I had a blast reading Man, Fuck This House by Brian Asman. And, I was not surprised one bit to learn that Max Booth III played a part in bringing this wild tale of a topsy turvy haunted house into the world. I had a smile plastered across my face upon finishing the last few pages of the story and saw that Max had edited this wonderful beast.
But, let us discuss the story itself for a bit. Or, at least, some of the influences I see within. This definitely reminded me a touch of Shirley Jackson’s *We Have Always Lived in This Castle*. Which is strange, since her more popular book, *The Haunting of Hill House*, is actually about a haunted house. This has much to do with the behavior of the little precocious boy who wants nothing better than to drive his own mother crazy.
Brian also takes every trope of modern haunted house story both written and cinematic and flops them around in a dryer full of rocks. I found my expectations getting pummeled each time I settled on a new theory.
I would love to delve more into what makes Man, Fuck This House amazing, but it would give away too much of the fun. Definitely one to go into with as little knowledge as possible.
At first, I was leary. I didn’t expect it to live up to such an awesome title. But, no worries there. It blew my expectations out of the water and then some.
I will definitely be reading more of Brian’s work in the future.