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4.2 out of 5 stars
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Kill Creek
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Top positive review
Spooky, haunting, and so much fun.
September 12, 2018
Evidently, my autumn 2018 aesthetic is devouring every haunted house story I can get my hands on, and Kill Creek has been one of the strangest, most unexpected stories yet. It makes perfect sense that it’s being adapted for Showtime right now, because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that felt as much like a horror movie/show as this one does.
First, the house itself is easily my favorite aspect of this novel. It’s got this incredibly morbid past with a slew of haunting incidents, bizarre old ladies (because what’s a good haunted house without a creepy old lady haunting it, honestly?), and a stairway leading to a solid brick wall. The atmosphere? On point.
Not only do I love a good, atmospheric location, but Kill Creek brings a cast of complex and interesting characters to the table, too. There’s Sam McGarver, the primary main, who won me over from the very beginning by introducing himself with a tangent about subgenres and what defines gothic horror. He’s got a twisted background that is only revealed to us in snippets here and there, each one darker than the last, but he’s a genuinely good guy and you can’t help but root for him.
Next up is TC Moore, who I initially held conflicted feelings about but grew to enjoy. She’s an extreme horror author, and consistently the butt of jokes about the sexual and graphic content in her stories (which felt very true-to-life considering the way much of the horror literature fandom treats fans of extreme horror, as well as the authors themselves). Sam is quick to come to her defense in a way that’s just obvious enough to indicate that the petty teasing isn’t the author’s own perspective on extreme horror.
Then comes Daniel Slaughter, the Christian teen horror author whose entire character arc cracked me up, because I grew up in a strict religious home where I was limited to religious or “clean” fiction for a long time, and Daniel reminded me way too much of a few authors I reached for as a kid. I’m seeing a lot of reviewers call him the RL Stine knock-off character of the story, and I could see that, but I’d also say he reminds me of Frank Peretti. (Hangman’s Curse, anyone?)
And finally, my favorite—Sebastian Cole, our King-esque trendsetter. He’s an older gentleman who’s been a bestseller for nearly as long as the other three have been alive, and he’s full to the brim of advice despite holding a few outdated opinions on the genre. He’s downright full of surprises—both good and bad—but ultimately, I’m always a sucker for the “old mentor” character archetype.
So far, we’ve got the mood, setting, characters—all that’s left to rave about is the action, which doesn’t pick up right away, but bear with it, because the second half makes up for it. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, totally unwilling to tear myself away for even a moment, and just when I thought I had figured things out, a wrench would be thrown in the works that totally threw my guesses out the window.
I only have two negative things to say about Kill Creek, so let’s get them out of the way:
1. The pacing, at times, is a struggle. There are segments that dragged, though they are filled with enough character building that I was never necessarily bored. I just wanted a little bit more from those chapters.
2. TC Moore. Don’t get me wrong, I love angry feminist characters. I relate to them (ha!). Moore just takes it to this unreasonable level at times, so there were occasional moments where I couldn’t tell if these features were just part of her character, or if it was intended to be an exaggerated, caricature. Given that she progresses into a tremendously more likable person as the story goes on, and I found myself rooting for her by the end, I think the intentions were good, but she grated on me for the first 100 pages or so.
That’s it! All that raving and only two (pretty minor) issues, so I’m sure it’s no surprise that I gave this 4.5 stars (and felt comfortable rounding up to 5). If you enjoy unique haunted house stories and don’t mind a solid helping of character development and world-building within your horror, I strongly recommend grabbing a copy of Kill Creek and settling in. This would be a perfect addition to your Halloween reading list!
First, the house itself is easily my favorite aspect of this novel. It’s got this incredibly morbid past with a slew of haunting incidents, bizarre old ladies (because what’s a good haunted house without a creepy old lady haunting it, honestly?), and a stairway leading to a solid brick wall. The atmosphere? On point.
Not only do I love a good, atmospheric location, but Kill Creek brings a cast of complex and interesting characters to the table, too. There’s Sam McGarver, the primary main, who won me over from the very beginning by introducing himself with a tangent about subgenres and what defines gothic horror. He’s got a twisted background that is only revealed to us in snippets here and there, each one darker than the last, but he’s a genuinely good guy and you can’t help but root for him.
Next up is TC Moore, who I initially held conflicted feelings about but grew to enjoy. She’s an extreme horror author, and consistently the butt of jokes about the sexual and graphic content in her stories (which felt very true-to-life considering the way much of the horror literature fandom treats fans of extreme horror, as well as the authors themselves). Sam is quick to come to her defense in a way that’s just obvious enough to indicate that the petty teasing isn’t the author’s own perspective on extreme horror.
Then comes Daniel Slaughter, the Christian teen horror author whose entire character arc cracked me up, because I grew up in a strict religious home where I was limited to religious or “clean” fiction for a long time, and Daniel reminded me way too much of a few authors I reached for as a kid. I’m seeing a lot of reviewers call him the RL Stine knock-off character of the story, and I could see that, but I’d also say he reminds me of Frank Peretti. (Hangman’s Curse, anyone?)
And finally, my favorite—Sebastian Cole, our King-esque trendsetter. He’s an older gentleman who’s been a bestseller for nearly as long as the other three have been alive, and he’s full to the brim of advice despite holding a few outdated opinions on the genre. He’s downright full of surprises—both good and bad—but ultimately, I’m always a sucker for the “old mentor” character archetype.
So far, we’ve got the mood, setting, characters—all that’s left to rave about is the action, which doesn’t pick up right away, but bear with it, because the second half makes up for it. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, totally unwilling to tear myself away for even a moment, and just when I thought I had figured things out, a wrench would be thrown in the works that totally threw my guesses out the window.
I only have two negative things to say about Kill Creek, so let’s get them out of the way:
1. The pacing, at times, is a struggle. There are segments that dragged, though they are filled with enough character building that I was never necessarily bored. I just wanted a little bit more from those chapters.
2. TC Moore. Don’t get me wrong, I love angry feminist characters. I relate to them (ha!). Moore just takes it to this unreasonable level at times, so there were occasional moments where I couldn’t tell if these features were just part of her character, or if it was intended to be an exaggerated, caricature. Given that she progresses into a tremendously more likable person as the story goes on, and I found myself rooting for her by the end, I think the intentions were good, but she grated on me for the first 100 pages or so.
That’s it! All that raving and only two (pretty minor) issues, so I’m sure it’s no surprise that I gave this 4.5 stars (and felt comfortable rounding up to 5). If you enjoy unique haunted house stories and don’t mind a solid helping of character development and world-building within your horror, I strongly recommend grabbing a copy of Kill Creek and settling in. This would be a perfect addition to your Halloween reading list!
29 people found this helpful
Top critical review
It's three notes, over and over, for 400+ pages
April 2, 2019
Do you hate fat people? Great. So does Scott Thomas. Daniel Slaughter, a character in "Kill Creek," is so fat he sometimes can't even get out of bed. He makes people anxious in elevators because he's so large. Simply standing sometimes is a touch-and-go proposal because sometimes Daniel Slaughter is too fat for the very ground he's on. Slaughter's whole existence is rounded with fat rolls.
One time, Daniel Slaughter was described as getting thinner. But don't worry, narrator Scott Thomas is right there to let you know immediately that Slaughter is not thin at all. He's fat.
Do you hate women? Boy, what a book I have in store for you. For the first time ever, a male author has written a tough-as-nails woman who breaks like a little girl. She weaponizes her sexuality and drinks whiskey straight from the bottle. She doesn't have any women in her life, because she's a Guy's Girl. And if you take a shot of tequila every time either her silver fingernails or her erect nipples are mentioned, boy oh boy the blackout you'll be in.
Do you love Adam Levine of Maroon 5? Great. There's a guy named Sam for you. He's a writer -- all the characters are writers -- who loves to write about rough men and the women who love them. Women have no agency of their own outside of their relationships with men. There are almost no scenes with two women, just talking to each other. A man must always be present.
Do you love good writing? Then this is absolutely not the book for you and I am so sorry.
One time, Daniel Slaughter was described as getting thinner. But don't worry, narrator Scott Thomas is right there to let you know immediately that Slaughter is not thin at all. He's fat.
Do you hate women? Boy, what a book I have in store for you. For the first time ever, a male author has written a tough-as-nails woman who breaks like a little girl. She weaponizes her sexuality and drinks whiskey straight from the bottle. She doesn't have any women in her life, because she's a Guy's Girl. And if you take a shot of tequila every time either her silver fingernails or her erect nipples are mentioned, boy oh boy the blackout you'll be in.
Do you love Adam Levine of Maroon 5? Great. There's a guy named Sam for you. He's a writer -- all the characters are writers -- who loves to write about rough men and the women who love them. Women have no agency of their own outside of their relationships with men. There are almost no scenes with two women, just talking to each other. A man must always be present.
Do you love good writing? Then this is absolutely not the book for you and I am so sorry.
100 people found this helpful
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April 2, 2019
Do you hate fat people? Great. So does Scott Thomas. Daniel Slaughter, a character in "Kill Creek," is so fat he sometimes can't even get out of bed. He makes people anxious in elevators because he's so large. Simply standing sometimes is a touch-and-go proposal because sometimes Daniel Slaughter is too fat for the very ground he's on. Slaughter's whole existence is rounded with fat rolls.
One time, Daniel Slaughter was described as getting thinner. But don't worry, narrator Scott Thomas is right there to let you know immediately that Slaughter is not thin at all. He's fat.
Do you hate women? Boy, what a book I have in store for you. For the first time ever, a male author has written a tough-as-nails woman who breaks like a little girl. She weaponizes her sexuality and drinks whiskey straight from the bottle. She doesn't have any women in her life, because she's a Guy's Girl. And if you take a shot of tequila every time either her silver fingernails or her erect nipples are mentioned, boy oh boy the blackout you'll be in.
Do you love Adam Levine of Maroon 5? Great. There's a guy named Sam for you. He's a writer -- all the characters are writers -- who loves to write about rough men and the women who love them. Women have no agency of their own outside of their relationships with men. There are almost no scenes with two women, just talking to each other. A man must always be present.
Do you love good writing? Then this is absolutely not the book for you and I am so sorry.
One time, Daniel Slaughter was described as getting thinner. But don't worry, narrator Scott Thomas is right there to let you know immediately that Slaughter is not thin at all. He's fat.
Do you hate women? Boy, what a book I have in store for you. For the first time ever, a male author has written a tough-as-nails woman who breaks like a little girl. She weaponizes her sexuality and drinks whiskey straight from the bottle. She doesn't have any women in her life, because she's a Guy's Girl. And if you take a shot of tequila every time either her silver fingernails or her erect nipples are mentioned, boy oh boy the blackout you'll be in.
Do you love Adam Levine of Maroon 5? Great. There's a guy named Sam for you. He's a writer -- all the characters are writers -- who loves to write about rough men and the women who love them. Women have no agency of their own outside of their relationships with men. There are almost no scenes with two women, just talking to each other. A man must always be present.
Do you love good writing? Then this is absolutely not the book for you and I am so sorry.
September 12, 2018
Evidently, my autumn 2018 aesthetic is devouring every haunted house story I can get my hands on, and Kill Creek has been one of the strangest, most unexpected stories yet. It makes perfect sense that it’s being adapted for Showtime right now, because I don’t think I’ve ever read a book that felt as much like a horror movie/show as this one does.
First, the house itself is easily my favorite aspect of this novel. It’s got this incredibly morbid past with a slew of haunting incidents, bizarre old ladies (because what’s a good haunted house without a creepy old lady haunting it, honestly?), and a stairway leading to a solid brick wall. The atmosphere? On point.
Not only do I love a good, atmospheric location, but Kill Creek brings a cast of complex and interesting characters to the table, too. There’s Sam McGarver, the primary main, who won me over from the very beginning by introducing himself with a tangent about subgenres and what defines gothic horror. He’s got a twisted background that is only revealed to us in snippets here and there, each one darker than the last, but he’s a genuinely good guy and you can’t help but root for him.
Next up is TC Moore, who I initially held conflicted feelings about but grew to enjoy. She’s an extreme horror author, and consistently the butt of jokes about the sexual and graphic content in her stories (which felt very true-to-life considering the way much of the horror literature fandom treats fans of extreme horror, as well as the authors themselves). Sam is quick to come to her defense in a way that’s just obvious enough to indicate that the petty teasing isn’t the author’s own perspective on extreme horror.
Then comes Daniel Slaughter, the Christian teen horror author whose entire character arc cracked me up, because I grew up in a strict religious home where I was limited to religious or “clean” fiction for a long time, and Daniel reminded me way too much of a few authors I reached for as a kid. I’m seeing a lot of reviewers call him the RL Stine knock-off character of the story, and I could see that, but I’d also say he reminds me of Frank Peretti. (Hangman’s Curse, anyone?)
And finally, my favorite—Sebastian Cole, our King-esque trendsetter. He’s an older gentleman who’s been a bestseller for nearly as long as the other three have been alive, and he’s full to the brim of advice despite holding a few outdated opinions on the genre. He’s downright full of surprises—both good and bad—but ultimately, I’m always a sucker for the “old mentor” character archetype.
So far, we’ve got the mood, setting, characters—all that’s left to rave about is the action, which doesn’t pick up right away, but bear with it, because the second half makes up for it. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, totally unwilling to tear myself away for even a moment, and just when I thought I had figured things out, a wrench would be thrown in the works that totally threw my guesses out the window.
I only have two negative things to say about Kill Creek, so let’s get them out of the way:
1. The pacing, at times, is a struggle. There are segments that dragged, though they are filled with enough character building that I was never necessarily bored. I just wanted a little bit more from those chapters.
2. TC Moore. Don’t get me wrong, I love angry feminist characters. I relate to them (ha!). Moore just takes it to this unreasonable level at times, so there were occasional moments where I couldn’t tell if these features were just part of her character, or if it was intended to be an exaggerated, caricature. Given that she progresses into a tremendously more likable person as the story goes on, and I found myself rooting for her by the end, I think the intentions were good, but she grated on me for the first 100 pages or so.
That’s it! All that raving and only two (pretty minor) issues, so I’m sure it’s no surprise that I gave this 4.5 stars (and felt comfortable rounding up to 5). If you enjoy unique haunted house stories and don’t mind a solid helping of character development and world-building within your horror, I strongly recommend grabbing a copy of Kill Creek and settling in. This would be a perfect addition to your Halloween reading list!
First, the house itself is easily my favorite aspect of this novel. It’s got this incredibly morbid past with a slew of haunting incidents, bizarre old ladies (because what’s a good haunted house without a creepy old lady haunting it, honestly?), and a stairway leading to a solid brick wall. The atmosphere? On point.
Not only do I love a good, atmospheric location, but Kill Creek brings a cast of complex and interesting characters to the table, too. There’s Sam McGarver, the primary main, who won me over from the very beginning by introducing himself with a tangent about subgenres and what defines gothic horror. He’s got a twisted background that is only revealed to us in snippets here and there, each one darker than the last, but he’s a genuinely good guy and you can’t help but root for him.
Next up is TC Moore, who I initially held conflicted feelings about but grew to enjoy. She’s an extreme horror author, and consistently the butt of jokes about the sexual and graphic content in her stories (which felt very true-to-life considering the way much of the horror literature fandom treats fans of extreme horror, as well as the authors themselves). Sam is quick to come to her defense in a way that’s just obvious enough to indicate that the petty teasing isn’t the author’s own perspective on extreme horror.
Then comes Daniel Slaughter, the Christian teen horror author whose entire character arc cracked me up, because I grew up in a strict religious home where I was limited to religious or “clean” fiction for a long time, and Daniel reminded me way too much of a few authors I reached for as a kid. I’m seeing a lot of reviewers call him the RL Stine knock-off character of the story, and I could see that, but I’d also say he reminds me of Frank Peretti. (Hangman’s Curse, anyone?)
And finally, my favorite—Sebastian Cole, our King-esque trendsetter. He’s an older gentleman who’s been a bestseller for nearly as long as the other three have been alive, and he’s full to the brim of advice despite holding a few outdated opinions on the genre. He’s downright full of surprises—both good and bad—but ultimately, I’m always a sucker for the “old mentor” character archetype.
So far, we’ve got the mood, setting, characters—all that’s left to rave about is the action, which doesn’t pick up right away, but bear with it, because the second half makes up for it. The ending had me on the edge of my seat, totally unwilling to tear myself away for even a moment, and just when I thought I had figured things out, a wrench would be thrown in the works that totally threw my guesses out the window.
I only have two negative things to say about Kill Creek, so let’s get them out of the way:
1. The pacing, at times, is a struggle. There are segments that dragged, though they are filled with enough character building that I was never necessarily bored. I just wanted a little bit more from those chapters.
2. TC Moore. Don’t get me wrong, I love angry feminist characters. I relate to them (ha!). Moore just takes it to this unreasonable level at times, so there were occasional moments where I couldn’t tell if these features were just part of her character, or if it was intended to be an exaggerated, caricature. Given that she progresses into a tremendously more likable person as the story goes on, and I found myself rooting for her by the end, I think the intentions were good, but she grated on me for the first 100 pages or so.
That’s it! All that raving and only two (pretty minor) issues, so I’m sure it’s no surprise that I gave this 4.5 stars (and felt comfortable rounding up to 5). If you enjoy unique haunted house stories and don’t mind a solid helping of character development and world-building within your horror, I strongly recommend grabbing a copy of Kill Creek and settling in. This would be a perfect addition to your Halloween reading list!
February 12, 2018
I loved this novel. I bought it in Kindle and audio book, and read then listened to it. Scott Thomas does something that many writers, especially of this genre, fail at. I cared about the characters. I identified them worth real world (to me) inspiration and I cared what happened to them in their (sometimes) gruesome ends. I wanted to know their stories, I felt intirigued by their desires and motives. So I felt something rare. True horror.
While I will agree that the descriptive similes reminded me too much of At the Mountains of Madness (too much atmosphere, no real action at times), the characters, overall story, and unexpected ending made up for it in spades.
If you’re unsure, listen to it in audiobook. The narrator really brings these characters to life. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
TL;DR Just read it. Or listen to it. If you like a good haunted house story, you won’t be sorry.
While I will agree that the descriptive similes reminded me too much of At the Mountains of Madness (too much atmosphere, no real action at times), the characters, overall story, and unexpected ending made up for it in spades.
If you’re unsure, listen to it in audiobook. The narrator really brings these characters to life. I can’t wait to see what he does next.
TL;DR Just read it. Or listen to it. If you like a good haunted house story, you won’t be sorry.
June 17, 2018
Reading this book reminded me why I love Instagram and the book community that exists there there. Without those amazing readers and people, I don't think I ever would have known about this book, and what a shame that would have been.
This book has been quietly making the rounds on social media since its Halloween release last year, growing little by little by word of mouth, but it isn't a huge title from some publishing titan. It doesn't have some big backing, but it does have its own merit and the people who have read it, telling you, "you need to pick up this book."
A perfect premise: four renowned horror authors spending Halloween in a supposedly haunted house with a rich media mogul who wants them to share their literary knowledge with the world.
But what begins as a heavy-handed publicity stunt follows each of them home in a different way, forcing dark fingers into the crevices of each of their lives. What exactly is it about the house on Kill Creek? What's living there? Dead or alive? And what does it want with the writers?
Thomas has a raw talent and this book pulses with true life. I leaned in to this book as I haven't with a newer book for quite some time, really getting invested in the story, the characters, and the house.
I love a haunted house story; it is probably my favorite type of horror tale. Kill Creek is not only an interesting, involved, scary, and unique story, it completely reinvents the concept.
From the start, it is apparent that the author knows his stuff about horror. I felt safe in the hands of someone who had his main character rattling off about The Mysteries of Udolpho, Freddy Krueger, and Polanski's The Tenant within the first few pages of the book.
And not only that, but the prologue to the book is an obvious homage to Shirley Jackson's most perfect haunted house book, The Haunting of Hill House. Almost beat for beat, he reconstructs his house on Kill Creek the same way she brought together Hill House, how it seemed to create itself "flying together into its own powerful pattern."
And that's the way this book felt—formed so tightly that it nearly flew together of its own volition—a story that had to be told.
As far as the plot goes, I loved the four writers and how they echoed real writers (or at least bits of them). Daniel Slaughter with his Christian-leaning Goosebumps-type series, Sebastian Cole with his Stephen King–like influence, T. C. Moore with her Jack Ketchum–level grossness and Clive Barker weirdness, and Sam McGarver (the main character), who seemed to be more of an amalgam or middle man, perhaps influenced by the Southern gothic William Gay, but more mainstream. (Any ideas?)
In any case, I loved seeing them interact, come together, and even just hearing about their books. I'd read one of each, especially that Cole book A Thinly Cast Shadow that everyone seems so keen on. Perhaps Thomas has something up his sleeve in this direction (oh, please!!), as he obviously has lots of great horror plot ideas. I definitely don't expect this to be his last foray into the genre.
If a story can get you invested in the stories that it isn't telling, you know that's a good book. And I'm telling you, that's only the beginning.
Where this book goes is not what I expected. I figured it would be a fairly straightforward creepy haunted house, bump-in-the-night type of read. Not true at all. This plot has much more to offer, ideas that will expand how you think about hauntings, old places, and maybe even your own home.
I can only tell you to go out and get this book. If you like it, pass on the love to someone else. This one deserves to be read.
This book has been quietly making the rounds on social media since its Halloween release last year, growing little by little by word of mouth, but it isn't a huge title from some publishing titan. It doesn't have some big backing, but it does have its own merit and the people who have read it, telling you, "you need to pick up this book."
A perfect premise: four renowned horror authors spending Halloween in a supposedly haunted house with a rich media mogul who wants them to share their literary knowledge with the world.
But what begins as a heavy-handed publicity stunt follows each of them home in a different way, forcing dark fingers into the crevices of each of their lives. What exactly is it about the house on Kill Creek? What's living there? Dead or alive? And what does it want with the writers?
Thomas has a raw talent and this book pulses with true life. I leaned in to this book as I haven't with a newer book for quite some time, really getting invested in the story, the characters, and the house.
I love a haunted house story; it is probably my favorite type of horror tale. Kill Creek is not only an interesting, involved, scary, and unique story, it completely reinvents the concept.
From the start, it is apparent that the author knows his stuff about horror. I felt safe in the hands of someone who had his main character rattling off about The Mysteries of Udolpho, Freddy Krueger, and Polanski's The Tenant within the first few pages of the book.
And not only that, but the prologue to the book is an obvious homage to Shirley Jackson's most perfect haunted house book, The Haunting of Hill House. Almost beat for beat, he reconstructs his house on Kill Creek the same way she brought together Hill House, how it seemed to create itself "flying together into its own powerful pattern."
And that's the way this book felt—formed so tightly that it nearly flew together of its own volition—a story that had to be told.
As far as the plot goes, I loved the four writers and how they echoed real writers (or at least bits of them). Daniel Slaughter with his Christian-leaning Goosebumps-type series, Sebastian Cole with his Stephen King–like influence, T. C. Moore with her Jack Ketchum–level grossness and Clive Barker weirdness, and Sam McGarver (the main character), who seemed to be more of an amalgam or middle man, perhaps influenced by the Southern gothic William Gay, but more mainstream. (Any ideas?)
In any case, I loved seeing them interact, come together, and even just hearing about their books. I'd read one of each, especially that Cole book A Thinly Cast Shadow that everyone seems so keen on. Perhaps Thomas has something up his sleeve in this direction (oh, please!!), as he obviously has lots of great horror plot ideas. I definitely don't expect this to be his last foray into the genre.
If a story can get you invested in the stories that it isn't telling, you know that's a good book. And I'm telling you, that's only the beginning.
Where this book goes is not what I expected. I figured it would be a fairly straightforward creepy haunted house, bump-in-the-night type of read. Not true at all. This plot has much more to offer, ideas that will expand how you think about hauntings, old places, and maybe even your own home.
I can only tell you to go out and get this book. If you like it, pass on the love to someone else. This one deserves to be read.
June 20, 2018
I really hate to pan a writer or any written piece. As a writer I know the time and effort and blood it takes.
You can break this book down to two halves, the great first part and the massive letdown of the second.
The first part is terrific where Thomas sets the stage by introducing the major players, four horror writers and a web mogul who wants to take them to a supposed haunted house for a web cast. Everyone's motives are as different as the well delineated characters. As time goes on the house takes center stage. One of the really enjoyable subtexts is whether the mogul, Wainwright is somehow in league with the house. You just aren't sure.
The whole premise of the book, the writer's, the house, what happens and why is very original and interesting. Not easy to do with all the haunted house novels written over the years. I give Thomas big credit for that. Along with the good story he invents good characters, I found Sebastian, Moore and Sam the most intriguing.
So you may ask, where did it go wrong? Well that happened when Thomas turned his protagonists into morons in the second act. And this is where I hate what I'm writing but I need to be honest.
These writers go to this house. They experience certain things. Then when they come home they experience other bad things they know the house has made them do. So they need a reckoning with the house. Now that's fine. What wasn't fine was watching these various, fairly smart characters suddenly become slasher film teen caricatures. Any one who read this book knows one thing, no one, not one person alive who experienced what they did before returning to that house would ever go strolling around it alone. They would have been stuck to each other like glue. Terrified glue. Yet Thomas breaks out the old trope of sending characters out on their own, one for a smoke, one to look for others who have been gone a long time. Hello Friday the 13th. Goodbye smart writing.
The biggest problem with this is when a writer turns the main protagonists into idiots, you lose interest in them. You know what they are doing is so silly that it all loses credibility. And when a writer resort's to that kind of lazy plot device you wonder what he thinks of the readers.
It reminded me of Poltergeist. Terrific : movie till the end. Then this family that fought all these demons and finally get their daughter back decide to.... Spend one last night in the house because they were tired. WHAT!? Nobody who went through what that family did would have spent a second more in that house let alone a night. It was so stupid, so ridiculous, it ruined the whole movie.
And that's what Thomas does. The writer's act so stupid, it is so silly when they go back, wandering off alone it just destroys everything. No one would do that. Not after what they knew.
The other issue was the Moore reveal at the end. You can see it coming ten miles off. No surprise there and I'm not really sure if Thomas thought he was fooling readers or not. Could be he knew the readers would anticipate the exact ending.
Also wasn't sold on Moore wanting to end the pain. She survived the pain long ago and came out the other end a tough, smart cookie. Just didn't seem to fit with her.
This could have been a great ghost story. But for some reason Thomas just took a very easy, lazy, well worn path in his end game to get where he wanted to go. Too bad he didn't use the skill and imagination he did in the first half. You get the feeling he could have.
You can break this book down to two halves, the great first part and the massive letdown of the second.
The first part is terrific where Thomas sets the stage by introducing the major players, four horror writers and a web mogul who wants to take them to a supposed haunted house for a web cast. Everyone's motives are as different as the well delineated characters. As time goes on the house takes center stage. One of the really enjoyable subtexts is whether the mogul, Wainwright is somehow in league with the house. You just aren't sure.
The whole premise of the book, the writer's, the house, what happens and why is very original and interesting. Not easy to do with all the haunted house novels written over the years. I give Thomas big credit for that. Along with the good story he invents good characters, I found Sebastian, Moore and Sam the most intriguing.
So you may ask, where did it go wrong? Well that happened when Thomas turned his protagonists into morons in the second act. And this is where I hate what I'm writing but I need to be honest.
These writers go to this house. They experience certain things. Then when they come home they experience other bad things they know the house has made them do. So they need a reckoning with the house. Now that's fine. What wasn't fine was watching these various, fairly smart characters suddenly become slasher film teen caricatures. Any one who read this book knows one thing, no one, not one person alive who experienced what they did before returning to that house would ever go strolling around it alone. They would have been stuck to each other like glue. Terrified glue. Yet Thomas breaks out the old trope of sending characters out on their own, one for a smoke, one to look for others who have been gone a long time. Hello Friday the 13th. Goodbye smart writing.
The biggest problem with this is when a writer turns the main protagonists into idiots, you lose interest in them. You know what they are doing is so silly that it all loses credibility. And when a writer resort's to that kind of lazy plot device you wonder what he thinks of the readers.
It reminded me of Poltergeist. Terrific : movie till the end. Then this family that fought all these demons and finally get their daughter back decide to.... Spend one last night in the house because they were tired. WHAT!? Nobody who went through what that family did would have spent a second more in that house let alone a night. It was so stupid, so ridiculous, it ruined the whole movie.
And that's what Thomas does. The writer's act so stupid, it is so silly when they go back, wandering off alone it just destroys everything. No one would do that. Not after what they knew.
The other issue was the Moore reveal at the end. You can see it coming ten miles off. No surprise there and I'm not really sure if Thomas thought he was fooling readers or not. Could be he knew the readers would anticipate the exact ending.
Also wasn't sold on Moore wanting to end the pain. She survived the pain long ago and came out the other end a tough, smart cookie. Just didn't seem to fit with her.
This could have been a great ghost story. But for some reason Thomas just took a very easy, lazy, well worn path in his end game to get where he wanted to go. Too bad he didn't use the skill and imagination he did in the first half. You get the feeling he could have.
November 7, 2018
I'm a bit late to the party, but Kill Creek was one of the most buzzed about new Horror novels of 2017, published by one of the most buzzed about new publishers with a specialty in Horror, InkShares.
InkShares is a relatively new force in the publishing world, that has me fairly excited with last year's A God In The Shed and now this, both of which have been optioned for TV.
One of the most exciting parts about InkShares for me, is their visibility, as they're actually making it to the shelves of brick and mortar bookstores, a feat not many genre titles, especially by new authors, are able to manage these days.
For that alone, I'll give them my money, as a token of appreciation and in hopes it'll keep them there.
But is this book any good?
I'll be honest. A 400+ page book billed as a 'slow burn haunted house story' doesn't exactly get my reader senses jumping for joy. There's a billion of them and they generally aren't for me. It's a huge part of why I held off.
But a good many reviews promised a big, nasty payoff in the finale paired with my unwavering-as-possible support for the genre, my undying hope that it becomes a lucrative genre to write in again...and the fact I tried to read a very similar book that just straight up sucked from the glory days (The Manse, if you're wondering)...led me to finally give it a whirl.
My whirl was just about worth it. Just about, but not totally.
The plot reminded me greatly of another book I read this year, 1987s Soulstorm, with 4 horror authors, and their red herring hosts, being locked in a big old haunted house for a night. Soulstorm expanded that to a month, made the authors some random so-and-sos, gave us a few more outlandishly bizarre moments and shortened the whole ordeal by about a hundred pages (read: LESS DRAWN OUT) but the basic premise is the same.
The basic premise is pretty much the same as a good thousand novels, but Kill Creek excels in a few areas, most namely it's very modern self-awareness. It knows what it is, who is going to read it and has all sorts of fun Easter Egg bits for that audience. I really enjoyed the characters and the nods paid to Horror fiction through their presentation. TC Moore being my favorite...she's a strong, take-no-BS type of character and her work is the kind of nasty stuff I tend to love. She's also very dimensional, probably the most fleshed out character in the book, outside of it's key protagonist, Sam McGarver.
The big gory finale is great fun, but its just too little, too late. Kill Creek spends way too much time with the melodrama for my liking and none of it is particularly engrossing. I love some melodrama when I can relate, identify or even just give a damn about because I really like the story and its players. I struggled with this, mostly due to the fact that the characters are all best-selling, wealthy horror authors.
Sure, they showed a little desperation, but I have a helluva time believing that any of these guys, supposed legends of horror writing, would be coerced into such a risky and fairly tacky publicity stunt. I also struggled with the believability of the horror blogs popularity that gets them in the situation. Because, well, I run a fairly popular horror blog...and it certainly hasn't turned me into a millionaire with an audience that would reinvigorate anyone's career.
Anyway, Kill Creek is good enough. It'll do. If good enough is what you're looking for, then here it is.
One thing is for sure though, it will make great television, if and when it actually happens.
The novel however is a 3/5.
InkShares is a relatively new force in the publishing world, that has me fairly excited with last year's A God In The Shed and now this, both of which have been optioned for TV.
One of the most exciting parts about InkShares for me, is their visibility, as they're actually making it to the shelves of brick and mortar bookstores, a feat not many genre titles, especially by new authors, are able to manage these days.
For that alone, I'll give them my money, as a token of appreciation and in hopes it'll keep them there.
But is this book any good?
I'll be honest. A 400+ page book billed as a 'slow burn haunted house story' doesn't exactly get my reader senses jumping for joy. There's a billion of them and they generally aren't for me. It's a huge part of why I held off.
But a good many reviews promised a big, nasty payoff in the finale paired with my unwavering-as-possible support for the genre, my undying hope that it becomes a lucrative genre to write in again...and the fact I tried to read a very similar book that just straight up sucked from the glory days (The Manse, if you're wondering)...led me to finally give it a whirl.
My whirl was just about worth it. Just about, but not totally.
The plot reminded me greatly of another book I read this year, 1987s Soulstorm, with 4 horror authors, and their red herring hosts, being locked in a big old haunted house for a night. Soulstorm expanded that to a month, made the authors some random so-and-sos, gave us a few more outlandishly bizarre moments and shortened the whole ordeal by about a hundred pages (read: LESS DRAWN OUT) but the basic premise is the same.
The basic premise is pretty much the same as a good thousand novels, but Kill Creek excels in a few areas, most namely it's very modern self-awareness. It knows what it is, who is going to read it and has all sorts of fun Easter Egg bits for that audience. I really enjoyed the characters and the nods paid to Horror fiction through their presentation. TC Moore being my favorite...she's a strong, take-no-BS type of character and her work is the kind of nasty stuff I tend to love. She's also very dimensional, probably the most fleshed out character in the book, outside of it's key protagonist, Sam McGarver.
The big gory finale is great fun, but its just too little, too late. Kill Creek spends way too much time with the melodrama for my liking and none of it is particularly engrossing. I love some melodrama when I can relate, identify or even just give a damn about because I really like the story and its players. I struggled with this, mostly due to the fact that the characters are all best-selling, wealthy horror authors.
Sure, they showed a little desperation, but I have a helluva time believing that any of these guys, supposed legends of horror writing, would be coerced into such a risky and fairly tacky publicity stunt. I also struggled with the believability of the horror blogs popularity that gets them in the situation. Because, well, I run a fairly popular horror blog...and it certainly hasn't turned me into a millionaire with an audience that would reinvigorate anyone's career.
Anyway, Kill Creek is good enough. It'll do. If good enough is what you're looking for, then here it is.
One thing is for sure though, it will make great television, if and when it actually happens.
The novel however is a 3/5.
July 15, 2018
Would have liked to give this one four-stars or better, as the first half of the book started out great: strong characters, good atmosphere, creepy house with a kind of "Whatever Happened To Baby Jane?" backstory. Unfortunately, as it went into it's final, confusingly drawn out final act it became a mess. Characters running upstairs, downstairs, in and out of (and even under) the house, shedding any sense of the decisiveness they demonstrated in the first half of the novel, as if the author had become just as confused as his characters about where all this was heading and what it was about. The final 'explanation' had me scratching my head in a "Kind-of-sort-of-get-it, but kind-of-don't' way.
Scott Thomas is a very good writer with some very interesting ideas. His descriptive passages early on really pulled me into the story. As an author myself I know all to well what it's like to lose control of a tale, which is why I'd put the bulk of the blame on the editing - a good editor would have tightened the finale and its pacing - most the 2nd half of the novel felt like fluff - and made sure the 'secret' of the Kill Creek House made some sort of sense to the reader and that the characters stayed true to themselves throughout the book.
I'm curious to see what Mr. Thomas comes up with next.
Scott Thomas is a very good writer with some very interesting ideas. His descriptive passages early on really pulled me into the story. As an author myself I know all to well what it's like to lose control of a tale, which is why I'd put the bulk of the blame on the editing - a good editor would have tightened the finale and its pacing - most the 2nd half of the novel felt like fluff - and made sure the 'secret' of the Kill Creek House made some sort of sense to the reader and that the characters stayed true to themselves throughout the book.
I'm curious to see what Mr. Thomas comes up with next.
August 27, 2018
Kill Creek has a great premise; four authors of horror are invited to spend one night in a haunted house. Of course, it’s all a publicity stunt, but the writers involved could use the positive press. Problem is that their presence, the fractured parts of their hidden pasts, seems to have awoken a slumbering evil that no longer wants to be contained. This is a slow burn horror novel that doesn’t go for the big scares; instead, you become the characters you’re reading about and suffer the horrors each experiences as a result of their fateful night spent at the house on Kill Creek. No real surprises there, but what grabbed my attention was the actual haunting of this infamous dwelling…I’m not going to spoil it, but the idea is an interesting take on a haunted house tale and the best part is that this reveal isn’t slapped on at the conclusion for the reader to shake their head at. No, you get all the information about halfway through the novel, but the true implication of this dwelling’s sinister plot doesn’t fall into place until well past the point of our character’s salvation.
January 14, 2019
The opening pages of Scott Thomas’s debut novel, Kill Creek (2017) are likely to produce two immediate impressions: the prose is beautifully rendered, especially for a first novel, and the for a haunted house, the Finch House near Lawrence, Kansas, appears to be benign although a “monstrosity” of “three stories… at least six thousand square feet, maybe more” sitting on “a good quarter acre” in the middle of the prairie. “It was not built on unholy ground. It was not home to a witch or warlock. In 1859, a solitary man constructed it with his own two hands and the occasional help from friends… the many rooms within the grand house were filled with a passionate love, albeit one shared in secret, a whisper between two hearts.” As readers continue, one of these elements changes and the other does not. What doesn’t’ change is Thomas’s rich, flowing, literary prose. What does change is the seeming innocence of Finch House, made famous by a hack writer’s alleged non-fiction work, Phantoms of the Prairie: A True Story of Supernatural Terror written in the eighties—a book “short on details and long on atmosphere.”
Justin Wainwright has created a smash Internet site of popular culture. Keeping the on-line site a number one destination for users takes creativity and originality. His latest plan involves a familiar horror trope with a twist: without revealing all the details to them, Wainwright wants access to four famous horror writers for a two-day interview for which he will pay each one of them one hundred thousand dollars. His plan is to live-stream them being interviewed in the Finch House—no tricks, no gimmicks, only he and his assistant, Kate, filming; Wainwright doesn’t even believe Finch House is haunted himself. The writers include Sam McGarver who has known real horror in his past which he refuses to talk about and who is fighting writer’s block, hasn’t produced a new work in years, and is “hiding out” teaching university classes about horror and “other people’s books.” T. C. Moore’s work is tremendously popular, “raw and primal” it combines explicit horror and sex—and pain. She is disgusted the film being made of her latest novel is removing most of the grisly portions of her last novel and changing it into a romance. Daniel Slaughter is a popular Christian writer producing mainly forgettable horror books for teenagers which he likes to think “teach a lesson through entertainment” and his popularity is dwindling as more and more Christian parents begin to disapprove of his subject matter. Sebastian Cole is the senior member of the quartet, who has been writing for over three generations and has influenced untold other writers including Sam McGarver, but whose legacy is fast becoming that of a member of the “literary royalty” rather than a still popular writer. For all four, Wainwright’s offer is an opportunity to renew or solidify their reputations with the reading public.
Although it gets revealed Finch House has a history of a deplorable and sordid incident and a bad reputation among locals, “there were no documented occurrences, no unexplained phenomena recorded by giddy parapsychologists.” Unlike Shirley Jackson’s infamous Hill House, Finch House appears to be considerably less sinister. Still, Thomas does take a few pointers from Jackson’s playbook, however. Not only does he bring together a diverse group of individuals to stay at the Finch House to be interviewed, but they all have secrets—baggage they bring with them from their earlier lives. Like Jackson, Thomas builds suspense slowly, allowing Finch House to breathe, as it were, before becoming fully awake, allowing its evil to manifest itself.
Midway through Kill Creek, Thomas takes his story in an unexpected direction; into a new, at first subtle course before those who spend the night in Finch House slowly come to the realization of what is happening to them—led off by Sam McGarver—and they all decide upon an ill-fated, but essential strategy. Although there are faint echoes of the influence of Stephen King’s justly popular and influential The Shining (1977) during this portion of Thomas’s work, readers are most likely to feel the presence of Robert Marasco’s distinctive haunted house novel, Burnt Offerings (1973; reprinted by Valancourt Books in 2015) lurking behind the scenes.
The horror of Finch House escalates rapidly during the last third or more of Kill Creek, as mystery and questions multiply faster than answers are provided, and a full-scale manifestation of horror and dismaying deaths befall the characters. The final chapters of the book are a true tour de force and Thomas leaves readers with an ominous twist at the end. For a first novel (although in the book’s acknowledgements Thomas states the first draft of the novel was written “more than ten years ago” with numerous revisions later), Kill Creek is an extremely well written book with a deliberate pace, realistic characters, and powerful, memorable scenes of genuine dread. The author displays an acute awareness of the multiple kinds of horror which exist within the genre as well. At almost twice the length of Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959), Kill Creek easily enters the ranks of accomplished haunted house stories and given the recent plethora of them, such is not an easy feat to accomplish.
Justin Wainwright has created a smash Internet site of popular culture. Keeping the on-line site a number one destination for users takes creativity and originality. His latest plan involves a familiar horror trope with a twist: without revealing all the details to them, Wainwright wants access to four famous horror writers for a two-day interview for which he will pay each one of them one hundred thousand dollars. His plan is to live-stream them being interviewed in the Finch House—no tricks, no gimmicks, only he and his assistant, Kate, filming; Wainwright doesn’t even believe Finch House is haunted himself. The writers include Sam McGarver who has known real horror in his past which he refuses to talk about and who is fighting writer’s block, hasn’t produced a new work in years, and is “hiding out” teaching university classes about horror and “other people’s books.” T. C. Moore’s work is tremendously popular, “raw and primal” it combines explicit horror and sex—and pain. She is disgusted the film being made of her latest novel is removing most of the grisly portions of her last novel and changing it into a romance. Daniel Slaughter is a popular Christian writer producing mainly forgettable horror books for teenagers which he likes to think “teach a lesson through entertainment” and his popularity is dwindling as more and more Christian parents begin to disapprove of his subject matter. Sebastian Cole is the senior member of the quartet, who has been writing for over three generations and has influenced untold other writers including Sam McGarver, but whose legacy is fast becoming that of a member of the “literary royalty” rather than a still popular writer. For all four, Wainwright’s offer is an opportunity to renew or solidify their reputations with the reading public.
Although it gets revealed Finch House has a history of a deplorable and sordid incident and a bad reputation among locals, “there were no documented occurrences, no unexplained phenomena recorded by giddy parapsychologists.” Unlike Shirley Jackson’s infamous Hill House, Finch House appears to be considerably less sinister. Still, Thomas does take a few pointers from Jackson’s playbook, however. Not only does he bring together a diverse group of individuals to stay at the Finch House to be interviewed, but they all have secrets—baggage they bring with them from their earlier lives. Like Jackson, Thomas builds suspense slowly, allowing Finch House to breathe, as it were, before becoming fully awake, allowing its evil to manifest itself.
Midway through Kill Creek, Thomas takes his story in an unexpected direction; into a new, at first subtle course before those who spend the night in Finch House slowly come to the realization of what is happening to them—led off by Sam McGarver—and they all decide upon an ill-fated, but essential strategy. Although there are faint echoes of the influence of Stephen King’s justly popular and influential The Shining (1977) during this portion of Thomas’s work, readers are most likely to feel the presence of Robert Marasco’s distinctive haunted house novel, Burnt Offerings (1973; reprinted by Valancourt Books in 2015) lurking behind the scenes.
The horror of Finch House escalates rapidly during the last third or more of Kill Creek, as mystery and questions multiply faster than answers are provided, and a full-scale manifestation of horror and dismaying deaths befall the characters. The final chapters of the book are a true tour de force and Thomas leaves readers with an ominous twist at the end. For a first novel (although in the book’s acknowledgements Thomas states the first draft of the novel was written “more than ten years ago” with numerous revisions later), Kill Creek is an extremely well written book with a deliberate pace, realistic characters, and powerful, memorable scenes of genuine dread. The author displays an acute awareness of the multiple kinds of horror which exist within the genre as well. At almost twice the length of Jackson’s The Haunting of Hill House (1959), Kill Creek easily enters the ranks of accomplished haunted house stories and given the recent plethora of them, such is not an easy feat to accomplish.
October 13, 2018
Four horror authors are invited to take part in a live-stream interview for a popular horror site. What they aren’t told is that the interview will be taking place in a said-to-be haunted farmhouse in Kansas, on Halloween night.
The first 40% was a slow build – flickering lights, glimpses of ghosts, unsettling noises and smells, a sense of foreboding. This is one of my favourite parts of a ghost story, as well as horror novels in general, when the characters know something isn’t right, that the house feels wrong, but they dismiss it, try to rationalise it – “The generators low on power”, “It’s just my imagination”, “The light’s playing tricks on me”, etc. Kudos to Scott Thomas for drawing out that part of the story, the anticipation of what’s to come was executed brilliantly. The detailed descriptions of the architecture of the house, complete with it’s bricked-up wall at the top-of-the-stairs entrance to the third floor and it’s dark, dank surroundings, and dried-up creek bed that no animal would breach definitely evoked that creepy, unsettled feeling.
The rest of the book, in particular Part Four, was a tension-filled, action-driven, hold-your-breath, race-against-time thrill, that had me zooming through the pages, eager to discover the motivation for the haunting, and whether or not any of the characters would survive it.
But, what really made this book memorable were its characters, which was a bit of a bummer since it’s a horror novel, so you know at least some (possibly all) of them have the potential to be killed off. I especially enjoyed the four horror writers, all of whom really brought something different and unique to the table, and had me emotionally invested, and terrified for their well being. I also found it cool how they were all different types of horror authors – one wrote mainstream, another wrote YA, a third wrote dark disturbing content laced with sexual violence, and last but not least, a classic horror writer, who served as inspiration to the other three.
However, as clever and unexpected as the ending was, I would have preferred the last two chapters to have gone differently. Up until then the story felt like a tribute to the type of horror written in the 70’s and 80’s, with a modern technological spin, but the final twists just didn’t fit that mould. I feel a bit ridiculous writing this, because the actual ending was better than the one I craved, and I’m sure most readers will be satisfied with it, and I was up to a point, even wile struggling to shake my disappointment. I also would’ve liked more resolution to the haunting, why it originated, but there was a solid explanation given for why this wasn’t possible.
All and all, a well above average haunted house story, that had me immersed in the macabre.
The first 40% was a slow build – flickering lights, glimpses of ghosts, unsettling noises and smells, a sense of foreboding. This is one of my favourite parts of a ghost story, as well as horror novels in general, when the characters know something isn’t right, that the house feels wrong, but they dismiss it, try to rationalise it – “The generators low on power”, “It’s just my imagination”, “The light’s playing tricks on me”, etc. Kudos to Scott Thomas for drawing out that part of the story, the anticipation of what’s to come was executed brilliantly. The detailed descriptions of the architecture of the house, complete with it’s bricked-up wall at the top-of-the-stairs entrance to the third floor and it’s dark, dank surroundings, and dried-up creek bed that no animal would breach definitely evoked that creepy, unsettled feeling.
The rest of the book, in particular Part Four, was a tension-filled, action-driven, hold-your-breath, race-against-time thrill, that had me zooming through the pages, eager to discover the motivation for the haunting, and whether or not any of the characters would survive it.
But, what really made this book memorable were its characters, which was a bit of a bummer since it’s a horror novel, so you know at least some (possibly all) of them have the potential to be killed off. I especially enjoyed the four horror writers, all of whom really brought something different and unique to the table, and had me emotionally invested, and terrified for their well being. I also found it cool how they were all different types of horror authors – one wrote mainstream, another wrote YA, a third wrote dark disturbing content laced with sexual violence, and last but not least, a classic horror writer, who served as inspiration to the other three.
However, as clever and unexpected as the ending was, I would have preferred the last two chapters to have gone differently. Up until then the story felt like a tribute to the type of horror written in the 70’s and 80’s, with a modern technological spin, but the final twists just didn’t fit that mould. I feel a bit ridiculous writing this, because the actual ending was better than the one I craved, and I’m sure most readers will be satisfied with it, and I was up to a point, even wile struggling to shake my disappointment. I also would’ve liked more resolution to the haunting, why it originated, but there was a solid explanation given for why this wasn’t possible.
All and all, a well above average haunted house story, that had me immersed in the macabre.
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