Memorials

It is 1983, and three college students set out on a road trip through Pennsylvania’s Appalachian region to make a film about roadside memorials. What they expect to be a fun, weeklong adventure for their American studies class soon turns into a nightmare. As the trio begins opening up to one another, they realize there is a lot at stake, and as the people they encounter become increasingly hostile and unsettling, a startling truth is brought to light. Skilled storyteller Chizmar (Becoming the Boogeyman) returns with another horror novel that mixes folklore with ’80s nostalgia. Narrators Michael Crouch and Jonathan Todd Ross provide well-balanced performances that highlight the carefreeness of the decade but also hint at the deeper troubles effected by the satanic panic of the era. Crouch and Ross’s narration evocatively captures the shattering loss of innocence and the unfolding horror as recounted by one of the survivors.