Black House

The Black House is a collection of eleven short stories written by highly acclaimed novelist Patricia Highsmith. All of the stories are good and a number of them are very good. Each story has a skillfully written narrative that unfolds smoothly as well as believable characters notable for their easily recognizable personality types. Many of the stories contain shocking plot twists designed to demonstrate the darkest aspects of human nature. In some cases these unexpected events are rather disturbing. Recommended to readers who appreciate "slice of life" stories and are not put off by the prospect of experiencing some viscerally uncomfortable moments along the way.

'The Black House' contains several short stories which are a slight departure from Patricia Highsmith's normal stomping ground - namely, psychotics and murderers. These stories have a somewhat of mild surreal, psychological angle to them. Daily routine life on the exterior becomes distorted when closely examined ... er, or something like that. There is no common underlying theme to the story. They seem to be written over a period of years, published for various periodicals. The publisher decided to, thankfully, give these stories an second life by reissuing them in this book. Bottom line: enjoyable, disturbing stories for fans of Patricia Highsmith ... and those not acquainted with her works.

Everytime you open a book by Patricia Highsmith, there is no certainty at all about what you will encounter (at least that happens to me). However, this time I found more surprises than usual. Each of the 11 stories has its particular charm, but the one I loved most was "Blow It". It is worth buying the book just to read this story. If you are a woman and you like Highsmith, you cannot afford to leave this one unread. And, remember, reality is more frightening than horror movies!