House (novel)

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House is a 2006 Christian fiction horror novel co-authored by writers Frank Peretti and Ted Dekker. It loosely ties in with Dekker's Lost Books saga, via the Project Showdown trilogy.

• Tagline: The only way out is in.

[edit] Overview

The book covers the events that take place one night in a Victorian inn located in rural Alabama, where two couples and the owners, a family of three, find themselves locked inside by a homicidal maniac, who claims that he has killed God and threatens to murder them all, unless they can produce the dead body of one of their own by dawn. Things are further complicated when they enter the basement and are trapped in a maze of shifting rooms, black smoke, and betrayal. During the night they all discover the evils that lurk deep inside each of them and how it has affected them their whole lives.

[edit] Plot summary

Jack and Stephanie Singleton, a married couple struggling through the death of their daughter and on the verge of a divorce, are driving to a counseling session when they find themselves lost on a deserted road in Alabama. Taking the advice of a police officer, they head down a long dirt road, where they drive over spike strips, flattening all of their tires and stranding them. Fortunately, they are near an old Victorian house, occupied by a family of three and being used as an inn. They check in and have dinner with them, as well as another dating couple, Randy and Leslie. Things begin to go sour, however, when one of them, Pete, begins staring down Leslie, stating that he wants her as his "wife", and soon the food goes rotten.

Then, to make matters worse, the lights go out, and a homicidal maniac named Barsidious White bolts them inside of the mansion. He throws them a tin can, with a message scrawled on it, stating that he has killed God and will murder all seven of them unless they kill one of their own by dawn. The three owners, apparently familiar with this sick game, drag all of their guests into the meat locker and attempt to force them to choose which one will die. However, the two couples escape, and, against their hosts' ominous warnings, hide in the basement, compounding their problems. There, they stumble upon a little girl named Susan who, so far, is the only one to have survived the White's games and holds the key to everyone's survival, making White desperate to find her. The seven players consistently ignore Susan's advice and turn on each other as they struggle to escape the maze of the basement, which contains rooms that change suddenly, living furniture, and duplicates of themselves that bleed black smoke. Eventually, all three of the owners wind up dead, although White insists that they "don't count" and insists that they must kill one of the guests in order to escape. Susan urges them to stay together.

The four end up losing Susan, and, in their search for her, come across the police officer who directed them to the house in the first place. He leads them and attempts to search for a way out, although Jack catches onto the ruse; the officer was Barsidious White all along. White locks the guests into a room and orders them to meet his demands. They discover a tunnel leading out of the room, however, upon their exit, Randy finally breaks down and stabs Leslie to death. Meanwhile, Jack and Stephanie meet White and Susan at the end of the tunnel. Randy interrupts the confrontation, announcing his victory, only to be shot by White and killed. White then attempts to kill the last two surviving players, but Susan takes the bullet for them and dies. This sacrifice inspires Jack and Stephanie to cry out to the "Son of Man" for mercy and forgiveness. A mysterious energy explodes from Susan's blood and kills White, thus ending the game. The police arrive in the morning and discover the bodies of Randy and Leslie, but cannot find the bodies of the three owners, White, or Susan. Stephanie and Jack then see Susan, alive and smiling at them.

[edit] Quotes

Message on the tin can:

           Welcome To My House.
               House Rules:
   1. God came into my house and I killed him.
   2. I will kill anyone who comes to my house 
            like I killed God.
   3. Bring me one dead body and I might let
              rule #2 slide.

  "Most people are quite dense. They like little white houses with big stained-glassed churches 
   and prefer to do their killing with looks and words behind one another's backs.
   Welcome to my house. No secrets allowed. Here we all do our killing with guns and axes and knives. 
   It's more bloody than what most people are accustomed to, yes, but it's far less brutal." 
            - Barsidious White
       
  

[edit] Film

A film adaption of the novel is currently in post-production and was scheduled for release October 22nd, 2007^[1]. But it has been postponed until sometime in 2008. It currently has been MPAA rated R for some violence and terror, though it has a pending appeal. It will be the third film based on a Frank Peretti novel, and the second based on a Ted Dekker novel.

[edit] References

1. ^ Books Of History - Heroes Wanted

[edit] External links

• BookCritique.org Review
• TedDekker.com Listing