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Foreclosure Gothic by Harris Lahti is never a really straightforward story in that there is no real central conflict and denouement. It is described by the publisher as “deeply autobiographical” which I could definitely feel. Rather than massive catastrophes, the characters experience small breaks that never really get set but are managed through makeshift splints with generational repercussions. Lahti’s writing is eerie and unsettling from the get-go, it was difficult to not try and puzzle out what sort of dark turn was going to happen and when. It turned out the whole novel was a series of rooms with dark endings. Some are just skimming the surface like a silent dinner suddenly punctuated by a mostly mute’s son bewildering inquiry, others straight into the depths of human darkness like the discovery of some photos in one of the Greer family’s acquired properties.

For such a brief novel Lahti packs so much into Foreclosure Gothic but it never feels over the top or too sprawling. From the beginning when we meet Vic and Heather, their romance feels similar to Pete and Alice’s in David Lynch’s Lost Highway. It’s just as cinematically sensual here but not as dangerous. There is some commentary throughout about the son’s distaste for his father’s business in flipping houses. Vic (the father) explains it best when he says, “this business capitalizes on destruction and repair.” In Foreclosure Gothic the family gives their lives to the latter and is not spared from the former.

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I struggled hard reading this book. The premise was intriguing, but the actual story was lacking for me. I expected this to read more like a horror book but found it read more like general/literary fiction. When the horror and creepiness started amp up, it soon fizzled out fast.

Thank you NetGalley for the early access to this novel.

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What a strange little A24 movie of a book.

If you, like me, are a weirdo who enjoys ominous, unsettling horror-adjacent stories, thick with humidity and Picnic At Hanging Rock-style questioning reality, you’ll probably like this, too.

Vic Greener meets Heather as he prepares for a guest role on Days of Our Lives as a sociopathic doctor. Their chemistry is immediate. They fall in love, Heather quickly becomes pregnant, and they move back to the Hudson Valley to be closer to family. As a source of income, Vic finds himself drawn to getting into the house-flipping boom of the late ‘90s and 2000s. What is intended to be a temporary source of income becomes a lifetime career, and a lifetime career begets opportunities to view sinister and strange people as Vic explores foreclosure after foreclosure.

This is a really aptly-titled book: gothic in the sense that on the surface, it is just a biography of a man’s life. The underlying unsettling possibilities and psychologically upsetting moments within are what you choose to make of them. There’s no overt horror here, no jump scares or slashers. Instead, there’s the creeping dread of knowing that something not quite right might be lurking around any corner, influencing your life in ways you might not see coming.

Foreclosure Gothic won’t be for everyone, but its wit and unique subject matter made it a really interesting, satisfyingly spooky early summer read for me. Lahti’s prose is hypnotic, and weaves a viscerally palpable atmosphere where in moments, I swore I could feel the humid sheen of a Hudson Valley summer lingering on my skin.

Thank you so much to Harris Lahti and Astra House for the e-arc.

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strange, wild, and interesting. at time the overall buildup never leads to an actual climax, but mostly it works quite well. 4 stars. tysm for the arc.

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I struggled to get into this book, The synopsis sounded so interesting and unique, but unfortunately I just couldn’t gel with the overall premise. I kept waiting for something exciting to happen but it never came. I am glad this book is a quick read because I am not I would have finished it. Th protagonist was extremely annoying and self-absorbed. I just didn’t care about him or his home life.

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"A multigenerational and deeply autobiographical Gothic tale of Hollywood dreams and upstate New York reality.

Foreclosure Gothic reimagines the American Gothic against the backdrop of today's Hudson Valley. The story tells of ex-Hollywood actor Vic Greener as he falls in love with the elusive Heather Roswell and the couple, following in the footsteps of Vic's father, resolves to make a life restoring one foreclosed home after another. Then comes the uncanny, destabilizing arrival of new tenants in their duplex, and the Greener's shocking discovery upon their departure.

With evocative and unsettling black and white photos throughout, this debut novel is at once a skewed portrait of three generations of Greener men, an intimate look at both childhood and parenthood and an examination of the friction between chasing one's dream and working to make money."

The title alone is so evocative of today's America.

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This book was very peculiar. Often times I felt as though there was no narrative structure at all--no plot there to decipher. Then I would be snapped back in with a strange occurrence, or a plot point that would reappear like a ghost of the past. The description leads me to believe that there will be more strange things happening, be it during renovation of house foreclosures or within tenants as their lives run tandem to the main family, however that wasn't exactly the case. It was very atmospheric. The title being Foreclosure Gothic was actually better as a descriptor of the book than the description was.

Taken as a whole, each chapter felt like it's own story in and of itself. The narrative structure was a bit confusing at times, walking me around in a circle more than once and rehashing information and topics I already knew, which made me question if it was the file or the way it was written that felt a bit off. I enjoyed it nonetheless for the offputting feel, the slice of life attitude, and how I questioned if these things really happened, if these people were real, or what was going on.

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i haven't read a lot in the gothic genre, but i enjoyed this one! the pace was Intense, but i wish that some of the more classically 'horror' scenes went a little bit further than they did; i think people who don't typically read horror would like this for that reason exactly. vic was absolutely insufferable (to the point where he felt like a real-life Man) and i loved the inclusion of different pictures. thanks astra & netgalley!

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Ah, gosh. I wanted to like this one, but I really just couldn't get into it.
I am still really thankful to the publisher, author, and Netgalley -- but this one just wasn't for me.

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An interesting, atmospheric, and ambitious novel. The specificity of place and time and house flipping, combined with very compelling and occasionally surreal characters, made the sense of dread develop elegantly through the different vignettes. Loved the inclusion of photos!

Almost a fable about how land, money, and constant American Dream–style home improvement can degrade the self. Thought it was great.

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Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
If you enjoy slow-burn horror with philosophical undercurrents and a touch of the surreal, Foreclosure Gothic is definitely worth the read. Harris Lahti is a new voice in gothic fiction, and I’ll be eagerly awaiting his next work. The atmospheric storytelling in Foreclosure Gothic is outstanding. Lahti paints vivid scenes of decaying houses and empty landscapes in a way that mirrors the emotional decay of the characters. The writing feels hypnotic and poetic. I do think that some readers may find the narrative frustrating, as there are some cases where it feels like horror is introduced and then never really followed up upon, but to be, it just amplified how uneased I felt. Overall, I felt like this was a bold and compelling debut and is perfect for readers who enjoy gothic fiction.

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this is such a strange and derailed narrative. I didn’t like it. There’s sections where elements of horror are introduced within the forclosed homes that the Greener patriarch is working on... with a certain build up, I was interested in the suspense that was created, but then it’s snatched away with no explanation. it drove me nuts and made reading this really annoying. This is if blue balls was a book! Plus the main storyline had me snoozing a bit… it let me down! 1.5.

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I mostly loved this book but it lacked a little when it came to the storys way of unravelling. Mostly the pace is good but sometimes it feels very rushed. Well written and the gothic elements are pure gold. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the chance to read this book.

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Thank you NetGalley for early access.

Full of peculiar pictures of an unquiet domesticity, Foreclosure Gothic is an ambitious impressionistic debut novel. Ambition, however, as it leaches off of "protagonist" Vic Greener, is equally the downfall of this sporadic tale of a single family across 30-odd years. Each chapter jumps forward in time as if all too eager to get started on the next project, thus leaving the previous work neglected. Perhaps, in time, the novel beyond the novel can show through the weeds.

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I really enjoyed the Gothic element to this story and how it uses Hollywood in a way to tell the story. I enjoyed the multi-generational element to this story and was hooked with learning about each one. The overall story worked with the genre and was glad I got to read this. Harris Lahti has a strong writing style and thought the characters were everything that I wanted.

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