Contains:
Aces --
Autumology --
Cabin D --
Winter hammock --
A night in the library with the gods --
The nanny --
The dark and the young --
The currents --
Leaves brown --
Wood --
The house on Ashley Avenue --
The rifts between us --
Vogo --
The cat --
Deleted scenes --
The tattletail --
Charlotte's frequency --
Relaxed best --
Hunger --
Inheritor --
Twillingate --
The candle.

Full disclosure: I am a friend of Ian Rogers and we've both been published by the same publisher (Burning Effigy). That being said, I'm still going to be completely honest and forthright in my review.

Reading any short story collection is an interesting experience for a reader. Instead of getting a single, all-encompassing insight into the author, you're treated to several different facets which, to me, put that author into a better perspective.

In Every House Is Haunted, you can't look at this as though you're diving into a package of cookies. Instead, this is like attending a chili cook-off: yes, they're all chili (horror stories), but some are smooth, some are spicy, some aren't quite to your taste, and some you love. Ian Rogers, at his worst, is still a writer that entertains and challenges the reader. At his best, he's terrifying, and terrifyingly good.

In fact, at one point, I finished a story, turned to my wife and said, "I really hate Ian Rogers." When she asked why, I stated it was because he was such a great writer. His characters are real, they're believable. The dialogue is natural. The details he picks out are intriguingly perfect. But it's the man's sheer imagination that blows me away.

Reading the stories, you do get a sense that he has his certain tropes: worlds hidden behind doors, rifts, dimensions, phases. Characters that aren't quite in step with those around them. Shadowing agencies that study the weird. They all show up again and again, but in each iteration, they're new, they're different and they're fascinating.

There's some absolute standouts in this collection. Personally, I don't think he tops the first story in the collection, Aces. It simply defies expectations and kicks all kinds of ass. However, there's other gems scattered throughout Ian's House: The larger world hinted at in Cabin D, the simplicity of The Nanny, the wistful relationship in Leaves Brown, the fun of The House on Ashley Avenue, the absolute unflinching brutality of The Cat, the sparsity of Hunger, the slow build of The Inheritor, and, in this hardcover edition, The Secret Door that seemingly sums up so many of the previous stories.

This isn't a book to run through quickly. Take your time in each section of the house. Look at each area slowly and carefully. Rogers' writing will reward you for your time.

( )

Good, solid, creepy, quirky, imaginative horror. Most stories are very short, practically flash fiction, and something about this compels you to read on, to have just one more, just one more, like you’ve got your hand in a bag of chips. I dragged this book around the house and read it while I cooked and played with the dog and waited for pages to load. ( )

I found this collection frustrating; most of the stories felt like they ended just as things were getting really interesting. ( )

Winner of the ReLit Award for Best Short Fiction, Ian Roger’s debut is a corker, a paean to everything that scares us. Like the best of horror fiction, Rogers’ stories defy easy categorization. A jazz club may or may not be Hell, but is certainly not a place you want to visit. A loveable housecat proves adept at exterminating pests of all sizes. A campfire story takes an unusual turn. And in “Deleted Scenes” (my favourite in a collection rife with nominees), an actor finds himself employment by filming scenes never meant to be seen. Rogers has a way of tweaking even the most mundane idea and making it sparkle anew. Believe me, I’ll never look at a spider the same way again. Or ever again.

Find the full review at my website. ( )