3. House Of Leaves - Mark Z. Danielewski (2000)
As tempting as it would be to see a film made out of Danielewskis House of Leaves, I have to include it here. The book, a dual story of a homemade documentary about a family whose house continues to change dimensions and a troubled young man following the written record of their film years later, reads like a found-footage horror film for much of its length. At first glance, the skeleton of House of Leaves seems tailor made for a film adaptation. Because of how exciting and terrifying the documentary record (called The Navidson Report) is, its easy to want to see it on screen. But the descriptions of the house growing and changing size are so fantastic and incredible that to see them unfold before our eyes instead of in our minds would be to rob them of some of their magic. What we imagine is always more frightening than what we see. Additionally, the overlapping stories, and the unorthodox and experimental structure of the text (Danielewski presents huge sections of the book in footnotes, letters, and other unconventional means), I cant imagine a decent film being made out of House of Leaves, or at least not one that captures the mysterious and enveloping spirit of the novel. The deeper we get into the book, the more we realize how essential the literary medium is to the story's power. The book is an experience thats hard to shake; thats something that simply cannot be replicated.