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A review by ellen_mellor
Killing it on Campus by Kaya Skovdatter
challenging
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
After the last installment's genre defying narrative, I was really looking forward to seeing what Kaya would do next. And she absolutely smashed it. With this story we are very much in '80s teen slasher movie territory.
There's a killer on campus and it's all being hushed up by the authorities. Only a plucky band of students can uncover the truth and stop the killer! Except, the plucky band are a lesbian polycule, the authorities are a bunch of terrifying ghost women and the killer's identity is pretty obvious (or at least it was to me) from the beginning. Not that the latter part matters. It's not about whodunnit, it's more about why, which is far more interesting. The slasher flick genre is deliberately chosen here and very much underlined by the narrative style. The story begins as a film script, with a scene description and dialogue. The description gives us perhaps more background on who the BOY (it follows script convention in putting the character's name in all caps at their fist appearance) is which I think would be portrayed more in action and dialogue, but that doesn't matter.
But almost immediately, the conventions start to be undermined when the dialogue is assigned to 'A VERY UNFAITHFUL BOY...'. And that's when things start to get really weird. The killer starts to interject into the scene description, breaking the fourth wall and commenting on the action. It goes further when the next scene, focusing on the polycule, begins with the killer - as an aside and absolutely separate from the actual narrative - complains about how the action has moved away from them. But then reassures us that we'll soon get back to them.
That scene is written as straight prose (as straight as anything is in this very queer series anyway) while keeping the capitalised names convention for first appearances. The story proceeds to jump back and forth between the two - standard narrative for the polycule, film script for the killer and
There's a killer on campus and it's all being hushed up by the authorities. Only a plucky band of students can uncover the truth and stop the killer! Except, the plucky band are a lesbian polycule, the authorities are a bunch of terrifying ghost women and the killer's identity is pretty obvious (or at least it was to me) from the beginning. Not that the latter part matters. It's not about whodunnit, it's more about why, which is far more interesting. The slasher flick genre is deliberately chosen here and very much underlined by the narrative style. The story begins as a film script, with a scene description and dialogue. The description gives us perhaps more background on who the BOY (it follows script convention in putting the character's name in all caps at their fist appearance) is which I think would be portrayed more in action and dialogue, but that doesn't matter.
But almost immediately, the conventions start to be undermined when the dialogue is assigned to 'A VERY UNFAITHFUL BOY...'. And that's when things start to get really weird. The killer starts to interject into the scene description, breaking the fourth wall and commenting on the action. It goes further when the next scene, focusing on the polycule, begins with the killer - as an aside and absolutely separate from the actual narrative - complains about how the action has moved away from them. But then reassures us that we'll soon get back to them.
That scene is written as straight prose (as straight as anything is in this very queer series anyway) while keeping the capitalised names convention for first appearances. The story proceeds to jump back and forth between the two - standard narrative for the polycule, film script for the killer and
regular fourth wall breaks commenting on the action.
As narrative experiments go, it's breathtakingly original, bold and clever. It's also really fucking funny. The killer's asides, which start to actively argue with the story and how it's being shown genuinely made me laugh out loud.
It seems like the killer knows the conventions of the genre in which they are acting and is both trying to follow them while also trying to subvert them. Which makes the story sound like a Scream knock-off. But, trust me, it's far cleverer than anything that franchise ever managed to pull off.
The ending, where everything is revealed including the reasons for the narrative style was completely satisfying. As I said, the killer is obvious - there is only one real candidate - but that doesn't matter. In a way, knowing the killer's identity ramps up the tension when the polycule are unwittingly placing themselves in danger. I honestly thought Kaya Skovdatter's work had reached a pinnacle with the musical episode of 'Witch Side Story', but they have gone even further with 'Killing It On Campus'. I am breathless with excitement for the next story.
I really hope they plan on collecting the stories in a physical edition, because it deserves a place on the bookshelf of every horror aficionado.
As narrative experiments go, it's breathtakingly original, bold and clever. It's also really fucking funny. The killer's asides, which start to actively argue with the story and how it's being shown genuinely made me laugh out loud.
It seems like the killer knows the conventions of the genre in which they are acting and is both trying to follow them while also trying to subvert them. Which makes the story sound like a Scream knock-off. But, trust me, it's far cleverer than anything that franchise ever managed to pull off.
The ending, where everything is revealed including the reasons for the narrative style was completely satisfying. As I said, the killer is obvious - there is only one real candidate - but that doesn't matter. In a way, knowing the killer's identity ramps up the tension when the polycule are unwittingly placing themselves in danger. I honestly thought Kaya Skovdatter's work had reached a pinnacle with the musical episode of 'Witch Side Story', but they have gone even further with 'Killing It On Campus'. I am breathless with excitement for the next story.
I really hope they plan on collecting the stories in a physical edition, because it deserves a place on the bookshelf of every horror aficionado.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Violence, Murder