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A review by tobyyy
Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone by Stefan Kiesbye
3.0
Okay, so... if you've been following me awhile, you'll know that this isn't the sort of book I generally read. I'm not entirely sure why I picked it up at the library, to be honest, because I'm really, really, really not a fan of horror of any sort. (My rationale is that I have enough nightmares on my own, I really don't need a book to help me create more shit to cause more restless horrible nights!)
Pardon the language, but the best way I can describe this book is creepyass. Some folks who've reviewed it didn't feel The Creepiness of it when they read it. But I did. It's a peculiar, particular brand of creepiness. It's not like boogeymen jumping out of the shadows in the middle of the night to eat you.
It's about kids being kids... but kids being CREEPYASS KIDS. Let's take the first few chapters (and keep in mind that 90% of this book takes place in rural post-WWII Germany -- not in medieval times). What happens in them?
So yes. But that's not just what's creepy. The creepiest part is that it's treated like normal. Like "oh okay they're just being kids." There's never any worries about ruining futures or anything, because most of the people who lives in Hemmersmoor never leave. And those that do generally don't come back -- or if they do, they come to unfortunate ends.
Kind of like Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells, there is a sort of magic at play in the village. But it is the total opposite of the magic in Garden Spells. It's dark, it's horrible, and the disturbing things that are done in Hemmersmoor are treated like they're normal.
I'm not entirely sure if I would recommend this, but I'm definitely not telling you to definitely not read this. It was a step out of my comfort zone and I'm glad I read it (I guess?) but I don't particularly want to read any more books like this one anytime soon.
A sampling of some of the creepy as shit lines:
Pardon the language, but the best way I can describe this book is creepyass. Some folks who've reviewed it didn't feel The Creepiness of it when they read it. But I did. It's a peculiar, particular brand of creepiness. It's not like boogeymen jumping out of the shadows in the middle of the night to eat you.
It's about kids being kids... but kids being CREEPYASS KIDS. Let's take the first few chapters (and keep in mind that 90% of this book takes place in rural post-WWII Germany -- not in medieval times). What happens in them?
Spoiler
A newcomer to the village -- and her 5 children -- get stoned to death. A brother murders his younger sister. Jealousy and bitterness from a wife to her husband cause, in some mysterious way, the woman that is suspected of cheating with the husband to die a horrible death -- with her son.So yes. But that's not just what's creepy. The creepiest part is that it's treated like normal. Like "oh okay they're just being kids." There's never any worries about ruining futures or anything, because most of the people who lives in Hemmersmoor never leave. And those that do generally don't come back -- or if they do, they come to unfortunate ends.
Kind of like Sarah Addison Allen's Garden Spells, there is a sort of magic at play in the village. But it is the total opposite of the magic in Garden Spells. It's dark, it's horrible, and the disturbing things that are done in Hemmersmoor are treated like they're normal.
I'm not entirely sure if I would recommend this, but I'm definitely not telling you to definitely not read this. It was a step out of my comfort zone and I'm glad I read it (I guess?) but I don't particularly want to read any more books like this one anytime soon.
A sampling of some of the creepy as shit lines:
- "Come tonight after midnight. If you do, and if you do me a favor, I will take you through hell" (p. 23).
- "Our game required that boys outnumber girls, but no one wanted to play the Black Miller because he couldn't take part in the raping" (p. 95).
- "Others saw cows, colts, and cats visit houses and farms after dark, and animals were clubbed to death to exorcise the beggar woman's spirit" (p. 142).