The Handyman Method: A Story of Terror

by Nick Cutter, Andrew F. Sullivan

Overview

Notes From Your Bookseller

The kind of book that makes you want to cover your eyes, only you’ll not want to stop reading either. This is a horror read that thrives on psychological terror as well as some mainstream supernatural elements.

A chilling domestic story of terror for fans of Black Mirror and The Amityville Horror.

When a young family moves into an unfinished development community, cracks begin to emerge in both their new residence and their lives, as a mysterious online DIY instructor delivers dark subliminal suggestions about how to handle any problem around the house. The trials of home improvement, destructive insecurities, and haunted house horror all collide in this thrilling story perfect for fans of Nick Cutter’s bestsellers The Troop and The Deep.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781982196714
Publisher:	Gallery Books
Publication date:	08/08/2023
Pages:	304
Sales rank:	124,763
Product dimensions:	5.30(w) x 8.20(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Nick Cutter is the author of the critically acclaimed national bestseller The Troop (which is currently being developed for film with producer James Wan), The Deep, Little Heaven, The Queen, and The Handyman Method, cowritten with Andrew F. Sullivan. Nick Cutter is the pseudonym for Craig Davidson, whose much-lauded literary fiction includes Rust and Bone, The Saturday Night Ghost Club, and, most recently, the short story collection Cascade. His story “Medium Tough” was selected by author Jennifer Egan for The Best American Short Stories 2014. He lives in Toronto, Canada.

Andrew F. Sullivan is the author of the novel The Marigold. His short story collection All We Want is Everything and his debut novel Waste were both named Best Books of the Year by The Globe and Mail (Toronto). He lives in Hamilton, Ontario.

Editorial Reviews

06/19/2023

Cutter (The Troop) and Sullivan (The Marigold) don’t do anything fresh with the haunted house trope in this bog-standard horror story. Attorneys Trent and Rita Saban move with their young son, Milo, into the brand new Dunsany Estates, a development in the middle of nowhere, billed as a future community full of greenery and like-minded families. For now, though, they’re the only ones. Despite the absence of any neighbors, and some physical problems with the house itself, the Sabans hope the move will provide a fresh start after a trauma: a coworker at Trent and Rita’s firm “went postal,” attacking the office with a hammer. Trent’s heroism stopped the attack but left him physically scarred and placed on indefinite leave, at a significantly reduced salary, due to concerns about PTSD. At loose ends, Trent focuses his energy into working on the house, aided by DIY YouTube channel The Handyman Method. That quotidian endeavor turns dark as the house slowly reveals its creepy secrets, which threaten the Sabans’ lives and sanity. Though a late plot twist livens things up a bit, there’s little else to distinguish this in a crowded market. It’s nothing special, but for readers looking for a ghost story, this will do in a pinch. Agent: Kirby Kim, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

Nightmare territory...Often terrifying, consistently unsettling, and dripping with mounting dread, Cutter and Sullivan have created a modern masterpiece.” —Richard Chizmar, New York Times bestselling author of Chasing the Boogeyman

"The Handyman Method is a window into our deepest fears via strange and insidious how-to videos. Cutter and Sullivan have created a hallucinatory, chilling read that raises its level of dread and tension with each turn of the page...horrifying." —Gus Moreno, acclaimed author of This Thing Between Us

“Gruesome and grisly...The Handyman Method tears out of the gates and doesn’t let up much as things go from bad to worse to somehow worse...The pace is relentless...The vibe throughout is one of unsettling, mounting dread that rarely falters....horror fans are sure to appreciate [the novel’s] subtle nods to classics of the genre, as well as the direction Cutter and Sullivan take their dark tale of home improvement gone horribly awry.” —Winnipeg Free Press

“A horror tale designed to scare the dickens out of the reader.” —New York Journal of Books

“Dark, brutal, and deeply unsettling....This is a terrific horror novel, with a spellbinding story full of surprises and superb writing that is vivid, visceral, and, at times, darkly beautiful. The ending is gloriously, thrillingly shocking. For horror fans, it’s a must-read.” —Booklist

“A brutal yet modern twist on the haunted-house story....Full of moments...that will burrow under readers’ skin.” —Library Journal

"Deeply disturbing...[a] gripping tale, well-written modern horror...Cutter and Sullivan never fail to miss an opportunity to chill and repulse simultaneously....a near-classic chiller that you won’t soon forget." —Bookreporter

“For readers simply looking for a hard-to-put-down supernatural horror novel, The Handyman Method is an excellent pick. An unconventional haunted house story...with visceral imagery. A must-read.” —Horror Geek Life

"Unrelentingly brutal...An acid-tripping horror version of the classic sitcom Home Improvement.” —Grimdark Magazine

“Surreal and disturbing...a diabolical tale of toxic masculinity gone awry...a collaborative triumph.” —CrimeReads

From the Publisher

One of the most horrific of horror novels this season.”

Barnes&Noble.com

Nightmare territory…Often terrifying, consistently unsettling, and dripping with mounting dread…Cutter and Sullivan have created a modern masterpiece.”

New York Times bestselling author Richard Chizmar

07/01/2023

Cutter (The Troop) and Sullivan (The Marigold) have come together to build a tale that's a brutal yet modern twist on the haunted-house story. Trent Saban is looking toward the future. He may be currently on sabbatical from his job, but Trent and his family are moving into a new home in a burgeoning housing development. A crack in the wall leads him to seek home-repair advice from the videos of Handyman Hank, but Hank's advice soon goes from how to fix cracks in the wall to how to discipline Trent's wife Rita and their son Milo. What began as Trent's efforts to make his house (and his life) perfect could lead to the collapse of his entire family. This supernatural tale of a fixer-upper that tears down a family follows Trent's slow and inexorable descent into the fetid depths of toxic masculinity, from his obsession with power tools and large pickup trucks to his fixation on young Milo's perceived manliness. VERDICT This story is full of moments, from the descriptive body horror to the cringeworthy acts committed by this seemingly normal family, that will burrow under readers' skin.—James Gardner

Library Journal