Mark Arehart

House of Pain Mark Arehart

For years, Stefan Ziegler fought to bury the horrors of his abusive childhood and lead a normal life. Raised by a mentally ill mother and a neurosurgeon father who had a taste for the sadistic, he finally finds reprieve from his horrific life when he is sent to a top boarding school.



Immersing himself in his schoolwork, Stefan strives to follow in his father's footsteps into a medical career and finally earns his place as chief trauma surgeon at his father's old hospital.



After an occurrence that threatens his future as a surgeon, Stefan seeks refuge at his old family home. In his father's study, he discovers a secret so horrible that it makes him violently ill. But it also brings about a realization that scares him more than the gory contents of the tape: he himself is drawn to human torture.



Teaming up with his father's old assistant, Ivan, Stefan decides to give in to his urges and conduct heinous research of his own. They kidnap human subjects and begin their vile experiments. But when Ivan falls in love with one of the victims, will he remain Stefan's pawn, or will he finally thwart the Ziegler legacy?