Look Out For … House of Bad Memories by Michael David Wilson

“With his latest novel, Wilson begins with a man grappling with his step-father’s legacy, then quickly descends into depraved chaos and madness.” 

All Denny wants is to be the world’s best dad to his baby daughter. Things get a little crazy when he suddenly starts having hallucinations about his estranged abusive stepfather, Frank.

Then Frank turns up dead, and now Denny’s held hostage by his junkie half-sister. She demands answers and wants Denny to find the cause of her father’s death. Denny’s faced with defeating his demons, or being perpetually tortured for refusing to answer impossible questions.

Why we’re excited about this book:

Michael David Wilson should be no stranger to readers familiar with This Is Horror. The author of The Girl in the Video and They’re Watching (with Bob Pastorella), Wilson’s short fiction has graced the pages of Dim Shores, The NoSleep Podcast, Hawk & Cleaver’s The Other Stories, and Dark Moon Digest. Wilson is also owner of This Is Horror and the host of the This Is Horror podcast. With his latest novel, Wilson begins with a man grappling with his step-father’s legacy, then quickly descends into depraved chaos and madness. David Moody (Hater, the Autumn series) says: “All the many ties that bind a chaotic and increasingly dysfunctional extended family together are stretched to breaking point and beyond in House of Bad Memories. The book goes in every direction except the one you expect. It’s a wild, bloody, and expletive filled riot that’s never anything less than intense. With genre shifts worthy of a Ben Wheatley movie, it’s highly recommended.”, and Laurel Hightower (Crossroads, Below) says:”An established master of human frailty and misdirection, Michael David Wilson’s latest offering, House of Bad Memories, kept me off kilter and turning pages as reality tilted. Compelling and deeply unsettling, House offers a mystery with endless layers. Never doubt Wilson’s willingness to skilfully cross lines you never knew were there. Excellent.”

Why Michael’s excited about this book:

“House of Bad Memories is such an important release for me on both a personal and professional level. Firstly, it’s my debut solo novel, following the success of the novella, The Girl in the Video, and my collaborative novel, They’re Watching with Bob Pastorella. But more importantly than that it marks a new beginning for me. I haven’t released a new book in three years and in that time I’ve endured the most testing time and trials in my adult life. Yet here we are, three years later and I am stronger, better, and more determined than ever. House of Bad Memories is my most personal release to date. It explores childhood trauma, parenthood, confronting monsters from the past and present, and then some.

The early reader reaction to House has been beyond what I could have imagined and I’m so delighted people are having fun with this insane ride. If you like stories that are dialogue-heavy, with more twists and turns than the Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers, if you like stories that begin understated and then build violence and anger quicker than a 70s dad who’s kicked over his own mug of coffee, if you ever wanted to read the fiction equivalent of Quentin Tarantino writing a darkly comedic thriller deep in the underbelly of the Brexit Britain Midlands, then this, my friend, is for you. House of Bad Memories is Funny Games meets This Is England with a Rosemary’s Baby under-taste. And it is the purest, most authentic Michael David Wilson story to date. You’ll laugh, you’ll cry, you may even vomit. I’m excited and you should be, too.”

Forthcoming from Cemetery Gates Media 13 October 2023, House of Bad Memories by Michael David Wilson is available for pre-order now.

BOB PASTORELLA