Jacketed as a horror novel and presented as a suspenseful mystery, John Darnielle’s latest book, DEVIL HOUSE, is in fact a thoughtful (yet still riveting) rumination on authorial responsibility. Inventive and sometimes strange, it is the story of true crime writer Gage Chandler during the research and writing phase of his new book.

Chandler has moved to Milpitas, California, to write a book about a double homicide at an abandoned porn store in 1986. Milpitas was the place of an earlier sensational crime, which was eventually recounted in the fictionalized movie version, River’s Edge. The murders of a local landlord and a potential property buyer at the store were bizarre in their details and frightening in their lack of resolution, so the residents have done their best to keep it out of the national spotlight. Still, Chandler’s editor thinks it could be his next bestseller, and an intrigued Chandler moves to Milpitas to begin work.

"DEVIL HOUSE is an entertaining page-turner with Darnielle’s signature peculiar-scary style. But it also is a weighty and contemplative look at the art of fiction, the impact of nonfiction, the power of memory, and the ways in which our decisions are the real horrors to fear."

Actually, Chandler moves into the store --- now a remodeled and sanitized house --- to immerse himself in the project. He tracks down crime scene ephemera and recreates the scene in his living room. He begins to talk to townspeople and hopes to track down the four teenagers who spent time in the store after the owner closed up, leaving all his merchandise behind. What Chandler seems to uncover is how the space was a place where the teens could both hide from the stresses in their lives and allow their creativity to run wild, producing a bloody and imaginative vision.

It is high school senior Derrick who brings his friend, Seth, to Anthony Hawley’s empty store. Hawley had paid Derrick under the table to stock shelves and clean up after customers before he closed the doors and left town. Derrick continues to spend time in the store, taking advantage of the quiet and privacy. Using all the tapes and magazines left behind, he and Seth begin a project consisting of drawings, paintings and sculptures with satanic and fantasy themes. Before long they are joined by their friend Alex, who has been homeless for a while and is looking for a safe, temporary place to crash. Finally, Angela arrives and contributes to what would be a massive installation piece under different circumstances.

But when the building’s owner brings someone to look at the property, the two are ambushed and killed with a sword. This is the story Chandler hopes to better understand. As he gets drawn into the grisly crime, he recalls --- in a seeming reversal of the Devil House case --- the murders of two high school seniors by their teacher and the media and pop culture frenzy that ensued. The story of the White Witch of Morro was the subject of his first book.

Very early in DEVIL HOUSE, Chandler explains why, even after being in Milpitas for five years, he has not produced the book he was contracted to work on but has written this book instead. It is, as he explains, “about restoring ancient temples to their proper estates.” This idea, shared before readers have much information at all, begins to make sense as Chandler (and Darnielle) critically examines the role of the storyteller when the story is true. What good comes from true crime? What do the victims and the perpetrators mean to the author, and to the audience? What responsibility to the truth and various perspectives does the author have?

Yes, DEVIL HOUSE is an entertaining page-turner with Darnielle’s signature peculiar-scary style. But it also is a weighty and contemplative look at the art of fiction, the impact of nonfiction, the power of memory, and the ways in which our decisions are the real horrors to fear.