Sergio Gómez (1)

“It’s a local legend. No one is sure if this “Camp Slaughter” place is real or not. But a group of college kids renting out a cabin deep in the woods of Pennsylvania will soon realize the truth. They’ll realize the danger, too. Or rather, the cannibal out in the woods will bring the danger to them…”

Fred and his best friend, Gavin, are planning a last fun time together before they officially become "adults". Gavin has rented a remote cabin in the Pennsylvanian woods for the show more weekend. They contact a group of friends...you know there's going to be trouble when one of their "friends" is their local drug dealer...but there are several girls and guys that are interested. Unfortunately, there is also Gavin’s 14-year-old brother, Wayne. But they all pile in and take off for their weekend. Fred has a few concerns...he's come across an article about a couple going missing from this same spot but the allure of one of the girls...Noelle, and the opportunity to make things "more official" between them, along with the promise of a lot of booze and drugs this weekend, pushes all those "concerns" to the back of his mind. We know right off that this group should really be worried. They’re not going to be alone in those woods. There’s "something" else out there and it diffidently intends to join their happy party!"

If you’re a fan of gory "slasher movies" then this story is a "must read" for you. From the start this is one of the best "horror/slasher" books that I have read in quiet a long time. We meet the married couple, Nadine and Stephen Lang, who have also booked a cabin...Lakewood Cabin, to get Stephen away from work for a much-needed break and to hopefully spice up their failing marriage. On the first night there they hear a strange noise that is the start of this fast-paced and really gory ride. The story now fast forwards one year to our main group of teens planning their last-minute getaway. Of course, we know that things aren’t going to go anywhere near to being what they had planned.

The pace doesn’t let up...which is why I had a really hard time putting this one down. I had to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next and to who it was going to happen to. The whole setting is haunting and atmospheric allowing the reader to easily picture the deserted campsite and to feel the fear the characters are experiencing. You do feel a bit sympathetic at times even though the characters producing these feelings didn't deserve your sympathy whatsoever!

I would MAYBE recommend this book, but only to a very carefully selected group of people. As I said earlier, Camp Slaughter is one of the absolutely best novels of the horror genera that I have read in a long some time. The author did a terrific job of keeping his readers on their toes by allowing his characters to do things that you wouldn’t have ever expected throughout the entire story. There are some touches of the paranormal; a well-defined backstory of another main character; and multiple ways the characters all meet their gory ends, which all contributed to a very well-written, very enjoyable (?) story...IF you like your stories to come with lots of blood, strings of guts, and gore by the truckload. The ending was a little disappointing, but I would, in a heartbeat, read another by this author. Just so readers will be aware, if you haven't figured this out already...THIS WILL NOT BE FOR EVERYONE! show less

There’s a great build up in the first half, as the storm continues to worsen and our small cast of characters find their way to the diner. The tension ratchets up in the middle as things begin to go wrong, and then the final act is a flurry of blood-soaked action. At just over 80 pages the story moves along at a breakneck pace. The upside is that there are no lulls and it’s quite the page-turner, and the downside is that when I finished in 30 mins I did feel like I wanted a little more show more from it.

The blinding snow storm and tiny diner trailer gave the story a very confined and unsettling feeling. I absolutely love stories that are written with a single or limited setting. Also I won’t say much about the aliens because of spoilers, but I found their presence to be both interesting and frightening.

I had a lot of fun reading this novella! I read it late at night by the light of the Christmas tree, and I highly recommend everyone else do the same. Thanks again to @sergiopgomez for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review! show less

Okay… ummm this was a book for sure. I don’t know what I expected from a Christmas horror novella with an alien on the cover… but this was that haha. I honestly felt like reading this was a fever dream. It wasn’t bad… I just am still kind of confused. I think I needed a bit more detail on things instead of the just straight up murder dynamic haha. I would have enjoyed like a reason why things were happening. I felt like the book just left me feeling a bit underwhelmed and show more unfulfilled but it was a very different holiday read for sure! I didn’t hate it but I don’t know that it will be something I read again haha. show less

This was an intense read!



A small backstory:

A cabin out in the woods named Camp Slaughter has been known for bad things happening out there with murders and disappearances. Some friends decide to go out there to investigate as they want to see if the rumors are true. In the meantime, two paranormal investigators also want to check out the place as they think it might be haunted.

Unbeknownst to all of them is that a crazed cannibal maniac lives out in the woods and he uses the cabin as his show more home. Who lives and who dies? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Thoughts:

The story was really good, but it took me to almost 65% before anything actually happened with the crazed cannibal guy. There was a smattering of a couple of things, but the crap didn't hit the fan for the friends and investigators till after the 65% mark. By that time the story goes into full action gore mode and it is non-stop till the end of the book. Normally I put down a book that isn't grabbing me right away and keeps up the intensity, but I was drawn into the storyline as I was hoping for something to happen, so I just kept reading. Thankfully the story took off when the gore started flying. Giving this book four "splatter" stars! show less