Flame Tree Press Blog Tour - The Forever House

It's no secret Flame Tree Press is one of my favorite publishers of horror novels.  Looks like they've got another winner on their hands!  Thanks to the author, published and Anne Cater for the invitation to this blog tour.

TITLE: The Forever House

AUTHOR: Tim Waggoner

PUBLISHER: Flame Tree Press

PUBLISHING DATE: March 26, 2020

FROM GOODREADS: 

"Bram Stoker Award-winner Tim Waggoner consistently delivers the goods when it comes to hard-hitting horror fiction, with compelling characters and dangerous horrors at every turn." - This is Horror In Rockridge, Ohio, a sinister family moves into a sleepy cul de sac. 

The Eldreds feed on the negative emotions of humans, creating nightmarish realms within their house to entrap their prey. Neighbors are lured into the Eldreds' home and faced with challenges designed to heighten their darkest emotions so their inhuman captors can feed and feed well. If the humans are to have any hope of survival, they'll have to learn to overcome their prejudices and resentments toward one another and work together. 

But which will prove more deadly in the end, the Eldred . . . or each other? 

MY THOUGHTS: So honestly, I think I picked the perfect time to pick up The Forever House. Given the current affairs of today, it was a great way to get away from reality and immerse myself in a wonderfully horrific and gruesome tale. 

The Eldreds are moving in to a new home.  And not just any home, but one which was the scene of a terrible family slaughter a few years prior to their arrival.  And that's exactly why they've targeted it. The Eldreds are interesting beings who feed on emotions and make games out of entrapping their targets.  It's really no comparison but they kind of struck me as a twisted Addams Family.  You have  Father Hunger, the Werewife, two children, a "grandother," some metal head I'm not sure I fully ever understood, which was a good thing, and a creepy car. 

And as if that isn't enough, you also have the clueless families who are the Eldred's new neighbors in the cul-de-sac. I think Waggoner creates some of the most unlikable characters I've ever encountered.  Characters who you know exist out there in the real world, characters you really feel for, and characters you truly despise. 

This book is not for the faint of heart and Waggoner definitely has his own brand of horror.  In fact, I still don't know if I've gotten over "the pink devil" from the last book I read by him and now "metal head" will be right there keeping it company.  I also think he does a great job of portraying to the reader that it isn't always monsters you need to fear.

Needless to say, I loved every minute of this book.  Maybe that's a testament to how twisted my mind really is or perhaps it's a testament of how scary the real world is so I need to bury myself in books which are scarier.  Either way, I highly recommend this book to any fans of the horror genre. 

Thank you Mr. Waggoner for giving me some "peace" in this horrific world!

RATING: 5 Paws

ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Tim Waggoner’s first novel came out in 2001, and since then he’s published over forty novels and five collections of short stories. He writes original dark fantasy and horror, as well as media tie-ins. His novels include Like Death,
considered a modern classic in the genre, and the popular
Nekropolis series of urban fantasy novels. He’s written tie-in fiction for Supernatural, Grimm, the X-Files, Doctor Who, A Nightmare on Elm Street, Alien, and Transformers, among others, and he’s written novelizations for films such as Kingsman: the Golden Circle and Resident Evil: the Final Chapter. His articles on writing have appeared in Writer’s Digest, Writer’s Journal, Writer’s Workshop of Horror, and Where Nightmares Come From.

n 2017 he received the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction, and he’s been a finalist for the Shirley Jackson Award and the Scribe Award. His fiction has received numerous Honorable Mentions in volumes of Best Horror of the Year, and in 2016, the Horror Writers
Association honored him with the Mentor of the Year Award. In addition to writing, he’s also a full-time tenured professor who teaches creative writing and composition at Sinclair College.