2.5 stars. Good haunted house elements. I love haunted house stories. And the cover art is fantastic. But the toxic masculinity satire along with the excessive gory seepage made this a chore to get through. Poor character development and this story is a bit too long. I found one of the Hank closet comments in the acknowledgment a disappointment and likely won’t read any more Cutter books. Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC

Trent is going through some stuff. His career in law is over thanks to “the incident” and his wife is now sole wage earner. Her law career is only going up. Now, the family has moved into a secluded, unfinished development. Trent is trying to reclaim some of his pride so he decides to learn to fix his troubled home on his own. This is where he finds The Handyman Method, a video series of toxic masculinity and home improvement. You can see Trent, and the rest of his family, falling into the strange new life they are living.

The Handyman Method reminded me of books by King and Bentley Little. It’s a disturbing dive into a man’s conflict with his own failure and how he deflects the blame on everything around him. I appreciated that there was some depth given to Trent’s wife, but it wasn’t quite enough for me. She had every reason to feel everything she feels. His son is taking all of the uprooting and changes more in stride than should even be expected. Even with his disturbing behavior.

I left disturbed and uncomfortable. I think that was the point. We’ve seen a resurgence of acceptance for the toxic masculinity and violence that is portrayed in this novel. I found it to be released at a perfect time.

I loved The Troop so was excited to read this even though I'm not always a fan of horror. It did live up to it's hype as it gripped me by the throat immediately! Trent, Rita, and young son Milo have just bought a house that is supposed to be fabulous. But from the beginning, we can tell something is "off" as it's not all the agent spoke of and there are odd things happening. Trent begins "fixing" it and follows Hank the Handyman on his video series, Milo explores but finds odd creatures in the woods, and Rita senses something is wrong (which becomes an understatement as the book progresses)! It's creepy, dark, and foreboding, but yes, it's fun as it's so outlandish that you can't stop reading!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

After Trent Saban is laid off from his job, he and his family decide to move to a new home, the first – and thus cheapest – one built in the Dunsany Estates subdivision. Trent, his wife Rita and their son Milo are unimpressed by the dusty exterior, but the house itself proves to be gorgeous on the inside. Trent is pleased that he’s been able to secure such a good deal for his family, at least until he discovers a large crack in the wall of the master bedroom’s walk-in closet.

Never mind, he thinks, he can fix it himself easily enough without having to get the (annoying) subdivision developers involved. As any novice looking to make simple repairs does in the 21st century, he goes looking on YouTube for instructions and advice, and comes across Handyman Hank’s channel. At first, it’s all innocuous stuff about home repair, delivered by an affable host in a manner that Trent finds reassuring, if not downright soothing. But as more structural flaws begin to show in the Sabans’ home, Trent begins to grow more and more absorbed in, and influenced by, the videos:

QUOTE
Anyway, the more Trent investigated Hank’s channel–which he did a dozen or more times a day–the more he saw that Hank was presenting a how-to guide on manliness. A certain <i>kind</i> of man, who did things the Old-Fashioned Way.

<i>”Most men never use a straight razor,”</i> Hank said presently. <i>”Hell, they’d probably slit their stupid throats.”</i>

Milo was asleep, the house quiet aside from an inconstant gurgle coming through the vents. Trent was in the bathroom, his face foamed up in the mirror. His razor was from the Beard Club: $18.99 via mail-direct, including a handsome faux-leather case. The case had a loop to hang it off a belt, but really, what kind of maniac walked around with a straight razor on his belt?
END QUOTE

What kind of maniac, indeed. Soon, Trent’s obsession with fixing up the house is extending to “fixing” his life, under Hank’s toxic tutelage. Rita seems too absorbed with work to pay more than a passing attention to Trent’s growing psychosis. It’s Milo who not only discovers strange and awful things in the forest around the house but who takes the brunt of his father’s growing emotional distance and general dissatisfaction with life. It isn’t just that he can’t tell his father about the bad things he’s been seeing. He can’t even tell him about the good things, topics they’d once discussed freely and pleasantly before the move:

QUOTE
[B]ut if Milo told his dad any of that, he’d get <i>The Look</i>.

The Look was Dad’s new way of saying Milo had done something weird without putting it into words. Milo hadn’t understood what The Look meant at first, but once he made the connection it made him feel all shrivelly inside, like a Styrofoam cup tossed in a fire. Now Milo dreaded The Look, and missed being able to tell his father the things that really mattered to him.
END QUOTE

Milo’s loneliness causes him to turn to YouTube as well, as he builds impossible contraptions under the hypnotic influence of a seemingly harmless kid’s presenter. With the men in her family falling under a seductive spell, will Rita be able to wake up to what’s going on and save them all from certain doom?

I don’t think I’ve ever read another horror novel where the chosen one hero basically says “to hell with this” and does the right thing regardless of the devastating consequences, at least not in the same way depicted in The Handyman Method. Nick Cutter and Andrew F Sullivan convincingly dismantle an outdated notion of duty in a book that combines brutal satire with page-turning suspense. I was deeply impressed by the panache with which the authors pursued that narrative choice, on top of their also excellent interrogations of toxic masculinity, generational trauma, and the harmful expressions of private shame. This is not a book for the faint of heart or weak of stomach, but it is a hilarious, smart and surprisingly thoughtful horror novel about what it means to be a modern family.

Trent Saban is recently unemployed and when he moves into a new home with his family, he decides to take up DIY home renovations to occupy with time. This leads him to get really invested in a Youtube channel called The Handyman Method, and, all in the meanwhile, his young son becomes obsessed with a children’s show called Little Boy Blue.

However, as time goes on, the videos they watch become increasingly personal and disturbing—leading them to question their reality.

Conceptually, the premise for The Handyman Method by Nick Cutter and Andrew Sullivan sounded super trippy and meta and reminded me of the classic unfiction series Alantutorial or the movie Await Further Instructions. It sounded right up my alley and I wanted to love it so badly, but it left me with mixed feelings.

What really grated me is how insufferable and obnoxious being inside Trent’s head is. He’s an over-the-top macho man who constantly nags and complains about his wife. I get that he’s supposed to be a satirical stereotype, but the issue is that I feel for the story’s particular ending to work, it requires for readers to root for characters that they’ve been built up to hate.

I was in it more for the absurdity of the situation unfold. That’s really what redeemed the book for me. It’s a delicious decent into madness and I loved how off-the-rails unhinged and surreal the story got. I mean, this book gets BONKERS in the best possible way and manages to deliver some of the most stomach-churning nightmare fuel that I’ve read in a while, and for that, I’ll give it 3.5 stars rounded up.

The Handyman Method is a recently released Domestic Horror tale that left me scratching my head. Not necessarily because of the content, it never lost me, but because I don't know how to express how I feel about it. Even days later, I can't put into words what about this didn't appeal to me. It's a good book, yeah, but in spite of its positives, I wasn't feeling it at all.

This story follows a young family, husband, Trent, wife, Rita and son, Milo, who are moving into a new home. The home itself is in an unfinished subdivision and it seems they are the first to the neighborhood. Their move-in day is a little odd. You can already tell something is potentially off with this family. The husband in particular is giving off a vibe that resembles Jack Torrance after weeks at The Overlook.

He seems unhinged is what I'm trying to tell you.

After Trent finds a flaw in the wall of his wife's closet, he cannot rest until he fixes it. In order to do so he does what many of us do. He turns to YouTube. He finds the channel of Handyman Hank, who is more than happy to guide Trent on his wall patch project, as well as many other things.

Meanwhile, Milo is having interesting experiences of his own at the new property. Some more traumatizing than others. Prepare yourself for some action with his pet turtle...

I don't know what else to say about this without giving plot points away, so let's just end the summary portion there. Now let's get into the dirt.

First, I was struck by how similar the family dynamic resembled The Shining. Trent's character especially seemed like he was Jack's less likable cousin. Even down to him losing his job due to an incident at work, the truth of which unfolds for us over the course of the story.

Milo as well felt very Danny, but actually I have no clue how old Milo actually was. To me, he could have been anywhere from 5, all the way to like 13. Honestly, I have no clue. The Mom, Rita, was odd, but she didn't really impact me one way or another until the end.

I think I did this book a disservice actually by picking it up directly after I had read The Shining. It was literally the next book, so that was all front and center in my brain. Therefore, I couldn't help but see comparisons around every turn in this story, and not in a good way. If I'm being honest, that did impact my experience with this book.

As far as the rest of it goes, it didn't do anything for me. It didn't do anything wrong either, I just wasn't feeling anything from the characters, or any atmosphere, or sense of place. It all felt very flat. There was certainly plenty going on, as far as action and progression, but I just didn't care. I know so many people are going to love this. I've read some of the reviews and their experiences with it sound incredible.

I wish the same could have happened for me.

I'm glad I gave this one a shot. It had an intriguing premise overall. I just wish I could have connected more with the characters and plot. As I've said before though, just because this one didn't work for me, doesn't mean it won't work for you. I definitely feel like I am in the minority opinion at this point, so please check out all the other great reviews for this book.

If the synopsis sounds interesting to you, it's absolutely worth picking up. You could find a new favorite and then, feel free to come back and tell me how wrong I am!

Thank you to the publisher, Gallery / Saga Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I'm sad this was a miss for me, but I look forward to picking up more from both of these authors in the future!!

Strange strange strange. Did I mention this book is strange?

Living in a newly built home that you're the first owners of shouldn't need as many repairs as this house does. About halfway through this book, I told my husband I never want to buy a brand new build because of this book. By the time I got to the end, I was happy to have the weirdness sorted.

Recommended for those who like mystery, suspense, and supernatural.

Truncated review excerpt from the Fictions & Fandoms 'First 100 Pages' feature:

THE HANDYMAN METHOD was pitched to me as a horror story about home renovation, online radicalization, and dangerous family secrets—all set in a haunted house.

I’m a new-ish homeowner reluctantly embroiled in endless DIY projects, with a keen interest in how online spaces and (dis)information silos affect the populace. And I love supernatural horror that skewers real world insecurities. Which is to say I was “all in” for this novel.

Unfortunately, Cutter and Sullivan’s collaboration quickly alienated me. There’s a certain kind of horror I’ve never connected with—stories soaked in a brand of meanness, a deeply cynical distain for almost everyone who inhabits them. THE HANDYMAN METHOD falls into that category for me.

An early review referred to this novel as “ferociously funny”. I didn’t spy a single amusing moment in what I read. I wouldn’t have thought there was even an attempt at humor. I’m guessing that reviewer and I have exceptionally different perceptions of what is or isn’t funny.

I suspect horror readers who enjoy an angrier, unerringly direct delivery will find something to like here. Audiences seeking hard-hitting critique of modern masculinity and passive indoctrination will discover plenty of meat here, too.

Personally, I prefer my horror with a bit more subtlety, and characters to care about. I’m chalking this up as a case of being the wrong reader for the novel. THE HANDYMAN METHOD is competently written, with some strong turn of phrase and twisted, creepy worldbuilding. It’s just not the kind of story I want to spend my time with.

This book was such a fun and spooky romp through the Haunted House trope.

I have been a longtime fan of Nick Cutter ever since I read his book, The Troop. I find that he is supremely talented when it comes to creating a sense of dread that helps carry the entire story, and this book is no exception. I loved how unsettled I felt the entire time reading it!

Highly recommend for horror fans!

The Handyman Method is a collaboration between Nick Cutter and Andrew F. Sullivan that started as a short story and eventually expanded to a full length novel, one piece at a time. It tells that story of the Saban family, Trent, Rita, and their son Milo, who move into their dream home, only to find nothing but problems. Trent’s personality radically starts to change as soon as they move in after he finds a crack in the drywall closet and decides to fix it himself. He is angry at the housebuilder, but with the help of a handyman channel on YouTube, the job should be fairly easy. It does not take long for his home improvements to become an obsession, his trips to the Home Depot to become a daily occurrence, and Trent turns into a chauvinistic, insufferable prick. This structure and story reminds me so much of The Shining, where a husband, wife, and son are in a building that has wide influence on the father, to the point where the father loses sight of the person he is supposed to be. Trent’s transformation is much more severe than Jack Torrence’s but Rita has an option that Wendy did not have. She can leave. The novel progresses and the situation grows worse and worse, until the only thing that can happen is for Trent to fight the house.

I loved a large majority of this novel. Even though Trent does things that made me very uncomfortable while reading them, I know that this is him compensating for the insecurities that he feels, that way that he makes mistakes throughout his whole life, and that the house is exploiting these feelings. Trent is purposefully written as a horrible person doing horrible things, and even though we do not necessarily like Trent at all through this novel, Cutter and Sullivan construct a family that we want to survive this house.

This is sort of a haunted house novel, but the house really psychologically manipulating Trent instead of trying to scare him. Everything that it does to him is upfront and bold. Whether it be a crack in the wall, a leaky outside faucet, or the house sinking and the roof caving in, the house uses it’s forces to draw Trent obsession with home improvements into a mixture of male ego accomplishment and utter destruction beyond Trent’s abilities to fix, thus turning Trent into an increasingly belligerent person. The house does some very weird things, and I liked that the battle between the house and Trent turns into a war.

I enjoyed The Handyman Method much more than I have enjoyed many books I have recently read. However this is one of those rare books that I could have used a bigger information dump in the final quarter to really understand the history behind what was happening. The ambiguity does work, but I would have loved to have a little more a history lesson. Other than that, this is a very good, psychologically frightening novel. If Nick Cutter and Andrew F Sullivan decide to write another novel together, I will be excited to read it.

I received this as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

As someone who is a huge Nick Cutter fan, I was both incredibly excited and nervous to read this book. I love the way Nick Cutter describes horror (especially body horror) and this book was FULL of his writing style. But you can definitely also tell that Andrew Sullivan played a part in this book with the awesome idea for the plot. Overall it’s a great kind of ‘haunted house’ tale. Surprisingly for how short the book is I felt like it dragged a little in the last 50%. But overall if you love Nick Cutter’s writing style or a paranormal/haunted house with dashes of generational trauma then definitely worth a read!! I will be buying a physical copy when it comes out!

What the heck did I just read. Really. I binged this in about two days and it had some awesome traditional horror/possession elements. But I am still not entirely sure what happened. It played out in my mind like a movie and I kind of went along for the ride expecting everything to be explained at some point. It was a very unique and truly bizarre concept. The horror imagery - gore - strange gross unexplainable things- were all fantastic.

The big twist was awesome. I think I would love to have seen that fleshed out a little more (see what I did there).

I got a 90s vibe from the YouTube handyman who essentially began to control the MC. It was delightfully uncomfortable although a bit chaotic.

Lots of triggers and toxic masculinity.

True Nick Cutter fashion leaving me gasping for air. This book had me truly squirming in my seat. I love his writing and the descriptive ways he gives you the ick.

A bit anticlimactic at the end, but had the tell-tale Nick Cutter gore. I haven't been drawn into a book like this in a while. I just loooove how Cutter describes things and was happy his voice still carried through. Definitely want to check out more stuff by Sullivan now too!!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I seem to be in the minority of reviewers but this didn't work for me. The "DIY haunted house" angle was cool, but it was pretty on the nose and I found the characters tiresome.

This comment isn't book specific, but I've seen a few novels coming out with a YouTube-video horror component (Mona Awad's "Rouge" is an example pulling from BeautyTuber culture). I wonder if this is a new literary trend in the making?

**Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the eARC of this frightening title!!**

This is my first book by Nick Cutter but will definitely not be my last. With summer dragging on and spooky season seeming so far away, this was a perfect read for me at the end of my mini Colorado vacation!

The Handyman Method follows the Saban family as they move into a brand new home, in a “development” with no other houses. What’s scarier than a shady HOA rep/real estate agent and a perfect house that turns out to be not so perfect??

When issues start popping up around the house, Trent Saban does a deep dive into The Handyman Method channel on YouTube. A channel that started out with three videos but suddenly has a video for all of Trent’s needs. This one was a crazy ride with a lot of creepy elements that kept piling on top of each other, along with a LOT of body horror.

I badly wanted this to be a 5 star read, but it fell just short for me due to a lack of cohesiveness. I’m not sure if it came from two contributing authors, or the fact that this started out as a short story that just kept growing, but it just wasn’t the most solid read ever.

I definitely recommend this one to anyone who likes haunted house books, supernatural elements, subliminal messaging, and body horror!!

! When Trent and his family move into their new home, he expects perfection, but a crack in the closet sets off a chain of unsettling events. While on leave from work, Trent becomes obsessed with fixing it, following the guidance of a YouTuber named Handyman Hank. Little does he know that his son, Milo, is experiencing a similar fascination with his own YouTube channel, "Little Boy Blue." As they both delve deeper into the world of online videos, their behavior becomes increasingly erratic and concerning to those around them.

I must admit, going into this book blindly was a thrilling experience, as the horror elements took me by surprise. The use of technology as a sinister force invading the family's home was truly ingenious, especially in a world where we all rely so heavily on digital platforms. The portrayal of Handyman Hank's toxic masculinity added another layer of horror, evoking a mix of terror and dark humor.

The narrative primarily follows Trent's perspective, but occasional insights from Milo and Rita provided a well-rounded understanding of how each family member was affected by the unsettling occurrences in their house. The story built up with great suspense, leading to an unexpected twist that had me on edge. However, I must admit that the ending felt slightly underwhelming after such a gripping buildup.

The Handyman Method is about a man who moves into a new build home with his wife and son. It seems perfect…at first. Then, it quickly becomes unsettling as the man’s sanity is tested as more and more things go wrong with his new home and it is clear there is much more to the story. Something sinister is at play.

There were a few times while reading this that I paused and was like “wtf am I reading right now??” This had some really great horror moments and truly unsettling descriptions. I enjoyed how unique and strange it was. However, it became redundant at times and could have been edited down a bit. I could only read about toxic masculinity Hank and various fixer upper projects for so long before it became a bit too repetitive for my taste and lost some of its impact.

I do think fans of authors like Stephen King and Grady Hendrix may find this one fun. I didn’t mind the darker and gory aspects and I appreciated some moments and concepts of the story that were interesting from a horror perspective. The descriptions were terrifying and vivid and the body horror for sure had me clenching my kindle a bit. If you can’t handle vulgar talk then maybe pass on it, because it’s in there.

I think I am still processing it all…What a wild and strange story. Overall, it was fun!

Thank you Libra.fm and Simon and Schuyler for the ALC and Gallery/Saga Press for the ARC!

When Trent moves his family into a newly constructed home in development, he is furious to see a crack in the wall of the closet. The development is unfinished, but he expects his house to be perfect. Since he’s currently on leave from work, he decides to fix it himself. Lucky for him, he finds a YouTuber called Handyman Hank to walk him through the process of fixing it. Unknown to him, his son Milo is also having a similar experience with his Little Boy Blue YouTube channel. As the days go by, each delves deeper into their YouTube, leaving everyone around Trent to think he’s completely lost it, as he’s getting angrier and talking crazy. What exactly is going in this house?!

What a dark and twisted story! My favorite kind LOL. I went into this book pretty much blind, not knowing anything besides it was a horror story. I was not expecting the turns it took, and the medium of technology was genius. In this day and age, almost everyone turns to technology for something or other; to use that as something sinister to infiltrate the home and family made my skin crawl! Not to mention, Handyman Hank spewed toxic masculinity, which was both horrifying and hilarious in the way it was done. Told mostly from Trent’s perspective, occasional points of view from Milo and Rita rounded the story out to show how each was affected by what was going on in their house. I was not expecting the turn it took at all, and I will say that after all the build up in the story, the ending was a little less than what I was expecting. But overall, a great story! In the audio version, Corey Brill was brilliant at narrating and bringing this spooky story to life. The music was chilling and everything I love about a listening to a scary story!

“The Handyman Method” releases August 8, 2023! This review will be shared to my Instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly.

Horror meets Home Depot in this chilling read. A family moves to a new house, and quickly the father learns that the home is in need of repair and has many horrifying secrets that are very close to home. Some parts are a bit slow, but the concept is original and keeps you guessing.