Invading Boston: Horror Writer Brings Home Invasion Novel To Town

BOSTON, MA — If you've ever woken up in the middle of the night and heard a strange noise somewhere in your home, you know the feeling.

Horror novelist Michael Seidlinger will visit Boston Tuesday to debut his new book, "Anybody Home?" which deals with one of the scariest scenarios in the human world: home invasions.

"Anybody Home?" is fiction, but Seidlinger says it deals with themes of fear and voyeurism that tickle primal fears.

"Most of the time when we get scared, it's just a jump scare," he said this week. "But fear itself is when you tap into a feeling like, 'Oh, my life is in danger.'"

Seidlinger, author of "My Pet Serial Killer," began delving into the specific world of home invasions as a young person living in the Orlando area. He and his friends were trying to make ends meet while playing in a band. They got so desperate, they hatched a plan to break into a home, although ultimately never went through with it.

Years later, Seidlinger came back to the home invasion theme while watching horror movies. The Michael Haneke film "Funny Games" piqued his interest in writing a horror novel about home invasions because of the way it involves the audience. In the movie, one of the home invaders — in the midst of torturing a wealthy family — turns to the camera and speaks to the viewer, asking why they're watching such horror.

"'Anybody Home?' is narrated by a sadistic, seasoned invader with multiple break-ins under their belt as they recount their dark victories while offering tutelage to a new generation of ambitious offenders," the book description reads. "Following the invaders as they identify homes where they will terrify, torture, and ultimately eliminate entire families in a host of evermore cruel and inventive ways, 'Anybody Home?' is sure to shock and unsettle even the most hardened of horror fans."

Seidlinger will read from "Anybody Home?" on the first day the novel hits shelves Tuesday along with Boston-based horror writer Eric LaRocca.

If you go ...

When: Tuesday, 7 p.m.
Where: Trident Booksellers & Cafe, 338 Newbury St.
Who: Author Michael Seidlinger reads from "Anybody Home?"