What a captivating and insightful read on some of the most horrifically beautiful architectural structures that have inspired the horror classics! 🏚️🖤

Filled with references to many of my favorite films and books (plus mentions of more that I've now added to my endless TBR heh) I thoroughly enjoyed this beautifully written and witty reflection on the terrifying transformation of our sacred space turning into a place of desolation. Be warned 🚨 some of the chapters do contain film spoilers for those who wish not to be!

I'd really like to thank Repeater Books & NetGalley for this ARC 👏🏻 and opportunity to review this book in my own words!

A very readable, eloquent story about houses: haunted, scary, evil, doll, bomb shelters. The author's voice is very enjoyable, and the bibliography impressive, but I did think the actual essays could have delved a little deeper - the descriptions of plots and historical details could have been shortened and interpretations expanded. But it still read very well, and I particularly enjoyed the historical and architectural detail (the horror movies I mostly knew or knew of).

I really enjoyed this smart and well-argued book about the roles of houses and homes in horror literature and screen media. Taylor writes clearly and elegantly about the ways in which living spaces represent the body and mind, the state of the world in which characters and readers live, and how readers and viewers might theorize unsafe spaces as part of their understanding of the zeitgeist. She uses up-to-date examples and explores a variety of subgenres and different approaches from creative artists to support her ideas, and writes in such a way that readers don't need to be academics or grounded in any particular kind of language in order to follow her thoughts. I know folks in gothic studies are already looking forward to the release of Sick Houses, and I'm sure it will find a wide audience among general readers as well.

Thanks to NetGalley and the author for granting me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

God, I love reading about haunted locations.

Sick Houses: Haunted Homes & The Architecture of Dread is a great little read, scratching a non-fiction itch I didn’t even know I had. Pacey chapters grouped by types of “hauntings” - from traditional haunted houses to witches’ huts, and from the likes of the Amityville House to the Unabomber’s cabin - explore the ins and outs of how the every day becomes a nightmare, blending media analysis with historical research and anecdotes from Taylor’s own life.

Where Sick Houses shines is how it showcases what horror can really do, challenging the notion that the genre is little more than just cheap scares and gore. Horror plays with our ideas of safety and security, blurs the lines between fantasy and reality, and wreaks havoc with our emotions in the most unexpected of ways. Sick Houses pays testament to that with its examination of how the supposedly safest of spaces - the home - can become a vessel for something altogether more horrifying.

Sick Houses is highly accessible for any horror aficionado, even those who generally stay away from non-fiction, with Taylor striking a fine balance between surface level research and a potentially intimidating deep dive. And, if nothing else, you’ll be left with a fairly chunky list of movies and TV shows to enjoy with an even keener appreciation for the nuances of the genre.

I really enjoyed this! This is a detailed compilation of houses that have been labeled as haunted in some way or another. These include Ed Gein's House, the Amityville Horror House, etc. This was an interesting read as a whole, and it is definitely worth a read!

I don't often read nonfiction but I love a good haunted house story, so I decided to pick up "Sick Houses" by Leila Taylor. I admired how Taylor stretched the definition of a haunted house to include things like dollhouses, serial killers' houses, and the Winchester Mystery House. Readers got both fictional haunted houses and nonfictional haunted houses influencing each other, and Taylor was quick to make connections about how these houses influence society's perceptions of ghosts as well. While sometimes it felt like a thesis and it was very US-centric, overall "Sick Houses" is a very thought-provoking and well written account of what it means when we say "this house is haunted."

Sick Houses: Haunted Homes and the Architecture of Dread, which was a delightful rabbit hole for anyone fascinated by creepy architecture and the psychology behind our fear of certain spaces. Taylor takes us through everything from real-life haunts like the Winchester Mystery House to the gothic Victorian mansions of cinema, exploring why these places make our skin crawl. I particularly loved her examination of the "witch house" and how aging women living alone somehow became symbols of dread in our collective imagination. The book has that perfect encyclopedic quality – like chatting with a fellow horror enthusiast who's connecting dots you never considered before. While sometimes feeling like a collection of thoughtful essays rather than a cohesive whole, Taylor's scholarly approach paired with her genuine enthusiasm for horror references both familiar and obscure makes this a fascinating journey for anyone interested in the psychological underpinnings of haunted houses.

I've found a new favorite topic to temporarily obsess over! As with most nonfiction of this structure, some chapters and sections spoke to me more than others—I could have read 100 more pages each about high-rises and public housing, murder houses, off-putting architecture, and dollhouses, and it still might not have been enough. The section on witch houses was the gem for me, though. Taylor's research is so good, and I was so grateful for the included photographs (although I think they will look much better in the physical book).

Raves:
I enjoyed how the book touched on fictional homes and real homes and how the former are often informed by the latter and vice-versa.
Witch house as a physical representation of the nonconformist woman! (Right into my veins, please.)
So much new (to me) information that I have pages of notes, but not so overwhelming or dense that I got bogged down.

The smallest of critiques, really:
I get that the section on Pruitt-Igoe was to be representative of many public housing projects across the US, but I was surprised Pink Houses, Cabrini Green, et al weren't mentioned (but probably that's just a different book that I need to locate.)
I understand why Taylor wanted to stay away from plantation houses, and she touches on it briefly in the early part of the book, but I think her perspective on those structures and the trappings that go along with them would be a really great read.

This is a tour of force through some of the most famous haunted houses and what made them what they are.

Taylor's work is well-crafted and it's obvious how much work was put into this book. It felt as though she sank into the foundations of these homes and interviewed them herself.

This book has become an essential for me that I will return to again and again.

I really enjoyed this one! It wasn’t what I was expecting at all and I was pleasantly surprised by it. There were a few typos here and there, but definitely did not take away my enjoyment. The research that went into this book is impressive. Definitely glad I read this one.

Thank you to Netgalley for this arc. I really enjoyed this and the horror and creepy haunted house element. This was a fun and quick read.

Sick Houses is a book that takes an unflinching and critical look at haunted houses. Through the lens of real-life and fictionalized haunted houses, Taylor presses the reader to go beyond what can make a home eerie but also what makes a home truly home. What legacy does a place where horrors have taken place leave behind? Can it ever be someone's home again?

The writing is conversational, the content is well-researched, and I connected with it immediately. I loved how this book elevated and venerated the haunted house and took an intersectional, cross-genre look at why the haunted one of the most enduring subgenres in horror. As a reader and writer of haunted house stories, Taylor connected a lot of dots for me, particularly in the' witch house' section, which explored how certain spaces, often associated with women, reflect the life of those who are rejecting social and cultural norms and unapologetically practicing their witchcraft.

This book is a comprehensive tour through some of the most important works in horror literature, television, and film. It's sweeping and detailed, so be prepared for spoilers. These references are fascinating and informative as I primarily read horror and don't watch it. Given Taylor's expertise and analysis, I suspect she expects her readers to be already intimately familiar with the horror canon.

If you loved Anna Bogutskaya's Feeding The Monster, you will likely love this. Sick Houses is a must-read for horror writers and enthusiasts alike. It's already sparked new ideas in my writing and deepened my understanding and appreciation of this subgenre.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a review copy of this book!

This is the book I wish I had written! Leila Taylor offers a fascinating exploration of the relationship between horror — particularly in literature and film — and the house as both a physical space and a psychological concept of ‘home.’ From the American Dream and the archetypal domestic dwelling to witch-haunted houses, brutalist structures, and eerie dollhouses (a personal favourite), Taylor expertly covers a vast range of ideas in a concise, well-researched, and thoughtful way.

As a big horror fan, I was already familiar with many of the pop culture references, but seeing them woven together and contrasted so effectively was a real treat. The inclusion of real-life examples was especially compelling, and I appreciated encountering new insights alongside familiar themes.

Taylor’s focus is primarily on American culture, and while I’d love to see these theories expanded on an international scale, I recognise that this would be an immense undertaking. Still, for fans of haunted houses and those who find themselves captivated by the towering silhouette of the Bates house in Psycho or the enduring specter of Hill House, this is an absolute must-read.

Sick Houses is the sort of book I would've eaten up in grad school, at home with my interests in the gothic, horror, subversion, and genre fiction. This book is a cross-genre study of homes that feel wrong in one way or another. Whether haunted by ghosts or other weighty manifestations of the past (madness, witches, histories of violence), this study is rich with the unheimlich. It's a study of unease and the perversion of what makes a house a home and the way that trauma makes the past linger. This book is intriguing and well-argued, with an accessible tone despite the academic literary study approach.

Sick Houses
4.5

A fascinating examination of the "haunted house" and the important role they've played, just as much characters themselves, in horror movies.

Whether "based on a true story" or being used as a metaphor, Sick Houses thoroughly showcases some of the most important yet unnamed characters in horror cinema.

4.5 / 5

This book was somewhat hit and miss for me. Encyclopaedic in its knowledge of the haunted house across varying tropes, I would have enjoyed it better had it only selected a few for each chapter as opposed to rattling off multiple titles of media with very little in depth discussion into each. The sections that were in depth, however, were incredible. Especially because it’s harder these days to come up with any sort of unique take due to the ubiquity of the haunted house

Incredibly well written and researched. I thoroughly enjoyed all of the references and have compiled a reading/ watch list of my own. I really appreciated the way that this was set out and felt that each chapter really built on to the foundation that the author was setting.

As someone who has read hundreds of haunted house stories, this was extremely intriguing and creative. This was a fascinating read. If you are someone who loves horror and haunted house stories, then I would highly recommend this! Special Thank You to Leila Taylor, Repeater Books and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

A haunting exploration of trauma, grief, and history through the lens of haunted houses. Taylor blends psychological horror with deep introspection, creating a chilling and thought-provoking read