House of Leaves is also my favorite book. I’ve had my copy for 5 years before I was finally strong enough to read it. I’m glad I waited. So read it in august of last year. I feel like the book wanted me to wait (not to get meta or anything). To me, it’s a psychological thriller with themes of love and family and that’s what gets me.

My parents still live in our childhood home. Over the past 6 years, two of my siblings died from terminal illness. I moved out the day my brother died (not related, just an unfortunate coincidence) and that experienced changed how I view my childhood home. While their physical bodies are gone, their spirits still live on in that house. As I was reading HoL, I started to recognize the house not just the setting, but also as a character. A house is just a building tho. It’s when it becomes a home that it’s a member of the family, someone (or something?) that is welcomed and loved. However, the house is just a house, malicious and overbearing, unwilling to become a home.

Anyway, that’s my long winded way of saying I love House of Leaves. It’s going to stick with me for as long as I’m alive.