Title: Terror at Back Woods Lodge

Author: Eddie Generous

Release date: October 1st, 2024

Over the years, Eddie Generous has found a groove that’s let him continue to release fantastic, slasher/thriller/creature feature novellas at a rate that is simply mind-boggling.

Don’t believe me? Go take a look at his output listed on Goodreads. And while there, don’t look at the sheer volume of releases and think to yourself that they are not good. No, Eddie continues to pump out fantastic gems that grab you and don’t let go.

When he shared on IG that his next book was going to be released on his own, instead of with Severed Press (as they’ve started to go the route of using AI covers – BOOOOO), I was so excited. Look at that cover! At first you think it’s a werewolf, but you’d be wrong. Instead, it’s some massive rat-beast, trashing a car. Sign me up!

What I liked: The story is set in the 80’s and follows a group of divorced folks, who all head into the British Columbia wilderness for an art retreat. A former hunting lodge has been repurposed by the owners, looking to get new business. What they don’t know is that hundreds of years ago, a horrible event occurred and the company behind it, is still up to nefarious things.

Generous gives us a brief introduction to the folks who’re attending, and then from that moment on, it’s essentially all teeth, claws, blood-fountains and screams. The group begins to be picked off, even as love blooms between a few, and as more go missing, those still alive contact the RCMP to get help, though, as expected, the cops believe this to be a rogue grizzly or moose.

Throughout, the scenes of carnage are the highlights and easily remind the readers that Generous is the same person behind the Unnerving series ‘Rewind or Die.’ This could’ve absolutely been a featured novella when those books were coming out and would’ve been a highlight of the series.

The final quarter of the story features a very unique ‘revelation’ that transforms some of the prologue into a more impactful aspect, as well as gives us an unexpected hero to battle the rat-beast. It was a very fun, engaging moment and allowed the epilogue to feel connected and not thrown on for word or page count filling.

What I didn’t like: The reality here, is that all the characters, even the main ones, are very light in terms of depth of development and in some cases, even description. It does lessen the impact of many of their deaths, but honestly, it didn’t both me, because I expected no survivors. The way Eddie framed this one, I figured it was a creature-slasher where this rat-beast would come in, lay waste to the attendee’s and return to the woods.

I will say, the part that will either work or not for people will absolutely be the transformative aspect to the story near the end. Readers are either going to pump their fists or shake their heads. In my case, I was stoked, but I can see why some may not respond to it.

Why you should buy this: While different in vein to Eddie’s monumental releases ‘Plantation Pan’ and ‘The Walking Son,’ this novella is a tight, action-packed story akin to his ‘Savage Beasts of the Arctic Circle’ – only more fun. It might be because of the setting, or that it just felt like Generous was having a blast writing this, but not matter, this one hummed along from start to finish and had me grinning like a mad man throughout. If you’re a huge fan of Hunter Shea’s style of creature-slashers, then this might be the perfect Generous novella to dive into, if you’ve never read him before. Otherwise long time fans of Eddie’s are in for a treat!

5/5