Title: The House of Last Resort

Author: Christopher Golden

Release date: January 30th, 2024

*Huge thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a digital ARC of this one!*

I’m always up for ‘foreign location’ horror. I know that sounds funny, but horror set in Europe has centuries and centuries of history to utilize. If we look at horror set in Canada (where I’m from) we ultimately look back in time and end up with a history of… open plains and mountains. Which don’t get me wrong is also amazing, but not the same as when you’re going to read about a story based around religious mystery, which is the case with Golden’s newest release, ‘The House of Last Resort.’

Going in, I was intrigued with the set up, which I’ll go over in a minute, but also with the line in the synopsis discussing what it is they’ll find. And boy, did they find something that’ll have horror fans excited.

What I liked: The story follows husband and wife, Tommy and Kate. Tommy’s family is from a small Italian town, but after a falling out many years ago between his dad and grandpa, he’s not been back in years. That all changes when an opportunity arises. The town’s government is offering houses for $1, trying to entice foreigners to move in and help revitalize the town and the economy. There are stipulations – those who buy homes have to remain for a certain amount of time and agree to renovate the houses – but the thought of this exciting adventure is too much for Tommy and Kate to pass up, so they jump on it and move.

Once there, Golden wastes no time in starting to subtly share some ‘oddities.’ There’s a door in the house that they can’t open. Sounds happen. Presences are felt. An old woman down the road seems off. And when Tommy’s grandmother comes to see the house, she won’t step foot inside, visibly upset that this is the house they’ve purchased.

The creeps continue, even as Tommy and Kate settle into their new place and meet some other foreigners who’ve moved to the town. Soon, Kate finds the door is open, even though they didn’t get a key for it. And inside they find an entire section of the house that they weren’t even aware was there.

From here, Golden gives us a dread-infused look at the history of the house, and not long after, even more shocking events occur that ultimately test what it is that Tommy and Kate are willing to believe.

It’s hard to truly go into the details – because of the spoiler aspects – but we get some great revelations about the church’s involvement in the house, what its role was and ultimately what horrors happened within and below.

The final quarter of the book is a sprint, with the realtor becoming involved once again and the true nature of why many wanted Tommy to return to this small town. It sets off a string of events that all culminate in an ending that was spot on perfect, based on how Golden had set things up.

What I didn’t like: This is gonna be tough, as I want to remain spoiler free, but I think the thing that I noticed most was that nothing was ever fully expanded upon. Every time we learn new bits, the book continues on and we don’t get an exploration of it. When we find out what’s behind the door, it was amazing. They explore it, we get some great descriptions of the rooms and the walls etc… and then Tommy and Kate renovate it.

When we find out the truth behind what the house was used for, we get a horrified reaction from Tommy and Kate and then… we just move on. Don’t get me wrong, the pacing of the book was amazing, and I was hooked from the beginning, but we just kept trucking along.

Same with when they visit the catacombs below and look into it becoming a tourist location. Odd things are noted, strangeness abounds… and then they just start building.

And I will say, while I really liked the culmination of what happens and how the ending occurs, some folks may find it to be far too predictable, which would be fair.

Why you should buy this: At the end of the day, I think the thing to really keep in mind with this is that this is a big-press horror novel. So, while it gets dark and tensions rise, it’ll never go super extreme and most of the action remains surface-level without any real brutality or extremeness.

Saying that, if you’re looking for a fast-paced, highly-engaging religious horror novel where you want to root for Tommy and Kate and see them overcome both the fish-out-of-water aspect of moving to a different country, while also overcoming the horrors within their house, look no further. Golden’s a master at writing these immediately accessible characters and once again shows why he’s one of the leaders of the big publishing horror movement.

4/5

Title: Deprivation

Author: Roy Freirich

Release date: Originally released March 3rd, 2020, re-releasing February 13th, 2024

Huge thanks to Meerkat Press for sending me a digital copy of this one!

I was very intrigued by the synopsis straight away.

Anything to do with sleep/insomnia/sleep deprivation always gets me excited – think Russian Sleep Study – so, with this one being suggested as a psychological thriller and dealing with an isolated island of people who suddenly can’t sleep after a boy who won’t speak is found abandoned on the beach, I knew things were gonna be crazy.

What I liked: As mentioned, the story takes place on Carratuck Island – a tourist spot where the locals live an easy, carefree life. The new doc, Sam, is doing his best to fit in, but also struggling to sleep, dealing with the guilt over a former client’s suicide.

Things take a turn, when a young boy is brought to the medical clinic. The boy won’t speak and is solely focused on his handheld video game. Not long after his appearance, people begin to arrive at the clinic, looking for help to sleep. Freirich does a masterful job of creating a slow-burn atmosphere here. At first, it’s a couple people. Then a dozen. Then two dozen. Tempers begin to flare. Sleeping pill stock depletes and soon, the Chief of Police is dealing with people angry the ferry isn’t arriving.

As the sleep deprivation continues, people begin to take things to the extreme and those who are managing to stay level-headed are left to deal with the aftermath.

Freirich does a really solid job of showing how each of the secondary characters succumbs to the effects of less sleep, questioning things, seeing things and struggling to find any hope. And as the effects roll across the island, things get more and more heated. Enter a supposed new doc who thinks things are being kept from the people by those in charge and tensions escalate even further. If you consider this was originally released in 2020, it would’ve felt like a very timely discussion piece on the Covid mandates.

The ending ties up most of the pieces of the story. We see what happens as things slowly return to normal and where some of those who made it off the island end up.

What I didn’t like: It was odd. Even though I knew going in this was more of a slow-burn, tension-based thriller, I constantly felt like I was waiting for something to actually happen. People showed up tired. Then it repeated the next day. And the next. And the next. It just never seemed to actually arrive at a true tipping point. And while the ending tied things up, I’m personally not sold on the ‘why’ of things happening. It felt a little light for a reason.

Why you should buy this: I’ve seen a few reviews suggest this is similar to Tremblay’s ‘The Cabin at the End of the World,’ and I think that’s a fair comparison. Saying that, in Tremblay’s we get to an ‘action-moment’ really early on, while this one is a bit more repetitive in building things until about 75% in. This one also comes with a bonus novella, following a different character and her husband during the events, which was a fun bonus.

Overall, if you’re looking for a solid, unnervingly realistic look at an isolated group of people dealing with a lack of sleep, look no further. I would’ve liked a bit more oomph overall, but did enjoy this one.

3/5

Title: Cutter’s Deep: Welcome to Hell

Author: Ronald McGillvray

Release date: March 15th, 2023

I’ve had this novel languishing on my Kindle since release date, slowly making its way up through my miles deep TBR, but I knew I wanted to do my best to fit it in by this year’s end. So, when November rolled around, I read chapter one and got it started, making sure my brain would get back to it.

I’ve known Ronald for a few years now and had the pleasure of finally meeting him this past May in Toronto. His ‘Tales from the Parkland’ collection was fantastic, so I was excited going in to see what he’d done in the long format.

What I liked: The story takes place in the odd little town of Cutter’s Deep. According to the mythology of the town, a lumberjack – last name Cutter – seemingly uncovered a way to prosper here in the woods. Through this, he built a pyramid, formed a town and then disappeared. To the average eyes, its simply a ghost town when driving through, seemingly abandoned and run down. But if you’re wearing a special necklace or the town itself wants you to see it, it’ll reveal itself to you.

It’s kind of like the hotel in The Eagles ‘Hotel California.’ You can check out any time you like but you can never leave. Once you’re there, you’re there. And the town is filled with all types of strangeness.

We follow Arlington and Claire. Arlington is a young man who has lived his whole life in Cutter’s Deep. Claire is visiting. And when her parents go missing, she meets Arlington and the two connect. A connection that Arlington never expected, which opens up new feelings within him. This is the basis of the rest of the story. The two working together to get to the bottom of what’s going on, why things are the way they are and if there is any potential for the two of them to leave and live together in the wider world beyond.

The scope of this story is MASSIVE. McGillvray fills it with different societies, groups, creatures and all types of magic and lore. Taken in bit parts it felt a lot like the movies I grew up watching in the 80s felt, or for something a bit more modern, even how True Blood expanded from a simply vampire drama to include all types of creatures.

The ending absolutely leaves the stage open for a second novel. I’m not sure if Ronald is planning a sequel, but taken on face value, it would seem like we’d be getting more, which would allow Ronald to cover even more ground.

What I didn’t like: Two things stuck out to me really. Reading this, I became overwhelmed with just how much was happening. There’s A LOT of directions this goes in and a lot of moving parts. Taken in bite sized chunks it was manageable, but some of the random extra stuff would’ve been nice to have been paired down. I was fascinated by the parking garage sequence, but it never really got explained, and same with the hotel, or really why some were chosen to see the place and others weren’t.

Secondly, the content felt more YA (not a bad thing) than Adult, but the Adult components kind of looped me out of the YA comfort. The writing did change between those areas, with a harder edge for the Adult aspects and a bit more toned down for YA, so at times it felt like I was reading two stories that had been put together into one release.

Why you should buy this: If you’re looking for a massive, sprawling, epic horror-fantasy tale that brings you into the middle of nowhere to one of the strangest places you’ll ever visit, look no further.

This one reads like McGillvray had a blast writing it and it’ll be one that’ll suck you in and not let go. Especially if you’re out past midnight and the howling begins.

3.5/5