Anybody Home?
Published on 29. September 2022
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-955904-09-4 (ISBN)
Description
What came first, the home or the desire to invade?
A seasoned invader with multiple home invasions under
their belt recounts their dark victories while offering tutelage to a new
generation of ambitious home invaders eager to make their mark on the annals of
criminal history. From initial canvasing to home entry, the reader is complicit
in every strangling and shattered window. The fear is inescapable.
Examining the sanctuary of the home and one of the horror genre's most
frightening tropes, Anybody Home? points the camera lens onto
the quiet suburbs and its unsuspecting abodes, any of which are potential
stages for an invader ambitious enough to make it the scene of the next big
crime sensation. Who knows? Their performance just might make it to the
silver screen.
A seasoned invader with multiple home invasions under
their belt recounts their dark victories while offering tutelage to a new
generation of ambitious home invaders eager to make their mark on the annals of
criminal history. From initial canvasing to home entry, the reader is complicit
in every strangling and shattered window. The fear is inescapable.
Examining the sanctuary of the home and one of the horror genre's most
frightening tropes, Anybody Home? points the camera lens onto
the quiet suburbs and its unsuspecting abodes, any of which are potential
stages for an invader ambitious enough to make it the scene of the next big
crime sensation. Who knows? Their performance just might make it to the
silver screen.
Reviews / Votes
"Do not, under any circumstance, read when you're alone. One of the most disturbing novels I've read in years." -Danielle Trussoni, New York Times Book Review"This book makes Cabin at the End of the World by Paul Tremblay look like a cakewalk. This is THE MOST intense psychological horror you have ever read. Seriously. It makes Out by Natsuo Kirino look tame." -Library Journal (Starred Review)
"Anybody Home? is an immersive novel that deconstructs home invasions for sport, resulting in addictive commentary on the horror genre itself." -Foreword Reviews (Starred Review)
"Harrowing and tremendously upsetting, Anybody Home? flips the home invasion genre on its head for a new generation of readers. I felt like I was reading something I shouldn't have been reading. You'll be checking your locks regularly after reading this nasty little morsel." -Eric LaRocca, author of Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke
"Anybody Home? is Natural Born Killers for a generation that grew up on Funny Games, The Purge, and Twitter. An incisive commentary on how, in our culture, everything eventually gets mediatized-and a how-to guide to some of the darkest corners of that process, one that implicates you even as you read it." -Brian Evenson, author of Song for the Unraveling of the World
"An ice cold, deadpan zeitgeist nightmare, Michael J. Seidlinger knows, and shows, that even in a lockdown moment, home is the most dangerous place of all. Watch out. Too late. They're watching you."-Kathy Koja, author of Dark Factory
"This addictive deconstruction of the home invasion is so thorough and chilling, Seidlinger may as well have slammed the door on the entire genre. But beyond the torture and violation, Anybody Home? is a nuanced study of the creative process, exploring what it takes to create art that truly resonates."-B.R. Yeager, author of Negative Space
"In Anybody Home?, Michael J. Seidlinger so masterfully crafts an atmosphere of pure terror that it had me checking to make sure my front door was locked, for fear of home invaders-or maybe Seidlinger himself." -Rob Hart, author of The Paradox Hotel
"A bone-chilling, immersive horror novel that explores fear, obsession, voyeurism, and senseless violence. Seidlinger takes an ax to the illusion of suburban safety. Unsettling, unflinching, and unforgettable. Anybody Home? is one of the most terrifying books I've ever read." -Rachel Harrison, author of Cackle and Such Sharp Teeth
"Michael J. Seidlinger is a true innovator. The narrative shards of Anybody Home? cascade over the reader in a collage of troubling, sometimes half-seen images, and the wicked, insinuating, deeply unsettling voice weaves through the back of your mind and crouches in your dreams. A chilling and unforgettable book." -Dan Chaon, author of Sleepwalk
"With this sinister and alluring story of home invasions, Michael Seidlinger has invented a new type of horror novel, one that simultaneously chronicles the characters' transgressions and the audience's reactions. It's a searing commentary on voyeurism and mass media, as well as a riff on Michael Haneke's Funny Games that outdoes the original. Read it with the doors locked." -Jeff Jackson, author of Destroy All Monsters
"Anybody Home? is a literal and metaphorical dissection of the nuclear family, executed with panache and filled with cutting insights. Seidlinger knows precisely how to make the reader complicit. These pages will bloody your hands, and it'll be a long time before the stains wash clean."-Brian Asman, author of Man, Fuck This House
"Michael J. Seidlinger's Anybody Home? isn't just a deliriously terrifying novel, it's also a ransom note from our fame-obsessed id. It's an instruction manual from evil itself, and it's a mirror trick that puts you behind the eyes of a monster, only to realize the prey being stalked... is also you." -Nat Cassidy, author of Mary: An Awakening of Terror
"Seidlinger pulls no punches in delivering gut-wrenching horror as he drives the novel to its bloody conclusion. Fans of Jack Ketchum and Samantha Kolesnik will want to check this out." -Publishers Weekly
"Anybody Home? is like nothing I've read before. Absolutely terrifying in its scope and clinically detached violence. I read this in a flurry. It's my first read of Seidlinger's work but it will not be my last." -Only The Darkest Reads
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
United States
Product notice
Paperback (trade)
Illustrations
Illustrations
Dimensions
Height: 216 mm
Width: 140 mm
Thickness: 15 mm
Weight
339 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-955904-09-4 (9781955904094)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
MICHAEL J. SEIDLINGER is a Filipino American author of Runaways: A Writer's Dilemma, Scream (part of Bloomsbury's Object Lessons series), and other books. He has written for, among others, Wired, Buzzfeed, Thrillist, Goodreads, The Observer, Polygon, The Believer, and Publishers Weekly. He teaches at Portland State University and has led workshops at Catapult, Kettle Pond Writer's Conference, and Sarah Lawrence.