House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski | Johnny Truant | Zampanò
One man’s discovery that his new family home is larger on the inside than the outside, by one inch. When a mysterious doorway appears, leading to a maze of smooth, ash-grey walls, Will Navidson – the house’s owner, a Pulitzer prize-winning photojournalist – goes in to investigate. The Navidson Record, his film of these explorations, becomes the intense focus of a blind man called Zampanò, who writes about the footage with lengthy, academic precision. When Zampanò is found dead in his apartment, troubled tattoo artist Johnny Truant discovers his notes and inherits the fixation. As Truant becomes increasingly obsessed with the story, so too does the reader.
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Review & articles
I really enjoyed it as a literary work. I agree that it might not be what you are after if you’re looking for straight up horror. There are unsettling parts, but I think the parallel stories are the most interesting. Kind of a descent into madness along two plot lines. I recommend it to folks that read a bunch just as a unique experience. Haven’t come across anything else quite like it.