Alisha Allen
The Communicator

The Falls has had many memorable moments and it has been home to numerous highly successful students who have accomplished huge goals.
Most recently, graphic design student Michael Houbrick has published his first novel called “InTWINition of murder”. His book demonstrates a real-life event that he has experienced and is still experiencing and has a rather personal connection to. He demonstrates this life-changing event through a short novel that has already captured the attention of many both inside and outside the limits of SFCC.
Houbrick describes doing everything with his twin brother Matthew, from hosting magic shows and having a crush on the same girl in high school to becoming the world’s first twin clowns.  They both attended the Ringling Bros and Barnum & Bailey Clown College.
Houbrick describes that his brother would tell him everything, down to the very last detail throughout their childhood and into adulthood. There was nothing unsaid between these twins.
The inspiration for the novel came from the unfortunately true events of his twin brother being murdered by a woman of whom he was quite fond of. Many may be shocked at this fact, and it is of no thanks from the type of stereotype the world has formed that only men can be abusive to women, and never the way around. In fact, about 40% of abuse cases are exactly this; a man being abused by a woman. The reason we never hear about these cases is because only about 30% of these cases are actually reported.
“Nobody is jumping up; no guy wants to admit being hurt by a girl whether it’s verbal or physical…” Houbrick said.
This is the exact reason why Houbrick came to the conclusion to write “InTWINition of murder”.
At first, Matthew Houbrick’s death was tried as a drug overdose instead of a murder. The woman who is suspected of not just the physical abuse of Matthew, but of the mental abuse as well, was still on the loose and free from any charges of her crime. Michael, however, was the only one who knew that his twin brothers death was in fact murder by this woman.
“I was going crazy; I knew for a fact that my brother wasn’t into drugs,” Houbrick said. “I finally had to take myself out of the case because it was making me sick with how stressed I was.
“I spent twelve days in the hospital because of how much the case was effecting me.”
The phrase “automatic writing” may be unknown to most people. Automatic writing is simply put as the communication with the dead. This action happens all the time with twins.
Houbrick was literally watching Matthew write down what he was saying on a sheet of paper in front of him. Researchers of communication with the dead may or may not deem this act to be true, but to Houbrick and to those around him, he was finally able to speak to his brother.
The structure of the novel was formed from this. Houbrick describes how he began writing down notes of his brothers case because it was therapeutic. However, after communicating with his brother and discovering things that the police had not yet found, Houbrick knew that it was an obligation to write the book, not just for the sake of revealing the truth of his brothers death, but for the entire concept of domestic man abuse to be brought into the spotlight.
“I know that bringing the issue of domestic men into the consciousness into the world is something I’m supposed to be doing, and that’s what this book is going to bring awareness to,” Houbrick said.
Although just published, his novel is available at Hastings and Aunties, as well as online as ebooks from iBooks or iTunes and Houbrick is currently working on getting his novel distributed through the big box stores such as Barnes and Noble.
First written as a true crime novel but then novelized, “InTWINition of murder” demonstrates the desperate need for the abuse of men by women to be just as important as any other form of abuse. Houbrick fulfills his life obligation by providing his tragic story to the public to help bring awareness to this highly important issue.