French Landing, Wisconsin. A comfortable, solid middle-American town inhabited by comfortable, solid middle-Americans… and a serial killer.
Three children have been lost – taken by a monster with a taste for child’s flesh nicknamed ‘The Fisherman’ after a legendary murderer. It’s all way beyond the experience of the local police, whose only hope lies with ex-detective Jack Sawyer, the man who cracked their last case for them. But, plagued by visions of another world, Jack has retired to this rural retreat precisely to avoid such horrors – and, having recognized the touch of madness on this case, he’s keeping well away.
Soon, he’ll have no choice. Young Tyler Marshall, left behind one afternoon by his bullying friends, pedals past the local old folks’ home and is accosted by a crow. ‘Gorg,’ it caws, and ‘Ty.’ What ten-year-old could resist a bird that speaks his name? Not Ty, that’s for sure. And as he follows the mysterious crow, he’s grabbed by the neck and dragged into a hedge.
The Fisherman has made another catch.
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RIGHT HERE AND NOW, as an old friend used to say, we are in the fluid present, where clear sightedness never guarantees perfect vision. 1
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(HarperCollins, 1 January 2001, hardback, 640 pages, can’t remember where I bought my copy)
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Stephen King | Black House
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I’ve only read Black House a couple of times and forgot how much I love this book. The links to The Dark Tower are much more obvious than they were in The Talisman and seem clearer since I recently re-read The Dark Tower series. The book uses a strange narrative style and at times uses the point of view of an eagle flying around the sky. This took a bit of getting used to. This narrative style is quite intrusive in the earlier chapters but you soon get into the flow of it all. This book shines with its references to The Dark Tower and a true fan will find this a delight to read. I also loved the plot, a sinister creature possessing the mind of a child killer to root out Breakers to use against The Dark Tower in exchange for being able to kill as much as he wants. This gave me the chills. I loved re-visiting this book. I’d recommend this.
5/5
I’m currently reading through the lists of books with some connection to The Dark Tower from Stephen King’s own website, https://stephenking.com/darktower/connections. According to this link the connections between The Dark Tower and Black House are:
- BLAINE THE MONO: Blaine is a character from the DT novels The Waste Lands and Wizard and Glass. He is also mentioned in Black House
- BRAUTIGAN, TED: Ted Brautigan is a major character in the final Dark Tower novel, The Dark Tower. He plays a very important role in “Low Men in Yellow Coats,” and “Heavenly Shades of Night are Falling,” both found in Hearts in Atlantis. Ted Brautigan is MENTIONED in “Why We’re in Vietnam,” and in Black House
- CAN-TAH: The carved turtle which Susannah Dean uses to mesmerize people in Song of Susannah. The can-tah are mentioned in Stephen King’s novel Desperation. In that book, the can tah (spelled without the hyphen) are ugly composite animals carved from stone. In The Dark Tower novels, they are good, not evil. The can-tah are also mentioned in Black House
- CHAMBERS, JAKE:Jake is a major player in The Gunslinger, The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wizard and Glass, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower. He is mentioned in Black House
- DARK TOWER:The Dark Tower (the actual Tower, located in End-World) is mentioned in Black House
- DEAN, EDDIE:Eddie is a major player in The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower. Eddie Dean is referenced in Black House
- DEAN, SUSANNAH:Susannah Dean is a major player in The Drawing of the Three, The Waste Lands, Wolves of the Calla, Song of Susannah, and The Dark Tower. She is also referenced in Black House
- DESCHAIN, ROLAND: As well as being the central protagonist of the Dark Tower novels, he is also mentioned in Black House
- FRENCH LANDING, WISCONSIN:Setting for Black House. It is mentioned in The Dark Tower novels
- HOSPITAL TENTS:A tent very like the hospital tent found in Little Sisters of Eluria appears briefly in Black House
- KA:In the Dark Tower novels, ka is the force of fate. It is also mentioned in Black House
- LEGION:In the 2003 version of The Gunslinger, Walter mentions the End-World creature known as Legion. In Black House, The Fisherman is called Legion
- OPOPANAX:This feather is found in Calla Bryn Sturgis. The word “opopanax” haunts Jack Sawyer in Black House
- PATRICIA THE MONO: Appears in Black House as well as the Dark Tower novels
- SPEAKING DEMON: The Speaking Demon which appears in The Waste Lands also appears in Black House
- TERRITORIES: Much of the action of The Talisman (and some of the action of Black House) takes place in a land known as The Territories. The Territories are mentioned in The Waste Lands
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