Black House

By: Stephen King, Peter Straub

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Winner of the 2020 Audio Publishers Association Lifetime Achievement Award

From the #1 New York Times bestselling authors of The Talisman, “an intelligent…suspenseful page-turner” (The Wall Street Journal) from “two master craftsmen, each at the top of his game” (The Washington Post).

Twenty years ago, a boy named Jack Sawyer traveled to a parallel universe called the Territories to save his mother and her Territories “Twinner” from an agonizing death that would have brought cataclysm to the other world. Now Jack is a retired Los Angeles homicide detective living in the nearly nonexistent hamlet of Tamarack, Wisconsin. He has no recollection of his adventures in the Territories, and was compelled to leave the police force when an odd, happenstance event threatened to awaken those memories.

When a series of gruesome murders occur in western Wisconsin that are reminiscent of those committed several decades ago by a madman named Albert Fish, the killer is dubbed “the Fishman,” and Jack’s buddy, the local chief of police, begs Jack to help the inexperienced force find him. But are these new killings merely the work of a disturbed individual, or has a mysterious and malignant force been unleashed in this quiet town? What causes Jack’s inexplicable waking dreams—if that is what they are—of robins’ eggs and red feathers? It’s almost as if someone is trying to tell him something. As this cryptic message becomes increasingly impossible to ignore, Jack is drawn back to the Territories and to his own hidden past, where he may find the soul-strength to enter a terrifying house at the end of a deserted tract of forest, there to encounter the obscene and ferocious evils sheltered within it.

Not King's best, but great follow up to Talisman.

Would you listen to Black House again? Why?

I love Stephen King as much as the next guy, but I probably would not. It was a good story, but I suppose that I've grown tired of the Territories.

What other book might you compare Black House to and why?

The Talisman and The Dark Tower series. Same settings and familiar faces.

Any additional comments?

Frank Muller was incredible as always. If you've read/listened to The Talisman, you should definitely experience this conclusion of the tale.

King and Straub did it again.

Great story. Love the world they created and didn't want to leave. Thanks for a perfect escape.

perfection

I read this some years ago but wanted to hear it narrated by Frank Muller and I was not disappointed. Excellent story and very suspenseful, dark but heroic. Love it.

I enjoyed Black House more than The Talisman.

Definitely a Dark Tower tie in.
I enjoyed this one a bit. Not my favorite, not bad though.
The scene in the DJs pad is probably my favorite if not the scene where Tyler defends himself.

good, but unnecessarily long

Very slow start, but strong ending. They definitely could've cut out 6 hours of content without anyone noticing.