A House at the Bottom of a Lake

By: Josh Malerman

Narrated by: Taylor Meskimen, Ozzie Rodriguez

From the New York Times bestselling author of Bird Box and Malorie comes a haunting tale of love and mystery, as the date of a lifetime becomes a maddening exploration of the depths of the heart.

“Malerman expertly conjures a fairy tale nostalgia of first love, and we follow along, all too willingly, ignoring the warning signs even as the fear takes hold.”—Lit Reactor

The story begins: young lovers, anxious to connect, agree to a first date, thinking outside of the box.

At seventeen years old, James and Amelia can feel the rest of their lives beginning. They have got this summer and this summer alone to experience the extraordinary.

But they didn’t expect to find it in a house at the bottom of a lake.

The house is cold and dark, but it’s also their own.

Caution be damned, until being carefree becomes dangerous. For the teens must decide: swim deeper into the house—all the while falling deeper in love?

Whatever they do, they will never be able to turn their backs on what they discovered together. And what they learned:

Just because a house is empty, doesn’t mean nobody’s home.

Critic reviews

“An intimate dive into eerie, ethereal . . . waters.”—Dread Central

“Never has something so scary been so much fun.”—Dark Moon Digest

Good premise. Comes up short.

I love the concept. But the result is a bit sadly adolescent in what seems an unintended way.

WIsh it was more horror

Written well, performed great! just wish it was more horror. also waiting for something big to happen amd maybe a little explanation.

Not good at all...

The mindless, idiot protagonists are so frustratingly stupid with their lack of any type of awareness or basic survival instinct. it's really distracting. Decision after decision they react like no realistic teenager ever would, and it made me begin rooting for the damn house.
The premise and set up was interesting, but I can't stand when a plot must get driven along by character stupidity, and this story has that-- over and over again.
I loved everything about Bird Box... but THIS one? Let's just say not my fave...

Great story. light atmospheric horror

great coming of age story. really well written. great intrigue and atmospheric horror. overall light on horror elements- they really take a back seat for 90% of the story but the rest of the story is really good too so its ok.

Great concept; rather creepy

I actually really enjoyed this story until the final chapter, which was such an abrupt ending that I thought I’d accidentally skipped forward while folding laundry. Nope, that’s just the ending. Like, what? Even removing the last two paragraphs would have been more satisfying but instead, we’re left with a really unsatisfying and honestly what feels like a super incomplete chapter.

Sad, cause I felt this could easily be tweaked to be a 5 star.