Adding Malerman’s flair for creating sympathetic characters and his brutal descriptions of violence creates a fun and fright-filled ghost story, along with a villain that could easily live and thrive in horror fans’ nightmares. Fans of Thomas Olde Heuvelt, Grady Hendrix, and Riley Sager will be delighted.
A thought provoking and honest conversation about anxiety wrapped around a Freddy Krueger-esque slasher. For fans of cursed small towns like in Thomas Olde Heuvelt’s Hex, or other fresh takes on the teen slasher like Jessica Guess’s Cirque Berserk.
Malerman delivers with another completely different yet equally crowd-pleasing and awesome horror novel that is not to be missed. Fans of tales as varied as Eden by Tim Lebbon, Tender Is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica, or The Night of the Mannequins by Stephen Graham Jones will all find something to savor and enjoy here.
These stories offer up a history lesson and guided tour of a severely troubled town. The writer-as-tour-guide is very clearly enjoying the trip, and it’s impossible not to revel in the dark glee.
Having read Bird Box will help, but essential worldbuilding is seamlessly interwoven in a narrative paired with enlightening flashbacks into Malorie’s childhood, making this a solid stand-alone. Malerman will no doubt add to his legions of fans with this title ripe for readers of any genre seeking an intensely thrilling ride.
Bram Stoker Award winner Malerman (Bird Box) delivers a chilling collection of tales about a place that's likely to linger in the imagination, one that readers shouldn't plan on visiting.