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3.95 AVERAGE
3.95 AVERAGE
dark
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Thank you to Saga Press for the review copies! I am a tremendous fan of Stephen Graham Jones, his voice and style add to the horror genre, often elevating the experience with strong writing and captivating, and needed attention to Indigenous lives. I enjoyed both of these short stories... as with any horror read, go in ready for intensity, gore/scares, and feeling deeply unsettled at times as well as perhaps confused/uncertain about some elements of the story (horror is meant to throw you off after all!).
š Killer on the Road
āļøāļøāļøāļøĀ¼ (4.25 stars)
This novella was brutal, chaotic, and completely unrelentingāin the best way possible. It's not your typical serial killer story, and I loved it all the more for that reason. The character work shines early on, especially with the vibrant, tight-knit group of friends. The pacing is breathless; it never lets up, and I couldn't tear myself away. More action-packed than traditionally scary, this reads like a horror-road thriller, calling to mind The Hitcher, but with SGJās signature Southern Gothic twist.
š The Babysitter Lives
āļøāļøāļøāļøĀ½ (4.5 stars)
This one felt like a nostalgic fever dreamāequal parts classic Halloween horror and creepy Twilight Zone episode. SGJ taps into that old-school babysitter-in-peril vibe, but throws in reality-bending horror that truly had my heart racing. Thereās a haunted house, confusing timelines, and a sense of dread that builds in a wonderfully disorienting way. The ending lost me a little with its fragmentation, but overall, it was an eerie, effective ride. If you like horror that leans into the strange and surreal, this one will get under your skin.
š Killer on the Road
āļøāļøāļøāļøĀ¼ (4.25 stars)
This novella was brutal, chaotic, and completely unrelentingāin the best way possible. It's not your typical serial killer story, and I loved it all the more for that reason. The character work shines early on, especially with the vibrant, tight-knit group of friends. The pacing is breathless; it never lets up, and I couldn't tear myself away. More action-packed than traditionally scary, this reads like a horror-road thriller, calling to mind The Hitcher, but with SGJās signature Southern Gothic twist.
š The Babysitter Lives
āļøāļøāļøāļøĀ½ (4.5 stars)
This one felt like a nostalgic fever dreamāequal parts classic Halloween horror and creepy Twilight Zone episode. SGJ taps into that old-school babysitter-in-peril vibe, but throws in reality-bending horror that truly had my heart racing. Thereās a haunted house, confusing timelines, and a sense of dread that builds in a wonderfully disorienting way. The ending lost me a little with its fragmentation, but overall, it was an eerie, effective ride. If you like horror that leans into the strange and surreal, this one will get under your skin.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Shout out to SGJ for keeping me on my toes, my man said āExpect the unexpected.ā and meant it. Of course weāre not just getting a babysitter on Halloween story, of course weāre not just getting a hitchhiker story. Always with SGJ books I hesitate to elaborate on the plot because I want everyone to read it and experience everything for themselves, but I also know people struggle with his writing style and might need some incentive. Letās seeā¦
Read The Babysitter Lives if youāre first and foremost into babysitter stories where something goes wrong on Halloween (eve). Should you need further temptation, thereās also a haunted house but just know itās not as straight forward as all that.
Read Killer on the Road if you want to read the strongest ācold openā I have ever read in my entire life. Also if you love a hitchhiker story (something I have never read before!) but you already know that something isnāt as it seems with, well someone in that story.
I know everyone has their own opinions on, well, everything but at this point Stephen Graham Jones is my Stephen King and I will never shut up about this man. That being said, read this story set! If you donāt Iām going to eat your pinky finger and then you in one of the funny spaces of your home, we all have them you know.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Read The Babysitter Lives if youāre first and foremost into babysitter stories where something goes wrong on Halloween (eve). Should you need further temptation, thereās also a haunted house but just know itās not as straight forward as all that.
Read Killer on the Road if you want to read the strongest ācold openā I have ever read in my entire life. Also if you love a hitchhiker story (something I have never read before!) but you already know that something isnāt as it seems with, well someone in that story.
I know everyone has their own opinions on, well, everything but at this point Stephen Graham Jones is my Stephen King and I will never shut up about this man. That being said, read this story set! If you donāt Iām going to eat your pinky finger and then you in one of the funny spaces of your home, we all have them you know.
Thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Rating a double feature is weird, so idk. I'm giving Killer on the Road 3.25 stars, and then The Babysitter Lives is unfortunately getting 1.5 stars from me.
Killer on the Road is a pretty standard slasher, and I loved the opening through to the halfway mark. It's surprisingly supernatural and weird, and I liked the cast of characters a lot.
My main issue is just how absolutely brutal it is to just about every character, and I get that it's a slasher but I think there's ways to do it without repeated suffering towards the main character with no bigger picture or commentary which I know SGJ is capable of.
It is fast-paced and easy to read though, which was nice.
---
The Babysitter Lives really didn't have a chance with me though. I'm not a fan of time loops in books, I'm not a fan of haunted house books generally, and I'm not a fan of books that play out step by step by step every single thing happening in a short amount of time (this book takes place in basically 4 hours). Of course, I didn't know any of this would be the case before I picked it up, and I would have dnf'd by at least the half way point if I wasn't on a mission to ready everything by SGJ.
I literally never really understood what was happening, and I just couldn't really focus on anything. And it was so weird and strange, but not in a way that particularly worked for me. And the violence also didn't particularly land for some reason. I think perhaps the root of the problem was that this was originally made explicitly to be an audiobook and until now was only available as that. This book very clearly reads as something made to be listened to, but unfortunately that's not how I consumed it. I'm not quite sure why it got bound up in this physical edition though.
The general idea is interesting enough though, and I liked the indigenous themes present.
---
I think my biggest issue with both of these books is just that they feel so plot-driven, and there's no real depth of the stories in my opinion. Killer on the Road is mid at best, and then The Babysitter Lives is joining Sterling City as being some of the only SGJ work I actively dislike.
Killer on the Road is a pretty standard slasher, and I loved the opening through to the halfway mark. It's surprisingly supernatural and weird, and I liked the cast of characters a lot.
My main issue is just how absolutely brutal it is to just about every character, and I get that it's a slasher but I think there's ways to do it without repeated suffering towards the main character with no bigger picture or commentary which I know SGJ is capable of.
It is fast-paced and easy to read though, which was nice.
---
The Babysitter Lives really didn't have a chance with me though. I'm not a fan of time loops in books, I'm not a fan of haunted house books generally, and I'm not a fan of books that play out step by step by step every single thing happening in a short amount of time (this book takes place in basically 4 hours). Of course, I didn't know any of this would be the case before I picked it up, and I would have dnf'd by at least the half way point if I wasn't on a mission to ready everything by SGJ.
I literally never really understood what was happening, and I just couldn't really focus on anything. And it was so weird and strange, but not in a way that particularly worked for me. And the violence also didn't particularly land for some reason. I think perhaps the root of the problem was that this was originally made explicitly to be an audiobook and until now was only available as that. This book very clearly reads as something made to be listened to, but unfortunately that's not how I consumed it. I'm not quite sure why it got bound up in this physical edition though.
The general idea is interesting enough though, and I liked the indigenous themes present.
---
I think my biggest issue with both of these books is just that they feel so plot-driven, and there's no real depth of the stories in my opinion. Killer on the Road is mid at best, and then The Babysitter Lives is joining Sterling City as being some of the only SGJ work I actively dislike.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
In Killer on the Road/The Babysitter Lives, Stephen Graham Jones takes on a journey back to the terror of the old urban legends from our childhood- the supernatural/undead killer unrelentingly chasing teens all over the highway and the story of the babysitter. Tried and true tales, Jones takes them, freshens them up and makes them his own, infusing the stories with indigenous culture. Tense and nostalgic with believable, likable characters, this was a fun, and at times very gruesome, way to (re)introduce these tales. The long haul trucker culture research for Killer on the Road was superb, as Jones thoroughly captured and conveyed this niche of society with top notch realism, overlaid with supernatural horror. At times, the pacing for Killer on the Road was a little inconsistent, and it felt like the story could have ended a few times, BUT when you arrive at the end, it was absolutely worth it and satisfying. For the Babysitter Lives- loved the uniqueness of processing something by approaching it like it was SAT prep. Babysitter fell a bit behind Killer on the Road for me, but that is more of a reflection of my preferred style and themes than anything Jones did. If someone is looking to experience urban legends with an indigenous spin and through fresh eyes (thatās a story-related pun), this is a fun read for it.
Iād like to thank NetGalley and Saga Press for providing me with the ARC for Killer on the Road/The Babysitter Lives by Stephen Graham Jones. This is my true and honest review of the book.
With this being two stories in one, I'm going to split up these reviews and also note, the 4 star rating is an average of the two together!
KILLER ON THE ROAD
āļøāļøāļøāļøš«
"Who needs amusement parks when there's the Wyoming interstate?"
There was so much about this novella that I loved - it was adrenaline-filled, fast-paced, had so much heart, and did have quite a bit of gore thrown in (š„“ <- my face a good chunk of the time).
I loved the lore included around truck drivers and it really opened me up to a lifestyle that I haven't given much thought to - and I loved the moments SGJ included where our characters reflected on in if their fathers were going to make it home safe for Christmas - this story was packed with moments like that that had me sobbing. He really came swinging with the emotions in this one.
While this story did have some fantastically nightmarish horror elements, it did read a lot like a thriller, which is maybe why I ended up enjoying this story so much compared to some of his other works!
THE BABYSITTER LIVES
āļøāļøāļøš«
This story was a repackage from a previous release and, while it started off really strong, it devolved in a way that took me out of the story. If I had read this one on its own, it might have held a higher merit for me, but reading this one immediately after KILLER ON THE ROAD, left me yearning for something else.
Still a really strong story, but one that loses the tracks a bit.
Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for my early copy for review - out July 15!
KILLER ON THE ROAD
āļøāļøāļøāļøš«
"Who needs amusement parks when there's the Wyoming interstate?"
There was so much about this novella that I loved - it was adrenaline-filled, fast-paced, had so much heart, and did have quite a bit of gore thrown in (š„“ <- my face a good chunk of the time).
I loved the lore included around truck drivers and it really opened me up to a lifestyle that I haven't given much thought to - and I loved the moments SGJ included where our characters reflected on in if their fathers were going to make it home safe for Christmas - this story was packed with moments like that that had me sobbing. He really came swinging with the emotions in this one.
While this story did have some fantastically nightmarish horror elements, it did read a lot like a thriller, which is maybe why I ended up enjoying this story so much compared to some of his other works!
THE BABYSITTER LIVES
āļøāļøāļøš«
This story was a repackage from a previous release and, while it started off really strong, it devolved in a way that took me out of the story. If I had read this one on its own, it might have held a higher merit for me, but reading this one immediately after KILLER ON THE ROAD, left me yearning for something else.
Still a really strong story, but one that loses the tracks a bit.
Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for my early copy for review - out July 15!
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I'm so disappointed
Stephen Graham Jones is on his game. With Buffalo Hunter Hunter and now Killer on the Road/The Babysitter Lives. He is cranking out books! You would think that multiple books in a year would mean that the quality might suffer. You would be wrong. This is a double feature that you donāt want to miss. The quality you expect that will suck you in and you wonāt want o come up for air until they are done.
If this is your first entry to SGJ welcome. It is a good place to start. Two novella length novels to bite into that will leave you wanting to jump into his other works!
Killer on the Road
A fast past novella about a girl, Harper, who sets out hitchhiking and ends up having a crazy time with a series killer. This will leave you reeling. With a killer that can change how they lookā¦ You never knew what was going to come up next! I really enjoyed this and was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
The Babysitter Lives
While the last book took us on the road this one keeps us in one place. Charlotte is or main character and all she wants is a chill babysitting gig where she can study for the SATs in peace. That is not what she gets. Instead she gets twins where one can see ghosts and they both like to get into things like typical children. But what happens if when you are babysitting if someone was in the house with youā¦and what happens if this house something sinister happened in the past? As a person who did babysit around Charlotteās ageā¦and who babysitter boy/girl twins I am so happy this didnāt happen to me.
In my opinion SGJ canāt write a bad book. They are always just so well done. Well thought out well executed and just a mandatory read! I canāt wait for whatever he brings us next.
Thank you to Saga for the complementary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
If this is your first entry to SGJ welcome. It is a good place to start. Two novella length novels to bite into that will leave you wanting to jump into his other works!
Killer on the Road
A fast past novella about a girl, Harper, who sets out hitchhiking and ends up having a crazy time with a series killer. This will leave you reeling. With a killer that can change how they lookā¦ You never knew what was going to come up next! I really enjoyed this and was on the edge of my seat the entire time.
The Babysitter Lives
While the last book took us on the road this one keeps us in one place. Charlotte is or main character and all she wants is a chill babysitting gig where she can study for the SATs in peace. That is not what she gets. Instead she gets twins where one can see ghosts and they both like to get into things like typical children. But what happens if when you are babysitting if someone was in the house with youā¦and what happens if this house something sinister happened in the past? As a person who did babysit around Charlotteās ageā¦and who babysitter boy/girl twins I am so happy this didnāt happen to me.
In my opinion SGJ canāt write a bad book. They are always just so well done. Well thought out well executed and just a mandatory read! I canāt wait for whatever he brings us next.
Thank you to Saga for the complementary copy. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated