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angus_mckeogh's review against another edition
1.0
Wow. What a steaming pile of feces. Picked this one up after reading an interview with Jack Ketchum. He mentioned how creative and scary Lee was. I can sum it up like this...at one point the protagonist has sex with the penis hole of another man's enormous schlong. Uhhhhhhhhhhhh...creative and scary? Try stupid and gratuitous. One of the worst books I've managed to finish in my life.
skullheadface's review against another edition
4.0
Well, Edward Lee delivers again in this two part tale about...a pig 🐖 and a house 🏠.
Please do yourself a favor and have a water bottle and a puke-bucket close by. You might need them.
I had an actual physical reaction from reading this book, a first really, it was that fucking repugnant.
There were plenty of laugh-out loud moments too, easing the waves of nausea.
In a word....awesome.
I’ll never look at a ziplock bag in the same way, ever, ever again.
I give “The Pig” 4 skulls.
☠️☠️☠️☠️
Please do yourself a favor and have a water bottle and a puke-bucket close by. You might need them.
I had an actual physical reaction from reading this book, a first really, it was that fucking repugnant.
There were plenty of laugh-out loud moments too, easing the waves of nausea.
In a word....awesome.
I’ll never look at a ziplock bag in the same way, ever, ever again.
I give “The Pig” 4 skulls.
☠️☠️☠️☠️
shane's review against another edition
I was a little concerned when I read my first Edward Lee novel, that he was an author that might be mistaking hooliganism and thuggery for horror. That novel was called 'The Bighead' and it was about an inbred human so I gave him the benefit of the doubt because the violence and degradation and so on actually fit quite well with the story and characters, but then we come to 'The Pig and The House' and I begin to wonder if our Mr Edward Lee has nothing else to offer but that thuggery and purposely in-your-face violence.
So I picked up this next novel. A novel that got rave reviews. I thought if I was to get a really good horror novel from Mr Edward Lee then this must be it. So, it seems to be about a man forced to make extremely hard-core pornographic videos for the mafia to pay off a debt. All very well you might think, but where's the horror? Oh don't get me wrong, after passing the 20% mark in what is actually the first of two novellas there's been plenty of disgusting activity and plenty of scenes that seem to be saying 'look at how disgusting I can make this bit', but apart from that nothing that I recognise as 'horror'. It's horrible, yes. It's certainly disgusting, yes. But it isn't what I recognise as horror.
Maybe I gave up on it too soon. Maybe the real horror story kicks in a little later. Or maybe it's just a vile progression of violence and scenes intended to further disgust the reader, I don't know really, and I've no real desire to find out now. I'll just point out at this juncture that I always give any novel a good try before ditching it as wasting my time. The 20% mark seems fair as far as I'm concerned. If after reading 1/5th of the novel it hasn't got any better then I feel fully justified in casting it aside.
I'm going to try one more before I give up on Mr Lee. I've read a synopsis of a novel called 'Flesh Gothic' which sounds like it could be quite interesting, so I'm going to give that one a go.
Suffice to say, this one turned my stomach, but for reasons other than those I was looking for. The part of it I read didn't impress me at all and makes me wonder how it got so many great reviews.
Not good. A complete waste of my time. Try something else.
So I picked up this next novel. A novel that got rave reviews. I thought if I was to get a really good horror novel from Mr Edward Lee then this must be it. So, it seems to be about a man forced to make extremely hard-core pornographic videos for the mafia to pay off a debt. All very well you might think, but where's the horror? Oh don't get me wrong, after passing the 20% mark in what is actually the first of two novellas there's been plenty of disgusting activity and plenty of scenes that seem to be saying 'look at how disgusting I can make this bit', but apart from that nothing that I recognise as 'horror'. It's horrible, yes. It's certainly disgusting, yes. But it isn't what I recognise as horror.
Maybe I gave up on it too soon. Maybe the real horror story kicks in a little later. Or maybe it's just a vile progression of violence and scenes intended to further disgust the reader, I don't know really, and I've no real desire to find out now. I'll just point out at this juncture that I always give any novel a good try before ditching it as wasting my time. The 20% mark seems fair as far as I'm concerned. If after reading 1/5th of the novel it hasn't got any better then I feel fully justified in casting it aside.
I'm going to try one more before I give up on Mr Lee. I've read a synopsis of a novel called 'Flesh Gothic' which sounds like it could be quite interesting, so I'm going to give that one a go.
Suffice to say, this one turned my stomach, but for reasons other than those I was looking for. The part of it I read didn't impress me at all and makes me wonder how it got so many great reviews.
Not good. A complete waste of my time. Try something else.
kd_swanson's review against another edition
4.0
I was so excited when I found out about Edward Lee. Having read so many works of horror, I find myself constantly seeking something that crosses boundaries, pushes limits, and *actually* disturbs me. "The House" does all of the above and more.
At a couple of points in the novellas, I felt as if the story had been pushed aside and the author only focused on shocking the reader. When you think that Lee can go no further--he does. The stories attempted to mesh together two different types of horror: paranormal and shock. In my opinion, Lee has proven himself to be a master of disgusting, vile shock horror, but I was unimpressed at his integration of the paranormal. (That being said, I did appreciate the storyline; however, he spent so much more time describing the atrocities within the storyline that I often had to remind myself of the plot points.)
I would be hesitant to recommend this novel, simply because it is so disturbing.
At a couple of points in the novellas, I felt as if the story had been pushed aside and the author only focused on shocking the reader. When you think that Lee can go no further--he does. The stories attempted to mesh together two different types of horror: paranormal and shock. In my opinion, Lee has proven himself to be a master of disgusting, vile shock horror, but I was unimpressed at his integration of the paranormal. (That being said, I did appreciate the storyline; however, he spent so much more time describing the atrocities within the storyline that I often had to remind myself of the plot points.)
I would be hesitant to recommend this novel, simply because it is so disturbing.
shane's review
I was a little concerned when I read my first Edward Lee novel, that he was an author that might be mistaking hooliganism and thuggery for horror. That novel was called 'The Bighead' and it was about an inbred human so I gave him the benefit of the doubt because the violence and degradation and so on actually fit quite well with the story and characters, but then we come to 'The Pig and The House' and I begin to wonder if our Mr Edward Lee has nothing else to offer but that thuggery and purposely in-your-face violence.
So I picked up this next novel. A novel that got rave reviews. I thought if I was to get a really good horror novel from Mr Edward Lee then this must be it. So, it seems to be about a man forced to make extremely hard-core pornographic videos for the mafia to pay off a debt. All very well you might think, but where's the horror? Oh don't get me wrong, after passing the 20% mark in what is actually the first of two novellas there's been plenty of disgusting activity and plenty of scenes that seem to be saying 'look at how disgusting I can make this bit', but apart from that nothing that I recognise as 'horror'. It's horrible, yes. It's certainly disgusting, yes. But it isn't what I recognise as horror.
Maybe I gave up on it too soon. Maybe the real horror story kicks in a little later. Or maybe it's just a vile progression of violence and scenes intended to further disgust the reader, I don't know really, and I've no real desire to find out now. I'll just point out at this juncture that I always give any novel a good try before ditching it as wasting my time. The 20% mark seems fair as far as I'm concerned. If after reading 1/5th of the novel it hasn't got any better then I feel fully justified in casting it aside.
I'm going to try one more before I give up on Mr Lee. I've read a synopsis of a novel called 'Flesh Gothic' which sounds like it could be quite interesting, so I'm going to give that one a go.
Suffice to say, this one turned my stomach, but for reasons other than those I was looking for. The part of it I read didn't impress me at all and makes me wonder how it got so many great reviews.
Not good. A complete waste of my time. Try something else.
So I picked up this next novel. A novel that got rave reviews. I thought if I was to get a really good horror novel from Mr Edward Lee then this must be it. So, it seems to be about a man forced to make extremely hard-core pornographic videos for the mafia to pay off a debt. All very well you might think, but where's the horror? Oh don't get me wrong, after passing the 20% mark in what is actually the first of two novellas there's been plenty of disgusting activity and plenty of scenes that seem to be saying 'look at how disgusting I can make this bit', but apart from that nothing that I recognise as 'horror'. It's horrible, yes. It's certainly disgusting, yes. But it isn't what I recognise as horror.
Maybe I gave up on it too soon. Maybe the real horror story kicks in a little later. Or maybe it's just a vile progression of violence and scenes intended to further disgust the reader, I don't know really, and I've no real desire to find out now. I'll just point out at this juncture that I always give any novel a good try before ditching it as wasting my time. The 20% mark seems fair as far as I'm concerned. If after reading 1/5th of the novel it hasn't got any better then I feel fully justified in casting it aside.
I'm going to try one more before I give up on Mr Lee. I've read a synopsis of a novel called 'Flesh Gothic' which sounds like it could be quite interesting, so I'm going to give that one a go.
Suffice to say, this one turned my stomach, but for reasons other than those I was looking for. The part of it I read didn't impress me at all and makes me wonder how it got so many great reviews.
Not good. A complete waste of my time. Try something else.
mikekaz's review
4.0
This book by Lee is actually two related novellas: "The Pig" and "The House". Both involve the same house / location and naturally fit together. While they were written years apart from each other, "The House" should be considered a sequel to "The Pig", but since they are in the same book, it's easier to consider them two chapters of the same story. However you consider them though, definitely consider them intense and graphic. There are detailed scenes of bestiality, sodomy, scat, and necrophilia, and the usual graphic, imaginative deaths. And not just one scene but multiple. This is Lee at his grossest.
The basic story for "The Pig" is that Leonard, a down-and-out, wanna-be film maker, gets forced by the mob who he owes money to make hardcore porn films for them. The basic story for "The House" is Melvin, an introvert junior journalist, is assigned to write about a haunted house, the same house that Leonard was forced to make his films. The story for each novella is definitely light as the concentration is on the gross-out aspect. I actually thought "The Pig" was better than "The House"; there seemed to be more story and more mystery about where the story was going. It also was the grosser of the two but that really wasn't part of the reason why I liked it more. At least I don't think it was. Either way, I also hoped for more from "The House". There was a lot more potential for scary than for gross that I think was missed. Only catch this book if you don't mind reading total, over the top, seriously gross descriptions.
The basic story for "The Pig" is that Leonard, a down-and-out, wanna-be film maker, gets forced by the mob who he owes money to make hardcore porn films for them. The basic story for "The House" is Melvin, an introvert junior journalist, is assigned to write about a haunted house, the same house that Leonard was forced to make his films. The story for each novella is definitely light as the concentration is on the gross-out aspect. I actually thought "The Pig" was better than "The House"; there seemed to be more story and more mystery about where the story was going. It also was the grosser of the two but that really wasn't part of the reason why I liked it more. At least I don't think it was. Either way, I also hoped for more from "The House". There was a lot more potential for scary than for gross that I think was missed. Only catch this book if you don't mind reading total, over the top, seriously gross descriptions.
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