I picked up House of Mystery because it was recommended to people who enjoyed Fables, and I can see the appeal. The concept is one of almost existential horror. Five people end up in a strange house, and they cannot leave its grounds. Essentially, they are trapped in a nightmare they can't wake up from. I have had those dreams where I can never get where I'm supposed to go, no matter how many diversions in direction I make. Finally I wake up out of sheer frustration and the futility of the effor...

There are two parts to this book (and presumably the whole series): the framing sequence and the short stories. The framing sequence is interesting, and I liked the joke about "scaling a fish".The short stories are a bit of a mixed bag; I didn't really like them much on their own merits, and they don't add anything to the framing sequence. By contrast, The Sandman, Vol. 8: Worlds' End has a similar premise and I think it works much better there. I've read some reprints of the original House of M...

Upon finishing this first volume I freely admit I have no idea what the hell is going on, kinda like the people trapped in the House. The art is good and the short stories are interesting-- although, "The Hollows" was icky, icky, gross & disgusting (big problem with the graphic part of graphic novels is that you can't un-see that $#!+). "Jordan's Tale" mostly makes up for the aforementioned icky-ness (and earns the fourth star) through the brilliant juxtaposition of a slacker's bland narration o...

It's so refreshing to love something just as much the second time around :) I think I actually enjoyed this more this time.

This was one of the books that, while browsing through Amazon, I saw the cover and thought "that looks cool", which lead me to read the summary to which I thought "hmmm, interesting", and then I found out it was co-written by Bill Willingham, of Fables, which I *love*, so then it was an "I *have* to get this."All I can say is I was not disappointed. I enjoyed the stories, both the overall story and the vignettes - and I love the "cameo" by Cain and Able and the notion that this is the House from...

I actually really liked this one. A lot of people correctly point out it's very similar to The Sandman, Vol. 8: Worlds' End. Stepping outside of that, the overall narrative tying all the stories together is a mysterious plot about a girl who can talk to houses. I liked the individual stories quite a bit because they really harnessed the power of the graphic novel medium - the text itself was very benign, but the graphics gave a completely and unexpected twist to the words. Very well done, althou...

This series of graphic novel's are starting out good.Nothing like FABLES. Of, course.I will keep my eye out for the next one.

More of a 3.5 stars.So far so good. It was nice to see a bit of Cain and Abel and know what I was heading into, but what really kept me reading was the frame, if not the internal stories as much. I think I prefer all the "simple" stories that have a lot more interesting things going on in the frames best. Very tongue-in-cheek. So far, it isn't brilliant or anything, but I will stay the course to see where it eventually leads. I can't dislike a story about stories, after all, I am a big fan of th...

3.5 stars. This was definitely a strange and interesting first volume.Room &Boredom is about a girl named Fig and the House of Mystery. Fig is a college student studying to be an architect. She has a gift...she's able to communicate with houses. One day she wakes up to a man and a woman (ghosts?), not sure what they are, but they are after her. Fig escapes and finds herself in the House of Mystery along with a dozen other characters. Fig walks into a bar and meets its tenants. Harry the bartende...

When VERTIGO publishes fantasy you know it's serious. Take numerous fantastic artists, pair them up with prodigious comics writers, form a total collage of stories, grant them total freedom to explore adult horror and fantasy without any hesitation - how can anything be more perfect?!?!A house, a house of fantasy. You're welcome if you can find. Have a nice time and pay with a story. Perfect right?!Horror - check,fantasy - check,gorgeous art - check,backdrop story arc - check.Will you just read

Ooh this series is off to a promising start!

House of Mystery: Room & Boredom is a bizarre graphic novel. The central wrap-around story is of the House itself and its new occupant, Fig. This is easily the most intriguing aspect of the book, as the seemingly sentient building twists itself to some unknown purpose. Along the way, we learn more about Fig - her past and her present - while also getting glimpses of the customers in the bar downstairs. The rules of the house: each person must pay his tab by sharing entertaining anecdotes with hi...

I wanted to like this graphic novel, and it had some high points -- the art, in particular, is rather good, including the transition to other artists for the stories-within-the-story.However, I didn't find it that exciting, nor original, and the characters felt flat to me. Not much actually happens, and the threats/conflicts are vague and mysterious, and don't directly affect the characters much.The framing story is rather derivative, and the most obvious precursor would be the Sandman collectio...

2020 update; I have just boosted this book to four stars because I keep coming back to it and re-reading it. Sadly, I have never found the rest of the series and have not completed the story but I have made my peace with it. In a way, that may not be a bad thing as by now I have really bonded with Fig, and I gather she is replaced in the next book and that would annoy me. I do really like the stories and the artwork complements them very well indeed. The characters are surprisingly strong, they

So I read the entirety of House of Mystery over the past couple days for a specific reason -- of the new Sandman Universe #1 titles previewed this week, the main one I'm actually interested in is House of Whispers, and since it doesn't exist yet I figured I'd go back and read the two (sort of) companion titles. Truthfully, I didn't even know a House of Secrets Vertigo series existed until I googled it and said "Oh I immediately must own this and eat it," so that one's currently in the mail. How...

Consider this a review of the series, not just this book, as I consider the entire collection to be solid from start to finish. The basic concept here is that people come to the House of Mystery, for one reason or another, and are required to tell fantastic stories to earn their keep. That alone is a cool way to handle an anthology - think campfire stories. Beyond that there is an actual over arching storyline that follows Figs journey out of the house. Both of these plots always seem engaging a...

Overall I think this is an interesting concept but I really don't care enough about the story to continue on with it.

I loved this book. Pretty much every aspect of it appealed to me. I like the setup: one main continuing storyline with continuing characters, which is periodically interrupted by other shorter stories told by the characters, which are illustrated by different artists. I like the main story: a group of interesting and very different people are trapped in a somewhat sentient house at a crossroads between many worlds--although other people from those various worlds are free to come and go (and shar...

I didn't think I was crazy about the artwork at first, but it really goes well with the atmosphere and vibe of the story. You're brought right into the mystery of this house, where "the walls are starting to talk" takes on a whole new meaning. Fig, the main character is feisty and the book has some dark humor in there that I always love. The characters are interesting and keep you pulled in, even if some of their personal stories are a little...well, a lot strange. The fly thing was a trip I was...

A very good, intriguing start to what I hope is a solid mystery series that actually pays off. The setup is a little strange, with each issue spending most of its time focused on the larger story arc at play in the series, with a short, 4- or 5-page story in the middle that ultimately has nothing to do with the rest of the book and feels a little disruptive. These stories seem to be an homage to the original House of Mystery series that ran from 1951-1983, but they're jammed in so tightly and we...