With the leaves changing color and the weather getting colder, what better to do than to hole up in a dimly lit room and read a horrifying novel? Halloween is only a few days away and reading Mark Z. Danielewski’s “House of Leaves” is a perfect way to embrace the season. “House of Leaves” is a truly disquieting novel that transcends description. On the surface it is a horror novel, but beneath it is love, satire, disenfranchisement, and much more.

Forget, for a minute, traditional story telling and literature. “House of Leaves” is not about that. It begins telling the tale of a distraught twenty-something, Johnny Truant. With a rampant sex life and abuse of various drugs, Truant is the ideal anti-hero, never thinking about his future and working a dead-end job at a tattoo parlor. He is looking for a new place to live when his friend, Lude, calls him and tells him about an apartment that just opened up near him. Apparently the old man who lived there, Zampanò, died and left no family or apparent valuables behind.

Truant goes to check out the apartment and everything seems to be in order, except for a few unexplainable gouges about seven inches long in the floor. They are near where Zampanó’s body was found, but the police dismissed it because there seemed to be no sign of struggle. While Truant is looking at the gouges, Lude points out a peculiar mass in the room. Off to the side, there is a giant heap of objects; sporadic and random, writing on everything, no surface left untouched. Immediately upon looking at it, Truant senses that it has some kind of power, some deeper meaning left to be uncovered.

This is where the story starts to deviate. Truant takes some writings from the heap home and begins reading them, and finds a note written by Zampanò just one day before he died. It reads, “Whoever finds and publishes this work shall be entitled to all proceeds. I ask only that my name take its rightful place. Perhaps you will even prosper. If, however, you discover that readers are less than sympathetic and choose to dismiss this enterprise out of hand, then may I suggest you drink plenty of wine and dance in the sheets of your wedding night, for whether you know it or not, now you truly are prosperous. They say truth stands the test of time. I can think of no greater comfort than knowing this document failed such a test.”

One would think that just this alone would be enough to dissuade Truant from continuing. But he reads on, at first only reading a few pieces a day, never for more than an hour at a time. But it slowly progresses until it overtakes his life. Slowly, he becomes a shut in. He never goes out anymore, he boards his windows and buys more locks for his doors. Disorientation and sickness are commonplace. Truant makes it his purpose to transcribe Zampanò’s works and piece them all together. He soon discovers that Zampanò’s writings chronicle the story of Will Navidson, a famous photojournalist who decided to make a documentary of his family’s move into a new house. His documentary became known as “The Navidson Record.” “House of Leaves” contains Zampanò’s full recording of “The Navidson Record,” while following Truant as he finished Zampanò’s work and experiences the unraveling of his own mind.

Danielewski’s artistic approach to this novel gives it a unique feel not found in any other book. He makes use of extensive footnotes to break up the stories in a way that seems schizophrenic. Not that this is a bad thing; the chaotic vibes and staggered structure complement the story in ways that words cannot. Throughout the story references are made to imaginary sources and things that never existed. Oftentimes footnotes themselves have their own footnotes. This creates a confusing feeling and leads one to continuously flip back and forth through pages trying to piece everything together. The general disarray of this may lose and dishearten some, but if one is willing to make the effort to struggle through it, the results are thoroughly rewarding.

Another method of experimentation that Danielewski toys with is page structure. Some pages may have no more than one word on them, and some may be written on sideways, upside-down, or backwards. Words are thrown everywhere in a manner that reflects the feelings of the characters at the time. Danielewski effectively communicates claustrophobic feelings through packing words together and making one feel that there is no space. Yet at other times, agoraphobia is expressed through pages with only one or two words on them, extremely spaced out. Danielewski also utilizes a bit of color; every time the word “house” appears, it is in blue font, leading one to feel that this word holds some power compared to the rest. This visual approach to emotions adds a palpable quality to the terror inherent in his writing. It acts as a catalyst to the disturbance and unease slowly creeping from the pages.

This is not a conventional horror novel. This book does not shock or make the reader fear things rational and perceivable. While reading this novel, one starts to feel that things are different. Life-long truths are suddenly cast in a different light. Is perceived reality really the truth? “House of Leaves” will leave the reader with a feeling of unease that nests deep in his core. As Truant states, toward the beginning of the book, “Old shelters – television, magazines, movies – won’t protect you anymore.” The barriers have been broken. Never again will readers of this novel look at things the same way. Rarely can it be said that a novel has the power to change a life, but “House of Leaves” does just that. It exposes that which society would rather not think about and stresses its importance.

Apart from the stories and copious footnotes themselves, “House of Leaves” features large amounts of added content, like three appendixes that include pictures, poems, letters to Truant from his mother, various quotations and much more. The staggering amount of information and content in this book is enough to make one’s mind swim, and the fact that Danielewski connects it all and delivers a clear message is a literary feat that others would be hard pressed to match. For this being his debut novel, Danielewski delivered a book unmatched in its style and relentless power.

So for those looking for something to fill the void between now and Halloween, pick up this novel and be ready for a shift in perspective. “House of Leaves” will certainly prepare the reader for this weekend’s festivities and all the scares that come with it. If one can contemplate the horrors of the self and the fact that things are not truly as we know them, then one can handle any other horror that our zombie and “Paranormal Activity” obsessed culture can throw at them. Be prepared for things to subtly change form and look differently, and for facts to take on a different meaning. While this may seem unwanted, these changes should be welcome. It’s an opening of the eyes that once embraced, can lead to an understanding that there is more out there than anyone can imagine or perceive.

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