House of Leaves
House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewskiby Mark Z. Danielewski
Hacker ApprovedThe most recommended of 6 horror novels
Recommended for its maze-like footnotes, cross-references and unsettling horror of a house larger on the inside. Critics find the layered style pretentious and self-indulgent.
Recommended for its maze-like footnotes, cross-references and unsettling horror of a house larger on the inside. Critics find the layered style pretentious and self-indulgent.
23 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 19
- criticize it
- 4
- approval share
- 83%
Recommended in 6 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: not recommended
- January 2026: recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: recommended
- July 2026: recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it carries the badge
- 19 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, met.
- 4.8 recommenders for every criticNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 6 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Unsettling horror about an impossible house
“It's a really interesting book that explores a house that is slightly larger on the inside than the outside.”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic” “It's when the book falls because the house changed size ever so slightly.”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic” “Classic for exploration of horror - not sci-fi, but within the wheelhouse”
Comment from 7 Apr 2026 in “Book Review: There Is No Antimemetics Division” - Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic”
- Comment from 7 Oct 2026 in “House with 15m underground tunnels for sale for 300k”
Enjoyable and worth reading
“It's a fun book! I first read it as a kid at my grandparents little condo in Mexico.”
Comment from 3 Apr 2026 in “'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic” “It really is a thoroughly enjoyable exercise to read that book, I highly recommend.”
Comment from 15 Jul 2026 in “Proof of Care in the Age of A.I” “everyone should just read house of leaves themselves”
Comment from 6 Jan 2026 in “Strange.website” - Comment from 2 Jan 2026 in “A website to destroy all websites”
Experimental form with footnotes
“This was a special treat because the book itself already uses copious footnotes and cross-references from fictional characters to create a maze.”
Comment from 1 Apr 2026 in “A dot a day keeps the clutter away” “seems like a really interesting book that plays with the novel format directly”
Comment from 2 Apr 2026 in “'Backrooms' and the Rise of the Institutional Gothic” Nabokov-like romantic, semiotic style
“Danielewski succeeds in emulating Nabokov's most delicate romanticism above a semiotician's sensibilities”
Comment from 3 Jun 2026 in “Nabokov's pale fire: the lost 'father of all hypertext demos'? (2011)” “nothing touches Danielewski's semiotic sensibilities in deconstruction and architecture”
Comment from 19 May 2026 in “Consider the Sister”
Other horror novels people recommend
The four most recommended other horror novels, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| House of Leavesby Mark Z. DanielewskiThis page | 19 | 4 | 83% | 6 | — | Approved |
| The Terrorby Dan Simmons | 12 | 0 | 100% | 3 | — | — |
| Carrion Comfortby Dan Simmons | 9 | 0 | 100% | 1 | — | — |
| The Shiningby Stephen King | 4 | 0 | 100% | 4 | — | — |
| World War Zby Max Brooks | 3 | 2 | 60% | 3 | — | — |
What people said
22 of the 25 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“the book (like other books by the author) is published in a very quality way”
“a book about a house with 15 million tunnels”
“I read a little about House of Leaves, and am intrigued.”
“It really is a thoroughly enjoyable exercise to read that book, I highly recommend.”
“without the ‘lifeless’ characteristics of the Backrooms, House of Leaves”
“Danielewski succeeds in emulating Nabokov's most delicate romanticism above a semiotician's sensibilities”
“Everything else is pretentious literary indulgence.”
“nothing touches Danielewski's semiotic sensibilities in deconstruction and architecture”
“Classic for exploration of horror - not sci-fi, but within the wheelhouse”
“a low opinion of House of Leaves”
“It's a fun book! I first read it as a kid at my grandparents little condo in Mexico.”
“That book is definitely something you have to see in print.”
“seems like a really interesting book that plays with the novel format directly”
“House of Leaves is scary specifically because it can't be real.”
“It's a really interesting book that explores a house that is slightly larger on the inside than the outside.”
“It's when the book falls because the house changed size ever so slightly.”
“This was a special treat because the book itself already uses copious footnotes and cross-references from fictional characters to create a maze.”
“I should like house of leaves, but I couldn't get into it.”
“Skip the Johnny Truant bits and its half the length with hardly anything of value lost.”
“The House of Leaves stuff is kinda all on its sleeve”
“everyone should just read house of leaves themselves”
“I liked House of Leaves in high school”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.