A review by emperorcupcake
Wasps in the Ice Cream by Tim McGregor

4.0

This is more of a coming of age book than horror, but I've never met an 80s summer coming of age story I didn't like. You notice how nobody ever comes of age in the winter? That's because there's nothing to do. It's hard to find yourself buried under layers of scarves and mittens. But summer, summer is freedom... for better or worse. There are some great lines in here, like how falling in love feels like holding a live grenade all day, and some very poignant stuff about how pointless the high school hierarchy is, and the relief of being able to be yourself with someone and not have to act cool. (This doesn't end in high school, it just goes from having to act cool to having to act normal, like an "adult," whatever either of those things means. I'm not sure which is worse.)

This does have spooky elements - a creepy old house, witchy stuff, and a righteously pissed hippie ghost - but it's more about the human horrors. Grief, bullying, the stifling horror of small towns where you see the same people every day and probably grow to hate most of them. Anyone with a brain would be drawn to the outsider in the weird house! At least it's not the same ol' "Hello, Mr. Johnson" day after day, y' know? I found this very poignant and well-written and would definitely read from Tim McGregor again.