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    Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
    Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
    Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone
    Audiobook5 hours

    Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone

    Written by Stefan Kiesbye

    Narrated by Alison Larkin and James Langton

    3.5/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    A village on the Devil's Moor: a place untouched by time and shrouded in
    superstition. There is the grand manor house whose occupants despise
    the villagers, the small pub whose regulars talk of revenants, the old
    mill no one dares to mention. This is where four young friends come of
    age-in an atmosphere thick with fear and suspicion. Their innocent games
    soon bring them face-to-face with the village's darkest secrets in this
    eerily dispassionate, astonishingly assured novel, infused with the
    spirit of the Brothers Grimm and evocative of Stephen King's classic
    short story "Children of the Corn" and the films The White Ribbon by Michael Haneke and Village of the Damnednbsp;by Wolf Rilla.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateNov 26, 2012
    ISBN9781452680705
    Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone

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    Reviews for Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone

    3.5/5

    117 ratings16 reviews

    What did you think?

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    Review must be at least 10 words

    • 3/5
      What a messed up town this is. Interesting story to say the least but just weird
    • 2/5
      Sometimes I hate the star ratings on here because my personal feelings about a book don't reflect my critical thinking about it.

      Critically, this book is probably four stars. Hypnotic and lyrical, beautifully written. Sometimes moving, mostly grim, told without judgment. Had the subject matter been different I probably would have loved it.

      On a personal level, I hated this. It's a series of interconnected stories all about horrible people doing terrible things. Rapes, murders, lies, secrets. The gang's all here. And because the story is told so dispassionately, there's no emotional center to connect to. The narrators all experience traumas, but then they inflict just as much damage. Only once before has a novel left me this queasy with disgust, and that was primarily because of the author's intent. I didn't finish that one. But I did finish this one, and I suppose that says something. I appreciate this story for its construction, but I didn't enjoy it.
    • 4/5
      This was strange, but in a very good way. A group of former childhood friends return to the remote German village where they grew up many years later for the funeral of one of them. The strange and sometimes brutal events of their childhood are related through the alternating points of views of each of the survivors. Comparisons to Shirley Jackson, William Faulkner, and Gunter Grass are apt, as are comparisons to some of the darker tales of the Brothers Grimm. I will also say I was reminded of Jerzy Kosinki's The Painted Bird.I'm not a fan of horror, and this book occasionally flirts with horror, but the writing is delicious, very different and inventive. For example, "In our village time didn't progress courageously. In our village she limped a bit and got lost more than once...." Or, "The teacher had told them to collect colorful leaves and dry them between sheets of blotting paper imported into the pages of large and heavy books. Now they were trying the method on lizards and blindworms."So strange, but very enjoyable.4 stars
    • 5/5
      It’s a good novel when I finish it and immediately go back and reread the Prologue. Watching all the blocks fall into place like a successful round of Tetris is so satisfying. I want to reread this, and see what I missed. I had started it last year but quit after the first few pages threw so many characters at me (in a novel only 198 p long). Second time around, I “enjoyed” it from the beginning, if you can say that about such a nasty book. This time I made a character list while I read the Prologue and that covered almost everyone who appears in the book. [Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone] opens 40 years after the events of the novel with Christian, Alex, Martin and Linde meeting at the burial of their friend Anke. The rest of the novel is told in linked vignettes by Anke, Linde, Martin and Christian. Their stories all share their coming of age in an environment thick with chilling casual violence. This book tells some pretty messed up stories. “Time is of no importance” is the opening sentence, and establishes the mood. By the technology, it appears the novel is set after WWII, yet perhaps due to their poverty, it feels older. In the end, I found this anachronistic aspect added to timeless feel that gave this a bit of Grimms Fairytale atmosphere. Set in the fictional isolated Hammersmoor, in NW Germany, the village is a backwater at the end of an abandoned rail line a ways past Bremen and Hamburg. The locals dig peat, and other than one family, everyone is poor or almost-poor. Several times they mention things in town that commemorate the 30 Years War. I had to look this up: it happened all over Europe from 1618-1648. The local battle was triumphant, and it seems nothing important had taken place since. While reading, my question was always “what is driving all of this darkness?" Other than the black tongue story early in the book, none of the nefarious acts are actually supernatural, despite the Gothic feel. I didn’t actually expect an explanation at all, so I was delighted by the succinct reward at the end. I think to appreciate this novel, the reader has to have an understanding of how trauma can affect not just the person it happened to, but their child too. My grandparents experienced murder and gang rape in the Russian Revolution, and I know this in turn traumatized my mom. I’ve read about studies that show horrific trauma can change DNA, and it reflects in descendents. Having that knowledge in my pocket was crucial to getting this. Recommended for: readers looking for a dark, dark literary novel. Not recommended for people looking for a a horror novel.
    • 2/5
      Clearly the wrong book for me right now. Dark, depressing, hopeless. I understand about nostalgia and childhood and small-town secrets, but damn -- I'm exhausted by all the gossip and bitterness that is Hemmersmoor."The preparations must have been the ugliest part. Yet to taste revenge, you mustn't care about the smell of its ingredients."2 stars(because, like the scene of a traffic collision, I couldn't look away, but I'm left me with a heavy heart.)Note to self: Hints of Bradbury (the carnival), M.R. James (the maze at the Big House), probably others if I cared enough to analyze, which I don't.
    • 3/5
      I wanted to like this book a lot more than I did. It's creepy and atmospheric, for sure, but after a while it was just "who's going to murder someone next," which is not what I usually go for in horror.
    • 2/5
      Ummm.....I am not sure I fully grasped what is going on in this book. Strange kids, bizarre cooking contests, a big house with a maze. SPOILER ALERT...Maybe...I'm not really sure if I know what happened...Here is what I think. A kid kills his sister for her soul to get into a carnival ride, rape, kids raping kids, more sex, dead babies, unwitting cannibalism, and they may all be ghosts??
    • 3/5
      It took me 2 months to get through this book! Not b/c the writing was bad, but b/c each chapter was its own little story and I could put it down. I read it in short bursts b/c it just didn't keep my attention. It was so unrealistic and I was hoping for something more reality based...something that would really frighten me. Sadly, not the case though the writing itself was good.
    • 3/5
      I was very excited for this book but I think perhaps I lost something in listening to the audio book, rather than reading the print. First of all, the sound quality on the audio left something to be desired. Some chapters were loud, some soft, some didn't sound like they were in stereo, etc. My biggest problem was with the names and keeping track of who was who among the boys. The story itself was chilling and compelling and I think I would give it a reread in print format.
    • 3/5
      A small German town, possibly post WWII, seems quaintly idyllic. Everyone knows everyone and life flows the same as in most other small towns in the world. But this little community harbors a terrible secret. Something, some driving force drives the citizens of the town, especially the children to shocking acts of violence. Strangling a sister in her sleep, killing a father in a fit of rage, goading a boy into drowning. Shocking acts that arise from nothing and then are suppressed in the town's collective memory. Your House is on Fire is a truly unusual novel. There is no neat ending or tidy explanation for the events. The novel is a mystery without a solution. That isn't necessarily a bad thing. Readers just need to be prepared for it is all.
    • 4/5
      I picked this up from my local library, and was pleasantly surprised how much I enjoyed the story. Great writing skills and story-telling by the author......although I wondered how much more could be wrong with this town and its people.
    • 3/5
      This novel is more of a short-story cycle about various horrific acts experienced or committed by a group of children in a dreary German village, somewhere post-war, pre-reunification. The writing style is plain, the tone is quiet, noncommittal and almost unfeeling, even when truly diabolical acts are described. It’s truly odd. I almost gave up along the way, but it’s short, and I’m glad I stuck it out, because there was an element of thematic resolution at end, if no resolution for the characters.In these social media book reviews, is it better to record my objective opinion of a book or my personal experience of reading it? It seems unfair to the author of this one to stay that I couldn’t keep the characters straight or that the short-story format made it hard for me to remember important points. Is it the fault of the author or my own poor memory and inability to concentrate?I will say that the one-star reviews this one is getting are probably the fault of the marketing department. The blurbs promise the reader a scary horror novel a la Shirley Jackson or Stephen King. The (really cool!) cover evokes The Bad Seed and Village of the Damned. But this is emphatically not genre fiction; I would never recommend this to a horror fan, and those who pick this one up based on cover or blurbs are getting a bum recommendation.
    • 3/5
      Reading this book is like a golden sugared streusel filled with gray, moldy, and decayed apples. On the surface the German town seems like a story book come to life. Beneath the surface though lies a population committing patricide, sadomasochism, incest, child abuse, and adultry. The story is told from the different viewpoints of a group of friends and none of the stories end well for those involved. This is one strange little book. The lack of a cohesive plot was somewhat bothersome to me. It was just people relating really awful tales about their friends and family. I love a good horror tale but this just left a bad taste in my mouth, much like a moldy streusel.
    • 1/5
      I'm not entirely sure what I think about this book. On the one hand, the writing and word play are creative and Mr. Kiesbye has an interesting idea, the result just wasn't all that great. I didn't find anything about the story itself creepy, but rather felt that the author was just trying to make me nauseous. While nausea can be an important part of any horror novel experience, nausea for nausea's sake is just a great big yawn.Your House Is on Fire, Your Children All Gone really wants to be an updated Shirley Jackson novel. The thing is, Shirley Jackson already wrote this novel and she did it in a short story. A better short story than this novel. Reminiscent of The Children of the Corn by Stephen King? Of the Brothers Grimm? Sure. Did it add anything new to the conversation? Not so much.Ultimately this book left me disappointed and thinking, "What was the point of that?"Hmm. I guess I do know what I think of this book.
    • 3/5
      Kiesbye’s supernatural novel speaks straight to our innermost fears. In Hemmersmoor, some children grow up and never leave while others leave by fates worse than death. Christian, Linde, Anke and Martin, four of Hemmersmoor’s children, tell a tale of a village wrought with ghosts and evil. There are dark and sinister secrets and enigmas that neither the old nor the young dare speak of.The children were sentinels of this town’s secrets, until Kiesbye reveals all. Children are killed, beaten by their own parents and raped while adults act on jealousy, love, hatred and rage.It’s not best to read this creepy book at night while alone. Keep the lights on and someone nearby. It’s a dark book and not one I recommend to young adults.Reviewed by Starr Gardinier Reina, author of “One Major Mistake”
    • 3/5
      Our Review by LITERAL ADDICTION's Pack Alpha - Michelle L. Olson:Stefan Kiesbye takes the reader on a dark and twisted journey in Your House is on Fire, Your Children All Dead. The book is written in differing points of view from each of the main characters. It's almost like a connected collection of short stories in that way, and each overlap slightly in regards to timeframe. Written with beautiful prose rife with simile and metaphor, the story covers the disturbing reminiscence of 5 children growing up in rural Germany and the horror that is the human psyche.It was an unsettling and beautifully written nostalgic horror show full of emotion.LITERAL ADDICTION gives Your House is on Fire, Your Children all Dead 3 1/2 Skulls. It was an enjoyable and disturbing read, but I'm not sure I'd read it a 2nd time. An aside note: The press didn't really match up to the real deal. It was advertised as The Twilight Zone meets The Children of the Corn, meets the X-Files. Twilight Zone, maybe. The others... not so much, in my opinion anyway. One thing I will say though, the cover design is absolutely GENIUS! Loved it!