Black House

by Stephen King, Peter Straub

Hardcover, 625 pages

English language

Published Sept. 22, 2001 by HarperCollins Publishers.

ISBN:: 978-0-00-710042-2
OCLC Number:: 316547794

(28 reviews)

French Landing, Wisconsin - home of Kingsland Beer, the Piggly Wiggly supermarket, Goltz's farm implements, Maxton's old folk's home and Radio WDCU, the voice of the Coulee Country. A comfortable, solid middle-American town inhabited by comfortable, solid middle-Americans - and a serial killer.

Ten-year-old Irma Freneau's mutilated body lies in the rotting ruins of Ed's Eats, Ice Cream & Dawgs in the woods close to the Black House. No one has discovered her yet; no one, that is, except for a host of flies and a wild dog. But her severed foot, complete with size 5 New Balance sneaker and an obscene note, is about to make its way home to French Landing, packed into a shoebox.

Slippage is occurring in the Coulee Country. Three children have been lost to the world. Three children: slaughtered by a fiend with a taste for child's flesh. Linking the murders with those carried out by a previous century's serial killer, the local newspaper has dubbed the perpetrator 'The Fisherman', and if local police chief Dale Gilbertson doesn't catch the Fisherman soon, he'll lose his job and another French Landing mother will lose her child.

If only Jack 'Hollywood' Sawyer - the ex-detective from LA who cracked their last case for them - would help, Dale might save his neck. But, plagued by visions of another world, Jack has retired to this pretty rural retreat at the early age of 35 precisely to avoid such horrors. And having recognized the touch of madness on this case, he has no wish to revisit the Territories whence such madness issues.

Soon, he'll have no choice, for the Fisherman is about to select his fourth victim. Tyler Marshall, left behind one afternoon by his bullying friends, pedals past Maxton Elder Care and is accosted by a crow. 'Gorg,' it caws, and 'Ty.' It bobs and winks at him. What ten-year-old could resist a bird that speaks his name? Not Ty, that's for sure. And as he follows the crow towards the old folk's home, he is grabbed by the neck and dragged into a hedge.

The Fisherman has made another catch... --front flap

23 editions

windchime reviewed Black House by Stephen King

Review of 'Black House' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I approached this book with a little reluctance, after my re-read of The Talisman last year proved less enthralling than I'd expected. I'm pleased to say that Black House, in contrast, exceeded my expectations. Perhaps that's because those expectations were lower, but all the same, I found it a much more engaging read. I also found that I liked the adult Jack Sawyer rather more than the twelve-year old Jack from The Talisman. I also found the secondary characters to be well-rounded and interesting - and on the whole, very likeable (except, of course, the ones we weren't supposed to like!) The pacing was just right, and the plot remained involving all the way through. I did find the narration/viewpoint a little distracting at times, but it didn't affect my enjoyment of the book.

If you like Stephen King's horror/dark fantasy novels (and presumably Peter Straub's although I'm not familiar …

The Gnome King reviewed Black House by Stephen King

Review of 'Black House' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I loved the Talisman, one of the best adventure books for a kid to read, now Jack has grown up and so has the story.

This book is dark, mysterious and still a gripping story. When you reach the black house you experience some of Stephen King's surrealist writing. There is so much of the story that I didn't understand it required a second reading a few years later to pick up some things I missed the first time around.

The bad guy, known as The Fisherman, is brilliant, he is one evil dude.

I love how so many of King's books are linked to the Dark Tower and I think this is one of the better ones.