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mostlyreadinghorror's review against another edition
4.0
Wow-this was a really good quick read. Perfect for Halloween, the villain in this story was actually terrifying and relentless. Story takes place on Halloween night so I would highly recommend this for a seasonal read.
em_harring's review against another edition
4.0
[3.5 stars rounded up]
A fun little horror novella set in a small town in the 80s on Halloween night. Piper tells a great story in a relatively short amount of time-but I would have loved just a bit more on the figure of Benny Rose.
That said, Piper nails the Halloween vibes with this one, and the audiobook is a great time.
A fun little horror novella set in a small town in the 80s on Halloween night. Piper tells a great story in a relatively short amount of time-but I would have loved just a bit more on the figure of Benny Rose.
That said, Piper nails the Halloween vibes with this one, and the audiobook is a great time.
damesies's review against another edition
4.0
Perfectly digestible (ha!) novella that delivers what it promises to a mostly disposable cast of characters in 130pages. Intentionally tropey, pulpy to the max. Fun read!
ohsunnyaa's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
the_walkyrie's review
4.0
This would make the perfect slasher Halloween movie: A24 please buy those rights
minimicropup's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Assertive. Vibrant. Hungry.
đșđžđ Set in Blackwood, Vermont on a stormy 1980s Halloween night.
A group of teen friends plan to frighten a new classmate using the local legend of Benny Rose at a Halloween party, but theyâre in for an unplanned night of scares.
â
đșGrowls, Howls, and Tail Wagsđ
đ€© I loved the writing style. Itâs atmospheric and subtle. Not in your face but felt all-encompassing as I got drawn into the story. It also captured those real feels from being a teen, hanging out with friends, and all the Halloween vibes.
đ The characters are each given a voice and we see their perspectives with a mix of third person narration and the observations of their friend, Desiree. The dialogues sounded natural, the way people actually talk, so it was easy to follow since each character had their own style.
đš I like the way the town legend is incorporated into the story. Thereâs no cackling, scheming, contrived âBig Badâ. Benny Rose has a back story beyond the legend and felt like a real town legend.
đł I hate to admit I felt for a group of âbadâ people. My introvert self often has those âno kids allowed, theyâre loud and annoyingâ feels and I MIGHT have been cheering for them if it wasnât for the fact that they author wrote teen perspectives in such an authentic way that I remembered what it was like to be loud and annoying.
𫶠The world-building was perfection for me. I had a sense of the houses and community layout so I didnât lose where everyone was when thing got intense and action ramped up. Itâs show, not tell so the community unfolds gradually depending where the characters are. Like, you know how when you walk into someoneâs house for the first time and you notice where a kitchen or bathroom is, and the smells and decorations? Itâs like that but not overly detailed, just the natural way someone would observe their surroundings when they first take them in. So I donât think youâll be bored to tears by detail if youâre not an imaginations reader.
đ± Initially the suspense is figuring out whatâs going on and how to get to safety. Then itâs fight-for-your-life escape, hide, figure out the lore and defeat the big bad energy, but it doesnât lose the atmospheric immersive quality in the process.
đ It isnât a trope-y teen slasher horror even when it seemed to be heading that way. The escape scenes arenât contrived or convenient, but the creature is cunning and dangerous so itâs truly hard to outwit it. And we find out how the creature is so good at figuring out where theyâre hiding.
â
Mood Reading Match Up:
- Small town dark and stormy Halloween night
- Creepy retirement community
- Escape from a crazed killer, creature-feature slashe
- Show-not-tell themes and commentary on coming-of-age friendship, the vulnerability of youth, biases against teenagers (especially girls), toxic introversion (đ ), and the dark kernels of truth in local urban legends
Content Heads-Up: Natural disaster (flooding). Diverse skin colours and races. Death. Body horror and gore. Cannibalism. Fire. Familial rejection and murder. Loss of a friend, loss of a partner, loss of a parent. Car accident.
Format: Kindle Unlimited
đ± This was one of my most captivating reads of 2023
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Cannibalism
Moderate: Body horror, Gore, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent
2kerrymehome's review
fast-paced
3.75
Solid. I'm a sucker for slasher movie horror even if the premise amounts to "we hate teenagers so a boogeyman kills them" & falls apart with further inspection. This horror wrapped itself up in four hours with characters I rooted for but didn't care about, and a well-paced plot. Fast, substantial, and unremarkable- the book equivalent of a microwave dinner.
terriblelynne's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
songcatchers's review
3.0
'Blackwood had one thing that no other town had in the world. Benny Rose, the Cannibal King, and all the stories that came with him.'
A fun and gory Halloween slasher set in 1987. Benny Rose, the Cannibal King, likes to eat the flesh of teens. He's a legend whispered about at sleepovers. But this Halloween, Desiree and her friends fight back as they're stalked and slashed through the neighborhood. This is my 2nd book in the Rewind or Die series of standalones. I also liked All You Need is Love and a Strong Electric Current by Mackenzie Kiera.
'âItâs not a real Halloween sleepover without Benny Rose stories. Not a real Halloween at all.â'
A fun and gory Halloween slasher set in 1987. Benny Rose, the Cannibal King, likes to eat the flesh of teens. He's a legend whispered about at sleepovers. But this Halloween, Desiree and her friends fight back as they're stalked and slashed through the neighborhood. This is my 2nd book in the Rewind or Die series of standalones. I also liked All You Need is Love and a Strong Electric Current by Mackenzie Kiera.
'âItâs not a real Halloween sleepover without Benny Rose stories. Not a real Halloween at all.â'