Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.34 AVERAGE
3.34 AVERAGE
dark
mysterious
tense
Solid Appalachian horror! Reminds me of Evil Dead
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
While this book felt fairly basic in a lot of ways, I enjoyed the overall story and felt like it had great potential. I didn’t dislike it, I just wish it had more of a punch to it.
adventurous
dark
slow-paced
Rising star rock climber Dylan and geology PhD candidate Clay travel to a previously undiscovered rock face in the Kentucky wilderness, with Dylan's boyfriend Luke, Luke's dog Slade, and Clay's notetaker Sylvia in tow. Things gradually get weird, and when one of them is injured and they try to hike back to the car, they find that the forest trail has put them on some sort of loop that keeps depositing them back at their campsite. Hunger, hallucination, panic, and paranoia ensue over the following days as they find themselves trapped in a haunted valley.
The premise of this story had so much potential - a rock climbing party stranded in an uncharted and evil stretch of American wilderness, while being taunted by ghosts of those who had come there before them. There are some pretty creepy moments. But as a whole, this was a letdown. I firmly believe that much of the time, horror stories are most effective when told with brevity and efficiency: the short story, the novella, the 90 minute (or less) movie. (Yes, there are authors and filmmakers who can make longer - sometimes much longer - stories engaging and worth the time invested, but I believe these are exceptions). I think This Wretched Valley would have worked much more powerfully as a novella. As it is, its 300 pages end up feeling more like 500, with a lot of repetition and filler that made the pacing really drag. (I also think it would have heightened the suspense if the first chapter didn't tell us the fate of our protagonists). It's a shame because the moments that worked were well done. If Kiefer writes a second novel, I'd be willing to check it out.
The premise of this story had so much potential - a rock climbing party stranded in an uncharted and evil stretch of American wilderness, while being taunted by ghosts of those who had come there before them. There are some pretty creepy moments. But as a whole, this was a letdown. I firmly believe that much of the time, horror stories are most effective when told with brevity and efficiency: the short story, the novella, the 90 minute (or less) movie. (Yes, there are authors and filmmakers who can make longer - sometimes much longer - stories engaging and worth the time invested, but I believe these are exceptions). I think This Wretched Valley would have worked much more powerfully as a novella. As it is, its 300 pages end up feeling more like 500, with a lot of repetition and filler that made the pacing really drag. (I also think it would have heightened the suspense if the first chapter didn't tell us the fate of our protagonists). It's a shame because the moments that worked were well done. If Kiefer writes a second novel, I'd be willing to check it out.
Interesting concept, but I ultimately didn’t feel completely satisfied by it. Some moments that were a bit too over-the-top for me so it made me giggle when I shouldn’t have. I wish we got a little more about past specific victims of the valley, like the woman with the baby and her husband.
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
This was a disappointment. I cannot say that I had big expectations, but I liked the cover and the synopsis was interesting so I decided to try even though there was a low chance of me liking it. I got what I expected. For the majority of the book, the plot consists of these 4 people walking and walking and walking in circles. So it was very boring. The writing style was like a summary, being exactly like this happened then this happened and so on and so forth. The ending was underwhelming. I read all of this for nothing, because I did not feel like there was any payoff. The characters were boring, but the author tried to do something with them. I would consider them the best part of the book, but they were still bland and dull. the valley being the one responsible for that was meh. I can't say i was crazy about it. Why was it like that? Why was it evil? Because all of those murders happened because of its influence and there is not really an explanation. It seems to me that the author didn't really think it through. I think that the book would have been better if there were alternate chapters between the group in the valley and what happened to them and the present time investigation. The author telling us exactly what happened at the beginning of the book stripped it of any tension and suspense, because these elements were severely lacking. The book was not scary in any way, considering I read it at 3-4 in the morning and i didn't feel even an ounce of fear.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Cannibalism, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Injury/Injury detail
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated