KILL CREEK by Scott Thomas
Inkshares; 10/31/17
CBTB Rating: 4/5
The Verdict: A chilling horror story perfect for Halloween
If ever there were a season to pick up a horror story, we’re in the middle of it—and if you’re still in the market for your creepy Halloween 2019 read, consider KILL CREEK by Scott Thomas an excellent option. KILL CREEK is one of those books that’s been on my TBR for quite a while, and I’m so glad I finally made time to read it this fall—it turned out to be exactly what I hoped it would be. KILL CREEK is a horror story built for fans of the genre, a clever and spine-tingling tale of a group of horror writers whose publicity stunt turns into a desperate battle for survival. In KILL CREEK, four prolific horror writers are invited to spend Halloween night at a legendary haunted house, a publicity opportunity orchestrated by a preeminent horror website and its mysterious creator. For each of the writers, this invitation presents a much-needed answer to professional and personal woes. But what should have been an easy commitment quickly turns sinister. The writers are guests in a house that doesn’t really want them there… but it’s also a house that’s willing to use their presence in service of a greater goal. Splitting its time between that fateful night in the house and the weeks and months after, KILL CREEK leads readers down a twisty and twisted road—one filled with hidden motivations and unforeseen consequences. KILL CREEK is a slow-burning story, particularly in its first 100 or so pages, but the patient reader will be rewarded. KILL CREEK is scary, bloody, page-turning stuff, and it’s just the ticket for a chilling Halloween read.
Plot Details:
At the end of a dark prairie road, nearly forgotten in the Kansas countryside, is the Finch House. For years it has remained empty, overgrown, abandoned. Soon the door will be opened for the first time in decades. But something is waiting, lurking in the shadows, anxious to meet its new guests…
When best-selling horror author Sam McGarver is invited to spend Halloween night in one of the country’s most infamous haunted houses, he reluctantly agrees. At least he won’t be alone; joining him are three other masters of the macabre, writers who have helped shape modern horror. But what begins as a simple publicity stunt will become a fight for survival. The entity they have awakened will follow them, torment them, threatening to make them a part of the bloody legacy of Kill Creek.
What is it about books about authors that is just so much fun? When I learned KILL CREEK followed a group of horror writers, I was instantly intrigued—and this element of the book’s premise completely lived up to my expectations. KILL CREEK centers around a motley crew of horror writers brought together under mysterious circumstances. At face value, these authors could not be more different: an aging legend of horror writing who inspired a generation of authors, including one of the authors on this ill-fated trip; a tough-as-nails author known for her grotesque writing and volatile temper; a man who writes Christian horror novels for teenagers; a down-on-his-luck Midwesterner whose career has largely stalled out. Each of these individuals has hit a stumbling block, whether in their personal or professional lives. So when they each receive a mysterious invitation to participate in what is promised to be a blockbuster publicity opportunity, they seize it—very few questions asked. After all, what could go wrong? The group descends upon Kill Creek and the Finch House, prepared for a night of live-streamed interviews and perhaps a creepy Halloween stunt or two. The Finch House is everything a haunted house should be, and it’s the perfect place to relaunch their careers. Luckily for us, and unfortunately for our protagonists, it’s also the perfect launching point for a scary story all our own. Our authors survive the night in the Finch House, but that’s the least of their worries—what’s scariest here is what comes after.
KILL CREEK certainly has its share of supernatural scares, but what I loved most about this story is the human drama that unfolds within its pages. Put a group of such very different people in a confined space, add in a dash of inexplicable events and mysterious occurrences, and watch what happens. Both during their stay in the Finch House and in the months following, tensions run high between the group, and the exterior differences between these individuals mask - for a while, at least - their underlying commonalities. But there’s more here than meets the eye, and author Scott Thomas masterfully unveils the true motivations, needs, and desires of his characters over the course of the novel. What readers come to discover is that these men and women are more alike than they are different, their dark and disturbing art aimed at processing the traumas and big questions that keep them awake at night. I’ve heard it said that the best, most effective horror works because you come to care about the characters upon whom the horrors are being inflicted, and that is absolutely the case in KILL CREEK. Where some of these characters (one in particular - you’ll know who I mean if you read this book!) initially come across as stereotypical and perhaps a bit overdone, Thomas won me over in the end as he revealed the true nature of his characters through the lens of a horrific, fight-to-the-death ordeal. It’s worth noting that my one real qualm with the book was, in fact, how almost caricature-like a couple of these characters were first presented to be; I did come to love following all of their journeys, but it took me a while to warm up to Thomas’ presentation of them.
I went into KILL CREEK with very little background knowledge—just an interest in reading something scary for Halloween, and a curiosity about a book that had been lingering on my TBR for nearly two years. What I wish I had known going into it was that this book is not simply a bloody, slasher-style novel. It’s not strictly a haunted house story, either; nor is it purely gothic horror. KILL CREEK is, instead, an intoxicating blend of all three, and it’s a story best read without concern for categorization. What begins as a tale of rural gothic suspense and local legend mutates into a classic story of a house with a dark past, and then morphs again to become an all-out, no-holds-barred fight for survival outside the house, with a finale as bloody and breathlessly tense as any horror fan could hope for. I don’t want to give too much about this book’s structure away, because half the fun of this story truly is being surprised by how it develops, but I will say this: do not expect to spend the duration of KILL CREEK solely in the Finch House, but don’t expect you can ever really escape the house, either. A story that shifts and reinvents itself so many times may sound confusing or tiring, but I only found myself more invested in KILL CREEK the farther I read into it. Thomas writes each of his debut novel’s distinct qualities with the kind of authenticity that belies a true understanding and love of all that the horror genre encompasses. KILL CREEK will make you uncomfortable, it will creep you out, and it might even flat-out scare you—and all of it will play out with absolute clarity and irresistible entertainment value.
In KILL CREEK, Scott Thomas masterfully weaves a horror story that makes the act of writing horror fiction scary in and of itself. This book reads like an ode to the horror genre, a book that blends many styles of horror writing into one cohesive, convincing, and utterly creepy read. Building from a slow-burn beginning to an all-out-bloodbath of a finale, KILL CREEK invites readers into a terrifying world that you can leave behind, but that might never leave you.
Book Details:
Paperback: 432 pages
Publisher: Inkshares (October 31, 2017)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1942645821
ISBN-13: 978-1942645825
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