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The Namaste Slasher by Alan Shivers

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


A thrilling mindfulness camp slasher.

Five lucky applicants are awarded a place at a wellness retreat deep in the heart of the Croatian mountains.

But their exclusive prize delivers far more than they bargained for, as they find themselves stalked by a killer who takes a far different approach to cleansing the soul.

A spiritual journey unlike anything they could have imagined, they are plunged into a fight for survival of mind, body, and spirit.

‘The Namaste Slasher’ is a slasher horror novel by Alan Shivers, taking the classic slasher concept to a Central European setting, the classic forest summer camp replaced with mindfulness retreat Zelena Nada nestled in the Velebit mountain range. But this destination of peace, tranquility and meditation is about to be shattered by a bloodbath. Entertaining and fast-paced, with a camp vibe and flashes of dark humour, Shivers has crafted a fun and gripping slasher, brimming with bursts of violence and gore, twisty plotting and a vivid setting; all the perfect ingredients for a slasher.

Featuring a cast of characters from across Europe and from different backgrounds, the experience is presented from multiple character perspectives, beginning with Elo, whom we meet while in remission from cancer, who was determined to get a place at this retreat after witnessing her mentor’s murder via video call three years earlier. She’s here to hunt for a killer after the murder was seemingly covered up. No one knows her true motivation, and she initially trusts no one around her, neither fellow participant or part of the hosting team. Each of them has a history of trauma and heartbreak, their own set of circumstances that has brought them here, a vulnerability that may be exploited – or that may have led them down the dark path to murder. An unexpected mid-story twist jolts the narrative, an unsettling reminder that no one is safe and no one can be trusted.

Taking much inspiration from the slashers of the 1980s, particularly ‘Friday the 13th’, with a modern spin akin to the recent ‘Scream’ and ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ movies, the novel manifests in a thriller that is at once retro and modern, possessing an almost self-awareness that doesn’t take itself too seriously. Nevertheless, it handles the darker themes deftly, giving each of the characters a backstory, delicately exploring their trauma and mental health issues. Themes of sex and violence prevalent in the slasher sub-genre are juxtaposed perfectly with the spiritual themes, while also providing LGBTQ representation in a genre often dominated by heterosexual couplings.

Another theme touched upon is that of social media, bringing into focus the veneer of trends – for some this is truly authentic, for others it is no more than superficial appropriation. Perfectly playing into the concepts of deceit, secrets, and identity, this fuses seamlessly with the aesthetic of tenets of eastern spirituality, which hide something far darker beneath the surface; splashes of folklore and local history shading the canvas as the unwitting characters are confronted by an urban legend that manifests into a relentless, masked killer. Desperate to escape with their lives, characters are killed off one by one, those remaining getting closer and closer to the mystery of the killer’s identity and the motivation behind the bloodbath as we hurtle into the bloody climax.

Brutal and heartfelt, ‘The Namaste Slasher’ is old-school slasher mayhem with the empathy dialled up. While a standalone slasher, the novel also links to Shivers’ succeeding series, ‘Killer Vocals’, which I shall be eagerly reading along with his trilogy ‘Europea Halls’.



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