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Small Town Horror
Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.
Maybe this is a ghost story...
Andrew Larimer thought he left the past behind. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he finds he has no choice but to return home, and to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything.
For Andrew and his friends, the past is not dead, and the curse that has befallen them now threatens to destroy all that they've become.
One dark secret...
One small-town horror...
Maybe this is a ghost story...
Andrew Larimer thought he left the past behind. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he finds he has no choice but to return home, and to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything.
For Andrew and his friends, the past is not dead, and the curse that has befallen them now threatens to destroy all that they've become.
One dark secret...
One small-town horror...
400 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 4, 2024
About the author
Ronald Malfi
70 books2,695 followersRonald Malfi is the bestselling, award-winning author of many novels and novellas in the horror, mystery, and thriller genres. In 2011, his novel, Floating Staircase, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award for best novel by the Horror Writers Association, and also won a gold IPPY award. Perhaps his most well-received novel, Come with Me (2021), about a man who learns a dark secret about his wife after she's killed, has received stellar reviews, including a starred review from BookPage, and Publishers Weekly has said, "Malfi impresses in this taut, supernaturally tinged mystery... and sticks the landing with a powerful denouement. There’s plenty here to enjoy."
His most recent novels, Come with Me (2021) and Black Mouth (2022), tackle themes of grief and loss, and of the effects of childhood trauma and alcoholism, respectively. Both books have been critically praised, with Publishers Weekly calling Black Mouth a "standout" book of the year. These novels were followed by Ghostwritten (2022), a collection of four subtly-linked novellas about haunted books and the power of the written word. Ghostwritten received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called the book a "wonderfully meta collection...vibrantly imagined," and that "Malfi makes reading about the perils of reading a terrifying delight."
Among his most popular works is December Park, a coming-of-age thriller set in the '90s, wherein five teenage boys take up the hunt for a child murderer in their hometown of Harting Farms, Maryland. In interviews, Malfi has expressed that this is his most autobiographical book to date. In 2015, this novel was awarded the Beverly Hills International Book Award for best suspense novel. It has been optioned several times for film.
Bone White (2017), about a man searching for his lost twin brother in a haunted Alaskan mining town, was touted as "an elegant, twisted, gripping slow-burn of a novel that burrows under the skin and nestles deep," by RT Book Reviews, and has also been optioned for television by Fox21/Disney and Amazon Studios.
His novels Little Girls (2015) and The Night Parade (2016) explore broken families forced to endure horrific and extraordinary circumstances, which has become the hallmark for Malfi's brand of intimate, lyrical horror fiction.
His earlier works, such as Via Dolorosa (2007) and Passenger (2008) explored characters with lost or confused identities, wherein Malfi experimented with the ultimate unreliable narrators. He maintained this trend in his award-winning novel, Floating Staircase (2011), which the author has suggested contains "multiple endings for the astute reader."
His more "monstery" novels, such as Snow (2010) and The Narrows (2012) still resonate with his inimitable brand of literary cadence and focus on character and story over plot. Both books were highly regarded by fans and reviewers in the genre.
A bit of a departure, Malfi published the crime drama Shamrock Alley in 2009, based on the true exploits of his own father, a former Secret Service agent. The book was optioned several times for film.
Ronald Malfi was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1977, the eldest of four children, and eventually relocated to Maryland, where he currently resides along the Chesapeake Bay.
When he's not writing, he's performing with the rock band VEER, who can be found at veerband.net and on Twitter at @VeerBand
Visit with Ronald Malfi on Facebook, Twitter (@RonaldMalfi), or at http://www.ronaldmalfi.com.
His most recent novels, Come with Me (2021) and Black Mouth (2022), tackle themes of grief and loss, and of the effects of childhood trauma and alcoholism, respectively. Both books have been critically praised, with Publishers Weekly calling Black Mouth a "standout" book of the year. These novels were followed by Ghostwritten (2022), a collection of four subtly-linked novellas about haunted books and the power of the written word. Ghostwritten received a starred review from Publishers Weekly, which called the book a "wonderfully meta collection...vibrantly imagined," and that "Malfi makes reading about the perils of reading a terrifying delight."
Among his most popular works is December Park, a coming-of-age thriller set in the '90s, wherein five teenage boys take up the hunt for a child murderer in their hometown of Harting Farms, Maryland. In interviews, Malfi has expressed that this is his most autobiographical book to date. In 2015, this novel was awarded the Beverly Hills International Book Award for best suspense novel. It has been optioned several times for film.
Bone White (2017), about a man searching for his lost twin brother in a haunted Alaskan mining town, was touted as "an elegant, twisted, gripping slow-burn of a novel that burrows under the skin and nestles deep," by RT Book Reviews, and has also been optioned for television by Fox21/Disney and Amazon Studios.
His novels Little Girls (2015) and The Night Parade (2016) explore broken families forced to endure horrific and extraordinary circumstances, which has become the hallmark for Malfi's brand of intimate, lyrical horror fiction.
His earlier works, such as Via Dolorosa (2007) and Passenger (2008) explored characters with lost or confused identities, wherein Malfi experimented with the ultimate unreliable narrators. He maintained this trend in his award-winning novel, Floating Staircase (2011), which the author has suggested contains "multiple endings for the astute reader."
His more "monstery" novels, such as Snow (2010) and The Narrows (2012) still resonate with his inimitable brand of literary cadence and focus on character and story over plot. Both books were highly regarded by fans and reviewers in the genre.
A bit of a departure, Malfi published the crime drama Shamrock Alley in 2009, based on the true exploits of his own father, a former Secret Service agent. The book was optioned several times for film.
Ronald Malfi was born in Brooklyn, New York in 1977, the eldest of four children, and eventually relocated to Maryland, where he currently resides along the Chesapeake Bay.
When he's not writing, he's performing with the rock band VEER, who can be found at veerband.net and on Twitter at @VeerBand
Visit with Ronald Malfi on Facebook, Twitter (@RonaldMalfi), or at http://www.ronaldmalfi.com.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 339 reviews
May 19, 2024
Well, that was messed up. The ending, I mean. The rest of the novel was a fairly standard slow burn of a ghost story, and then all of a sudden things got incredibly … whatever in the hell that was. I might be slightly traumatized by how quickly everything went sideways.
This book starts out as your usual “the main character did something bad as a teenager and now they have to return to their hometown and face the music” horror story. It's a slow burn, with the plot shifting back and forth between the present day and the fateful night of July 4, 2003 when Andrew Larimer and his friends got themselves into … a wee bit of a situation. It kind of has undertones of I Know What You Did Last Summer meets It, but with a storyline that's completely its own.
None of the five friends are particularly likeable, but some of them are way more sympathetic than others. Meach's character is particularly well-written and complex, and you can't help but feel a little bad for him, I think. Andrew is a huge pushover and probably would have tremendously benefited from growing a spine, but at least he's not the most awful of the bunch, I suppose?
This isn't a particularly action-packed book, but Malfi does a fantastic job of slowly building the sense of dread. You know something terrible is coming, but you have no idea what it is or when it'll happen. And then – BAM! – you're hit with a huge twist and things go wrong very, very quickly. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, but the build up to it is top-notch.
But, yeah, that ending. Holy fu … crap. It's almost like the last chapter is from a totally different book, both in intensity and in feeling. Things get way, way more … weird. Did I love it or did I hate it? I have no idea, but I probably won't forget it anytime soon.
My overall rating: 3.7 stars, rounded up. Small Town Horror is a dark and creepy novel that'll keep you feeling unsettled (and sometimes downright horrified) right up until the very end.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is June 4, 2024.
This book starts out as your usual “the main character did something bad as a teenager and now they have to return to their hometown and face the music” horror story. It's a slow burn, with the plot shifting back and forth between the present day and the fateful night of July 4, 2003 when Andrew Larimer and his friends got themselves into … a wee bit of a situation. It kind of has undertones of I Know What You Did Last Summer meets It, but with a storyline that's completely its own.
None of the five friends are particularly likeable, but some of them are way more sympathetic than others. Meach's character is particularly well-written and complex, and you can't help but feel a little bad for him, I think. Andrew is a huge pushover and probably would have tremendously benefited from growing a spine, but at least he's not the most awful of the bunch, I suppose?
This isn't a particularly action-packed book, but Malfi does a fantastic job of slowly building the sense of dread. You know something terrible is coming, but you have no idea what it is or when it'll happen. And then – BAM! – you're hit with a huge twist and things go wrong very, very quickly. I'm not entirely sure how I feel about the ending, but the build up to it is top-notch.
But, yeah, that ending. Holy fu … crap. It's almost like the last chapter is from a totally different book, both in intensity and in feeling. Things get way, way more … weird. Did I love it or did I hate it? I have no idea, but I probably won't forget it anytime soon.
My overall rating: 3.7 stars, rounded up. Small Town Horror is a dark and creepy novel that'll keep you feeling unsettled (and sometimes downright horrified) right up until the very end.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Titan Books for providing me with an advance copy of this book to review. Its expected publication date is June 4, 2024.
July 17, 2024
Tell Me One of Your Stories...
SMALL TOWN HORROR by Ronald Malfi
Possible spoilers ahead, proceed with caution. 3 stars. On July 4th, 2003, five teens watched as Robert Graves, the local witch's son, was injured by fireworks that one of the four boys had fired off at him...
The impact knocked the boy off a seaside cliff and onto the rocks below...
Yet, he was still alive...
The four teenage boys agreed to leave him down there to drown so that they wouldn't be arrested for the crime...
The lone female from the group was the only teen dissenting. She insisted that they go for help...
The majority ruled, and the group agreed to walk away and not report it...
Fast forward to the present day...
NY Lawyer Andrew Larimer (the story's narrator) is trying to put the past behind him, but lately has been having nightmares about the impending birth of his son. He gets a call in the middle of the night...
The caller is Dale Walls. He wants Andrew to return to Kingsport immediately...
Or he might tell authorities their secret...
Back in their hometown, the other four friends are having troubles of their own...
Matthew Meacham (Meach)...
... is now an unemployed homeless drug addict who believes a dark man is pursuing him. He is sure that man is Robert Graves...
Dale Walls...
... is now a construction business owner with a son and an unfaithful wife who is missing. Dale is the prime suspect in her disappearance...
Eric Kelly...
... is now the deputy sheriff of Kingsport, and he's a bit unethical, but he is trying desperately to keep their secret buried...
Antigone (Tig) Mayronne...
... is a divorced single parent of a young daughter. The little girl is having nightmares and walking in her sleep. Sometimes, she is found in the surf where Robert died...
They all implore Andrew to tell them one of his stories that will save them from Robert and his witch mother...
This is a story that is similar to Stephen King's IT, and like IT, the story is padded with a lot of unnecessary fluff and filler. The atmosphere was sure there, but it needed a bit more character development. Otherwise, it was a decent story.
The story didn't become interesting until I was 50% into it.
This novel was more of a mystery with a supernatural element than a horror story.
SMALL TOWN HORROR by Ronald Malfi
Possible spoilers ahead, proceed with caution. 3 stars. On July 4th, 2003, five teens watched as Robert Graves, the local witch's son, was injured by fireworks that one of the four boys had fired off at him...
The impact knocked the boy off a seaside cliff and onto the rocks below...
Yet, he was still alive...
The four teenage boys agreed to leave him down there to drown so that they wouldn't be arrested for the crime...
The lone female from the group was the only teen dissenting. She insisted that they go for help...
The majority ruled, and the group agreed to walk away and not report it...
Fast forward to the present day...
NY Lawyer Andrew Larimer (the story's narrator) is trying to put the past behind him, but lately has been having nightmares about the impending birth of his son. He gets a call in the middle of the night...
The caller is Dale Walls. He wants Andrew to return to Kingsport immediately...
Or he might tell authorities their secret...
Back in their hometown, the other four friends are having troubles of their own...
Matthew Meacham (Meach)...
... is now an unemployed homeless drug addict who believes a dark man is pursuing him. He is sure that man is Robert Graves...
Dale Walls...
... is now a construction business owner with a son and an unfaithful wife who is missing. Dale is the prime suspect in her disappearance...
Eric Kelly...
... is now the deputy sheriff of Kingsport, and he's a bit unethical, but he is trying desperately to keep their secret buried...
Antigone (Tig) Mayronne...
... is a divorced single parent of a young daughter. The little girl is having nightmares and walking in her sleep. Sometimes, she is found in the surf where Robert died...
They all implore Andrew to tell them one of his stories that will save them from Robert and his witch mother...
This is a story that is similar to Stephen King's IT, and like IT, the story is padded with a lot of unnecessary fluff and filler. The atmosphere was sure there, but it needed a bit more character development. Otherwise, it was a decent story.
The story didn't become interesting until I was 50% into it.
This novel was more of a mystery with a supernatural element than a horror story.
April 12, 2024
Andrew Larimer, a successful attorney in NYC, a soon to be dad, married to the love of his life, is called back home. A place he swore he'd never return to.
His childhood friend, Dale, has a wife that's gone missing and he's begging Andrew for his help. So Andrew lies to his wife and makes his way back to Kingsport. Here he is reunited with the rest of the gang. Dale, Eric - now police chief, Meech - a drug addict / alcoholic, and Tig - a single mom and owner of the local watering hole. Meech, believes that the group is cursed for a crime they committed back in their youth. They swore they'd never speak of the incident again but with building pressure to find Dale's missing wife it's possible that any one of them could crack under the pressure and spill they're long buried secret.
Let me begin this review with something that is very important for you all to know. I have grown absolutely exhausted with the trope of friend group does something terrible as teens, become estranged, and are all called back together 10, 15, 20 years later to try to cover up their secret. Snoozefest. I can't tell you how many books I've read with this plot. Too damn many. So when Ronald Malfi, one of my all-time favorite authors, had a new book pop up on NetGalley I immediately requested it without even reading the synopsis. I have never given one of the 10 books of his I've read less than 4 stars so I feel like I am always in safe hands with this talented author.
Then I started it and I was like NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not this tired old plot again. Sure, this one is a bit different due to the horror elements, but even those I found lackluster. I didn't like any of the characters. The chapters were long and rambling and so often I just wanted it to get to the point without having to wade through all the minutia. This book just isn't of the same caliber as his other work has been. I feel awful to say that but it's MY truth. It seems others are really enjoying this though so I can only suspect that this is a *me* thing.
Again, I adore this author, and I am always excited when he has a new book being published, but sadly, this one just didn't hit the mark for me. Better luck next time! 2 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for my complimentary copy.
His childhood friend, Dale, has a wife that's gone missing and he's begging Andrew for his help. So Andrew lies to his wife and makes his way back to Kingsport. Here he is reunited with the rest of the gang. Dale, Eric - now police chief, Meech - a drug addict / alcoholic, and Tig - a single mom and owner of the local watering hole. Meech, believes that the group is cursed for a crime they committed back in their youth. They swore they'd never speak of the incident again but with building pressure to find Dale's missing wife it's possible that any one of them could crack under the pressure and spill they're long buried secret.
Let me begin this review with something that is very important for you all to know. I have grown absolutely exhausted with the trope of friend group does something terrible as teens, become estranged, and are all called back together 10, 15, 20 years later to try to cover up their secret. Snoozefest. I can't tell you how many books I've read with this plot. Too damn many. So when Ronald Malfi, one of my all-time favorite authors, had a new book pop up on NetGalley I immediately requested it without even reading the synopsis. I have never given one of the 10 books of his I've read less than 4 stars so I feel like I am always in safe hands with this talented author.
Then I started it and I was like NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not this tired old plot again. Sure, this one is a bit different due to the horror elements, but even those I found lackluster. I didn't like any of the characters. The chapters were long and rambling and so often I just wanted it to get to the point without having to wade through all the minutia. This book just isn't of the same caliber as his other work has been. I feel awful to say that but it's MY truth. It seems others are really enjoying this though so I can only suspect that this is a *me* thing.
Again, I adore this author, and I am always excited when he has a new book being published, but sadly, this one just didn't hit the mark for me. Better luck next time! 2 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for my complimentary copy.
March 30, 2024
Haunted by the past, five childhood friends will learn that actions have consequences. You can leave your past behind, but does it ever really leave you? Dark Secrets and curses come into play in this horrifically dark and brilliant tale set in a small town.
Andrew Larimer is a married man with a pregnant wife. He has worries about the pregnancy and the upcoming birth but finds there are other things he should be worried about as well. When he receives a phone call from a childhood friend, he knows he must return to his hometown. To his father's home that his wife doesn't know he still owns. To meet with childhood friends, to face the past, to face each other and the secret they share.
I loved the atmosphere in this book. From the small-town feel, the cliff overlooking the ocean, the flooded basement, etc. It provides a something-isn't-quite-right vibe to the book. I also loved the eerie and creepy vibe that flows throughout the book. Then there is the tension, dread, and mounting sense of danger. Small Town Horror played out like a movie in my mind. Small towns, you either know everyone or are related to them. How do you keep such a BIG secret? How do you deal with guilt? How does it haunt you?
This book is told via two timelines. The current day and the past. Through both, readers get a glimpse into the past and what the group of friends are dealing with in the present. I found this to be a very nice touch. Secrets and lies play a HUGE part of this book.
This book touched on many things - friendship, marriage, secrets, guilt, fear, growing up, love, and consequences.
Well written with twists, turns and several reveals. It was slow to start but once this book got going, there was no stopping it.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
Andrew Larimer is a married man with a pregnant wife. He has worries about the pregnancy and the upcoming birth but finds there are other things he should be worried about as well. When he receives a phone call from a childhood friend, he knows he must return to his hometown. To his father's home that his wife doesn't know he still owns. To meet with childhood friends, to face the past, to face each other and the secret they share.
I loved the atmosphere in this book. From the small-town feel, the cliff overlooking the ocean, the flooded basement, etc. It provides a something-isn't-quite-right vibe to the book. I also loved the eerie and creepy vibe that flows throughout the book. Then there is the tension, dread, and mounting sense of danger. Small Town Horror played out like a movie in my mind. Small towns, you either know everyone or are related to them. How do you keep such a BIG secret? How do you deal with guilt? How does it haunt you?
This book is told via two timelines. The current day and the past. Through both, readers get a glimpse into the past and what the group of friends are dealing with in the present. I found this to be a very nice touch. Secrets and lies play a HUGE part of this book.
This book touched on many things - friendship, marriage, secrets, guilt, fear, growing up, love, and consequences.
Well written with twists, turns and several reveals. It was slow to start but once this book got going, there was no stopping it.
Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.
June 2, 2024
4.0 Stars
Video Review https://youtu.be/KiqjtujWMfE
Once again, Ronald Malfi demonstrates his talent for writing small town horror. So much so, he literally made it the title of this novel.
This just felt familiar and nostalgic. The story is perhaps not the most original but the author handles these familiar plots so seamlessly that I did not mind.
I enjoyed the characters and plotting. This just felt easy and comforting to read. I did not find it the most innovative or scary book, but it didn't need to be those things to enjoy it.
I would recommend this one to fans of this author's work. This is also a good place to start because it is very representative of his work.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
Video Review https://youtu.be/KiqjtujWMfE
Once again, Ronald Malfi demonstrates his talent for writing small town horror. So much so, he literally made it the title of this novel.
This just felt familiar and nostalgic. The story is perhaps not the most original but the author handles these familiar plots so seamlessly that I did not mind.
I enjoyed the characters and plotting. This just felt easy and comforting to read. I did not find it the most innovative or scary book, but it didn't need to be those things to enjoy it.
I would recommend this one to fans of this author's work. This is also a good place to start because it is very representative of his work.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
March 22, 2024
I love the small town horror sub genre and I love Malfi so I mean, before we start, get ready this review is gonna be compliment central, don't like it? Get off my train (we're on a train? Sorry that was kinda weird choo choo) I think this may be my favourite Malfi book so far, it initially reminded me of IT, old school friends reuniting after years to confront the past I EAT THAT STUFF UP I LOVE IT S'MUCH, themes of friendship, secrets, love and guilt are at the forefront of this, very much a melancholy coming of age story, infused with Malfis signature eerie atmospheric style giving refresh to popular tropes it delivers a chilling and suspenseful experience, Malfis books always feel like someone telling me a nice spooky story to fall asleep too (what? It's how I relax) but just as I'm falling asleep they start saying mad sh*t and I'm like WHAT? Slow burn at first, secrets are revealed gradually untill well, they're not, I don't want to reveal too much but this is most definitely going in my top 2024 books
June 11, 2024
SMALL TOWN HORROR is a novel about a bunch of people I couldn't stand. LOL
A group of friends reunite in their hometown of Kingsport, Maryland. Their meet-up is not for pleasurable purposes. One of their wives is missing, and one of them is a lawyer who might be able to help. This group has secrets in their past and it is of the utmost importance that their secret is never divulged. Will they find the missing wife? Will the world discover their secret? You'll have to read this to find out!
I must be honest here and say that the horror trope of a group of old friends reuniting to face an old evil from their youth is mostly played out for me. It was Ronald Malfi's writing that kept me going. I didn't like the characters much, (but I don't need to, if the story is a good one), and I didn't care for the plot much either, but as I said, it was Malfi's writing that kept me going. He has unique insights into his characters, (in this, he reminds me of Michael McDowell's writing), and those insights were what I enjoyed most about this book. Another thing Ronald Malfi did here, and that I admired, was to hold his secrets back until nearly the very end. I know that I should've have seen at least one of those coming, but the book was written in such a way that I forgot all about that one salient fact that was right in front of my face the whole time. I love when that happens!
So, in spite of not liking any of the characters, in spite of being tired of this trope, I absolutely adored the writing and admired the building of such an intricate story. This isn't my favorite Malfi book, that's for sure, but I'm still a huge fan of this author and will continue to look forward to everything he puts out.
Recommended!
*ARC from publisher. Thank you.*
A group of friends reunite in their hometown of Kingsport, Maryland. Their meet-up is not for pleasurable purposes. One of their wives is missing, and one of them is a lawyer who might be able to help. This group has secrets in their past and it is of the utmost importance that their secret is never divulged. Will they find the missing wife? Will the world discover their secret? You'll have to read this to find out!
I must be honest here and say that the horror trope of a group of old friends reuniting to face an old evil from their youth is mostly played out for me. It was Ronald Malfi's writing that kept me going. I didn't like the characters much, (but I don't need to, if the story is a good one), and I didn't care for the plot much either, but as I said, it was Malfi's writing that kept me going. He has unique insights into his characters, (in this, he reminds me of Michael McDowell's writing), and those insights were what I enjoyed most about this book. Another thing Ronald Malfi did here, and that I admired, was to hold his secrets back until nearly the very end. I know that I should've have seen at least one of those coming, but the book was written in such a way that I forgot all about that one salient fact that was right in front of my face the whole time. I love when that happens!
So, in spite of not liking any of the characters, in spite of being tired of this trope, I absolutely adored the writing and admired the building of such an intricate story. This isn't my favorite Malfi book, that's for sure, but I'm still a huge fan of this author and will continue to look forward to everything he puts out.
Recommended!
*ARC from publisher. Thank you.*
June 15, 2024
Following in the footsteps of King's IT, Malfi's Small Town Horror revolves around five childhood friends who reunite in their home town to confront a past mistake that cost one of their childhood friends his life. Weird things are happening; one of them loses his wife under mysterious circumstances and all suspicions are on him, the other's daughter starts sleepwalking. Are these connected?
This is a very standard, very normal horror book, with its characters bordering on bland. I can't find any fault in it, the writing is wonderful, but as harsh as it may sound, it has no soul. A pity. Still, perfectly readable if the predictable (except for one well-done twist) and the standard works for you.
This is a very standard, very normal horror book, with its characters bordering on bland. I can't find any fault in it, the writing is wonderful, but as harsh as it may sound, it has no soul. A pity. Still, perfectly readable if the predictable (except for one well-done twist) and the standard works for you.
July 25, 2024
🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛🖤💛🖤
Small Town Horror is the latest release from one of my favorite authors, Ronald Malfi. As you could probably guess, it's also one of my most anticipated releases of 2024.
I'm please to announce, it did NOT disappoint!!
In this story, we follow Andrew Larimer, a NYC attorney, who suddenly gets called back to the hometown he fled almost two decades ago.
Kingsport, Maryland, was where Andrew grew up. The beautiful coastal town holds a lot of memories for Andrew, but one in particular, an event that happened on his 16th-birthday in 2003, made him want to never look back.
When he gets a call that his childhood friend, Dale, is in trouble though, and that he could really use Andrew's help, Andrew begrudgingly packs his things and returns to the place he swore he'd never see again.
Once in town, Andrew is ultimately reunited with all of his old friends: Dale, Meach, Eric and Tig. It's like getting punched in the face by the past. There's so much unresolved between them, you can feel the tension oozing off the page.
Andrew is also staying at his childhood home, his father's house which transferred to him upon his father's passing a few years ago. The house is in disrepair, with a flooded basement and insects, it's a house of horrors come to life.
Through past and present perspectives, the Reader is slowly keyed into the truth of what happened on Andrew's 16th-birthday, which also happens to be the 4th of July.
I found both perspectives equally interesting. The past did have an added nostalgic feel to it, which I always appreciate, but the present had an intensity that I couldn't turn away from. I felt like the connections between the past and present were also so well done.
The creepy imagery and lush atmosphere were absolutely fantastic. The coastal town, the lighthouse, the birds, the dark endless water, the mystery, the intrigue, the supernatural flourishes, it was all top notch stuff.
Malfi is an incredible writer, who never fails to draw me in. While not all his characters may be particularly likable, they're always believable. Hell, I don't like a lot of people in real life, so why would I expect to like all the characters I read about?
I did feel for Andrew in this one though, and maybe even Tig. They weren't perfect, but I think the choices they made were understandable. As they transitioned into adulthood, they truly never got past the things that happened that one 4th of July night. The shadow they couldn't shake.
The idea of hauntings, or being haunted; it's not just places and it's not just supernatural, people can be haunted for a variety of reasons, and I enjoyed that exploration here.
Malfi is always able to channel such emotion into his writing. It feels like he is pouring his heart into his stories. Honestly, it must be exhausting, but I feel like that extra touch makes his stories stand out against the crowd.
As an atmosphere girlie, I can't stress enough how deeply atmospheric this story is. As I was reading it, I was swept down the coast to Maryland. I could feel it.
Unlike the standard Autumnal vibes we're used to getting from Horror novels though, this exudes Summer Horror. If you do not have this on your Summer TBR, you need to change that immediately. This isn't one you want to save until October. You need to read this now!
The beginning did remind me a lot of Black Mouth, but of course, Malfi brought it in its own distinct direction. I walked away from this silenced. I had to just stare off into space for a while and ponder everything I'd read.
The ending, wow. Dang! It was completely unexpected, yet somehow a perfect conclusion. It sort of broke my heart, but also made me just so excited that talent like Ronald Malfi's exists in the world, and that I can keep picking up his books for a long, long time.
Thank you to the publisher, Titan Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I recommend this to any Horror Reader, particularly if you are looking for great Summer Horror with palpable small town vibes.
Small Town Horror is the latest release from one of my favorite authors, Ronald Malfi. As you could probably guess, it's also one of my most anticipated releases of 2024.
I'm please to announce, it did NOT disappoint!!
In this story, we follow Andrew Larimer, a NYC attorney, who suddenly gets called back to the hometown he fled almost two decades ago.
Kingsport, Maryland, was where Andrew grew up. The beautiful coastal town holds a lot of memories for Andrew, but one in particular, an event that happened on his 16th-birthday in 2003, made him want to never look back.
When he gets a call that his childhood friend, Dale, is in trouble though, and that he could really use Andrew's help, Andrew begrudgingly packs his things and returns to the place he swore he'd never see again.
Once in town, Andrew is ultimately reunited with all of his old friends: Dale, Meach, Eric and Tig. It's like getting punched in the face by the past. There's so much unresolved between them, you can feel the tension oozing off the page.
Andrew is also staying at his childhood home, his father's house which transferred to him upon his father's passing a few years ago. The house is in disrepair, with a flooded basement and insects, it's a house of horrors come to life.
Through past and present perspectives, the Reader is slowly keyed into the truth of what happened on Andrew's 16th-birthday, which also happens to be the 4th of July.
I found both perspectives equally interesting. The past did have an added nostalgic feel to it, which I always appreciate, but the present had an intensity that I couldn't turn away from. I felt like the connections between the past and present were also so well done.
The creepy imagery and lush atmosphere were absolutely fantastic. The coastal town, the lighthouse, the birds, the dark endless water, the mystery, the intrigue, the supernatural flourishes, it was all top notch stuff.
Malfi is an incredible writer, who never fails to draw me in. While not all his characters may be particularly likable, they're always believable. Hell, I don't like a lot of people in real life, so why would I expect to like all the characters I read about?
I did feel for Andrew in this one though, and maybe even Tig. They weren't perfect, but I think the choices they made were understandable. As they transitioned into adulthood, they truly never got past the things that happened that one 4th of July night. The shadow they couldn't shake.
The idea of hauntings, or being haunted; it's not just places and it's not just supernatural, people can be haunted for a variety of reasons, and I enjoyed that exploration here.
Malfi is always able to channel such emotion into his writing. It feels like he is pouring his heart into his stories. Honestly, it must be exhausting, but I feel like that extra touch makes his stories stand out against the crowd.
As an atmosphere girlie, I can't stress enough how deeply atmospheric this story is. As I was reading it, I was swept down the coast to Maryland. I could feel it.
Unlike the standard Autumnal vibes we're used to getting from Horror novels though, this exudes Summer Horror. If you do not have this on your Summer TBR, you need to change that immediately. This isn't one you want to save until October. You need to read this now!
The beginning did remind me a lot of Black Mouth, but of course, Malfi brought it in its own distinct direction. I walked away from this silenced. I had to just stare off into space for a while and ponder everything I'd read.
The ending, wow. Dang! It was completely unexpected, yet somehow a perfect conclusion. It sort of broke my heart, but also made me just so excited that talent like Ronald Malfi's exists in the world, and that I can keep picking up his books for a long, long time.
Thank you to the publisher, Titan Books, for providing me with a copy to read and review. I recommend this to any Horror Reader, particularly if you are looking for great Summer Horror with palpable small town vibes.
April 11, 2024
EASILY 5 stars. Totally gripping, riddled with suspense and intrigue, spooky vibes that were immaculate, twists that floored me, character depth and development were impeccable. No notes. Perfection.
Read
December 25, 2023I will read
ANYTHING
by Ronald Malfi
April 25, 2024
First off, let me say how excited I was to get Malfi's newest book. Soooo excited.
Quick synopsis: Andrew is a hot shot lawyer in NYC who receives a call in the middle of the night from his childhood friend, Dale, who is summoning him back to his hometown and he "should know why". Intriguing for sure. Andrew leaves right away to a small town off the Chesapeake Bay to try and find out what is going on. Long story short, 5 childhood friends encountered a tragedy back when they were in high school that drove them all apart and now are being brought together again due to a new tragedy. Are they connected? I love these types of novels of bringing the past and present together. It reminds me of Stephen King's "It". Is it connected or not?
What I liked: The atmosphere was there! It was eerie for sure. It was a mixture of supernatural, horror and just plain mystery.
What I didn't like: It seemed slow. Not drug out slow that I was bored but more so asking when we are getting to the meat of the story. Also I didn't feel the vibe of the 5 friends while in the past storyline. They didn't seem to give off the feeling of a close knit group.. But that's just a minor quibble.
To combine the like and dislikes: It started out very eerie and I loved the past and present being tied together. We do find out early on what the tragedy was and while that is usually something I dislike it didn't hinder the rest of the book. I will say 3/4 of the way through I thought I knew where it was going and was a tad bored but STILL wanted to know how it ended up. Then the reveal happened, and I was shocked, and it takes a lot to shock me. I had no idea. And it all made sense on the why the MC acted a certain way. I was like ohhhhh!!!!. It then took off and the pages were flipping until there were no more to flip. Malfi, I just wanted an epilogue. There was no nice, neat bow tied on the ending but I kinda wanted one after that phenomenal ending. I know, conundrum, phenomenal but wanting more?! It happens....
If you like a combo of mystery, supernatural, horror and past meets present.... this just may be for you.
I'm newer to this author but definitely have liked all of his works s to this point. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
Quick synopsis: Andrew is a hot shot lawyer in NYC who receives a call in the middle of the night from his childhood friend, Dale, who is summoning him back to his hometown and he "should know why". Intriguing for sure. Andrew leaves right away to a small town off the Chesapeake Bay to try and find out what is going on. Long story short, 5 childhood friends encountered a tragedy back when they were in high school that drove them all apart and now are being brought together again due to a new tragedy. Are they connected? I love these types of novels of bringing the past and present together. It reminds me of Stephen King's "It". Is it connected or not?
What I liked: The atmosphere was there! It was eerie for sure. It was a mixture of supernatural, horror and just plain mystery.
What I didn't like: It seemed slow. Not drug out slow that I was bored but more so asking when we are getting to the meat of the story. Also I didn't feel the vibe of the 5 friends while in the past storyline. They didn't seem to give off the feeling of a close knit group.. But that's just a minor quibble.
To combine the like and dislikes: It started out very eerie and I loved the past and present being tied together. We do find out early on what the tragedy was and while that is usually something I dislike it didn't hinder the rest of the book. I will say 3/4 of the way through I thought I knew where it was going and was a tad bored but STILL wanted to know how it ended up. Then the reveal happened, and I was shocked, and it takes a lot to shock me. I had no idea. And it all made sense on the why the MC acted a certain way. I was like ohhhhh!!!!. It then took off and the pages were flipping until there were no more to flip. Malfi, I just wanted an epilogue. There was no nice, neat bow tied on the ending but I kinda wanted one after that phenomenal ending. I know, conundrum, phenomenal but wanting more?! It happens....
If you like a combo of mystery, supernatural, horror and past meets present.... this just may be for you.
I'm newer to this author but definitely have liked all of his works s to this point. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.
June 17, 2024
Andrew Larimer thought he'd left his small-town horror behind, moving forward with his pregnant wife into a promising future. But a late-night call from an old friend drags him back to his hometown, forcing him to confront dark secrets he desperately wanted to keep buried.
At first glance, the story might seem to rely on familiar horror tropes—a group of friends bound by a night that changed their lives, haunted by dark secrets—but it quickly distinguishes itself with unexpected twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. Ronald Malfi builds tension and suspense, unraveling just enough of the mystery to keep you hooked while leaving you craving more.
Though it starts as a slow burn, the story picks up momentum in the second half, transforming into a gripping page-turner with a satisfying payoff at the conclusion. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to uncover what happened all those years ago. The intricate plot and well-crafted characters make this one not to be missed!
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley
At first glance, the story might seem to rely on familiar horror tropes—a group of friends bound by a night that changed their lives, haunted by dark secrets—but it quickly distinguishes itself with unexpected twists that kept me on the edge of my seat. Ronald Malfi builds tension and suspense, unraveling just enough of the mystery to keep you hooked while leaving you craving more.
Though it starts as a slow burn, the story picks up momentum in the second half, transforming into a gripping page-turner with a satisfying payoff at the conclusion. I couldn't turn the pages fast enough to uncover what happened all those years ago. The intricate plot and well-crafted characters make this one not to be missed!
I received a copy from the publisher through NetGalley
June 13, 2024
I like Ronald Malfi a lot—Bone White is a kickass horror book. It’s got great lore, wonderful atmosphere, and the story just rolls. When I first heard about this new release, I was pretty excited, it has a somewhat tropey IT or Summer of Night style plot, about a group of friends who have to get together again back in their hometown to reckon with some kind of evil thing from their past, but that’s okay. I’ll admit it, I like this trope. It’s been done to death, but I still like it.
The book starts off well, pulling me in quickly in the first few chapters, and the story goes on to pick up steam from there. Somewhere in the second half we start getting hints of where this is going, and then Malfi hits us with Flynn-esque twist after twist (which I’m not usually a fan of, though I do like Flynn, figure that one out), and then the ending devolves into a big mess of something.
Malfi starts this book with a “thinking of Peter Straub” dedication, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get excited at this. Peter Straub was a genius, and to even imply you intend your book to be in his vein takes balls. Perhaps he didn’t mean that, it was probably more just an inspiration he had at the time, but I think it’s understandable that some may take that from it, intentional or not. And I have to say, this is not anything close to a Straub novel. It’s just not, but no one can write like Peter Straub could, so that’s okay. However, I do see the Straub influence here, especially in the final chapter, and I certainly appreciate Malfi’s influence.
This book follows a group of mostly unlikeable characters as they sort out something terrible from their past. As I said above, I like these kinds of stories and I also don’t mind unlikeable protagonists—I’m a huge fan of books like The Secret History and A Simple Plan—but if you need a character to really latch on to, this might be a tough read for you. The main character is a bit of a wishy-washy ninny; he’s completely unreliable to take a stand and do the right thing lol, and the other characters consist of a drug addict, an aggressive control freak cop, and a guy who’s just a sad sap—his wife runs around on him and embarrasses him, his business was a failure; you just feel bad for the guy yet he didn’t do too much to make me like him. Some of these characters were interesting though, even if their chemistry as supposed best friends wasn’t firmly established.
So I’ve been doing a lot of bitching and complaining, but I actually did like the majority of this book. It was entertaining throughout, and by 2/3 of the way through had a pretty tense buildup going on and I couldn’t put it down. There are also some great scenes here, and times when I had no idea what direction it was going. Overall, there’s nothing particularly unique or groundbreaking here, but most of the book is a good suspense story told well. There are others here that totally disagree with me about the ending, so I would encourage people to check it out for themselves as the book really does seem to be going over well.
And I thought it was a good book. But I didn’t think it was a great book unfortunately.
The book starts off well, pulling me in quickly in the first few chapters, and the story goes on to pick up steam from there. Somewhere in the second half we start getting hints of where this is going, and then Malfi hits us with Flynn-esque twist after twist (which I’m not usually a fan of, though I do like Flynn, figure that one out), and then the ending devolves into a big mess of something.
Malfi starts this book with a “thinking of Peter Straub” dedication, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get excited at this. Peter Straub was a genius, and to even imply you intend your book to be in his vein takes balls. Perhaps he didn’t mean that, it was probably more just an inspiration he had at the time, but I think it’s understandable that some may take that from it, intentional or not. And I have to say, this is not anything close to a Straub novel. It’s just not, but no one can write like Peter Straub could, so that’s okay. However, I do see the Straub influence here, especially in the final chapter, and I certainly appreciate Malfi’s influence.
This book follows a group of mostly unlikeable characters as they sort out something terrible from their past. As I said above, I like these kinds of stories and I also don’t mind unlikeable protagonists—I’m a huge fan of books like The Secret History and A Simple Plan—but if you need a character to really latch on to, this might be a tough read for you. The main character is a bit of a wishy-washy ninny; he’s completely unreliable to take a stand and do the right thing lol, and the other characters consist of a drug addict, an aggressive control freak cop, and a guy who’s just a sad sap—his wife runs around on him and embarrasses him, his business was a failure; you just feel bad for the guy yet he didn’t do too much to make me like him. Some of these characters were interesting though, even if their chemistry as supposed best friends wasn’t firmly established.
So I’ve been doing a lot of bitching and complaining, but I actually did like the majority of this book. It was entertaining throughout, and by 2/3 of the way through had a pretty tense buildup going on and I couldn’t put it down. There are also some great scenes here, and times when I had no idea what direction it was going. Overall, there’s nothing particularly unique or groundbreaking here, but most of the book is a good suspense story told well. There are others here that totally disagree with me about the ending, so I would encourage people to check it out for themselves as the book really does seem to be going over well.
And I thought it was a good book. But I didn’t think it was a great book unfortunately.
June 27, 2024
RTC.
April 15, 2024
It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters that contain reflections on violent crime, the death of an animal, grief, the death of a loved one, body mutilation, substance abuse, & others.
Oh, the rumble of the familiar road. Some form of resemblance to the life once known, a twinge of the dimple engraved in the hollowed false smile, lies the dawn of reparation; the final layer of the beast that is regret. Who is to judge that which causes harm to the wishing & washing of casual daydreams? Sometimes, the ghoul itself will raise its head in a pulsating threat, staring down the reflection it finds in the mirror.
Seldom is more terrifying than that which is comprehensible, attainable, & proximate to the reader. I have stated before that the scariest story is one that reminds the reader of themselves & I remain convinced of this fact after finishing Malfi’s most recent novel.
It is certainly the fangs of reality, those able to pierce the security one pretends to have in this life, that creep & crawl through the mind long after the immortal bat has taken flight. You will find that I repeat myself & that is only to reinforce my point. Readers familiar with my reviews will have heard me praise Malfi before. What you shall read in this review will be nothing new though, my experience with this story adopted new edges & saw me invested without shedding my annoyance, only to leave me surprised that I had come to the conclusion I accepted at the start.
In essence, this is a story about regret. Andrew, the main character, is thirty-five & is living a life he is proud to have achieved. The borderline trite nature of his experiences in Manhattan is cooling to the touch; the lawyer, his wife—the editor, their soon-to-be-born first child, the life of luxury all stemming from the humble beginnings in a town whose name no one knows but which is familiar to readers like a collector’s coin they’ve hidden in the attic.
Andrew returns to his hometown to meet his four friends. Though they have not kept in contact & though it has been, cumulatively twenty years since they engaged in any friendly activity, Andrew returns to engage in his trade in keeping one of his friends out of jail. The rest, as they say, is history.
When I was young, I was quite certain that Horror was not the genre for me, therefore, I distanced myself from the garish covers & tomes lining the shelves of the libraries I frequented. I had enough to deal with, I did not need a reminder of the threat I knew by name. As the years passed, something like comfort grew in me as I poured over books that spoke to me through the pages; the experiences I sheltered, secretly pleading to disappear, transcribed gently via the time-stamped ink of a total stranger, allowed me reprieve. The transition between these two realities was rather more seamless than I am detailing. It never ceases to astound me that the wide world with all its rivers, oceans, mountains, molehills, & prairies, can be so very small as to fit compactly within the binds of a book.
I highlight this personal experience because this story brought me back to the feelings I had towards those early novels. I often wondered why the truth was never spoken or why a character’s guilt allowed them to evade the claws of self-decomposing despair. The convenient ending felt too quaint & I pondered the nature of concluding a story that covets reality with the magical dreamland bonbons of forgiveness & tender healing.
You may think me a pessimist & you may not be entirely wrong. However, this question persisted. It was through many years of life & a gargantuan pile of books that I concluded that the age-old adage was indeed accurate; the sun does, in fact, shine bright & clearest on the unperturbed landscape. Where does that leave the veteran reader?
When coming upon this book, my immediate sentiment was, thrill. After reading “Black Mouth” (2022) by Malfi, I was a fan for life, regardless of whether his books ever impacted me so deeply, ever again. Readers will find in the repertoire of stories that the author crafts the ease of a storyteller’s gift. Certainly, there are plots that pivot the gaze of marvel & in some others, the Leviathan itself seethes through the veins of a foul tale. It is a gift to tell a story; it is a delicate talent to transmit it to others. I would not say that the main character of this story had such talent though, he had little choice but to share or hold his peace, forever.
This is an interesting story & one that devoted readers will clock as the ode to the Titan’s great work, “Ghost Story” (1979) by Peter Straub. Should a reader not have had the opportunity to read about the jaundiced demons intent on revenge, this story will still offer them a sliver of flavour to masticate on, unique in its succulence.
The witching aspect of this story gave me pause. Following everything I’ve said, one would be right to assume that I had a complicated relationship with this story. The opening chapters reminded me so deeply of Straub’s work that I forgave them for the meandering dialogue. I wasn’t necessarily reading because I was invested in Andrew’s personal life or because he may prove to be insightful. Rather, I read this book because I love the sentiment of fear—the most intimate of emotions. The weaving nature of the terror that loomed behind the everyday grief—consequences of a series of horrible decisions—was not something I welcomed.
The Graves family & their history was interesting. I was not seeking a story that would include earnest witchcraft, spells, or ghoulish old women on a murder rampage but, that is what the author has written. My insecurity towards my feelings began to develop early in my reading. At times, I grew hopeful that the plot would be the double-entendre; the morbid nature of a mind that does not rest & the fabulously mystical Grimm Brother’s antagonist in her cottage. Certainly, readers who do not mind one or the other, or even both, will delight. I, on the other hand, found myself conflicted.
Though I appreciated the nature of a real-life villain, one that was always around & one that felt rather quaintly placed in reality, one asks oneself in actually, who it is that is rioting against the cause for colonialism & gentrification? Who can be rooted for? My personal sentiments about the mystique of the old Graves woman did not leave me with unease but, a sulking frown.
Do not mistake me, Malfi paced his story well & the villain was ripe with reason, she was a vigilante whose goal was to murder those who violently killed her child twenty years ago. I understand her plight. While reading about their torment of Robert Graves I too found my sympathy waning. The group of friends vandalized the Graves house, nearly setting it on fire, then shot a firework through Robert Graves' eye socket, leaving him to drown after shooting off the side of a cliff. Is a reader meant to root for these characters?
In some sense, I believe that Malfi played on my secret desire to read a story that did not offer a calming ending. The characters did not experience reprieve & rather, their tar tore each other apart, leaving one after the other for the vultures to devour.
Will readers believe that each character was treated with the consequence, torment, guilt, & terror that they deserved? I cannot say that I feel that each member of the group received what they merited. In the original situation, wherein Robert Graves was murdered by negligence, assault & battery, not every member of the group acted in an equal fashion.
Here the reader may need to call upon their mature experiences to deconstruct the setting. An innocent life was taken because a group of teenagers were spoilt, deeply ignorant of how closely death walks in step with each of us, & they held a deep inability to gauge the legal consequences of manslaughter.
Tig did not pay for the death of Robert Graves. She grovelled for forgiveness & was set free whereas Andrew was left in a coma following a car crash. Meach was murdered by Eric, & Dale was murdered by Eric; can these be considered as penance paid or, the easy way out?
What was it that the Graves Witch wished to inflict? If one is pondering her motive to act twenty years after Robert’s death it may be as simple as her knowing that her time is nearing a close or, perhaps she has seen how well the lives of those responsible have become & felt it her calling to act now, though, this is not altogether true since Tig is experiencing very serious financial insecurity & Meach is suffering from physical illness & addiction. Neither of these characters acted as violently as Eric & Dale—who, in my opinion, are the true antagonists. Though I would not state that Andrew is innocent, I am not sure whether he deserved to be in the cellar of his mind’s horror for the rest of time.
The cowardice that took place across the pages, as was exhibited by each character left me to wonder how this same situation may play out for anyone in real life. The answers one looks for, those that may set us free from the guilt we hold for our actions, are rarely found in this lifetime. Andrew became a shadow of his potential because the people he was close with were responsible for the death of another teenager. Does this make him the evil mastermind? Should he have told Rebecca that he knew what happened to her brother? What is altered by telling the truth?
I found Andrew to be a compelling narrator only because he was so simple. His goal was to escape, no matter the consequences or the toll it took, yet at every turn he made the most ignorantly banal decisions. I found myself curious only because he was so silly. Readers observe Andrew deciding to live in a house that is infested with flies; a house that has a possible sewer leak; a house that is without basic amenities for reasons he never makes clear. What would have led him to be comfortable with living with all of these things, let alone one? It would not have been unusual for him to choose to sleep in his car rather than lay in a bed that was swarming with flies.
Andrew’s senseless behaviour persisted throughout the story. He engaged with Eric who was surely culpable of the First Degree; he sat with Dale as he lied straight to his face; he went back to his hometown knowing how little gumption he held in his person. Why did he do this?
When analyzing the behaviour exhibited by Andrew one may wonder at his reasoning. I suppose it might be as straightforward as to state that he is not a complex person, nor he is very smart, or well-rounded; he’s a man who went to law school & married the sister of a boy he left for dead. The rest is background noise.
Reading about the absurd decisions that Andrew was intent on making left me frustrated. I kept hoping that something more would happen that would leave him shocked & electrocuted to the world around him like a strike from the sky. In some ways, I felt that there was something he was not communicating to the reader, something that left this story wanting altogether. What was the point in all of this? Why did Tig murder Cynthia? Why did she attack her with an ashtray? Tig has worked in a bar her whole life, she would have known, or even seen, the repercussions of an ashtray thrown in anger. Why did Tig lean on Dale & his unspoken love of her to get her off Scott-free while Dale died?
In an ideal world, readers may consume this story & judge the characters for their actions. Readers may wonder why none of the characters made different choices Why did none of the characters go to the police & why did they not tell the truth? Based solely on the cold written word of the law, Dale is to blame for Robert’s death & the others may be tried as accessories to the fact. Had they called for help immediately Robert may have been blind, but it is not a certainty that he would have died due to his injury caused by the firework. Leaving him for dead secured their fate, each character is responsible for his death. Would calling a first responder have prevented any of the events that took place?
Had Eric’s father not been a police officer or the sheriff, I may be inclined to believe that real life would swoop into the story & the group of friends be made to suffer the consequences of a wishy-washy justice system. One could ponder the probabilities all day, my point is that no consideration was given & in their adulthood the characters believed it their right to take justice into their own hands, leaving each other for dead.
My favourite part of this book was the scene in the Motel. By this point in the book, I knew who the cold-blooded killer was & I knew who relied on their self-secured ignorance to wade the tides of criminal activity. I was sure that Rebecca was Robert’s sister & I was sure that the parents of the group, had done what was in their abilities to safeguard their children from the law. What I wanted from this story was for it to spell out how morbid the lives of these characters were. I wanted the narrator to make clear to the reader all of the terrible things that happened leading up to the horror the reader encountered but, it did not offer any of this.
Instead, the Motel allowed readers to ponder the nature of the story they were reading. Is time linear or, did Andrew act as a voice to young Meach? Was Meach’s psychosis as entrenched as his friends believed or was, he suffering the repercussions of untreated addiction? Why was Bonnie sleepwalking? Why did the Graves Witch include Bonnie as a vessel for the torment? How were Bonnie & Cynthia beckoned in sleep to wander the town? Did Eric’s father remain physically abusive or did his behaviour extend into other forms? Why did Eric’s father commit suicide?
Ultimately, I think what made this story enjoyable was the ending. There was no resolution, no happiness, no final hurrah to forgive & live a life worthy of existence. The characters, each in their own way, suffered a fate that they created for themselves.
It is unkind to say that Meach deserved his addiction & it is cruel to say that the innocent life of Robert Graves merited a torturous end. Neither of these individuals were granted freedom for what befell them. I will not sit & write out how much better Meach is now that he is free because I do not know that his soul could rest, floating around a room carved out of the flesh of lies, terror, & sorrow.
The familiarity of this plot spoke softly to the reader, the shadowed carcass of the deceased, the vultures, the shadow man, & burning figure of desecration in the drywall; the paralysis, the nightmares, the loved ones lost, the group's secret, the small town, the stories, the lies. It is up to the reader, depending on the day & the hour, whether they feel that these glimmering notes of an ode sung to the departed whisper a tune worthy of the Serpent himself.
In dreams, the nightmare fuel of walking through rays of sunlight is made clear, cruel, & staunchly vivid, to the suffering soul who has thrown away the key to their salvation. Meriting a second’s glance is the accessory; the sorcerer whose spell is in the living creatures who suffer the magic cast with intent to harm. May the souls of the birds whose necks were snapped & whose bellies sliced open, be free in skies unincumbered by torrential rain & human horror.
Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, & Ronald Malfi for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
Oh, the rumble of the familiar road. Some form of resemblance to the life once known, a twinge of the dimple engraved in the hollowed false smile, lies the dawn of reparation; the final layer of the beast that is regret. Who is to judge that which causes harm to the wishing & washing of casual daydreams? Sometimes, the ghoul itself will raise its head in a pulsating threat, staring down the reflection it finds in the mirror.
Seldom is more terrifying than that which is comprehensible, attainable, & proximate to the reader. I have stated before that the scariest story is one that reminds the reader of themselves & I remain convinced of this fact after finishing Malfi’s most recent novel.
It is certainly the fangs of reality, those able to pierce the security one pretends to have in this life, that creep & crawl through the mind long after the immortal bat has taken flight. You will find that I repeat myself & that is only to reinforce my point. Readers familiar with my reviews will have heard me praise Malfi before. What you shall read in this review will be nothing new though, my experience with this story adopted new edges & saw me invested without shedding my annoyance, only to leave me surprised that I had come to the conclusion I accepted at the start.
In essence, this is a story about regret. Andrew, the main character, is thirty-five & is living a life he is proud to have achieved. The borderline trite nature of his experiences in Manhattan is cooling to the touch; the lawyer, his wife—the editor, their soon-to-be-born first child, the life of luxury all stemming from the humble beginnings in a town whose name no one knows but which is familiar to readers like a collector’s coin they’ve hidden in the attic.
Andrew returns to his hometown to meet his four friends. Though they have not kept in contact & though it has been, cumulatively twenty years since they engaged in any friendly activity, Andrew returns to engage in his trade in keeping one of his friends out of jail. The rest, as they say, is history.
When I was young, I was quite certain that Horror was not the genre for me, therefore, I distanced myself from the garish covers & tomes lining the shelves of the libraries I frequented. I had enough to deal with, I did not need a reminder of the threat I knew by name. As the years passed, something like comfort grew in me as I poured over books that spoke to me through the pages; the experiences I sheltered, secretly pleading to disappear, transcribed gently via the time-stamped ink of a total stranger, allowed me reprieve. The transition between these two realities was rather more seamless than I am detailing. It never ceases to astound me that the wide world with all its rivers, oceans, mountains, molehills, & prairies, can be so very small as to fit compactly within the binds of a book.
I highlight this personal experience because this story brought me back to the feelings I had towards those early novels. I often wondered why the truth was never spoken or why a character’s guilt allowed them to evade the claws of self-decomposing despair. The convenient ending felt too quaint & I pondered the nature of concluding a story that covets reality with the magical dreamland bonbons of forgiveness & tender healing.
You may think me a pessimist & you may not be entirely wrong. However, this question persisted. It was through many years of life & a gargantuan pile of books that I concluded that the age-old adage was indeed accurate; the sun does, in fact, shine bright & clearest on the unperturbed landscape. Where does that leave the veteran reader?
When coming upon this book, my immediate sentiment was, thrill. After reading “Black Mouth” (2022) by Malfi, I was a fan for life, regardless of whether his books ever impacted me so deeply, ever again. Readers will find in the repertoire of stories that the author crafts the ease of a storyteller’s gift. Certainly, there are plots that pivot the gaze of marvel & in some others, the Leviathan itself seethes through the veins of a foul tale. It is a gift to tell a story; it is a delicate talent to transmit it to others. I would not say that the main character of this story had such talent though, he had little choice but to share or hold his peace, forever.
This is an interesting story & one that devoted readers will clock as the ode to the Titan’s great work, “Ghost Story” (1979) by Peter Straub. Should a reader not have had the opportunity to read about the jaundiced demons intent on revenge, this story will still offer them a sliver of flavour to masticate on, unique in its succulence.
The witching aspect of this story gave me pause. Following everything I’ve said, one would be right to assume that I had a complicated relationship with this story. The opening chapters reminded me so deeply of Straub’s work that I forgave them for the meandering dialogue. I wasn’t necessarily reading because I was invested in Andrew’s personal life or because he may prove to be insightful. Rather, I read this book because I love the sentiment of fear—the most intimate of emotions. The weaving nature of the terror that loomed behind the everyday grief—consequences of a series of horrible decisions—was not something I welcomed.
The Graves family & their history was interesting. I was not seeking a story that would include earnest witchcraft, spells, or ghoulish old women on a murder rampage but, that is what the author has written. My insecurity towards my feelings began to develop early in my reading. At times, I grew hopeful that the plot would be the double-entendre; the morbid nature of a mind that does not rest & the fabulously mystical Grimm Brother’s antagonist in her cottage. Certainly, readers who do not mind one or the other, or even both, will delight. I, on the other hand, found myself conflicted.
Though I appreciated the nature of a real-life villain, one that was always around & one that felt rather quaintly placed in reality, one asks oneself in actually, who it is that is rioting against the cause for colonialism & gentrification? Who can be rooted for? My personal sentiments about the mystique of the old Graves woman did not leave me with unease but, a sulking frown.
Do not mistake me, Malfi paced his story well & the villain was ripe with reason, she was a vigilante whose goal was to murder those who violently killed her child twenty years ago. I understand her plight. While reading about their torment of Robert Graves I too found my sympathy waning. The group of friends vandalized the Graves house, nearly setting it on fire, then shot a firework through Robert Graves' eye socket, leaving him to drown after shooting off the side of a cliff. Is a reader meant to root for these characters?
In some sense, I believe that Malfi played on my secret desire to read a story that did not offer a calming ending. The characters did not experience reprieve & rather, their tar tore each other apart, leaving one after the other for the vultures to devour.
Will readers believe that each character was treated with the consequence, torment, guilt, & terror that they deserved? I cannot say that I feel that each member of the group received what they merited. In the original situation, wherein Robert Graves was murdered by negligence, assault & battery, not every member of the group acted in an equal fashion.
Here the reader may need to call upon their mature experiences to deconstruct the setting. An innocent life was taken because a group of teenagers were spoilt, deeply ignorant of how closely death walks in step with each of us, & they held a deep inability to gauge the legal consequences of manslaughter.
Tig did not pay for the death of Robert Graves. She grovelled for forgiveness & was set free whereas Andrew was left in a coma following a car crash. Meach was murdered by Eric, & Dale was murdered by Eric; can these be considered as penance paid or, the easy way out?
What was it that the Graves Witch wished to inflict? If one is pondering her motive to act twenty years after Robert’s death it may be as simple as her knowing that her time is nearing a close or, perhaps she has seen how well the lives of those responsible have become & felt it her calling to act now, though, this is not altogether true since Tig is experiencing very serious financial insecurity & Meach is suffering from physical illness & addiction. Neither of these characters acted as violently as Eric & Dale—who, in my opinion, are the true antagonists. Though I would not state that Andrew is innocent, I am not sure whether he deserved to be in the cellar of his mind’s horror for the rest of time.
The cowardice that took place across the pages, as was exhibited by each character left me to wonder how this same situation may play out for anyone in real life. The answers one looks for, those that may set us free from the guilt we hold for our actions, are rarely found in this lifetime. Andrew became a shadow of his potential because the people he was close with were responsible for the death of another teenager. Does this make him the evil mastermind? Should he have told Rebecca that he knew what happened to her brother? What is altered by telling the truth?
I found Andrew to be a compelling narrator only because he was so simple. His goal was to escape, no matter the consequences or the toll it took, yet at every turn he made the most ignorantly banal decisions. I found myself curious only because he was so silly. Readers observe Andrew deciding to live in a house that is infested with flies; a house that has a possible sewer leak; a house that is without basic amenities for reasons he never makes clear. What would have led him to be comfortable with living with all of these things, let alone one? It would not have been unusual for him to choose to sleep in his car rather than lay in a bed that was swarming with flies.
Andrew’s senseless behaviour persisted throughout the story. He engaged with Eric who was surely culpable of the First Degree; he sat with Dale as he lied straight to his face; he went back to his hometown knowing how little gumption he held in his person. Why did he do this?
When analyzing the behaviour exhibited by Andrew one may wonder at his reasoning. I suppose it might be as straightforward as to state that he is not a complex person, nor he is very smart, or well-rounded; he’s a man who went to law school & married the sister of a boy he left for dead. The rest is background noise.
Reading about the absurd decisions that Andrew was intent on making left me frustrated. I kept hoping that something more would happen that would leave him shocked & electrocuted to the world around him like a strike from the sky. In some ways, I felt that there was something he was not communicating to the reader, something that left this story wanting altogether. What was the point in all of this? Why did Tig murder Cynthia? Why did she attack her with an ashtray? Tig has worked in a bar her whole life, she would have known, or even seen, the repercussions of an ashtray thrown in anger. Why did Tig lean on Dale & his unspoken love of her to get her off Scott-free while Dale died?
In an ideal world, readers may consume this story & judge the characters for their actions. Readers may wonder why none of the characters made different choices Why did none of the characters go to the police & why did they not tell the truth? Based solely on the cold written word of the law, Dale is to blame for Robert’s death & the others may be tried as accessories to the fact. Had they called for help immediately Robert may have been blind, but it is not a certainty that he would have died due to his injury caused by the firework. Leaving him for dead secured their fate, each character is responsible for his death. Would calling a first responder have prevented any of the events that took place?
Had Eric’s father not been a police officer or the sheriff, I may be inclined to believe that real life would swoop into the story & the group of friends be made to suffer the consequences of a wishy-washy justice system. One could ponder the probabilities all day, my point is that no consideration was given & in their adulthood the characters believed it their right to take justice into their own hands, leaving each other for dead.
My favourite part of this book was the scene in the Motel. By this point in the book, I knew who the cold-blooded killer was & I knew who relied on their self-secured ignorance to wade the tides of criminal activity. I was sure that Rebecca was Robert’s sister & I was sure that the parents of the group, had done what was in their abilities to safeguard their children from the law. What I wanted from this story was for it to spell out how morbid the lives of these characters were. I wanted the narrator to make clear to the reader all of the terrible things that happened leading up to the horror the reader encountered but, it did not offer any of this.
Instead, the Motel allowed readers to ponder the nature of the story they were reading. Is time linear or, did Andrew act as a voice to young Meach? Was Meach’s psychosis as entrenched as his friends believed or was, he suffering the repercussions of untreated addiction? Why was Bonnie sleepwalking? Why did the Graves Witch include Bonnie as a vessel for the torment? How were Bonnie & Cynthia beckoned in sleep to wander the town? Did Eric’s father remain physically abusive or did his behaviour extend into other forms? Why did Eric’s father commit suicide?
Ultimately, I think what made this story enjoyable was the ending. There was no resolution, no happiness, no final hurrah to forgive & live a life worthy of existence. The characters, each in their own way, suffered a fate that they created for themselves.
It is unkind to say that Meach deserved his addiction & it is cruel to say that the innocent life of Robert Graves merited a torturous end. Neither of these individuals were granted freedom for what befell them. I will not sit & write out how much better Meach is now that he is free because I do not know that his soul could rest, floating around a room carved out of the flesh of lies, terror, & sorrow.
The familiarity of this plot spoke softly to the reader, the shadowed carcass of the deceased, the vultures, the shadow man, & burning figure of desecration in the drywall; the paralysis, the nightmares, the loved ones lost, the group's secret, the small town, the stories, the lies. It is up to the reader, depending on the day & the hour, whether they feel that these glimmering notes of an ode sung to the departed whisper a tune worthy of the Serpent himself.
In dreams, the nightmare fuel of walking through rays of sunlight is made clear, cruel, & staunchly vivid, to the suffering soul who has thrown away the key to their salvation. Meriting a second’s glance is the accessory; the sorcerer whose spell is in the living creatures who suffer the magic cast with intent to harm. May the souls of the birds whose necks were snapped & whose bellies sliced open, be free in skies unincumbered by torrential rain & human horror.
Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, & Ronald Malfi for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 11, 2024
F*ck yes. Thank you, Ronald Malfi. This was a damn good ghost story. Loved the setting and atmosphere. It felt suffocating at times. I enjoyed getting to know the group of five friends who did something horrible in their childhood. Everything just kept getting worse for them and I loved it. Very bleak and haunting ending. Highly recommend.
March 29, 2024
This novel takes a familiar premise, ratches the horrors up a couple of notches, adds some "wtf-just-happened" twists and delivers what is going to be one of the best horror books of the year.
This premise might sound like something you've read before: a group of five friends are involved in a fatal accident as teens and vow to never speak of it ever again. Twenty years later, as they all gather in their hometown near the anniversary of this tragic event, they must fight a supernatural curse if they want to survive.
Sounds like a common trope, right? Ha! This is Ronald Malfi we're talking about and I can assure you his writing is anything but common.
This novel is a maze of terror that leads us in a familiar comfortable direction until the course changes all of a sudden, leaving us in a dark unknown space trying to find our way home.
It's deliciously deceptive. Hitting all the beats of a small town horror book with some added gusto. But then...THEN...in the final part of the book, everything changes. Starting with a revelation that absolutely floored me. I knew then that what I thought I had read previously had just changed horrifically. There were going to be no happy ending and things just got a whole lot darker and twisted.
I was right but the hits just kept coming after that and had me glued to the pages as if a umbilical cord was attached to my eyes and the book.
This one is going to blow you away and I would dare say it's a game changer for what small town horror can be. I highly recommend it. Do not hesitate to read.
I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
This premise might sound like something you've read before: a group of five friends are involved in a fatal accident as teens and vow to never speak of it ever again. Twenty years later, as they all gather in their hometown near the anniversary of this tragic event, they must fight a supernatural curse if they want to survive.
Sounds like a common trope, right? Ha! This is Ronald Malfi we're talking about and I can assure you his writing is anything but common.
This novel is a maze of terror that leads us in a familiar comfortable direction until the course changes all of a sudden, leaving us in a dark unknown space trying to find our way home.
It's deliciously deceptive. Hitting all the beats of a small town horror book with some added gusto. But then...THEN...in the final part of the book, everything changes. Starting with a revelation that absolutely floored me. I knew then that what I thought I had read previously had just changed horrifically. There were going to be no happy ending and things just got a whole lot darker and twisted.
I was right but the hits just kept coming after that and had me glued to the pages as if a umbilical cord was attached to my eyes and the book.
This one is going to blow you away and I would dare say it's a game changer for what small town horror can be. I highly recommend it. Do not hesitate to read.
I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley with no consideration. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
July 8, 2024
Small Town Horror
By Ronald Malfi
Blurb:
Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.
✨ My thoughts:
Holy F, Holy F, Holy F! I loved this book so much. Completely immersive and chilling, I couldn’t read it fast enough. I honestly can’t believe this is the first book I’ve read by Ronald Malfi, I am so tardy to the party, but fear not! I have already started my second book and all of the others are in my TBR. I audibly gasped several times while reading this book and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I’ve finished it. My goodness was this story exactly what I needed in my life, chefs freaking kiss!! It’s atmospheric, creepy, sinister… dreadful… all in the best way! Definitely one of my favorites of 2024, the perfect read for summerween, and one that’ll permanently set your mood for spooky season. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK.
Happy reading 📖
By Ronald Malfi
Blurb:
Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.
✨ My thoughts:
Holy F, Holy F, Holy F! I loved this book so much. Completely immersive and chilling, I couldn’t read it fast enough. I honestly can’t believe this is the first book I’ve read by Ronald Malfi, I am so tardy to the party, but fear not! I have already started my second book and all of the others are in my TBR. I audibly gasped several times while reading this book and I haven’t stopped thinking about it since I’ve finished it. My goodness was this story exactly what I needed in my life, chefs freaking kiss!! It’s atmospheric, creepy, sinister… dreadful… all in the best way! Definitely one of my favorites of 2024, the perfect read for summerween, and one that’ll permanently set your mood for spooky season. Do yourself a favor and READ THIS BOOK.
Happy reading 📖
March 5, 2024
Never have I ever posted three times about a book that hasn't even been published yet. Never have I ever preordered a book 8 months before its scheduled publication date. And now I must drink if we're playing that game because this is my third post and I did order it in October even though it's not coming out until June and you're going to want to do the same.
Andrew has already been troubled by a constant pervasive worry over his wife and their unborn child. A phone call from a former friend summoning him back to his hometown only increases his anxiety. Feeling as if he has no choice, he lies to his wife and heads to his childhood home. Is it karma or witchcraft that reunites these former best friends? Are they haunted by a ghost or is it their guilt?
Secrets are revealed slowly at first but just as I thought I knew everything there was to know I could almost hear the author say BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! as the final bombshells nearly had my heart in my throat.
Small Town Horror was everything I could possibly want in a chilling, spooky read. Told on two timelines it is both a coming-of-age tale of five childhood friends and a story of the consequences that plague them as adults who have kept a shocking secret for longer than anyone could hope to get away with.
In my humble opinion, it is Ronald Malfi's best work to date.
5 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Titan Books.
Andrew has already been troubled by a constant pervasive worry over his wife and their unborn child. A phone call from a former friend summoning him back to his hometown only increases his anxiety. Feeling as if he has no choice, he lies to his wife and heads to his childhood home. Is it karma or witchcraft that reunites these former best friends? Are they haunted by a ghost or is it their guilt?
Secrets are revealed slowly at first but just as I thought I knew everything there was to know I could almost hear the author say BUT WAIT THERE'S MORE! as the final bombshells nearly had my heart in my throat.
Small Town Horror was everything I could possibly want in a chilling, spooky read. Told on two timelines it is both a coming-of-age tale of five childhood friends and a story of the consequences that plague them as adults who have kept a shocking secret for longer than anyone could hope to get away with.
In my humble opinion, it is Ronald Malfi's best work to date.
5 out of 5 stars
My thanks to Titan Books.
June 3, 2024
Nearly twenty years after an unexpected incident, Andrew Larimer receives a phone call from his former friend Dale summoning him back to their hometown and the secret that has lain buried.
Small Town Horror is riveting examination of how guilt, regret, secrets and trauma can fester and how injustice can perpetuate further injustice. From a descent into paranoia and drug addiction, to bearing an inexplicable and pervasive dread, to becoming a mirror of a person who abused you, Meach, Andrew, Eric, Dale and Tig all suffer for their misdeed.
Told from two perspectives-the past before and directly following the incident and then the present-the writing is vivid and lyrical. One could almost hear the faint buzzing of far too many flies or smell a hint of fireworks or an oppressive putrescence.
While the novel is a slow burn, I was on the edge of my proverbial seat as the tension mounted and I almost even threw the book in shock on one occasion. I also enjoyed the ambiguous nature of the supernatural occurrences, as some experiences could be explained as the mind’s response to the guilt and massive stress each character was experiencing.
The ending however, was incredible. Seeing everything unravel and how moments of previous foreshadowing fell into place was both rewarding and horrifying.
I will certainly be considering this novel for quite awhile.
Thank you to Titan Books for providing this ARC. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
Small Town Horror is riveting examination of how guilt, regret, secrets and trauma can fester and how injustice can perpetuate further injustice. From a descent into paranoia and drug addiction, to bearing an inexplicable and pervasive dread, to becoming a mirror of a person who abused you, Meach, Andrew, Eric, Dale and Tig all suffer for their misdeed.
Told from two perspectives-the past before and directly following the incident and then the present-the writing is vivid and lyrical. One could almost hear the faint buzzing of far too many flies or smell a hint of fireworks or an oppressive putrescence.
While the novel is a slow burn, I was on the edge of my proverbial seat as the tension mounted and I almost even threw the book in shock on one occasion. I also enjoyed the ambiguous nature of the supernatural occurrences, as some experiences could be explained as the mind’s response to the guilt and massive stress each character was experiencing.
The ending however, was incredible. Seeing everything unravel and how moments of previous foreshadowing fell into place was both rewarding and horrifying.
I will certainly be considering this novel for quite awhile.
Thank you to Titan Books for providing this ARC. All opinions expressed are solely my own.
July 21, 2024
Potentially my favourite Malfi?? Simply everything worked for me! The atmosphere, the setting, the plot, the characters, the writing, the spooky vibes… I was kept ON MY TOES. Small Town Horror is about five childhood friends who must face their past and the curse placed upon them. A common trope in horror books, but this felt so fresh! It was bleak, haunting and perfectly paced. Thank you @titanbooks for the review copy! 5 stars
April 15, 2024
Remember all of 2023, when I raved about “Come With Me” by @ronaldmalfi? Well, let me introduce you to the 2024 Malfi that I will be talking about from here on out. I am OBSESSED. This book gave me whiplash and I don’t think I’ll ever be same. The characters, the location, the dread, THE ENDING! I mean, COME ON! 🤌🏻
Read this.
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀/5
Thank you @netgalley and @titanbooks for the arc in exchange for my honest review. Pub date: 6/4
Read this.
💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀💀/5
Thank you @netgalley and @titanbooks for the arc in exchange for my honest review. Pub date: 6/4
July 5, 2024
I received a gifted copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review via the publishers.
Small Town Horror I'd a dark, atmospheric, creepy book with an ending to make your head spin.
We follow Andrew, who's been summoned back to his hometown by one of his childhood friends. Hoping to have left this part of his life behind, Andrew returns home to his father's house after his last visit several years ago upon the death of his father. When he sees his old friends again, they all have strange occurances to tell him about. But Andrew doesn't believe in ghosts, at least not at first.
The twists and turns in this book were amazing, and I never guessed the occurances at the end of the book. The ending gave me Stranger Things vibes mixed with Stephen King. This book kept me up reading it all night, and I flew through it in record time. This is my first book by this author, and I'm desperate to devour his backlist of books!
Small Town Horror I'd a dark, atmospheric, creepy book with an ending to make your head spin.
We follow Andrew, who's been summoned back to his hometown by one of his childhood friends. Hoping to have left this part of his life behind, Andrew returns home to his father's house after his last visit several years ago upon the death of his father. When he sees his old friends again, they all have strange occurances to tell him about. But Andrew doesn't believe in ghosts, at least not at first.
The twists and turns in this book were amazing, and I never guessed the occurances at the end of the book. The ending gave me Stranger Things vibes mixed with Stephen King. This book kept me up reading it all night, and I flew through it in record time. This is my first book by this author, and I'm desperate to devour his backlist of books!
May 27, 2024
An astonishing read from the very first page.
My words cannot express how great this book was. I wish I had the flair and eloquence Ronald Mafli displays within these pages, to then be able to do this book justice in my review.
What I will say is that if you want an intense, well drawn supernatural story to read then this is for you.
Superb!!
More to come once I manage to fully process my thoughts on this excellent book.
My words cannot express how great this book was. I wish I had the flair and eloquence Ronald Mafli displays within these pages, to then be able to do this book justice in my review.
What I will say is that if you want an intense, well drawn supernatural story to read then this is for you.
Superb!!
More to come once I manage to fully process my thoughts on this excellent book.
June 26, 2024
Ronald Malfi brings us an incredible, dread inducing, character study of five friends returning to the sight of an awful incident. Andrew Larimer is an attorney in New York whose wife is ready to give birth but a late night phone call pulls him back to his hometown to face the past he fled from in Kingsport Maryland. I couldn’t put this book down, and Malfi is brilliant at giving us only so much that we find it impossible to stop. I was out in public reading this and when the HUGE twist is revealed I audibly gasped!! I didn’t see it coming, and the ending was incredibly heartbreaking. I loved this story so much, his characters and their relationships were so real. If you loved Stephen King’s It, you will adore this book!
July 22, 2024
I already know I’m going to love this.
Edit: I was right. This was amazing.
This book was phenomenal. The imagery combined with Malfi's master storytelling kept me awake at night.
The trauma this group of friends face is tremendous and the consequences of the past they have tried tirelessly to bury has finally come to light.
If you want a book that will make you feel deeply uncomfortable and wanting more all in one go, this is the book for you.
I will never not read a Ronald Malfi book.
5/5
Edit: I was right. This was amazing.
This book was phenomenal. The imagery combined with Malfi's master storytelling kept me awake at night.
The trauma this group of friends face is tremendous and the consequences of the past they have tried tirelessly to bury has finally come to light.
If you want a book that will make you feel deeply uncomfortable and wanting more all in one go, this is the book for you.
I will never not read a Ronald Malfi book.
5/5
July 9, 2024
Five unlikeable teens do a bad thing one 4th of July evening.
Twenty years later five unlikeable adults come together once again because karma is a bitch.
A slow crawl of a novel of how guilt upends one's life, or not, as one seems not to be too bothered by the ordeal.
When you mess with the resident witch guilt is the least of your worries.
Odd things begin to happen to each as the twenty year mark of that fateful night draws near.
Bad dreams, sleep walking, a flooded basement, a multitude of flies, a few turkey vultures, and perhaps even a ghostly presence are just a few of the things plaguing these wrong doers.
This didn't pick up for me until near the end.
These characters are only tethered together due to their deed.
I didn't like them and they didn't like each other. And that was okay.
The pacing was off for me but yet I hung on every word. Because, Malfi.
I may have got a better pay off if this had a lesser page count.
I just thought there was way too much minutiae to wade through for my liking.
The ending was expected in an unexpected way. I liked it.
My mother always told me if I monkey around with fireworks, I'll blow my eye out. So far, I have both eyes.
Robert however......
Twenty years later five unlikeable adults come together once again because karma is a bitch.
A slow crawl of a novel of how guilt upends one's life, or not, as one seems not to be too bothered by the ordeal.
When you mess with the resident witch guilt is the least of your worries.
Odd things begin to happen to each as the twenty year mark of that fateful night draws near.
Bad dreams, sleep walking, a flooded basement, a multitude of flies, a few turkey vultures, and perhaps even a ghostly presence are just a few of the things plaguing these wrong doers.
This didn't pick up for me until near the end.
These characters are only tethered together due to their deed.
I didn't like them and they didn't like each other. And that was okay.
The pacing was off for me but yet I hung on every word. Because, Malfi.
I may have got a better pay off if this had a lesser page count.
I just thought there was way too much minutiae to wade through for my liking.
The ending was expected in an unexpected way. I liked it.
My mother always told me if I monkey around with fireworks, I'll blow my eye out. So far, I have both eyes.
Robert however......
April 17, 2024
Thank you to Netgalley for giving me the opportunity to read Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi.
Small Town Horror was absolutely phenomenal. It is my top read of 2024 so far and also top over everything I read in 2023. There are certain books you read in your life that you always come back to, always think about and will always stay with you. This is one of those books. This is my first time reading a novel by this author and his writing is excellent. The voice of this book and the descriptions allowed me to watch a full movie in my mind. This book is so spooky, atmospheric, haunting and is truly what my worse nightmares are made of. The last few pages... Wow. I am so thankful I had a chance to read this ARC and I look forward to reading more from Ronald Malfi. I don't see how any other book I read this year will top this one for me. It was just that good.
The main character Andrew got a call from an old friend that asked him to come back to his home town. It was a cryptic call and he knew he had to go home. Andrew left his home town many years ago and never wanted to look back. Andrew and his four friends have a secret.. one that can destroy everything and one he will soon have to confront.
5 stars!! Wish I could give it more. This book will be published June 4th.
Small Town Horror was absolutely phenomenal. It is my top read of 2024 so far and also top over everything I read in 2023. There are certain books you read in your life that you always come back to, always think about and will always stay with you. This is one of those books. This is my first time reading a novel by this author and his writing is excellent. The voice of this book and the descriptions allowed me to watch a full movie in my mind. This book is so spooky, atmospheric, haunting and is truly what my worse nightmares are made of. The last few pages... Wow. I am so thankful I had a chance to read this ARC and I look forward to reading more from Ronald Malfi. I don't see how any other book I read this year will top this one for me. It was just that good.
The main character Andrew got a call from an old friend that asked him to come back to his home town. It was a cryptic call and he knew he had to go home. Andrew left his home town many years ago and never wanted to look back. Andrew and his four friends have a secret.. one that can destroy everything and one he will soon have to confront.
5 stars!! Wish I could give it more. This book will be published June 4th.
June 16, 2024
An amazing book, definitely one of Malfis best, a take of vengeance and innocence lost. Was captivated from page one, it showed how dark horror can get without the need for body horror. A real treat, highly recommended 5 stars
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