REVIEW TOUR: The House on Blood Street - Josh Hanson

A psychedelic horror novel reminiscent of Burnt Offerings by Robert Marasco, T. Kingfisher’s A House with Good Bones, and Dario Argento’s surreal horror film Suspiria. 

Jack and Avery’s new home on Calliope Street is a fixer-upper’s dream. The lurid collage of pornographic clippings on the basement wall seems like a quirky (and campy) feature. But once the house awakens, what seemed harmless becomes as horrifying as the blood seeping from the carpet. 

The house is alive. It is intelligent. And it demands homage. 

Inspired by the surreal and graphic films of the Italian maestros as well as a meditation on obsession and the relationship between tragedy and art, The House on Blood Street evokes the myth of Orpheus and Euridice, mixing art, love, and death into a modern take on the haunted house.

 

What did I think?

The House on Blood Street is a twisty and twisted novel that has the feel of a cult horror movie and I certainly couldn't tear my eyes away from it.  I freaking loved it!

Told in three parts: The House on Calliope Street, In the Locust Tree and Camera Obscura, this is one heck of a binge-worthy novel as we follow Jack and Avery when they move into their new home.  The weird naked women collage with a hole at its centre in the basement would have had me running for the hills but Jack and Avery find it amusing.  

It's very tense and suspenseful as the story plays out and the collage becomes more and more sinister.  If this had been a movie, I would have definitely been watching it from behind the sofa but my eyes were glued to the page and I couldn't read fast enough.

Josh Hanson's writing is sublime and it lured me into this vivid, surreal and highly imaginative tale.  I love that it has echoes of the myth of Orpheus and Euridice as it considers the lengths we are prepared to go to in order to bring our loved one back home.

The House on Blood Street has all of the hallmarks of an instant classic and, much like a favourite film, I wanted to read it again as soon as I finished it.  What a fantastic book!  It grabs the reader from the very first page and refuses to let go - very highly recommended.

I received a gifted hardback copy to read and review for the Black Crow PR review tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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BLOG TOUR: Greta Garbo and the Rise of the Modern Woman - Scott Reisfield

Hollywood Made Her a Star.

What she did for women made her a Legend.

Greta Garbo dominated European cinema and Hollywood in the 1920s and 1930s. With discipline and fearless self-belief, she transformed screen acting into something intimate, modern, and psychologically real. She fought studio control... and won. She challenged censors, defied social expectations, and refused to compromise her independence.

More than a movie star, Garbo reshaped what it meant to be a woman on screen-self-possessed, mysterious, and unapologetically autonomous. She redefined the power a woman could hold in Hollywood.

In this intimate biography, her grandnephew Scott Reisfield reveals this disciplined artist, strategic thinker, and the fiercely private woman who helped usher a closed culture into the Modern Age.

 

What did I think?

I didn't know a lot about Greta Garbo before I picked up this book, apart from the phrase "I want to be alone" that is attributed to her, but I feel like I know her intimately now.

Greta Garbo is Scott Reisfield's great-aunt so he is well placed to research her life as it's part of his own family history.  There is a lot of information in the book and it has clearly been meticulously researched.  The text is enhanced by myriad illustrations such as tables, photos and adverts that I found added interest to what otherwise might have been a dry subject.

It does take a while to read the book as it's quite chunky with 618 pages but it's worth taking your time to fully appreciate the depth of research that has gone into writing it.  As Greta Garbo is his own ancestor, I completely trusted the accuracy of all of the details that Scott Reisfield shares in the book.

Interesting and informative, Greta Garbo and the Rise of the Modern Woman is the definitive guide to one of the most iconic actresses of the The Golden Age of Hollywood. 

I received a gifted paperback to read and review for the blog tour and this is my honest and unbiased opinion.

My rating:

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