Typical of many books in this genre, as House of Blood opens, we find 5 twenty something’s crammed into a Honda Accord (and if that isn’t hellish enough all on its own…well, I don’t know what is - lol). They are arguing and the driver, one Dream Weaver (yea, you’re allowed to moan) quickly pulls off the interstate onto an off ramp that will be the last one most of them ever take. House of Blood is really 4 stories that weave together to tell a larger tale and which the author tried to deftly create seemingly independent threads that would ultimately lead to a horrifying whole cloth…unfortunately, Smith doesn’t quite pull it off. The story lines include the group in the car who (except for one unfortunate individual) make their way to an isolated house…a house where Eddie is desperately trying to escape…a house where Giselle seeks revenge on her master…and most of all a house that hides an entire underworld of desperation and hellish torture that the Master rules over with an iron fist (or does he?).

House of Blood had great bones and what appear at first to be compelling threads to a deeply twisted horror story...unfortunately what could be a great story turns out to be mediocre at best. Much of the action was predictable and kind of lurched along and the characters are lackluster and somewhat stereotypical (whiny nerd, gorgeous kind hearted blond, sluttish Asian girl, and the black best friend who says all the things no one ever says). I had a hard time really feeling much of anything for the characters, neither wanting to root for them or hope one of them really got what they deserved in the end. Additionally, the ending was kind of smooshed together where the author had all the threads come together. Unfortunately there really wasn’t any artistry to it…it was action that wasn’t very compelling or descriptive and which was extremely short and then bam, it was all over.

Overall…House of Blood was the mass market paperback equivalent of a “B” movie and I mean that in the nicest way possible. It had bad “acting” (characters), cheesy plot (that could have been stellar) and an ending that didn’t quite satisfy, but still it provided plenty of gore, outrage, depravity…and I don’t regret spending a few hours curled up with House of Blood. I give it three stars; it was entertaining, if a bit typical of the genre. ( )

Pretty good... kept me interested. ( )