When Conrad Harrison impulse-buys a big old house in Wisconsin, his wife Jo doesn't share his enthusiasm, reluctant at the idea of leaving their LA life - so Conrad is left to set up their new home as she ties up loose ends at work. But Conrad's new purchase is not all that it seems. Soon Conrad is hearing the ghostly wailing of a baby in the night, seeing blood on the floor and being haunted by a woman who looks exactly like Jo. With his wife away, Conrad becomes obsessed by the pregnant girl next door, Nadia, who claims to be a victim of the evil in the house. The crying leads him to a bricked-up body, and the mystery of the Birthing House unravels, pulling in Jo, Nadia and leading Conrad to a nightmarish conclusion...
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'If The Birthing House had just been a biting and well-written novel about a contemporary marriage, that would have been enough to make it worth your time. If it had just been the kind of genuinely scary story that makes little hairs stand up on the back of your neck, that would have been sufficient as well. But what's remarkable is that it manages to have the best of both genres, without sacrificing thrills for insight. This is a rare thing: a ghost story with class. Read it.' Peter Blauner
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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A new twist on a haunted-house tale for the next generation of horror...
--This text refers to the
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 21 people found the following review helpful
By H. O'Brien
Format:Paperback
So, I fell for it: like so many others here I picked this up because it 'sounded good' and because the first page was intriguing. Unfortunately this is a poorly written novel that is ultimately devoid of atmosphere. In spite of the presence of all the expected genre ingredients and a potentially interesting twist on the 'haunted house' scenario, it is poorly constructed. The characters behave in increasingly frustratingly abstract ways that serve the author's needs above the logic of the story. He seems keen to generate 'moments' and those 'moments' serve the thematic side of things, but the connecting scenes of characterisation and plot fail to sustain a sense of dread. It lurches between several different story elements none too elegantly, and then moves towards its conclusion in a self-consciously hallucinogenic register that really just shows the author has given up trying to hold it together. This is not a good read, and it becomes worse as you realise that he's not actually going to make it work, and by the time you reach the end you are likely to feel very silly for having fallen for the pitch. I certainly did.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I bought this book thinking it would be a real page turner from the start, how wrong was I. All the way through I didn't really understand what was happening, thinking that all would be explained at the end. Well I have now finished it, and I still have no clue as to what it was all about or what the end really was, (spoiler) did he die? was he now a ghost? the questions go on and on. There was no real story line and no answers to the questions that kept popping up throughout the book,(another spoiler)what happened that day to his dogs? why was it a healing house if the doctor was bad? why was he killing the babies? why did alma's mother die? again I could go on and on. I shall not be reading another one of his books - thats if after this rubbish he gets another one published!!
19 of 20 people found the following review helpful
By Misty
Format:Paperback
I bought this book on the strength of its cover, not having read the reviews here - my mistake.
It purports to be a 'horror/ghost' story, but its major failing is that it is not at all scary - in fact for the first half of the book I thought maybe it wasn't a ghost story at all but some sort of mid-life crisis story about the central character - Conrad. (I should point out that I am very easily scared with an over-active imagination and have to sleep with the lights on after watching scary films so if you can't scare me, you're not going to scare anyone!)
As several other reviewers have pointed out - the ending is just terrible - really rushed and badly executed. The device by which Conrad finds out what happened to Alma is levered in with a crow-bar and even then large parts of it are nonsensical. Either leave the past as a mystery or explain it properly!
The idea behind the book is sound but just wasted in poor execution. The initial characterisation is ok too - but Conrad's & Jo's descent into 'madness' is too abrupt and not at all convincing. Take The Shining as a benchmark and this falls far short.
All in all I found this to be a very unsatisfying read and would not recommend it.
It purports to be a 'horror/ghost' story, but its major failing is that it is not at all scary - in fact for the first half of the book I thought maybe it wasn't a ghost story at all but some sort of mid-life crisis story about the central character - Conrad. (I should point out that I am very easily scared with an over-active imagination and have to sleep with the lights on after watching scary films so if you can't scare me, you're not going to scare anyone!)
As several other reviewers have pointed out - the ending is just terrible - really rushed and badly executed. The device by which Conrad finds out what happened to Alma is levered in with a crow-bar and even then large parts of it are nonsensical. Either leave the past as a mystery or explain it properly!
The idea behind the book is sound but just wasted in poor execution. The initial characterisation is ok too - but Conrad's & Jo's descent into 'madness' is too abrupt and not at all convincing. Take The Shining as a benchmark and this falls far short.
All in all I found this to be a very unsatisfying read and would not recommend it.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
3.0 out of 5 stars
Weird
A weird, supernatural story. The writing style is good, in my opinion, although the frequent references to things American would have been better reduced. Read more
Published 6 days ago by Ann C
2.0 out of 5 stars
A very strange book
What a strange book. It was full of bizarre writing, irritating repetition of words and sentences, contained far too many words and references I didn't understand (I Googled to... Read more
Published 3 months ago by Skaty Katie
3.0 out of 5 stars
Falls at the end
Thus could have been a very good book had me gripped at times confused at others but the ending really let it down as if the author had been taken suddenly ill!! Read more
Published 3 months ago by Priscilla
1.0 out of 5 stars
great read, shame about the ending
i am really dissapointed by the book i really like the author which is why im am so shocked to not enjoy this one. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Heatherxxxx
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good read with potential to grow as a writer
I read this a few years ago and I did enjoy it although there were a few times where I was unsure where the story was going. Read more
Published 6 months ago by Emma.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Is Christopher Ransom the Publisher's son?
The only possible explanation for this being published is that he must be related in some way to the Publisher. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Dwayne Stallard
1.0 out of 5 stars
Simply awful
I love horror. I will read/ watch most things that fall under this category - it is the only sort of book/ film about which I am totally unfussy. Read more
Published 8 months ago by Lauren M
5.0 out of 5 stars
amazing
This book scared me while reading it,not very often do i feel like my heart is in my mouth but i did with this book. A real page turner,have recommened to many.MUST READ!!!!
Published 8 months ago by emma dewhurst
1.0 out of 5 stars
why did i bother?!?
Now i dont do scary books but there was something about the synopsis that made me want to read this book. All i can say is thats a couple of days of my life i wont get back! Read more
Published 8 months ago by alicem
1.0 out of 5 stars
More like the snooze house... Just an awful read.
I got suckered into buying this because of the spooky cover & intriguing blurb. I tried reading this a few months ago and gave up after the first 3 chapters. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Jack
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