octavia_cade 's review for:

Chopping Spree by Angela Sylvaine

2.0

dark fast-paced

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It's not badly written, but it's not for me. I did like the 80s soundtrack running through here, I thought that was very clever, but in general this had all the subtlety of an anvil falling from a great height. In fairness to Sylvaine, Chopping Spree is very much in the teen slasher model of horror, and I don't think I've ever seen a slasher film that was subtle in any way, so this novella is certainly set firmly in type. (If you love those films - and I enjoy them myself, even if they're not my favourite type of horror - then you'll like this.) When it comes to capitalist cults, however, I tend to think that less is more. Probably because the consequences of unchecked capitalism are so awful that I don't need ritualistic murders to underline them; basic greed does well enough producing horror on its own.

Having side-eyed it for its obviousness, however, I'm going to state that any book with a title like Chopping Spree should have its murderers armed with axes instead of knives. Yes, I know. Rank hypocrisy on my part.