Book Review: The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House by Tyler Bell

he Eyes Beneath My Father’s House is a collection of dark and sinister short stories by acclaimed horror podcaster, Tyler Bell.

Tyler Bell is a USMC combat veteran and former journalist. He is also the one-man army behind the award-winning Westside Fairytales horror and dark fiction podcast. Tyler is a former crime and courts journalist with by-lines throughout the United States. He lives in Louisville with his wife, Sam, their rabbits, Rosie and Marcel, and their dog, Buck.

It is the podcast where I first heard of Tyler Bell. I am not a fan of podcasts myself, preferring to lend my listening time to music and my story time to reading but my better half is a very big fan and pushed me towards The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House.

He released this first collection of short horror and dark fiction stories “The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House,” in September of 2021, which LEO Weekly said “… deserves to be considered by the editors of the horror genre’s best-of annuals.”

The Umbrella Man

Story 1 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

The first tale in the collection is titled The Umbrella Man and it’s a strange one. In some ways it is quite a familiar feeling tale, at least in how it is set up and the setting. Small town America, the sort of places populated by a settled older population and a youth that aspire to little else other then escaping. In that town we meet 4 older teenagers – a band of friends, in a sense but more a band of delinquents and loners who tolerate each other as they cannot tolerate, or be tolerated by, anyone else. Ash, Mike, Marley and Ricky are the group with Ash being our storyteller. On one evening’s adventures, exploring abandoned parts of their hometown, they end up at a large, desolate mansion.

Splitting up to explore, Ash finds an old office upstairs that taps into his desire to be an author one day. She looks out the window and sees Mike, unaffectionately nicknamed Asshole, acting strange near an old well. Ash swears she sees something come out of the well and interact with Mike but its over in a flash. They reassemble, with the group mouthpiece, Ricky taking lead as always and hurling insults at those around him, as always. This time, and for the first time, Mike stands up to him, punching him in his nose and leaving Ricky a subdued version of his prior self with the normally background Mike leading the pack away from the mansion that had seen their tensions rise so high.

So they leave, in worse state than when they arrived, save for Mike who seems different. Then, very soon after, Ricky is found dead, at the bottom of a cliff. Something local law enforcement put down to being an accident but something doesn’t sit right with Ash or Marley. Even more so when she starts seeing Ricky and descending into what she feels is madness. Marley feels the same, teetering on the edge of sanity having also seen Ricky and then Marley is dead. Ash now sees Ricky and Marley and a much changed Mike but more disturbing are the appearances now of The Umbrella Man. A horrific Mary Poppins with a distorted face, hovering in the background, watching and waiting, flickering in the air.

Whatever touched Mike at that house has changed everything, killed their friends and it seems now Mike and The Umbrella Man are coming for her next.

The Umbrella Man is an interesting enough idea and utilises some very common horror tropes. It is written well, occasionally overly described, but not enough to hurt the flow. There is a good sense of tension and clearly a strong imagination, writing skill and character ideas aplenty with Tyler Bell. The only issue I had here was that I found all of the characters to be immensely unlikeable. Even our heroine, Ash, for 95% of the story I could not care less if they got their asses kicked or survived which meant I had little buy in or dread.

Unless I missed something, Ash only gets revealed as being female right near the end of the story too which was weird for me as I read the whole thing, even the harrowing rape scenes as Ash being male. Why that wasn’t made clear earlier, I don’t know but it would have maybe given me more natural empathy.

Overall, an interesting start but just lacking a character to really care for to get my full attention and buy in.

Best Roses, Manassas, West Virginia

Story 2 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

Best Roses, Manassas, West Virginia is a fun and exciting little story full of subtlety and mystery. Feeling like an Escape Room in literary from, the story centres on a small community of elderly folk and mysterious goings on in their town. The particularly interesting aspect of this story that sits in the background but adds context is the apocalyptic world the community appears to exits in. We are informed of blazing pillars of fire approaching, rationed electricity and food, the feeling that they haven’t got long left and a general rising tension amongst the group. Interestingly we aren’t ever really told it is apocalyptic, we aren’t ever really told what is happening but it adds context, tension and atmosphere to the story. A story that starts off relatively simply with a cantankerous group of people being argumentative neighbours to each other.

A sign appears at Shelly Masterson’s garden informing her that she has won the Best Roses, Manassas, West Virginia award. The neighbours come out to Shelly’s shrieks of delight, in oxygen masks what with the poor air quality from the impending fiery doom, there are some that are happy for her, some that question the legitimacy of the sign and some, the ever argumentative but logical Cap Demarco who essentially just calls Shelly out and questions where such an award with even come from in times like these. A small step but the trigger point for all the townsfolk’s tension to overspill when the next day, they come out to see the sign smashed to pieces on the road. Accusations fly from Shelly’s husband Ben, many aimed at Cap while Paul (our narrator) attempts to apply logic to the crime scene.

As layers get peeled back, we learn that Shelly is also missing.

Thus starts our mystery as the town move from house to house tracing steps, finding more issues and layers of mystery to peel back as they go leading them to the Solokov’s house, a gruesome scene all while the fires encircle them, inching closer and closer. Best Roses, Manassas, West Virginia hits the mark in many ways by chucking a whole heap of interesting and colourful characters at us and while it is at heart a story of community and crime, the apocalyptic backdrop makes for a thick and murky layer of dread and tension. A very enjoyable story indeed.

Mud of the Heart

Story 3 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

Mud of the Heart sees Tyler Bell pull on the heart strings with a sombre, dark but beautiful story. Set in the East Coast swamplands of Eastmarch, our character, a charitable caregiver answers a call for help. A Ms. Hester Withrow, a lady in terrible health and not long for this world, needs assistance. Ms. Withrow is a bit of an enigma, seemingly once a lady of high society, she holds herself with great pride and dignity. A beautiful, demure and elegant ornament, she seems at odds with her surroundings really. We follow our character as he becomes friends with Ms. Withrow, a friendship born of admiration for her and her mannerisms as she spirals further and further into poor health.

Watching the relationship bloom is quite gorgeous but it is severely shadowed by the impending death while the house itself, and the swampy surroundings appear top hold an ever darker secret. Like seeing something out of the corner of your eye, we are aware of something but it disappears when we turn our heads. A dark figure in a window, shadows in a hallway. Ms. Withrow appears to be haunted by more than just her sickness or maybe not. Maybe we just feel the manifestation of that sickness when someone truly loved and admired is eaten away and the sickness appears to take form.

Mud of the Heart is a sad story, but told beautifully.

Oh, Heaven

Story 4 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

The Heaven referred to in Oh, Heaven is a small island called Otaheiti, presumably modern day Tahiti. We head back in time with this story joining our character, Maybach, an Able Seaman on board a vessel called The Golden Fist. A trading vessel, carrying spices, rums and sugars to the New World whilst sailing treacherous seas swarming with pirates. Otaheiti is the destination, a place the crew feel to be heavenly. A place of freedom, joy and lazy days. Thankfully, this story is not a story of pirates and high seas. More it is a story of corruption and persuasion – the serpent in Eve’s ear. This serpent is named though, The Golden Fist’s second in command, Christian. An unknown really, he makes the crew feel uneasy but the Captain seems him as a protégé so there is nothing that can be done about it.

Christian is creepy. A man in black, dressed oddly and one who seems to perch rather than sit. He also appears to be a destructive influence. He moves between the crew, listening, monitoring and dropping little lines of information and persuasion in to sow unrest and unease. Such is his influence that, while leaving Otaheiti, Christian sows the idea that they should not be leaving and turns a seemingly successful trip into a bloody and mutinous battle. He continues his work, appearing to suck the will and logic out of the people who survive as they drift off at sea.

While Christian is an interesting character, I must admit to finding this story unsatisfying. Perhaps the high seas setting which I don’t favour, but it isn’t a story I found much enjoyment in despite it being written well.

Ojos Oscuros

Story 5 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

Ojos Oscuros is a wonderfully dark and twisted tale, set slightly in the past, in Mexico and centred around the rise of Mexican gangs and Cartels and an agave field. The peasant family that tend to the agave include a young girl called Abella and her parents. The agave plantation belongs to the Martinez clan, and, by default then, so do Abella’s family. Worry appears to surround Abella’s father as she becomes older and starts developing breasts. A lot of his worry is centred on the horrific son of the Martinez clan, Paulo. Paulo is a monster, famed for his murderous and troublesome ways. His tastes run in two ways. He is fond of the taste of too much tequila made from the agave plant but even more so, for his taste in young girls. And Abella has now caught his eye.

As her father shrivels through age and curtailment, and her mother takes ill having been bitten by a rattle snake, Abella becomes the main focus of Paulo’s attention and intentions.  But something else has becomes the focus of Abella’s. Not long before the start of the problems Abella faces, she meets an ancient creature hiding in the foundations under her house. A creature that names itself Sombrero (we also learn that means shadower and not hat which makes it more intimidating). The creature offers her a future, offers a way for her to unweave herself from the paths that are leading her towards despair and set a more promising one. It wants just a simple thing in return to be able to perform such a miracle.

Five hearts from five sacrifices – The Patron, The Matron, The Lover, The Stranger and The Fool. Bering him those hearts and she will see her path corrected. At first reluctant to consider such a thing, as she becomes a plaything for Paulo, she sets a course for herself to take control of her own life from those who have claimed it as their own.

I really enjoyed Ojos Oscuros. It is a very dark and twisted story though drenched in elements that ring so true with stories we hear of cartels, human trafficking and the like. The creature adds a dark and twisted touch of reasoning for Abella’s decisions. A will written and well considered story and I especially like how it is delivered in memoir style, that was a good call.

Within As Without

Story 6 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

Within As Without brings me to one of my favoured genres as we head to post apocalyptic territory.

We travel with Braxton Fujima, a man on a mission of sorts, as he traverses through a radioactive land, struggling to source food and water. I very much like how the world is described as being bright, colourful and full of nature and I also love the line “like the world was trying to forget it’s odd human experiment”. That notion of us being a blip on an otherwise gorgeous planet appeals to me. Fujima is not just travelling for the sake of it, he is hunting. A group of humans, soldiers, with women and children held as captives lead the way as Fujima stalks them. At first, his motives unclear. Additionally, through peripheral vision and noise sin the night, we are given the idea of something bigger and scarier also out on the hunt.

This all creates a tense atmosphere for us to imagine in as Fujima reaches a city. Hunkered down in an office block, he lays traps but wakes up with only minimal interruption, again, from whatever it is stalking through the night. He carries on, finds an orchard and heads into fairy tale territory as he eats an apple and becomes near poisoned from the radiation within. A night of feverish visions, visions where he sees himself as the creature that stalks him, before he comes round and returns to his mission. Catch up with those ahead and their enslaved families.

When he does catch up, we start to understand that these prisoners are taken by these men for food. Perhaps that is the motive of Fujima – a rescuer – though it is still unclear. Fujima does attack though, but displays little compassion to the enslaved aside from giving them their freedom. A fight ensues, a fight that draws the attention of that which has been following in the shadows leading to a climax where the hunters and the prey are still to be clearly determined.

Within As Without is a very enjoyable story set in familiar territory. It pushes the nature message well and points out clearly how humans essentially will always bring about their own extinction. Tension and subtlety are well used here in a short story that conjures up crystal clear visuals. Very enjoyable.

The Move

Story 7 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

The move sees Tyler Bell continue to stick to no one theme as we head into a bit of a haunted/monster house story. Kind of. The premise is a removal company brought along to an old mansion where the owner has passed away. Under the watchful gaze of Goldstein, the estate’s proprietor, Miracle 75 Removals are enlisted to slowly and carefully unpack the sprawling estate and move the museum like artefacts within to new locations. To give an idea of the scale of the property, it is estimated to take many months, maybe even a year to complete. Bookie, Marlow, Dawes, Hideo and Demarkus set to work but right from the off, their is unease. Shadows in the peripheral, uneasy feelings and locked off area of the house while the ever creepy Goldstein watches from doorways.

The uneasy feeling is right to have as the short story progresses and the team find themselves prey to something otherworldly and realise the “removal” aspect of this work was more like a trap or snare to entice them in and feed the evil within.

The Move is not a favourite of mine. It has a simple premise and interesting characters who interact with each other realistically and dynamically. I feel it just does not flow very well, and is not very clear. It felt tangled, and I struggled to stay engaged, often finding myself going back a few pages to pick up the thread again. It’s not bad, it just doesn’t hit the high bar of some of the other stories within The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House.

Dog Star

Story 8 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

Carrying on the almost random nature of locations in Tyler Bell’s work we have Dogstar. A story set in space, on a mining station out there in the universe somewhere. We mainly focus on Mikosh, who, along with his colleague Kaid, are working a skeleton shift out on the mining fields. Under the gaze of the administrator, Velona, they set to work but under the understanding they must be quick due to expected solar storms. They set to work in separate parts of the fields before something happens, an almost earthquake like crash ripples through the field sending Mikosh floating up, before it all settles again. Clearly something isn’t right, and movement caught in his periphery starts to add additional fear and atmosphere.

Mikosh heads back to the base, hoping that Kaid is doing the same as radiation starts growing due to whatever caused the impact like crash. Velona hurries them along as the base is being evacuated and they will be left behind but it appears they aren’t alone anymore. Something is stalking them.

Dog Star has a bit of an Aliens feel to it which is cool. Space is a very frightening setting and allows you to really go to town with imagination because so much is unknown. The characters are okay but no real time is given to their development other than a discussion that Mikosh and Kaid have on potential futures. The story is well written and gives off vibes of tension and dread well. It’s a decent enough story that is maybe just a little light on the character development whereas a bit more depth would probably have had me caring for them more.

The Three Flights of Mateo Jefferson

Story 9 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

The Three Flights of Mateo Jefferson, in a book filled with strange stories, is a strange story. Set in what is described as an asylum but more akin to a prison for the criminally insane, we see the tale through the eyes of Ezra. The scene is set an brings forth those chain gang ideas – the inmates are out at work, with leg irons on, suffering through a hard day’s labour under the watchful eye of Mr Chifford and his dog, Rex. We get straight under way with flight number one as another inmate/patient makes a brake for the fence line that signposts freedom. He doesn’t make it. We learn that he is Mateo Jefferson.

Mateo receives a hefty beating, and, now bunking with Ezra, they become close. Filling each other on the details of their lives and how they ended up here. Due to the title of the story, we know we are expecting a flight 2 and 3, so you kind of read just waiting for them to start but first we hit the unexpected. During the night, Ezra wakes to feel pressure on his chest and sees a dark figure with green eyes skulking through the room. Ezra learns that this creature, known as the Ticky Tocker, due to its clicking noise visits threateningly but with Ezra, it gives him a choice. He is informed that he will make one decision that will prove important.

Ezra, as he grows ever closer to Mateo, starts to wonder of that decision revolves around Mateo.

The Three Flights of Mateo Jefferson is a very neat story. It tackles societal and cultural issues of the past well, especially in terms of how quickly insanity was declared in a person, especially when that was a person of colour. There is plenty of tension from the creature that visits, the system and the tendencies of the prisoners/patients and the whole world is well described conjuring up clear images of the scenes. Very cool story.

Carrier

Story 10 in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House

There have been some really cool stories in The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House. There have also been some average ones but mostly, there have been some really intriguingly weird ones. And then we hit Carrier which takes the idea of oddity and multiplies it ten fold, at first glance.

Essentially a story that explores the idea of aliens and forced pregnancy. I would say rape but that is really a human word and the alien doesn’t necessarily see it that way. Instead, selecting a human  as the carrier of it’s children like it is a blessing. A topic such as this must be handled with respect and caution and Tyler Bell has tackled it masterfully here as the story spends significant time studying the feelings of the victim, the struggles and the breakdown of personal relationships while the victim struggles with the pregnancy and the loathing feelings they have towards what they carry.

So how do you explore such a topic while (presumably) not having ever been a victim of such a crime? How do you explore and talk about something so necessary but in a way that dies not display assumption or arrogance? Make it applicable to you. And that is what happens in Carrier. The victim, here is male – a chap named Ollie who is a bit of a normal geezer really. Maybe likes a drink a bit much but after one such heavy night, en route to his home and girlfriend Allie, he stumbles through another alley where he is accosted by a force that appears to be following him. During the attack, he blacks out, coming round the next morning with wounds on his being and, not long after while being checked out at a hospital, finds out he is carrying twins.

The medical facility that take shim under their wing feels “government” and he becomes something of a lab rat while we explore Ollie’s mental state as he struggles to hide his shame, struggles with the actual pregnancy symptoms, the feeling of being poked and prodded by doctors and the loss of his job and love all leading to Ollie taking drastic action to free himself.

Like I said, on the face of it, you may overlook the intelligence of the story and see it as a slightly quirky man gets impregnated by aliens story but this is the smartest story in this book. It very well conveys the feelings of dread, being stalked on the way home, the attack, the shame and the struggle physically and mentally after such an event.

Carrier is a story that shows Tyler Bell as having real intelligence and story crafting ability. It is a work of genius.

Overall, as a collection of stories The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House is an exciting read. Like any collection, there are positives and negatives to be found. Stories I preferred, some I didn’t care for but it is a comprehensive collection, containing something for everyone. All stories, whether I enjoyed them or not are well written and intelligent. Tyler Bell is clearly very capable. I do feel the overall collection suffers from having no real theme. It is sometimes hard to synchronise with going from space, to Mexico, to the past, to the present to the Caribbean on a trading boat – we literally explore history and geography here but it is a minor when you take them for what they are. 10 short stories that explore many different societal failings in a fantastical and frightening way.

If nothing else, read Carrier – that is a psychological masterpiece but really, the whole book warrants your time and attention. I must also give a nod to the artwork preceding every story, and on the cover. I absolutely love the imagery.

Grab yourself a copy of The Eyes Beneath My Father’s House on Amazon, here.

Tyler Bell Links

Westside Fairytales – Facebook – Instagram – Twitter – Goodreads