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.

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.

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.

"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.

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.

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.

I really liked this book, and went into it blind. I received it as an ARC on NetGalley (thank you!).

I like the story, the style of writing, the vignettes of the characters, and the ending. It was very well done. I was very engaged all the way through and I didn’t want it to end. I’d read from this author again.

Described as an ‘autobiographical gothic tale of Hollywood dreams and upstate New York reality,’ Foreclosure Gothic marks—in my humble opinion—a strong debut for author Harris Lahti.

This is a multi-generational tale that begins with aspiring actor Vic Greener who trades his starry-eyed dreams of Hollywood acclaim for the grit of flipping foreclosed homes on the East Coast. The story follows him, his wife Heather, and eventually, their son Junior, throughout the course of their lives as actors-turned-landlords.

I initially requested this book from NetGalley with the hopes that it would be yet another creepy-kooky read to add to my growing shelf of whacky tales, but Foreclosure Gothic turned out to be so much more. In quick summation, for those looking for a decisive recommendation: this book reads like Death of a Salesman and Rosemary’s Baby’s lovechild.

With taut, yet slow-building disconcertion, and an unyielding suspicion that the protagonist is a victim of his own hubris and inability to listen—a suspicion that is routinely validated throughout the decades—Foreclosure Gothic also reads like a tragic-comedy-of-errors.

The world is bleak, the characters rationalising, rather than rational, and the outcomes of their poor decision-making fantastical, given most of us would be the subjects of a true crime docu-series were the roles reversed.

In short, I thoroughly enjoyed this book for how utterly uncomfortable it made me, and then for how grateful it made me for my brown, Muslim upbringing (my parents would have run out of every situation Vic Greener charged full speed ahead towards).

I could rattle on ad nauseum—full on literary analysis style—regarding all the ways you could appreciate this book, but I think the only sufficient way to truly appreciate it would be in conversation with others who’ve shared the experience of reading this debut wonder.

This was a really good read and I think it had a decent writing style and story! Would recommend to anyone looking for next read