The Necromancer's House

Those Across the River, a “beautifully written…exceedingly clever” (Boston Herald) masterpiece of “genuine terror” (New York Times bestselling author F. Paul Wilson), was hailed by #1 New York Times bestselling author Charlaine Harris as “one of the best first novels I’ve ever read.” Now comes Christopher Buehlman’s new novel—one of uncommon horrors hiding behind the walls of the house next door…“You think you got away with something, don’t you? But your time has run out. We know where you are. And we are coming.”The man on the screen says this in Russian.“Who are you?”The man smiles, but it’s not a pleasant smile.The image freezes.The celluloid burns exactly where his mouth is, burns in the nearly flat U of his smile. His eyes burn, too.The man fades, leaving the burning smiley face smoldering on the screen.“Oh Christ,” Andrew says.The television catches fire.Andrew Ranulf Blankenship is a handsome, stylish nonconformist with wry wit, a classic Mustang, and a massive library. He is also a recovering alcoholic and a practicing warlock, able to speak with the dead through film. His house is a maze of sorcerous booby traps and escape tunnels, as yours might be if you were sitting on a treasury of Russian magic stolen from the Soviet Union thirty years ago. Andrew has long known that magic was a brutal game requiring blood sacrifice and a willingness to confront death, but his many years of peace and comfort have left him soft, more concerned with maintaining false youth than with seeing to his own defense. Now a monster straight from the pages of Russian folklore is coming for him, and frost and death are coming with her.

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. A Russian man&'s drowning launches this rambunctious magical melee. Buehlman (Those Across the River) pits Andrew Blankenship and Anneke Zautke, companions in witchcraft and Alcoholics Anonymous, against Russian ogress Baba Yaga, whose son, Misha, falls prey to mischievous water sprite Nadia, a friend (of sorts) of Andrew&'s. Contrasting with exotic magical escapades, real-world losses haunt both Anneke and Andrew. As the threat from Baba Yaga mounts and bad things happen to Andrew&'s sidekicks, the eponymous house no longer provides a certain refuge. The logic of the plot is eclipsed by the eruption of characters who evoke Dickensian whimsy and range from the merely unusual to the bizarrely imaginative. Within this magical universe, rivalries, revenge, and self-seeking contend with the willingness to sacrifice. The final confrontation, evolving in part from Andrew&'s prior service to Baba Yaga and her daughter Marina&'s defiance, wreaks an ambiguous ending in an explosion of enthralling fantasy. The vibrant, bracing atmosphere easily overpowers any niggling concerns about a few incongruous incidents. (Oct.)

Patricia Briggs, #1 New York Times bestselling author

“What a treat. As much F. Scott Fitzgerald as Dean Koontz. A graceful, horrific read.”

Boston Herald

“So real you can almost see the sweat roll down the page.”

a novel sure to enthrall readers of all stripes.”

“Wonderfully eerie from start to finish

F. Paul Wilson, New York Times bestselling author of Cold City

“An unsettling brew of growing menace…Do not miss this chilling debut.”

New York Journal of Books

“Sublimely crafted.”

Hank Schwaeble, Bram Stoker Award–winning author of Diabolical

“Lures you into a different era, seduces you with eloquent prose and sensual period details, then clamps down on your jugular…An outstanding debut.”

California Literary Review

“A delightfully genre-bending juxtaposition of supernatural horror and gothic drama.”

The Trades And for Between Two Fires

“Gripping, compelling gothic horror in the most classical sense, an American Dracula that absorbs the reader into its seductive embrace through lush rhythms and a veneer of homespun innocence.”

Shelf Awareness

“By combining modern horror dynamics with a convincing medieval setting, Christopher Buehlman secures his status among today’s leading dark-fantasy authors.”

Publishers Weekly

“Fans of historical fantasy and horror will find this epic darkly rewarding.”

Kirkus Reviews

“Buehlman is now two for two in delivering eerie, offbeat novels with admirable literary skill.”

About the Author

Christopher Buehlman is the winner of the 2007 Bridport Prize for Poetry and the author of three novels and several plays. He spends half the year in Florida and the rest on the road.

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