House of Leaves
What is House of Leaves?
House of Leaves is a meta-horror novel. Released in March 2000, it's slightly older than me, and it has been highly influential in the horror scene, especially as of late, inspiring such things as myhouse.wad, and EveryManHybrid, one of which I will be talking about later.
It is a story told in two parts:
The first is a manuscript for an analysis of a film that does not exist, called The Navidson Record, where the titular Navidson and his family find out that their House is not how it seems, starting out with a hallway that wasn't there before, which slowly twists their home, and their minds.
The second is the story told in the footnotes of Johnny Truant, who has, in some way, inherented the original writer's work, and how it affects his life, and his own sanity.
The novel is unique in the way that it plays with your expectations of how a novel should work, often playing with the look, size, and color of the words, but also the margins, the rotation of the page, and even overlays the text. It truly is a mindbending puzzle that will captivate you for ages. There are entire forums dedicated to uncovering the secrets of this novel, and several theories as to what it all means.
Which is why I recommend it, it has shaped several aspects of my life, introducing me to things I wouldn't have even dreamed of looking into, such as Metaphysics (yes really), and web design!
If you are interested in my thoughts on the book, while it is still a massive WIP, I do have another neocities project revolving around the book, found here.
Where Do I Get My Hands On It?
Great Question! If at all possible, I recommend supporting your local small bookstore, if they do not have it, they will likely be happy to put it on order for you! Always support small businesses when you can!
However, if that isn't possible, you can get it either through Barnes and Noble or, if you absolutely have to, Amazon.