This is going to take me ages, but I am going to finish it, if only because it's a book my sister and I will be able to talk about together. She and I generally don't gravitate towards the same sort of books - in fact, she doesn't generally read, but she's trying to get into it more because a few weeks ago she spontaneously lost her hearing in one ear and developed horrific tinnitus (yes, she's been seeing an audiologist and multiple doctors - thankfully it didn't happen due to a brain tumor or anything like that, but unfortunately her word recognition in that ear is now at 0%). TV is hard for her now, so she's turning to books.

So far I can definitely tell that this isn't something you'd ever want to attempt in e-book form. It does some things with text formatting that wouldn't translate well at all. So far I've noticed that the word "house" is always subtly highlighted in some way. In most cases, it's a very dark blue, so close to black that, when I was reading the book in the evening, I didn't even realize it was a different color but could still recognize that something was drawing my eyes to that word. At other times, one letter in the word is slightly misaligned.

Story-wise, I'm not really all that into it yet, and it's kind of exhausting. There's a larger story framing the whole thing, the primary text, which is structured like analysis of a documentary that may or may not exist, and which gives readers a peek into the lives of those involved in the documentary, and then other stories that are just sort of plopped into multi-page footnotes.

This is everything I have going for Halloween Bingo right now. The way House of Leaves is going, I'll be lucky if I finish it by the end of the game. Anansi Boys is for listening at work and during my more and more infrequent gym visits. Ao Oni is currently on my phone - it's my latest J-Novel Club attempt. And Days Gone Bad, one of my Book Bonanza purchases, is for reading at home.

It looks like Bingo pre-reading has started! And I'll definitely need a head start with this one! I'm definitely not finishing it before the official start.

I still need to make a master post, but this one's for my center square.

Definitely House of Leaves. In fact, that one might be my early start book. I heard about it on a podcast about a year ago, and bought it immediately (in paper, since that was one of the recommendations). And, as happens with many books, I never got around to it. So now it's first on my list! My edition is the "remastered" one (whatever that means in terms of books), and looks gorgeous.

So I have to say that some of my favorite Halloween Bingo Authors are probably the same people that everyone else has.

First, Stephen King. That man's books fit about every square I think. I do wish that King would get a bit better about writing women though. Sometimes he's so close and then it kind of falls flat (see "The Outsider.")

Second, Shirley Jackson. Her books though not always conventional "horror" definitely can make you sit up and think. I ended up reading her book called "The Witchcraft of Salem Village" and thought it was brilliant.

Third, Victor LaValle. I may not have liked all of his books (see "The Devil in Silver") but he really kicks butt at showcasing books where POC are the main characters and touching upon really good horror elements (see "The Ballad of Black Tom."

Fourth, Octavia E. Butler. Wow. She blew my mind after I finished "Kindred" and I lapped up the next book I read by her, "Dawn". She was a very big force in science fiction/fantasy as well as speculative fiction. Her Xenogenesis trilogy has a lot of themes that I think readers would love such as a look at sexuality, gender, race, and species. 

Fifth, Daphne du Maurier. Come on people "Rebecca" is not only a timeless classic but it has so many horror elements that feature a house that feels haunted, a dead wife, and a character full of menace. 

Sixth, Robert R. McCammon. "Boy's Life" still makes me cry a bit just thinking about it. He combined horror, fantasy, science fiction, and magical realism all together into something really special. I also got a kick out of his "Mystery Walk."

Seventh, Mark Z. Danielewski. We all did a "House of Leaves" buddy read back in 2016 (I think) and it was great. I loved that book and the discussions that followed. It would be fun to do another big BL buddy read again. 

Eighth, Clive Barker. He is the author of the Hellraiser series that I need to get back to. I also read one of his books of blood. 

Ninth, Helen Oyeyemi. I have only read one of her books, "The Opposite House" and felt okay about that one. However, I have heard her newest, "Gingerbread" is fantastic and some of her earlier works are very good. I have plans to see if I can work some of her books into my bingo play this year. 

Tenth, I will throw Dean Koontz out here. I loved his earlier works and pretty much abhor his later ones. I loved "Strangers," "Phantoms," "Demon Seed," and "Velocity."