Kill Creek

This is the haunted house story you've always wanted. Four writers enter a house at the request of an online horror website creator, to participate in an interview sure to reinvigorate their waning careers. While there they have some strange experiences but nothing too worrisome. It's what happens after they leave that starts the story spiraling out of control.

Once I picked up this book I did not want to put it down. It took two days to read ONLY because I started it too late to make it all the way through and couldn't stay up all night to finish it. The characters came to life on the page (I cast the movie in my head as I read) and their interactions felt seamless. I could easily follow which character was which and, while they were definitely cast as different “types” of writers (you had your Stephen King, your Frank Peretti/R.L. Stein, etc.) the characters never felt cliche. The pacing was brilliant - once the scares started, the calm between the scares lasted just long enough to let you catch your breath but not enough to fully relax. No spoilers of course but...the ending...I honestly gasped out loud in the middle of a crowded Starbucks. Chills, you guys. Amazingly, this is Thomas' first novel. It is not an exaggeration to say that I am very eagerly anticipating his next book.

* Trigger warning for domestic violence.*

If you like a good haunted house story, pick up this book!

“Kill Creek” di Scott Thomas è stato un vero e proprio incubo di lettura e in questo caso non è da considerarsi un commento positivo visto che stiamo parlando di un libro dell'orrore, qui da far rabbrividire ci sono solo i personaggi e la storia pessima.

Mi ero salvato questa lettura da fare, in quanto una sedicente “esperta” delle letture del genere orrore l'aveva consigliato come “must read” durante un'intervista in un podcast che seguo, ecco io magari non sono propriamente un esperto del genere, le mie letture di questo genere si limitano ai libri di Stephen King e a qualche autore che ha seguito il filone zombie, ma posso ben constatare come questo libro sia pieno d cliché che neanche un b-movie degli anni ottanta si degnerebbe di mettere in scena.

Il libro prometteva un'esperienza horror coinvolgente, la casa infestata è da sempre un classico, ma ha consegnato solo noia e frustrazione. Le atmosfere oscure promesse si sono rivelate banali e prevedibili. Thomas ha cercato di giocare con cliché del genere, ma senza alcuna originalità o suspence. Questo libro è stato un completo spreco di tempo e non lo consiglio a nessuno.

I personaggi di “Kill Creek” sono ancor peggio delle macchiette. Sono così unidimensionali e stereotipati che sembrano usciti direttamente da una serie televisiva di bassa qualità. Non c'è profondità psicologica né sviluppo dei personaggi, rendendo impossibile affezionarsi a loro o preoccuparsi per le loro sorti. È un altro motivo per cui questo libro è stato una delusione totale.

Menzione particolare alla figura femminile, la scrittrice protagonista su tutte che, per esempio, dopo aver fatto sollevamento pesi e una doccia si mette a scrivere per ore in piedi nuda il suo libro o che indossa abiti da cui le tette esplodono e che manda a fare in culo il 99% dei personaggi che incontra, ambè ‘o. ‘Ammazza se sei figa. (ah, ovviamente le storie dei suoi libri hanno le perversioni sessuali come sfondo).

Seconda menzione particolare anche al finale che è stato il culmine di questa deludente esperienza di lettura, così prevedibile e scontato che lo sentivi arrivare da chilometri di distanza, invece di lasciare il lettore con un senso di inquietudine o shock, il finale ha lasciato solo un senso di frustrazione per tutto il tempo sprecato nella lettura di questo libro.

I really wanted to love this — fantastic writing, a fantastic idea,, but I knew it was written by someone who usually writes things for the screen. It just didn't hit for me because of that. There was too much over describing like what one would do for a script it didn't read naturally enough for me. Now Mr. Thomas if you make this a movie I'll be right there opening night, probably ready to pee my pants in gear.

I did just read a review by someone named “mark” who said “the author's extensive experience writing for television is all over this book. Easily digestible, simplistic character types rather than three-dimensional characters, a narrative flow that would easily translate in the arcs you see spread out across a tv season, various vivid but unrealistic scenes that may pop on the screen but feel artificial on the page, moralistic lessons for each of the characters that may make sense during an hour-long episode but feel trite and predictable in a book, and that are not particularly tied to any overarching theme throughout the book.”

And I think that's so accurate, and way better than anything I could've written myself

The first 40% of the book dragged for me. I get that he had to set the scene and all but it could have been about 100 pages shorter. It also wasn't what I expected it to be until the last maybe 20 pages. I wanted those last 20 pages throughout the entire book. Some twists and turns along the way keep me entertained throughout and overall I enjoyed the second half of the book! It may have saved my rating from plummeting. 

I liked what I read in the prologue! It all went off the rails for me in chapter two, with the introduction of a female character. How she is described and written is offensive in my personal opinion. I checked out other reviews that confirmed this isn't a book for me and it only gets worse from that scene. DNF at page 31.

This had a lot of potential. The prologue is of course an imitation of Shirley Jackson, but it's a decent imitation! I'm down with it - show me the creepy house that stands, not sane, on the Kansas prairie!

The first chapter is pretty good too. I was on board with the author/professor-character giving me a rundown of his take on Gothic literature, clearly setting out the boxes he was about to check in the narrative. He name-dropped some good classic horror. It was a little on the nose, but what the hell? I felt comfortable that this guy could take me on a scary journey.

Unfortunately, from there, the story undermined itself in multiple ways.
Plot: aimless
Voice: muddled
Characterization: shallow and shaded with thoughtless prejudice (see below regarding Moore, plus fatphobia, and basically one person of color who isn't made into a real character so much as a motivation point for a white guy.)
Length: indulgent to the point of tedium

Amid the intriguing plot developing, there were annoying fanfic-style writing tics. There are way too many strained similes and excess description. A tree branch can't merely claw at the sky, it must claw at the sky like a hand tortured by arthritis. Sam can't have a bad moment where he thinks he smells smoke - no, we have to try to parse whatever this is:

That thin wisp of smoke slithered down his throat and between his lungs, constricting, pushing breath through his teeth. The smoke serpent twisted beneath Sam's ribs and squeezed tighter, its gray head slipping around the ribbed stalk of his trachea. It pressed its upturned snout against the upper lobe of his lungs, probing for a way in.

Barefoot, she was barely five-six, but the power she radiated added half a foot. She was thirty-eight years old and cut like marble. Defined, but not obscenely muscular. Sexy, but not grotesque. Every line, every curve, was deliberate and necessary.

she toweled herself dry. She did not bother getting dressed. Padding naked up the spiral staircase to the first floor, . . . She opened the laptop that rested on a shelf of corrugated steel. For the next two hours, she wrote, her naked body kissed by the early-morning sunlight. . . .

4.5
I absolutely loved this book. It was pretty creepy and I have to admit, I mostly read it during the daytime haha. I was hooked from the Prologue.

The mystery behind the Kill Creek house was captivating and I just wanted to know so badly what was going to happen. I did NOT see that ending coming.

I didn't give this a 5 stars as I originally thought I would because I had some questions that were left unanswered or were ambiguous. I would've like to go a little in depth in a certain part of the story that gripped me from the beginning.

Overall, highly highly enjoyed as the first horror novel I've read!

That ending though

Something wicked this way comes. A house with a grizzly history of murder, witchcraft and hauntings. Enter 4 renowned horror authors and a small team of vloggers who spend Halloween night in the infamous house - and you get all the gothic goodness - bumps in the night, shadows in the periphery and a steady descent into madness. Who will survive this menacing place? ⁣
⁣
Really great fun, with just the right amount of gore and scares. Recommended read for Halloween

3/5 stars

Spoilers.
And a review that ended up more angry than I thought it would.

Really? I caved to the hype for this? It was not the worst I've ever read, but it wasn't that good. It's taken me weeks to get through it because I was finding it so tedious. The prose is like standard genre fiction, nothing special. The plot ended up being nothing special. The main character is so milquetoast I could die. The main female I liked despite myself because she was an angry asshole, but she wasn't written great. She's super hot and plays with her black hair a lot. A. LOT. Like, we get it. The other female protagonist has little to do and dies before everyone else. Oh, and she's black. Are. You. Kidding. Me?

I'm trying really hard not to swear a lot.

The old man is fine, whatever. But then we get the Christian YA horror writer. He's actually fairly likeable, actually. Until the end, when the evil house gets him to start killing everyone so he can resurrect his daughter. Then he's suddenly inappropriate and creepy towards his daughter. Like Purity Ball creepy. Oh. And he's really fat, just in case you don't get it the five million times it's pointed out.

The only engaging part was the first part, when everyone spends the night at the house, and that's mostly because the idea is fun, and you don't know what's going to happen.

And then the book happens, and it is a raging disappointment. It took me like two weeks just to get through the part where they try to tear down the third floor wall. That's gotta be like fifty pages or something. Fifty dull pages.

I really don't like the main character. He is so boring and trite and trope and white horror hero. He also does nonsense that is just nonsense. Swinging back and forth on the gutter of an old house when you are a full grown ass man will probably break said old gutter right away. Especially if the house wants you dead. Sam had total plot armor on. I hated him. With a passion. He was soooo boring!

This is two stars because I like the cover, the premise could have been fun, it wasn't the worst thing I've read, and I can't abide knowing I paid for an ebook I gave one star.

2.5 stars. Started off strong. I thought it was going to make a point about the unresolved traumas in all of the characters' lives, but no. The last 20% dropped my rating a couple of stars.

I doubt I'll read this author again.

A horror/pop-culture website owner gathers four horror writers for an extended interview. The twist is that it's held inside a haunted house with a history somehere in Kansas. Sam McGarver is one of the horror writers and the main character of the tale. Story moves quickly and the house and its history are indeed spooky. While I enjoyed it overall, it wasn't as propulsive and as creepy as I'd hoped for. Very nice twist ending though.

ABSOLUTELY FANTASTIC

I was WAY too into this book. The characters were so well thought-out and wonderfully developed. The plot was layered and just good enough to be called “rich.” But the best part of it all was the tone.

Scott Thomas is clearly an accomplished writer, but a quick glance at his bio is illuminating. From the moment this book began I was gripped. Scene setting, world building, pacing, all formed a unique and excellent experience. It was as good as most Stephen King novels; better than some for sure.

The language is intense. The content of this book is very adult and readers should know that going in. But it always served a greater purpose and I didn't feel ig was gratuitous or beyond the barriers set by honoring his characrters. But it'll certainly offend some people.

If you like scary stories, don't miss this one.

4.5 stars!!

Damn this book is good!! And it's a debut too?! That just makes is even more impressive.

This follows 4 horror authors who get invited to a supposedly haunted house on Halloween for an interview - what can possibly to wrong?!

So this book is just brilliantly written - fact. From page one there's atmosphere and tension but there is also a lot of fun to be had in reading this. It's creepy in the right places, shocking in others, it's just well executed. The descriptions are vivid, the characters are varied and wonderful and the structure of the book is so interesting and well planned.

I loved the 4 author characters - I loved how they all ‘wrote' and represented a different sub-genre of horror. It was so intriguing to get to know each of them and their back story, and also how they deal with the events of Kill Creek.

I can't really put my finger on why this wasn't a full 5 stars for me, there were times when I was reading during the middle parts when I wasn't completely engrossed by the story, it just felt like a slight disconnect at times but this didn't distract too much when I progressed to the ending, which had me gritting my teeth at what happened!

I will certainly be looking out for future work from this author and also from Inkshares which sounds like a fantastic publisher.