Customer Reviews

House of Doors

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I had no idea what to expect from this one. Being so accustomed to Lumley's many series' of books, it was strange to see one just stand out with out any sequels or related novels.

Once again Lumley's characters were well developed. I loved em or hated them. I don't know really what to compare this book to, but lets just imagine that we are in a house on Earth that was placed here by aliens. The house is mainly an alien laboratory where they can watch us interact with each other and see how we behave (much like we do to mice in a maze). Now throw a bunch of doors in this house and behind them all something new. Horrors not to be believed. How do we react? How would you react?

Lumley really drew out the emotions for this one. When one of the characters are in trouble, man, you really get into it. This one sucked me in like that kid's movie 'The Never-Ending Story' did to that kid reading the book. Something totally different from Lumley and good show! Loved this one too. A sequel is now out called Maze Of Worlds. I'll be special ordering that one!

Brian Lumley has written a fast paced, heart pounding, chilling story in The House of Doors. It grabs you from the beginning and
doesn't let go til the last page.

A civilization called the Thone have sent a scout to earth to determine whether it is habitable for their race. The Thone are looking for other planets to live on but they are a peaceful race who will only take over a planet if the inhabitants are barbaric; lacking in intelligence, wit, will to survive.

Unfortunately for earth, Sith,a Thone who wants to be Grand Thone decides to ignore the rules of the game and cheat in order to show his leaders that earth is ready to be taken over. If he can find a planet to sustain his peoples lives, surely he will gain the promotion he is seeking.

The house of doors is a castle within a castle which contains many doors. A sampling of humans are captured and placed in the castle and their movments and actions are recorded. Behind each door contains the world of each of the captives worse nightmares. They must survive each trial in order to save earth from completed destruction and domination.

This book contains heroes and villians. Those you root for and those you root against. As in real life, not everyone plays fair, and some are simply out for themselves. This story is a fantastic voyage into the intricate threads that hold us together as a society. It shows how we work together toward a single minded goal, and how we also work against those who don't share our beliefs. It was a wonderful read. The story flowed and was over before I knew it.

Will our representatives from earth survive the horrors that await them in the House of Doors? Will they be strong enough to save Earth? Buy this book and find out, you won't be sorry.

This book is pure genius. I could not put it down which is becoming the norm when I am reading Brian Lumley. The group of "explorers" each experience their own deepest fears in a world made just for that purpose and they experience each others worlds also. The human race is on trial and it is a hung jury. Spencer demonstrates his superior mental and moral qualities and gets to the bottom of this mystery. Very well detailed scenarios and characters help to captivate you and envelop you in Brian Lumleys imagination. What a great book, I wish there was a number two to read.

The House of Doors feels like riding a roller coaster or watching one of the old-time many chapter serials. The ending of every chapter leaves you hanging as to what's going to happen next. It's a pretty good book. It definitely kept me turning the pages.

SPOILER WARNING! The downfall of the book for me was that fairly early on one knows what's going to happen. The bad or unsavory characters are going to die, the good ones are going to live and the alien breaking the rules will either die or be punished. The speed with which one of the heroes, Gill, came to understand and then be able to manipulate the alien technology against the alien himself was a bit hard to swallow. As was the "bad" alien's superiors coming to apologize to the humans! Also, can we have ONE book that contains a superior race who, whether directly or indirectly, does NOT moralize to the reader about how we humans have treated both ourselves and our planet so badly? Enough already. This "message" is as old as the hills.

Despite those quibbles though, House of Doors was a light, unchallenging, but enjoyable read. It has definitely made me want to explore other books by Mr. Lumley.

After reading Necroscope I picked this one up and was utterly amazed. Not only are they very different books, but Brian Lumley's ability to capture and hold me did not diminish from one to the other. House of Doors was a readers trap from the beginning to the end and it was the best place to be.

READ IT! I promise you will not be disappointed.

This is a great book. The personal fears of our crew are manifested in separate "worlds" partly of their own subconcious making. It's a pretty scary thing to be thrust into a world with your deepest darkest fears made flesh. This book is pure genius. The characters are perfect in all their inperfections. Spencer Gill is really the greatest character and I wish there was really such a person so I could meet him. The only reason I didn't give this five stars is because of the science fiction factor. I would like to have seen a bit more supernatural elements, but thats just a personal preference. This is great horror right up there with Clive Barker who is my all time favorite. I highly recommend this book.

Don't know what it is about this book, but it just didn't do anything for me. The plot is original and intriguing, but something just didn't work for me. It wasn't the characters, some of whom were likeable. It wasn't the villians, whom were quite cool--who doesn't like aliens, giant scorpion/crab/spider monsters, and derranged ape-people?
I think it was the books predictability that made it a tedious read. Lumley never truly generates any real suspense or a sense of urgency, so as creative as some of the foes are, they're not terrible effective.
I understand there is a sequel. Maybe I'll read that some day. If you're really into sci-fi, give it a read. It just didn't click for me.
Real rating: 2-and-a-half stars.

I saw The House of Doors recommended on the page for the movie Cube. With Cube being one of my all-time favorite movies, The House of Doors immediately caught my interest. After reading the positive reviews, I immediately picked it up and started reading with great expectations. Unfortunately, I was disappointed.

The novel contains some great ideas, unfortunately they are overshadowed by a couple flaws. Primarily, too much is explained too early. The antagonist and main purpose behind of the House of Doors is revealed early on, leaving little mystery for the reader to unravel. Secondly, I found the writing style to be uneven at times. The author frequently uses exclamation points and odd analogies, which often come off rather silly. It seemed out of place for a serious horror novel.

On another note, from the write up I was expecting the novel to contain a fair bit of horror and gore. While there are some moments, I found them to be few and far between. It wasn't much of a concern for me, I was more interested in the story.

Those looking for a sci-fi adventure with some horror elements may enjoy this novel. If you are looking for a serious horror or mystery story, I recommend looking elsewhere.

The House of Doors is a non-stop thriller with many unexpected turns! The extent of the detail is amazing and allows the reader to get a perfect mental picture in their mind. The plot is a perfect horrer and science-fiction mix. I never read for fun but I did for this book.

Repetitive, self-contradictory, predictable, boring. I still have a few pages to read and can't work up the energy to finishing reading them. The book is 100 - 150 pages too long, much of it is junk that could have been edited out. I have always been curious about Lumley's "Necroscope" series but now I wont even bother. I want my 7 bucks back.

The characters uninteresting, their actions somewhat pointless. The situations they get into are not very interesting either.
I thought is was odd that only the female charater kept getting her clothes ripped off as she ran through the woods, stupid. The "vilian" was totally unintersting and his behavior is never really explained in a way that makes sense for the story.

The back cover exlaims "ALIEN ATTACK!" but there is no alien attack really, just one alien who has trapped a few people. I will stay way away from Lumley.