven't made peace with yourself for things that you did in the past, you will be dealing with that baggage forever'. That appears to be one of the messages conveyed in "The House of Tongues". The back and forth of dueling timelines compares the actions of a teenager with who he became as a widower with four children. His frightening and gruesome past lingers until he is forced to confront it once again as a grown parent.

The premise of this story began about two hundred years ago when those who were persecuted for their religious preferences in Europe chose to escape to the "New World" in order to safely practice their chosen religion. However, the 'law of unintended consequences' reared its ugly head in Colonial America and the Puritans and Quakers began their own battles over religious choice. The big conflict in Europe took place beween the Catholics and Protestants and the prevailing religion in each country depended on the politics at that time.

James Dashner takes this thread and weaves a horrible blanket of bloody retribution set in a small town in South Carolina. He combines various themes in order to tell both a 'coming of age' story with dark and gruesome horror to the strength and resilience of the human spirit when faced with insurmountable and unimaginable dangers. The lack of pertinent information keeps the reader constantly evaluating and changing their perceptions for logic doesn't play a big part of this tale. And that may be part of the author's intent -- to keep you guessing.

While Mr. Dashner's story piqued my interest once I got onboard, I found that his transitions between the two timelines didn't go far enough to define the personalities/characteristics of the main characters as they aged. If the chapter titles didn't reflect which time period the author was writing about I would have been confused. The fact that all the main characters survived to the end of the tale and that their personalities and actions also remained constant seemed a bit unrealistic. The constant and continued statements of love among the families was a bit overstated and I would have liked to have seen our hero "develop a pair" with maturity. In today's day and age the ability to protect yourself and your family is a highly regarded and respected constitutional right.

I love horror stories, especially ones that are related to a realistic psychological struggle. Multiple generations span this gripping tale of a serial killed and his hold on a victim who escaped as a child, grew up to become a father of four, and now struggles to keep his own children safe. The multiple timelines instead of being challenging keep the pace taunt and tense. It puts an entirely new flavor and twist on the concept of curses, especially generational ones. I found all the characters to be well fleshed out, believable, and mostly likable and the story to be clever, rich in details, and perfectly paced.

If that author sounds familiar, he wrote the very popular Maze Runner series. I am very shocked that this book has so few reviews on Goodreads considering his popularity! This book is adult horror which is definitely a change from the YA dystopian series he wrote before. I was SO into this book right from the start. The writing was remarkably similar to Stephen King’s- so much so that I kept thinking I was still reading Stephen King after charging right into this book after finishing one of King’s immediately before. There is a strong southern atmosphere here, with swamps and humidity and fried chicken and I loved this aspect. The story switches between present day and 30 years prior, both timelines from the point of view of David, telling his encounters with a serial killer. Content warning, this one is rather gory.

This was definitely a slower book. There’s lots of details concerning the characters back stories which makes you more invested I think. I do think it could’ve been shorter but overall it was great serial killer horrr!!

A strange dark book. Definitely for older readers. More horror than the fantasy dystopian I'm used to in his books.

When I say that this book scared me I mean it SCARED me yet I was unable to let it go! It's that good! I started reading this book like at 4 in the morning (BIG MISTAKE) and finished at 6 in the morning flipping or should swiping cause I was using my kindle, like no tomorrow! Another thing is there is a lot of back of forth between the past and present and normally that is something I can't stand if not done well but James did an AMAZING job with that! It never dragged, it never felt repetitive and more importantly, it wasn't something I dreaded cause some books do make you dread those scenes but it didn't feel like that in this one! Anyway, if you are into dark, creepy, and spine-chilling stories then definitely read this book!

Thank You Riverdale Avenue Books for the book!

David Player and his 4 kids take their annual trip to his parents home. They are eating dinner when they heard the doorbell. They thought it would be a late aunt. A stranger is at the door. He is shaking so they let him in to see if he is okay. The stranger was so upset that when asked if he was okay, he spoke so badly they couldn’t understand him. Then the stranger was choking on his tongue. Who is this stranger? The bizarre events turned David’s life upside down causing him to remember things he had forgotten. Now David must confront an evil so that can save his loved ones.

The author has gone beyond my expectations for this horror novel. The many mysteries and the unusual plot chilled me to my bones. The hair raising scares were excellent — it did scare me so that I even got goose bumps. It’s a horror novelI won’t forget. I hope the author will write more horror novels.

Read this if you like: Twists, past and present timelines, true crime tied into fiction

David Player has spent 30 years trying to forget the traumas of his childhood. The threats, the kidnappings, the murders. He has imagined curses of a people born centuries earlier, passed from father to son, mother to daughter, generation to generation. Its climax came in human form, a monster of a man, one of the most notorious serial killers the nation has ever seen: Pee Wee Gaskins. Gaskins had a particular hatred for the Player family, then for David, himself, who barely escaped those years with his own life intact.

Now David is back, his four children in tow, visiting his parents' home, a place he has learned to cherish despite the evils that haunted his younger days. No sooner does he return than a stranger visits their doorstep, the son of Pee Wee Gaskins. In a terrifying display, right in front of the kids, the man utters threats until he chokes on his own tongue, sparking a series of events that drag David and his family back into the days of curses and murders, onto a path of unimaginable terror, all too familiar.

This book was very interesting to me. Some of the formatting was weird, like having parts within the chapters. I liked that it reads as if the narrator is talking directly to us and telling a story. That's very different. It's very suspenseful and intriguing but too wordy for me. It needed to be cut down quite a bit. I also didn't know that Pee Wee Gaskins was a real serial killer. I'm wondering how close the story is to the real life killer. I did overall enjoy reading this story.

Thank you so much to NetGalley, the author, and Riverdale Avenue Books for the gifted copy! ❤️

This creepy novel spans a period of thirty years and effectively reveals its horrifying secrets a little at a time. The story swings between events that happened to our protagonist, David, as a teen and how those events come back to roost as an adult.

There are beheadings, dead bodies found throughout a swamp, and plenty of psychological horrors that will get your goosebumps rising. A huge twist near the end changes the game in ways you can't fathom and you'll be turning pages as quickly as possible to find out what it ultimately means as the past meets the present for a terrifying conclusion. I highly recommend it!

I really wanted to enjoy this story more than I could, and I really did enjoy a lot about the storyline and its pacing, Unfortunately for me, I am too much of a true crime enthusiast that I am all too aware of the real life Peewee Gaskins, and his many horrible crimes. I could not get past the fact that one of the main characters was not only Peewee himself, but also his son?

Quite a shame, because otherwise I feel I would've been fully invested in the overall story.

2.5/5

A man who fights against the secrets of his past, of family, of loyalty and vengeance, of fathers and sons, of memories hidden and vivid.
Set in the murky flood waters, of swamps and plastic bags.
At first, the book was reminiscent of King (in a good way!) but the story came truly into its own.

4.25 stars

First of all I loved the Maze Runner series, and that was my reason for requesting this book. I went in blind, not knowing at all what to expect. This is a great horror book. Much darker than I expected. I loved the duel timelines and the unexpected (to me) twist.

Darker read than usual from Dashner. Longer story with a surprising ending. The creepy factor is high with this one.

In The House of Tongues, Maze Runner author James Dashner brings us a gruesome horror story for adults.

And it is definitely a dark tale. Told in two timelines, Dashner weaves a tale of a small town beset by horrific murders and a twisted family legacy that continues to haunt it.

I did find myself primarily interested in the more current timeline, but the older was relevant and definitely served to add to both the atmosphere and the horror of the book. I was deeply invested in our current little family and was hoping against hope that they would all survive.

The surprise…wasn’t a surprise. I won’t say more than that – just that it was anticlimactic for me.

However, I did enjoy the book. The author brought me firmly into his world and didn’t let me go until the end!

• ARC via Publisher

I am still not entirely sure what I thought of this one. On one hand, I enjoyed the creepiness and the haunts. On the other hand, I disliked the ending but not enough to hate the book as a whole. So, I think four stars is good. It's gripping and a fast read, but I do not think it's the best read.

An incredible read about family pacts and secrets. David knew something terrible happened when he was younger but his mind kept him from remembering what had happened. When his son goes missing, David begins to realize that the secrets are beginning to unravel. The past and the present begin to collide as David discovers the secret that his family has been involved in for hundreds of years. It comes down to what David will do in order to stop “the curse”. This novel was spellbinding as well as horror filled. Just perfect for those who like to read occult and supernatural.

It is my first time I am reading a book by James Dashner. I had high hopes with the book, The House of Tongues. Although, the plot opens up with a strong narrative of death and madness. The story slowly moves itself upwards with some interesting characters. But, when I reached halfway it seemed like some things were unnecessarily injected which failed to hold my interest in the book. Although, the climax was like one of the psychopath movies, but by that time I lost interest. May be the book was not for me.

I would like to give the book 3 stars. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me an opportunity to read and review the book.

This book is VERY wordy. Half the time I forgot what I was reading before I finished a sentence. It seemed unedited if that makes sense. The plot/overall story wasn't bad; it just tool way too long to get there.

TW: Murder, gory scenes, child death, toxic relationships

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:David Player has spent 30 years trying to forget the traumas of his childhood. The threats, the kidnappings, the murders. The imagined curses of a people born centuries earlier, passed from father to son, mother to daughter, generation to generation. Its climax came in human form, a monster of a man, one of the most notorious serial killers the nation has ever seen: Pee Wee Gaskins. And Gaskins had a particular hatred for the Player family, then for David, himself, who barely escaped those years with his own life intact.Now David is back, his four children in tow, visiting his parents' home, a place he has learned to cherish despite the evils that haunted his younger days. But no sooner does he return than a stranger visits their doorstep, the son of Pee Wee Gaskins. In a terrifying display, right in front of the kids, the man utters threats until he chokes on his own tongue, sparking a series of events that drag David and his family back into the days of curses and murders, onto a path of unimaginable terror, all too familiar.That path leads to an old gothic tower in the woods, a place David had blocked from his memory, a house of horrors both past and present. The House of Tongues.
Release Date: 10/29/2021
Genre: Horror
Pages: 301
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ (3. 5)

What I Liked:
• This book is creepy
• Keeps you on your toes
• The writing is really good

What I Didn't Like:
• Some parts kind of dragged
• The newspaper lady
• The ending
• The author was gulity of sexual harassment

Overall Thoughts: This book creeped me out so much. The story is written in a way I felt was easy to follow the plot and go with the characters as they learn and find out stuff.

Usually I have issues with teens in books but these teens were pretty okay.

I am shocked that the dude who The Maze Runner could pull this out of his brain. I am impressed!

It is a little weird how okay this town seems about a murderer running around and murdering people. There is an episode of Married With Children about a killer that bumps off tourist in the motel and the people are okay with. That's what this reminds me of.

There's even a cop killed outside the house and they just play Monopoly inside like it's nothing. It's ridiculous.

Final Thoughts: If you like My Bloody Valentine or The Town That Dreaded Sundown you should read this. There were seriously moments where I was freaked out.

The House of Tongues is a book you read with all the lights on! And even then you may not be able to sleep afterward! David and his friend Andrea witness a terrible murder when they are teenagers and it changes their lives. When David returns to his hometown years later with his own children the past seems come back to haunt him again. Dark, creepy, the kind of book that stays with you long after it's read.