The House of Drought

Dennis Mombauer

In a world on the verge of ecological collapse, a house stands looming over the rice paddies it was built on, in the shadow of a forest it encroaches on, a monument to colonialism that still haunts the region long after the colonizers left. The House of Drought takes a house and makes it a liminal space, revealing its history little by little, a house that doesn’t belong and that the surrounding land is trying to reclaim. Come for the creeping dread, stay around for the folklore. And that is all I am going to say because the delivery is the thing in this novella. 

Ecological Horror is becoming a favorite subgenre of mine.  Mostly because *arms flailing* the world being on fire and is currently a general hellscape.  It seems we are being forced to just pretend nothing is happening, while continuing to live our lives as normally as we can.  Ecological Horror recognizes the slow collapse around us, while putting it into an emotional framework that is easier to digest, instead of just being so overwhelmed that processing emotions about it seems impossible.  Because if you are like me, reading horror is an escape from the real world, and while these books can be a snapshot of a possible future, they are still a step removed from reality. 

Purchase from Stelliform

Review by Teresa B. Ardrey

@teresa_ardrey on Twitter