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...Then no matter where you are, in a crowded restaurant or on some desolate street or even in the comforts of your own home, you'll watch yourself dismantle every assurance you ever lived by. You'll stand aside as a great complexity intrudes, tearing apart, piece by piece, all of your carefully conceived denials, whether deliberate or unconscious. And then for better or worse you'll turn, unable to resist, though try to resist you still will, fighting with everything you've got not to face the thing you most dread, what is now, what will be, what has always come before, the creature you truly are, the creature we all are, buried in the nameless black of a name.
And then the nightmares will begin.

--Johnny Truant
October 31, 1998
Hollywood, CA

I heard of this book through the Horror Aficionados forum. It sounded intriguing because most people in the forum cannot finish this book and thought it was odd. When I first ventured into the book, I thought it was about a haunted house. When I finished the book, I discovered that it was entirely about something else. To me, it is about the journey through the labyrinth of our psyche, and encountering and befriending our Jungian shadow to come through to the other side. Befriending our shadow involves forgiveness and love.

The beautiful maze of a book follows two major paths, that of the tattoo artist Johnny Truant and The Navidson Report. The Navidson Report is a documentary film detailed in a manuscript by Zampano, a deceased blind man. Johnny Truant procured the manuscript when his friend Lude called him to view Zampano’s apartment, “nailed shut and sealed with caulking...to retain the various emanations of his things and himself.�� The academic manuscript contained notes about a film called The Navidson Report. The Navidson Report is a documentary done by a prize winning filmmaker, Will Navidson, of the strange events within the House on Ash Tree Lane. Navidson originally intended it to be captured cherished moments of his family’s life in the countryside. It became disorienting moments of horrifying explorations in mysterious hallways that appear and disappear, changing position and dimension.

Johnny became obsessed with the manuscript and writes his own notes and addendum in an impressionistic style, journaling his downward spiral into insanity, with a formless Minotaur monster pursuing him. Zampano’s manuscript reveals his own obsession and death perhaps at the hand of the formless monster emanating from the foreboding house. Since the book itself is actually Zampano’s manuscript modified by Johnny, and footnoted by the editors, we are then led to a confusing labyrinth of narrations, weaving from Johnny’s to Zampano’s with editors�� footnotes.

Since this book is a conundrum, I’ll break it down to important references in the book.

The House on Ash Tree Lane:

The inhabitants of the house, Will Navidson and his partner Karen Green moved into the house on Ash Tree Lane in a Virginia countryside in order to repair their crumbling relationship strained by his frequent travels for his work as a film documentarist, and her infidelities. Although not married, Karen and Will are devoted to each other. Waiting for Will to come home, Karen has a frequent look of longing with every passing car. Will lovingly records details of Karen's hair on an old hairbrush. The move to the countryside was also due to Will feeling burned out from his job of documenting war. Will is haunted by "Delial", a film capture that made his career but caused a deep conflict between his journalist's impartial documentarian code and the reality of being a participating human being. Each also has personal childhood demons. Will was traumatized by abandonment and instability, making visual documentation a stable passion he can rely on. Karen has disabling claustrophobia possibly from being molested by her stepfather and confined to a well.

According to Zampano, Will only mounted Hi-8s inside the house. Thus, any events outside of the house is recounted personally. The House on Ash Tree Lane was introduced via the written documentation about the “Five and a Half Minute Hallway�� within the Navidson Record film.

The family came back from a wedding after 4 days to discover that the house has been spatially violated. The inner space of the house has changed significantly. They immediately called on friends and expeditionists to help investigate the oddity of the measured inner space being bigger than the outer space of the house. The dark, ashen-gray hallway that moves and expands, magnifies what was buried in the inhabitant's psyche. Karen lost her sex drive after encountering the claustrophobic hallway and Will became driven to explore and document.

Each member who came in contact with the hallway became more of who they deeply are. The house, oddly, became the echo/reflection of the labyrinth of their individual minds, with the offshoots of empty rooms resembling the hidden dimensions.

Synchronously, Johnny began to imagine his own hallway of a nameless monster, as he slowly loses his mind, gets deeper into drugs, and has mindless sexcapades.

Space:

Space is handled in varying and unconventional ways. Space is labyrinthine and three-dimensional in perception, actively involving the reader in its maze. There is more to spacing than the obvious theme of the odd spacing of the house in which its inside space is larger than the outside space, and the emanations of the empty hallways.

Space is via varying personal perspectives, from our real world to the innermost world of the book. The space of the perspectives is of a space enclosing a space, enclosing a space, like a Russian nesting doll. We are forced to mentally shift from the content of the book to the real life facts about the book, in and out of the nesting doll. The two worlds sometime interchange. The book was reputed to be circulated in pieces on the internet, with the first edition incomplete. Since pieces of the book became popular, this forced MZD to finish the book. The actual book, as we know it, is the 2nd edition. This history of the book moves into the story with Johnny observing that his story was circulated around via the internet and gained legendary status. In The Navidson Report, Will was forced to burn pages of the House of Leaves book in order to see in the hallway. MZD's sister Poe, came out with the album Haunted, which reflects the content of the book. Vice versa, the lyrics in her album and mention of her were in the book.

Space is reflected in the agoraphobia and claustrophobia of the characters. Will’s need to be free to pursue his interest, Karen’s claustrophobia, and the push/pull in their relationship. Karen is dependent on Will, yet does not want to marry. Will loves his family, yet cannot stop leaving for his job. Pelafina loves Johnny in a way that strangles him, literally and metaphorically.

Space is graphically represented in the book as almost every page is broken up between Zampano’s manuscript, Johnny’s journaling and notes, and the anonymous editors�� notes. In some passages, the words are confined in boxes, columns, upside down, mirror reflections, or alone on the page. The more disorienting the events within the Navidson report, the more disorienting the arrangements of words. The repeated use of [ ] in Holloway's story repeats the claustrophobia of the hallway, with the empty space varying between the brackets.

Space echoes.

Echo:

Emptiness creates the “eeriness�� and “otherworldliness�� of the echo. The echo is a degraded repetition. As they are exploring the rooms behind the door that appeared out of nowhere, they are confronted by a repetition of rooms with no window or details of a regular room. They are only empty rooms echoing and off shooting from each other.

An echo is also a reflection. Bats use acoustic light to “see.�� The bat creates a frequency from the larynx. The echo reflected back to the bat is read via the bat’s auditory cortex, which enables it to “see.�� The house is the empty vessel that reflects and echoes the inhabitant’s thoughts and feelings.

We are never really directly exposed to the house. Zampano and Johnny were never directly exposed to the house. We and they are only exposed to the house via the echoes, echoes from the legend of the film that never existed and interviews regarding the house, some of which does not exist. Yet this house was capable of inducing terror. It caused Zampano’s obsession and demise. It caused Johnny’s mental dissolution.

Echoes are reflections that affects the perspectives of the mind.

Perspectives:

Within the book itself, there is the Editors' perspectives, encompassing Johnny's perspective, encompassing Zampano's perspective, encompassing Navidson's perspective, encompassing the house and its inhabitants.

In total, counting us, the people, who had encountered or heard tales of the real "leaves" circulating via the internet and Poe's music, more than just within the book, it would be - us, MZD, Editors, Johnny, Zampano, Navidson, House and its inhabitants. This is a total of 7 perspectives.

Not only is it merely perspectives, but how the perspectives move within the physical and psychological space. Physically, the contents of the book move as leaves via the internet, to the book we're holding, and finally in Navidson's hands as he burned the House of Leaves book to be able to read. Psychologically, the point of view is constantly shifting and sometimes merging. There's the "us" perspective as we're reading the book, listening to Poe's music, as I did, and knowing about the legend within the internet, our movement within the book is dependent on our history, with the reaction from frustration to obsession with the book. There's the movement, frequently, from the Editors and Johnny all the way to the House and its inhabitants. The shift in perspective is so frequent that disorientation results, following the path of Johnny's own mental state, and finally, to his insane mother. We, the readers, are forced to participate in the disorientation and instability of the mental state. Thus, the physical and psychological space is unrelentingly circular and cyclical, instead of being within the comfortable confines of a linear narrative.

The labyrinthine and disorienting structure of the book affects us directly, imitating Navidson’s film style, cinema vérité. In that style, everything that distracts from the directness of the subject is removed, making it as real as possible. We are not told of the confusion, but are confused by the arrangement of the book, its chaotic content reflecting the events within the book.

Labyrinth:

Not only is the book itself laid out like a labyrinth, but references to the labyrinth and mazes are peppered throughout the book.

The Navidson Record is described as “meandering from one celluloid cell to the next��, as if not knowing what is behind the next corner. As we turn the corner, we see a different path, similar to walking in a maze, never sure what will come next. No one can comprehend “the entire maze and so therefore can never offer a definitive answer. Navidson’s house seems a perfect example. Due to the wall-shifts and extraordinary size, any way out remains singular and applicable only to those on that path at that particular time. All solutions then are necessarily personal.�� Such is the individual path of each of the characters as we follow them on their personal journey that they must traverse and solve alone. Navidson, the impartial journalist, reacts to the labyrinth in a calm and curious manner. His filming of the house shows his sense of aesthetic and steadfastness even through the fearful events. The film records made by other members of the inhabitants are skewed by the events and are not as precise in its accounting. Each reader, also, came out with varying reactions and interpretations to the House of Leaves.

The mysterious hallway itself is a labyrinth that constantly shifts and change, with more empty hallways appearing out of nowhere. Some things in the hallway exists for all, such as the “Infinite Corridor, the Anteroom, the Great Hall, and the Spiral Staircase, but the size and layout changes for the individual, along with other patterning of the rooms.

Mythology:

The blind Zampano is like Homer, the blind Greek poet famous for recounting tales of the trials and tribulations of heroes. Zampano’s notes on the Minotaur were crossed out by him as if crossing out any references to the mythological creature would erase the unseen beast terrorizing him. The references to the labyrinth and the Minotaur in the book came from the Greek mythology of Theseus, the king of Athens, and the Minotaur, a human/bull offspring confined to the labyrinth due to its need to eat man for sustenance. In Zampano’s notes, there was a reference to a book on torture, particularly in regard to the brazen bull. The brazen bull is a hollow brass bull made to roast a man inside its cavity. It had placements of tubes and stops that amplifies the victim’s screams to sound like the bellowing of a bull.

The Minotaur has multiple symbolism. Not only does it represent a fearful creature keeping guard over the labyrinth of the mind, but as Jung’s shadow that can only be tamed by acceptance. Zampano’s crossed out passage states that King Minos�� paternal love grows for the Minotaur as his understanding for his son grows. After the Minotaur’s destruction by Theseus, the king’s tears were not tears of relief at being rid of a monster, but tears of sorrow for one he loves.

Will, Karen and Johnny all had to traverse the labyrinth to overcome the figurative Minotaur, and embrace and accept the shadow in order to come out to the other side. Zampano, who ultimately did not accept his shadow, as evidenced by his crossing out of all passages relating to the Minotaur, died.

A passage in Homer’s Iliad appeared in the book in several languages, probably due to the fact that it is one of the most translated texts. It refers to the clanging of the troops, with criers urging them, “Quiet! Quiet! Attention! Hear our captains!�� This, along with Navidson’s steady and experienced camera hand, is symbolic of the need to maintain a warrior’s calm in the face of obstacles in order to adequately access the situation to overcome difficulties.

Growl:

The ominous sound of the growl is significant throughout the book. Besides the growl that signifies the unseen Minotaur, the sound of the torture victim in the brazen bull, and the din of confused troops, Johnny’s journal contains passages on the growl:

"However, as I write this down--some kind of calm returning--l do begin to recall something else, only perceive it perhaps?...the way my father had growled, roared really, though not a roar, when he'd beheld my burning arms, an ear shattering, nearly inhuman shout, unleashed to protect me, to stop her and cover me, which I realize now I have not remembered. That age, when I was four, is dark to me. Still, the sound is too vivid to just pawn off on the decibels of my imagination. The way it plays in my head like some terrifying and wholly familiar song. Over and over again in a continuous loop, every repetition offering up this certain knowledge: I must have heard it--or something like it--not then but later, though when?"

When his mother tried to strangle Johnny because she wants to end his misery out of love, it said:

"...your father suddenly arrived and roared in intervention, a battering blast of complete nonsense, but a word just the same and full of love, too, powerful enough in fact to halt the action of another love, break its hold, even knock me back and so free you from me, myself and my infinite wish."

The growl came from the house as it changed form and structure, and from the unseen monster in the imagination of some of the house’s inhabitants. It also appeared in Johnny’s imagination as he was in the hallway of the tattoo parlor where he worked.

Leaves and Ashes:

The title, The House of Leaves, is significant to the book. Leaves are things people left behind, mementos, memories of themselves. Zampano left his writing, Navidson wanted Karen's hair that's on her brush, and Truant's mom left one sole thing to him along with her letters. Navidson’s career is about recorded memories. The book itself first made its appearance as leaves circulating through the internet.

The leaves also bring to mind of the ash tree, of the House on Ash Tree Lane. Ashes are remnants left behind, a symbol of sorrow. The pervading atmosphere of the book is memories and remnants of sorrow, ending in the sorrow reflected in Pelafina’s letters to her son.

A Deeply Felt Love Story:

...Be sure I looked up at her eyes
 Happy and proud; at last I knew
Porphyria worshipped me; surprise
 Made my heart swell, and still it grew
 While I debated what to do.
That moment she was mine, mine, fair,
 Perfectly pure and good: I found
A thing to do, and all her hair
 In one long yellow string I wound
 Three times her little throat around,
And strangled her. No pain felt she;
 I am quite sure she felt no pain...

-Porphyria’s Lover by Robert Browning

This disorienting labyrinth leads us to the gold mine of the poignant love letters of Pelafina Heather Lievre to her child prodigy son, Johnny. This complex love story is at once agoraphobic and claustrophobic. Pelafina is confined at the Whalestoe Institute for the insane. We discovered in her letter incidences of suffocating love combined with questionable accidents, which Johnny and Pelafina declared were accidents. Johnny was haunted by an act that Pelafina committed out of her love for him, an incident he denied as a mother’s gentle wiping of her son’s tears before they take her away. Johnny made his journey through the maze caused by his complex love relationship with his mother. Additionally, Karen and Navidson overcame their obstacles and nightmare of the House in a parallel love story.

This fascinating and original book plays with three-dimensional perception that extends from our world with the Haunted album based on the book by the author’s sister Poe and the legend of “leaves�� of the book circulating throughout the internet, and into the core story of the odd house and its inhabitants. It cannot be categorized as purely postmodern, horror, romance or general fiction. It cannot even be categorized as purely literature, but under a type of literature called ergodic literature. Ergodic literature demands that the reader participates actively in the book, beyond the traditional linear reading of the text. The perspectives are spatial instead of linear, moving like a Russian nesting doll with a story nesting within a story within a story. It is a literary visual art. You cannot remove either the visual arrangement or the literary part without losing the full content of the book. The pictorial arrangements of the words and spacing are meant to add meaning to the story. The complicated journey into the manuscript goes to the innermost nesting doll of the House and its occupants, and out to us, the reader, as we are either annoyed or obsessed with solving the puzzle of this postmodern, beyond postmodern labyrinth. In the end, this book is about love and forgiveness overcoming the darkness in the labyrinth of our minds.