Val Tobin, $2.99, ISBN 978-0-992093-33-4
Horror, 2014

Now, if I arrived for a holiday at some lakeside place only to learn that a kid is missing and the wildlife has decreased in numbers for some reason, I’d make a quick U-turn out there. I’ve seen and read enough stories to know where this particular story will go, alright?

Alas, siblings Rachel and Jeff Needham along with their mom are not genre-savvy, so they decide to go ahead and stay at the cabin in Storm Lake. They have only themselves to blame when the monsters start laying siege to their place.

I have to say, this one is a fun ride. The pacing is solid, as the author wastes few words before getting the party started. The author’s precise, economical use of just the right words for the right scene is exactly what this thing needs, as the end result is an exhilarating, suspenseful read full of dread and carnage.

Even the literary equivalent of jump scares in this one is well done, so all in all, this is a damn exciting scary read.

The nature of these monsters is left deliberately vague. which I actually like because it adds to the sense of dread permeating this story. This uncertainty makes the monsters feel more terrifying, more suspenseful as the characters along with myself don’t know what they will do next.

In the end, this one seems to be leading off to a sequel, but that’s alright. I think I’m intrigued enough to want to know what happens next.

On the other hand, if I were to have an issue with this, it’s that… well, it’s just another variation of the monster or zombie home invasion story that is very ubiquitous in the horror genre. There’s not much here that I haven’t come across before.

Still, it’s a well done edge of seat kind of familiar, so who am I to quibble? It bites hard where it counts, so let me dust off the four oogies, which are sadly rarely used these days, and hand them over.