My Five Word TL:DR Review : Ominously Creepy and Darkly Atmospheric

Small Town Horror is my first read for ‘Summer of Horror’.

Unsurprisingly Small Town Horror is written really well, Malfi can certainly set a scene, so well in fact that the setting feeds the anticipation.  He has a wonderful way with words that just gives you a prickle on the back of your neck and makes you glance apprehensively into the shadows of the room where you’re reading.  I’ve read and loved already two of his books and so was super excited for this one.  

Small Town Horror is a story of two halves.  One, five young people, in the height of their youth, getting up to hijinx until things go horribly wrong – think ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ – for a loose idea of what to expect.  The second half brings these five people back together years later to face a series of chilling intrigues.  

This is a book of consequences, it’s a dark and chilling read and there is little of forgiveness or redemption among these pages.

So, Andrew Larimer is one of those friends.  He’s managed to escape the small town where he was brought up and is now a successful attorney with a wife and a baby on the way.  Then he gets a phone call from an old friend who needs help and he returns to his childhood home, a place he hasn’t visited since his father died.

The story is told in two timelines.  We follow the friends as they build up for a double celebration, a birthday and 4th July.  We then jump forward to the present day.  This is an old and tested method and a way of storytelling that I particularly enjoy.  We get to witness the difference between the characters as the years have passed and also see the impact that their actions have had upon them.  Something that they all have in common is a feeling of ultimate doom, like they’ve all simply been waiting for something bad to happen.  Dale’s wife has gone missing and he’s the prime suspect, he has a serious drink problem and is seeing things in the dark.  Eric has become the local police chief, he is married with a family and this ultimately gives him this heightened sense of needing to pull out all the stops to protect what he has.  Meach suffers with drug addiction.  He is haunted (literally) by the past and can’t escape the guilt.  Tig runs a local bar and diner, she has a young daughter who seems to be acting quite unusually, sleepwalking and getting into dangerous situations.  Are they all cursed, or has the guilt simply got too much.

Now, all of this is built up gradually, all the while we have this small town feel, the sense of overall dilapidation and negativity.  Then throw into the mix the local witch – that one woman who is plagued because she’s different and doesn’t fit the norm.  And, Andrew’s childhood home also plays a strange part – it’s full of flies, the cellar is flooded with dark brackish water that steadily rises each day and someone has been squatting.  It’s really creepy, I couldn’t actually believe that he could even sleep in the house, particularly with the eerie feeling of being watched.

What I really liked about this.  The absolute sense of dread and horror.  Malfi is fantastic at making you feel fear as you read.  One example, Andrew, before he returns to his hometown, he’s in the bedroom one night, his wife taking a shower, when he becomes aware that he’s not alone, something is watching him from the shadows, something that begins to retreat slowly once it realises it has been noticed.  Okay, I’m not a writer so I can’t do that scene justice but it gave me a serious case of the heebies.  I found myself looking round the room into the dark corners.  And  this sense of creepiness keeps on and is increased by the general feeling of foreboding.  

There’s also the mystery of what actually happened on ‘that night’.  It’s one of those situations that is just staggering, and shattering.  The sort of occurence that would make you repeatedly ask ‘if only’.  It was captivating, of course you have an idea of what is going to happen, but at the same time you’re almost racing forward to find out what the big reveal is.

In the present day there’s also the mystery of the missing wife.  Dale’s wife had been acting very strangely for some time and you could see why the police would have no hesitation in suspecting him of wanting to put a stop to her shenanigans.  The situation is placing Dale under enormous stress and there is always the potential that he will give away secrets.

The other thing I really liked was the sense of anticipation and the build up of atmosphere as we head to the finale.

Also, there is a twist that I really didn’t see coming.

In terms of criticisms.  Well, even now, as I write this review, I just don’t know how I feel about the ending.  It was definitely a surprise.  Everything went a little crazy and it all felt so abrupt, and a little sad.  I think it was perhaps a bit of a shock and in some ways I feel like I should go back and reread the ending to see what vibes it gives me the second time round.  In a nutshell I can’t help feeling that I’ve missed something important.

Anyway, this was certainly a compelling read and very well written and I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next.

I received a copy through Netgalley, courtesy of the publisher, for which my thanks.  The above is my own opinion.

My rating 4 of 5 stars