Pun Salad

This book got an Edgar "Best Novel" nomination early this year, so onto the "get at library" list it went. The Portsmouth (NH) Public Library helpfully provides the subject classifications, and one is:

True crime stories -- Fiction

Things start out more or less conventionally: the book's narrator, Gage Chandler, is a reasonably successful "true crime" author. A previous book, The White Witch of Morro Bay was even made into a movie! But now his publisher has asked him to look into a lurid crime committed in Milpitas, California years ago. Gage's writing process involves him moving into the scene of the crime. the titular "Devil House".

The author, John Darnielle, takes the reader on many unexpected detours and twists along the way, including stylistic changes, even typographical changes (mercifully brief). We keep coming back to that White Witch book; it's clear that remains kind of a touchstone for Gage. We only gradually learn about the Milpitas murders, the backstories of the characters involved, the Devil House's history (most recently, "Monster Adult X", a porn store). As Gage investigates and interviews, the creepiness of his efforts keeps increasing.

I liked the book quite a bit, although I would imagine some readers might find it ultimately unsatisfying.