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A Lonely Broadcast #1
A Lonely Broadcast: Book One
If you find yourself driving down a winding mountain road near an endless stretch of pines, try tuning in to 104.6 the radio station that shouldn't exist. The village of Pinehaven has a secret of monstrous proportions. Evelyn McKinnon, a radio host falling on hard times, finds herself utterly unprepared when she learns that the radio station isn't just for entertainment. It's a watchtower. She's stalked by a bird with human eyes. Her new co-host won't stop singing show tunes. And when the fog rolls in, the beasts of Pinehaven Forest begin their brutal hunt. Evelyn and her friends are suddenly face-to-face with something much scarier than ravenous flesh-giants and vengeful responsibility .
'A Lonely Broadcast' is a darkly comedic tale that mixes elements of cosmic horror, gruesome gore, and a touching story about friendship, grief, and finding hope when all seems lost. It's also the story of an unhinged woman's personal war with a goddamn bird.
'A Lonely Broadcast' is a darkly comedic tale that mixes elements of cosmic horror, gruesome gore, and a touching story about friendship, grief, and finding hope when all seems lost. It's also the story of an unhinged woman's personal war with a goddamn bird.
274 pages, Paperback
Published June 2, 2023
596 people are currently reading
8367 people want to read
About the author
Kel Byron
4 books257 followersKel is a horror author whose work focuses on rural terror, character-driven stories, and weaving gruesome imagery with touching narratives about human bonds. Her work was inspired by the lingering spookiness of growing up in an isolated rural area and the superstitions and folktales that surrounded her childhood in the wetlands of Michigan.
She began her writing career in college where she would disgust her classmates on purpose, writing short stories about body horror, monsters, and the fear of the unknowable. When she joined Reddit's NoSleep forum under the username "Wendingus", her gloomy yet comedic stories about the gruesome folk horrors surrounding a fictional Appalachian village quickly formed a humble yet loyal fanbase.
Kel's online work has been narrated on YouTube by voice actors Autumn Ivy, MrCreepypasta, and others. After disappearing from the internet for several years to get treatment for multiple tumors, she returned in 2023 to completely re-write and re-imagine her previous work as a formal novel, beginning a trilogy that will continue in 2024. Kel's work often focuses on themes such as queer identity, grief, mental health, trauma recovery, and platonic love. Although horror is her main genre of choice, she enjoys weaving in comedic moments of feral, chaotic dark humor.
Today, she lives in Saginaw, Michigan where she works as a graphic designer and neonatal kitten rescuer. She likes to lie face-down on the kitchen floor, perch like a gargoyle, and eat leaves that she finds on the ground.
She began her writing career in college where she would disgust her classmates on purpose, writing short stories about body horror, monsters, and the fear of the unknowable. When she joined Reddit's NoSleep forum under the username "Wendingus", her gloomy yet comedic stories about the gruesome folk horrors surrounding a fictional Appalachian village quickly formed a humble yet loyal fanbase.
Kel's online work has been narrated on YouTube by voice actors Autumn Ivy, MrCreepypasta, and others. After disappearing from the internet for several years to get treatment for multiple tumors, she returned in 2023 to completely re-write and re-imagine her previous work as a formal novel, beginning a trilogy that will continue in 2024. Kel's work often focuses on themes such as queer identity, grief, mental health, trauma recovery, and platonic love. Although horror is her main genre of choice, she enjoys weaving in comedic moments of feral, chaotic dark humor.
Today, she lives in Saginaw, Michigan where she works as a graphic designer and neonatal kitten rescuer. She likes to lie face-down on the kitchen floor, perch like a gargoyle, and eat leaves that she finds on the ground.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 422 reviews
February 3, 2024
I don't normally write reviews of great length, but I'd hate to drop a lower rating on an indie book and run. Apologies for a terrible format. I am on mobile and nearly asleep, but if I don't do this now, I never will.
Spoilers to the end ahead.
The positives in Byron's writing had me faltering a bit on how exactly to rate this. Byron has a skill for delivering creepy images and scenes. I liked the watch tower turned radio station. And because the creep factor was well done, it was enough to burn through the book as fast as my time would allow.
I will hope, should the author read this, that they know critiques are meant to be gentle nudges because there is so much potential here.
First off, the characters had me experiencing severe whiplash.
Evelyn, randomly dropping that she was an alcoholic threw me almost completely out of the story. There had been zero hints of her addiction prior, and I sat for a moment trying to make the connection. In the story, she states that her first day sober was the day the story begins, but she has no symptoms of the withdrawals. I could see the author trying to cover a few plot holes here (such as answering the reader question of why she stays in the tower despite it being the bastion against evil creatures; answer is that she is determined to be sober). Without breadcrumbs leading up to this moment, however, I was just left scratching my head on it.
That isn't a huge gripe. The issue is what *led* to her alcoholism. Seeing a demented creature in the forest while enjoying a party with friends. So she returns to watch over the forest and willingly confronts the creatures inside it with barely any fear, even though a glimpse of one years ago led her to alcoholism? I'm not understanding. I would have liked for continuity sake that she would at least struggle with wanting a drink after each encounter, or mention how she refused to let the forest harm her further. Anything.
It's not even mentioned after the big bad creature almost kills her twice. Not even after her eyeball is ripped out. Just, "Wow that was so scary. I have chills. But I'm going back into the forest."
Danny is decided to be a certified scaredy-cat supposedly, but after the angry wailing of a demonic God blows out his eardrums, he returns to work. He later shoots the evil God of the forest???? There's no true hesitation on his part to follow along into the forest to confront the evil horrors literally tearing people in half.
I had no clue roughly how old Finn was either, and was wavering on if he was a love interest for one of the characters or not because I couldn't pinpoint him. I would have liked to see him integrated better into their group. More of why after years of untold horrors he decided to draw the line and turn in his badge. I know a reason was given, but it felt flimsy in the narrative after he threw his weight around the new cop from out of town and made jokes about others throwing up on the scene.
My other serious issue is the setting. Mainly the town. Everyone listens to the radio, hears these odd phone calls. They switch between knowing about the creepy forest and being confused about the disappearances. There is nothing keeping people in this town, yet they all choose to stay in the place that brings literal death and destruction every time it gets a bit foggy? They know what is going on, but they don't? The military just left this forest of untold evil along because people were asking questions? That easily?
The end also trailed off and left no resolution to hardly any of the main plot, which made closing it disappointing.
I believe I read this started as a short story. It reads like a post on no sleep subreddit, which isn't a bad thing at its base. The issue is expanding a creepy pasta or story tends to lead to a lot of twiddling thumbs in the narrative because the author is trying to fill in a lot of gaps needed to stuff pages. The thrills are the main focus in a short, especially on sub reddits like No Sleep, and the characters and setting tend to suffer because they aren't as fleshed out in a smaller word count (obviously). Those elements were abandoned here for the sake of non-stop creepy scenes.
I think this writer can be great and there's a talent for making so many scenes creepy in a novel (Jennifer chasing then gave me the creeps) but a devotion to setting and characters, and then revising to keep the narrative flow smooth would greatly benefit this series.
*edit to add:*
No more italics. Please. It made reading very jarring because so many random words were stressed for no reason and gave 0 positive impact.
Spoilers to the end ahead.
The positives in Byron's writing had me faltering a bit on how exactly to rate this. Byron has a skill for delivering creepy images and scenes. I liked the watch tower turned radio station. And because the creep factor was well done, it was enough to burn through the book as fast as my time would allow.
I will hope, should the author read this, that they know critiques are meant to be gentle nudges because there is so much potential here.
First off, the characters had me experiencing severe whiplash.
Evelyn, randomly dropping that she was an alcoholic threw me almost completely out of the story. There had been zero hints of her addiction prior, and I sat for a moment trying to make the connection. In the story, she states that her first day sober was the day the story begins, but she has no symptoms of the withdrawals. I could see the author trying to cover a few plot holes here (such as answering the reader question of why she stays in the tower despite it being the bastion against evil creatures; answer is that she is determined to be sober). Without breadcrumbs leading up to this moment, however, I was just left scratching my head on it.
That isn't a huge gripe. The issue is what *led* to her alcoholism. Seeing a demented creature in the forest while enjoying a party with friends. So she returns to watch over the forest and willingly confronts the creatures inside it with barely any fear, even though a glimpse of one years ago led her to alcoholism? I'm not understanding. I would have liked for continuity sake that she would at least struggle with wanting a drink after each encounter, or mention how she refused to let the forest harm her further. Anything.
It's not even mentioned after the big bad creature almost kills her twice. Not even after her eyeball is ripped out. Just, "Wow that was so scary. I have chills. But I'm going back into the forest."
Danny is decided to be a certified scaredy-cat supposedly, but after the angry wailing of a demonic God blows out his eardrums, he returns to work. He later shoots the evil God of the forest???? There's no true hesitation on his part to follow along into the forest to confront the evil horrors literally tearing people in half.
I had no clue roughly how old Finn was either, and was wavering on if he was a love interest for one of the characters or not because I couldn't pinpoint him. I would have liked to see him integrated better into their group. More of why after years of untold horrors he decided to draw the line and turn in his badge. I know a reason was given, but it felt flimsy in the narrative after he threw his weight around the new cop from out of town and made jokes about others throwing up on the scene.
My other serious issue is the setting. Mainly the town. Everyone listens to the radio, hears these odd phone calls. They switch between knowing about the creepy forest and being confused about the disappearances. There is nothing keeping people in this town, yet they all choose to stay in the place that brings literal death and destruction every time it gets a bit foggy? They know what is going on, but they don't? The military just left this forest of untold evil along because people were asking questions? That easily?
The end also trailed off and left no resolution to hardly any of the main plot, which made closing it disappointing.
I believe I read this started as a short story. It reads like a post on no sleep subreddit, which isn't a bad thing at its base. The issue is expanding a creepy pasta or story tends to lead to a lot of twiddling thumbs in the narrative because the author is trying to fill in a lot of gaps needed to stuff pages. The thrills are the main focus in a short, especially on sub reddits like No Sleep, and the characters and setting tend to suffer because they aren't as fleshed out in a smaller word count (obviously). Those elements were abandoned here for the sake of non-stop creepy scenes.
I think this writer can be great and there's a talent for making so many scenes creepy in a novel (Jennifer chasing then gave me the creeps) but a devotion to setting and characters, and then revising to keep the narrative flow smooth would greatly benefit this series.
*edit to add:*
No more italics. Please. It made reading very jarring because so many random words were stressed for no reason and gave 0 positive impact.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 4, 2025
At first I really thought this one was going to be a new favorite. Horror that centers around radio and small towns is one of my favourite type and now add to that the fact that there are creatures in the mist that are absolutely horrific and that the imagery is delightfully vile and we were off to a good start. There was even a splash of humor.
Unfortunately, it really felt like something that was meant to be serialized in short episodes rather than a cohesive novel and it just didn't really go anywhere, as such the premise and imagery were left to do the heavy lifting. I feel like this was shooting to be a mix of Tales from the Gas Station and Welcome to Night Vale but instead of leaning into the rhythm of the repetitious aspect of it all, like the authors for the other titles did, the author tried to ignore it which wasn't the best choice in my opinion. The fact that none of the POV characters had a distinct voice didn't help, I often found myself forgetting which POV I was currently following much to my dismay,
Unfortunately, it really felt like something that was meant to be serialized in short episodes rather than a cohesive novel and it just didn't really go anywhere, as such the premise and imagery were left to do the heavy lifting. I feel like this was shooting to be a mix of Tales from the Gas Station and Welcome to Night Vale but instead of leaning into the rhythm of the repetitious aspect of it all, like the authors for the other titles did, the author tried to ignore it which wasn't the best choice in my opinion. The fact that none of the POV characters had a distinct voice didn't help, I often found myself forgetting which POV I was currently following much to my dismay,
December 19, 2025
4 stars
I liked this a lot, it reminded me of T. Kingfisher's horror novels
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I liked this a lot, it reminded me of T. Kingfisher's horror novels
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February 10, 2025
This is indie so I automatically feel bad for disliking it. But when you can tell something is indie without a doubt, you can usually bet it’s because it was riddled with errors. And plot holes. Not all the time of course. But definitely this time.
I kept with it simply because I was hoping it would get better or the plot would make up for the things that were wrong.
Because I mean, birds with human eyes, voices coming from drains, weird sentient fog, grotesque creatures, a living forest….
All buzzwords for me. And I think if those are also your buzzwords and you’re just here for a good time and can ignore the errors then you may like this. It’s fast paced and the concept is super fun. I still really love the concept. Although my interest did drop off at like halfway through when a new character was made more important.
But this is just so full of little things that bother me that could have been easily caught if this seen by an editor, or a better editor. Simple things like how reptiles blink. Being a reptile lover this really irked me. But also plot points on things like alcoholism, and glaring plot voids around this town.
And the writing as a whole just wasn’t great. It was okay in our main POV although still not amazing. but the lack of depth and voice really showed when we switched to male POVS.
I don’t wanna spoil anything so I’ll just call it there. Sadly wasn’t for me and I really wanted it to be!
I probably won’t finish the series.
I kept with it simply because I was hoping it would get better or the plot would make up for the things that were wrong.
Because I mean, birds with human eyes, voices coming from drains, weird sentient fog, grotesque creatures, a living forest….
All buzzwords for me. And I think if those are also your buzzwords and you’re just here for a good time and can ignore the errors then you may like this. It’s fast paced and the concept is super fun. I still really love the concept. Although my interest did drop off at like halfway through when a new character was made more important.
But this is just so full of little things that bother me that could have been easily caught if this seen by an editor, or a better editor. Simple things like how reptiles blink. Being a reptile lover this really irked me. But also plot points on things like alcoholism, and glaring plot voids around this town.
And the writing as a whole just wasn’t great. It was okay in our main POV although still not amazing. but the lack of depth and voice really showed when we switched to male POVS.
I don’t wanna spoil anything so I’ll just call it there. Sadly wasn’t for me and I really wanted it to be!
I probably won’t finish the series.
June 27, 2023
Holy Creep
Let's start with....what the actual eff did I just read?! I mean that in the best way possible. Be warned please check out trigger warnings!
I grabbed this on a whim and I am not sorry! The spookiness and what the eff ness was wonderful. I am glad I read it while camping as well! I truly look forward to book 2!
Let's start with....what the actual eff did I just read?! I mean that in the best way possible. Be warned please check out trigger warnings!
I grabbed this on a whim and I am not sorry! The spookiness and what the eff ness was wonderful. I am glad I read it while camping as well! I truly look forward to book 2!
December 21, 2024
A review of the Audiobook
I jumped at the chance of buying A Lonely Broadcast: Book One when it came out in 2023, being the first person to review it on Goodreads. While I loved the eBook, I dreamed of an audiobook version. Kel Byron has made the dream come true in 2024! It is available for purchase directly from the author’s website for a reasonable price.
[Image: Book Cover]
A Lonely Broadcast: Book One is written with its three main characters providing first person narration in alternating chapters, so Byron has three different actors for the audiobook: Autumn Ivy as Evelyn, Mr. Creepypasta as Daniel, and Joey Sourlis as Finn. I first discovered Byron’s original Creepypasta series she posted anonymously on the website Reddit on Youtube as narrated by Autumn Ivy and Mr. Creepypasta, and they give great performances in this official audiobook. I had never heard of Sourlis before, but he also does a hell of a job. In addition to the stellar voice cast, Byron incorporates sound effects, along with music by Be/Hold. This creates an immersive experience that improves upon the novel.
[Image: Autumn Ivy (real name Autumn Flint)]
Here is my original review of the book:
[Image: McCreepyPasta (real name unknown]
Some constructive criticism of the audiobook: Occasionally there are sound mixing problems. Each chapter is primarily narrated by the character whose first person perspective is being used. When one of the other main characters speaks dialogue, it is added into the chapter with lower volume level and what sounds like a subtle use of a filter. This adds to the illusion that the primary character is writing/retelling the events from memory, rather than engaging in a conversation. It works well. A Lonely Broadcast: Book One this avoids a common problem in full cast audiobooks — Most of the time the narrators of audiobooks are recorded separately; when their voices are spliced together to try to form conversations between characters it is often awkward. I found the 10th Anniversary Edition of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods to be nearly unlistenable for this reason.
[Image: Joey Sourlis]
The problem in A Lonely Broadcast: Book One is that sometimes the volume of the secondary actor’s voice is so low in the mix that he or she is difficult to understand. I found chapters 11, 21, and 22 to be notable for this flaw. Evelyn is the primary character in these chapters with Autumn Ivy’s voice being loud and clear, but the deeper voice of Mr. Creepypasta playing Daniel is hard to hear. Additionally, I wish there was a way to download the audiobook as one long file. As it stands, you download each of the 22 chapters separately. Aside from these minor problems, this is an exceptional audio production. Highly recommended.
***************************************************************************
[Image: Book Cover]
Citations:
Byron, K. (2024). A lonely broadcast: Book one (audiobook). Kel Byron. https://kelbyron.com/products/a-lonel... (Original work published 2023)
Byron, K. (2023). A lonely broadcast: Book one (ebook). Kel Bryon. https://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Broadca...
Title: A Lonely Broadcast: Book One
Author(s): Kel Byron
Series: A Lonely Broadcast #1
Year: 2023
Genre: Fiction - Novel: Horror, dark comedy
Length: approximately 10 hours (audiobook), 318 pages (eBook)
Date(s) read: 12/14/24-12/20/24, 6/16/23-6/18/23
Book # 228 in 2024 and Book #122 in 2023
***************************************************************************
I jumped at the chance of buying A Lonely Broadcast: Book One when it came out in 2023, being the first person to review it on Goodreads. While I loved the eBook, I dreamed of an audiobook version. Kel Byron has made the dream come true in 2024! It is available for purchase directly from the author’s website for a reasonable price.
[Image: Book Cover]
A Lonely Broadcast: Book One is written with its three main characters providing first person narration in alternating chapters, so Byron has three different actors for the audiobook: Autumn Ivy as Evelyn, Mr. Creepypasta as Daniel, and Joey Sourlis as Finn. I first discovered Byron’s original Creepypasta series she posted anonymously on the website Reddit on Youtube as narrated by Autumn Ivy and Mr. Creepypasta, and they give great performances in this official audiobook. I had never heard of Sourlis before, but he also does a hell of a job. In addition to the stellar voice cast, Byron incorporates sound effects, along with music by Be/Hold. This creates an immersive experience that improves upon the novel.
[Image: Autumn Ivy (real name Autumn Flint)]
Here is my original review of the book:
"Last night, I had a dream that the forest split in two."
This is a phenomenal debut. Kel Bryon has taken a Creepypasta story that she first posted anonymously on the website Reddit and has refined it into a very effective horror novel.
We follow a damaged young woman named Evelyn McKinnon after she is assigned to a lonely radio broadcast station. Placed high in the air, the tower is at the edge of an isolated little Appalachian town named Pinehaven, and Evelyn soon finds out that there is a lot more to her job than playing music and chatting about the weather. The broadcast station is there to protect the town. When the fog rolls in, strange things come out of the forest.
A Lonely Broadcast: Book One provides a mix of supernatural horror and black comedy, all centered around three characters that the reader grows to care about. Kel Byron does a great job of developing the surly Evelyn McKinnon, her peppy co-host Daniel Esperanza, and the gruff cop who prefers to only be called “Finn”. While all the Lovecraftian cosmic horror and gore are great fun, the novel’s best moments come from the interactions between these characters.
I can’t wait for the next volume.
[Image: McCreepyPasta (real name unknown]
Some constructive criticism of the audiobook: Occasionally there are sound mixing problems. Each chapter is primarily narrated by the character whose first person perspective is being used. When one of the other main characters speaks dialogue, it is added into the chapter with lower volume level and what sounds like a subtle use of a filter. This adds to the illusion that the primary character is writing/retelling the events from memory, rather than engaging in a conversation. It works well. A Lonely Broadcast: Book One this avoids a common problem in full cast audiobooks — Most of the time the narrators of audiobooks are recorded separately; when their voices are spliced together to try to form conversations between characters it is often awkward. I found the 10th Anniversary Edition of Neil Gaiman’s American Gods to be nearly unlistenable for this reason.
[Image: Joey Sourlis]
The problem in A Lonely Broadcast: Book One is that sometimes the volume of the secondary actor’s voice is so low in the mix that he or she is difficult to understand. I found chapters 11, 21, and 22 to be notable for this flaw. Evelyn is the primary character in these chapters with Autumn Ivy’s voice being loud and clear, but the deeper voice of Mr. Creepypasta playing Daniel is hard to hear. Additionally, I wish there was a way to download the audiobook as one long file. As it stands, you download each of the 22 chapters separately. Aside from these minor problems, this is an exceptional audio production. Highly recommended.
***************************************************************************
[Image: Book Cover]
Citations:
Byron, K. (2024). A lonely broadcast: Book one (audiobook). Kel Byron. https://kelbyron.com/products/a-lonel... (Original work published 2023)
Byron, K. (2023). A lonely broadcast: Book one (ebook). Kel Bryon. https://www.amazon.com/Lonely-Broadca...
Title: A Lonely Broadcast: Book One
Author(s): Kel Byron
Series: A Lonely Broadcast #1
Year: 2023
Genre: Fiction - Novel: Horror, dark comedy
Length: approximately 10 hours (audiobook), 318 pages (eBook)
Date(s) read: 12/14/24-12/20/24, 6/16/23-6/18/23
Book # 228 in 2024 and Book #122 in 2023
***************************************************************************
January 19, 2024
*clears throat* WHEN WILL BOOK 2 COME OUT?
Oh my god, this was a trip. The characters were fun and served as an amazing way of looking at the horrors in this book. The comedy and horror were perfectly balanced. The comedic banter was gold but the pure horror really counteracted it. Truly a good balance of the two. I really hope book two will come soon because I want to know so much about Pinehaven and the three main characters. This is an underrated book that needs more attention.
Oh my god, this was a trip. The characters were fun and served as an amazing way of looking at the horrors in this book. The comedy and horror were perfectly balanced. The comedic banter was gold but the pure horror really counteracted it. Truly a good balance of the two. I really hope book two will come soon because I want to know so much about Pinehaven and the three main characters. This is an underrated book that needs more attention.
August 10, 2025
─୨ৎ──#book.nr.101
7th book of August ──୨ৎ──
🏞 Read in 3h~
⭐️ 2.0
🧋 If I had to describe the book in one word: spread (idk😭)
⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆˖°⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆˖°⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆˖°⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆❀˖°
🦬: This book wasn't that bad🧍🏼♀️. I've read worse, honestly🧍🏼♀️. If you're looking for a bad cringy horror book to read for a boring day... this one fits that category perfectly!!!
I liked the friendship between the main characters. The book also gave that scary vibe it promised. The monsters, the scary scenes were written very well. I didn't really like the FMC. She was kinda uhh cringe? Her dialogue was hard to read, it gave me second-hand embarrassment.... She is supposed to look cool, but most of the time she looked cringe😐
⛵️sorry if I made any grammar mistakes english is not my first language🐬
7th book of August ──୨ৎ──
🏞 Read in 3h~
⭐️ 2.0
🧋 If I had to describe the book in one word: spread (idk😭)
⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆˖°⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆˖°⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆˖°⋆｡𖦹 °.⋆❀˖°
🦬: This book wasn't that bad🧍🏼♀️. I've read worse, honestly🧍🏼♀️. If you're looking for a bad cringy horror book to read for a boring day... this one fits that category perfectly!!!
I liked the friendship between the main characters. The book also gave that scary vibe it promised. The monsters, the scary scenes were written very well. I didn't really like the FMC. She was kinda uhh cringe? Her dialogue was hard to read, it gave me second-hand embarrassment.... She is supposed to look cool, but most of the time she looked cringe😐
⛵️sorry if I made any grammar mistakes english is not my first language🐬
January 11, 2024
Great first novel - very detailed, VERY gruesome. It makes you really appreciate the lighthearted moments between the characters; the friendships that form. 4 out of 5 stars only because I wish the author had been a bit more clear on WHY these characters didn’t bolt the second things got weird…. The bits of backstory we do get just didn’t seem strong enough to me.
But overall, a very fun read!
But overall, a very fun read!
March 17, 2024
I was excited to read this book. I liked the premise; it reminded me of Tales From the Gas Station...But this left a lot to be desired. The only reason I'm giving 3 stars rather than 2 is because small events would happen to keep me trudging to the end.
The writing is repetitive, the characters are flat, and the story seems to just chase its tail.
I almost quit 20% in, but I genuinely wanted to know what was going on. I struggled through paragraph after paragraph of Evelyn being mean, snarky, or totally apathetic. I've read other characters like this who changed throughout the story or at least gave the reader insight into their actions. With Evelyn, there was no inner dialogue or character arc explaining her "grumpiness". Was she an alcoholic because of her father's death or what she saw in the woods? I felt bad for Dan, if only for the way Evelyn was written to constantly tease him.
The interactions were childish: punching each other on the arm, hitting each other with a clipboard, joking but not really being funny. This is a 26 and a 30-year-old. Before I knew their ages, I assumed these were teenagers.
The fact that both characters suffered immense trauma but kept going back to the tower like it was just another day was baffling. The excuses for doing so were thin: responsibility, guilt, etc. It was frustrating.
So many events, feelings, and scenery were written with similar or exact wording. I was so tired of hearing, "it sent a chill down my spine", "it chilled me to the core", "it sent goosebumps down my spine", that by the end of this journey I want to gift the author a thesaurus.
This could've been a great book if not for the repetition, flat characters, and listless story.
The writing is repetitive, the characters are flat, and the story seems to just chase its tail.
I almost quit 20% in, but I genuinely wanted to know what was going on. I struggled through paragraph after paragraph of Evelyn being mean, snarky, or totally apathetic. I've read other characters like this who changed throughout the story or at least gave the reader insight into their actions. With Evelyn, there was no inner dialogue or character arc explaining her "grumpiness". Was she an alcoholic because of her father's death or what she saw in the woods? I felt bad for Dan, if only for the way Evelyn was written to constantly tease him.
The interactions were childish: punching each other on the arm, hitting each other with a clipboard, joking but not really being funny. This is a 26 and a 30-year-old. Before I knew their ages, I assumed these were teenagers.
The fact that both characters suffered immense trauma but kept going back to the tower like it was just another day was baffling. The excuses for doing so were thin: responsibility, guilt, etc. It was frustrating.
So many events, feelings, and scenery were written with similar or exact wording. I was so tired of hearing, "it sent a chill down my spine", "it chilled me to the core", "it sent goosebumps down my spine", that by the end of this journey I want to gift the author a thesaurus.
This could've been a great book if not for the repetition, flat characters, and listless story.
August 6, 2025
Is this book a good horrifying time? Yes. Does this book give excellent 90’s x-files vibes? Yes. Is this book a piece of fine literature? Probably not. It doesn’t need to be.
Read if:
- you find the idea of a bird with human eyes fascinating and unsettling
- you like horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously
- you like a book for its weird vibes
- you would hang out in a creepy radio watch tower in the forest
- you would fist fight a cryptid
- you would accept voices coming out of your skink
- you look into the fog and the fog looks back
Read if:
- you find the idea of a bird with human eyes fascinating and unsettling
- you like horror that doesn’t take itself too seriously
- you like a book for its weird vibes
- you would hang out in a creepy radio watch tower in the forest
- you would fist fight a cryptid
- you would accept voices coming out of your skink
- you look into the fog and the fog looks back
March 27, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ There were things in this book that I really liked, and things that I really didn’t like. The general concept and world building were awesome and I feel like they had a lot of potential. However, the execution of it wasn’t it for me. The writing style and the characters annoyed me a lot of the time, and the main storyline was kind of boring. I ate up the first half of this book, but it was hard for me to stay interested in the second half.
March 15, 2025
DAMN. WHAT A BOOK.
I haven’t read something that has gripped me so quickly in a long time. This book gets right into the good stuff from page one, and will have you absolutely hooked from the start.
The vibes, aesthetic and mood were exactly up my street and has been something that I’ve been looking for for a long time. You know when you have a very specific type of book in mind but you just can’t seem to find it? Yeah, well, I had that for ages. And then this book fell in my lap and it was exactly what I had wanted for so long.
There’s a brilliant balance between creepy eerieness and witty humor. It’s truly so well done that I can’t praise the author enough for it. It’s probably one of my favourite bits about the whole book.
There are some SUPER graphic, gory and creepy descriptions in this book, so if you’re sensitive to those kinds of things, you might want to read this book with caution. The majority of my kindle highlighted notes just consist of “EW”, “GROSS”, and “WTF” so do with that information what you will.
I absolutely fell in love with the two main characters. There’s some really great character development and I adore their chemistry and how they bounced off one another. I enjoyed seeing their depths and stories bleeding through into the story in such a natural way. I still feel as though there’s still so much we need to learn about them, though.
It did get a little slow around the halfway point, but it eventually picked back up. I also felt as though even though the story was great and I enjoyed the direction it took, it still didn’t seem as though there was an aim to the story? Like, there wasn’t a bigger goal that the characters were striving towards, apart from manning the radio tower and trying not to die.
Nonetheless, this has been one of the best books I’ve read in a long time and I really hope I can find more books like this to read in the future!
I haven’t read something that has gripped me so quickly in a long time. This book gets right into the good stuff from page one, and will have you absolutely hooked from the start.
The vibes, aesthetic and mood were exactly up my street and has been something that I’ve been looking for for a long time. You know when you have a very specific type of book in mind but you just can’t seem to find it? Yeah, well, I had that for ages. And then this book fell in my lap and it was exactly what I had wanted for so long.
There’s a brilliant balance between creepy eerieness and witty humor. It’s truly so well done that I can’t praise the author enough for it. It’s probably one of my favourite bits about the whole book.
There are some SUPER graphic, gory and creepy descriptions in this book, so if you’re sensitive to those kinds of things, you might want to read this book with caution. The majority of my kindle highlighted notes just consist of “EW”, “GROSS”, and “WTF” so do with that information what you will.
I absolutely fell in love with the two main characters. There’s some really great character development and I adore their chemistry and how they bounced off one another. I enjoyed seeing their depths and stories bleeding through into the story in such a natural way. I still feel as though there’s still so much we need to learn about them, though.
It did get a little slow around the halfway point, but it eventually picked back up. I also felt as though even though the story was great and I enjoyed the direction it took, it still didn’t seem as though there was an aim to the story? Like, there wasn’t a bigger goal that the characters were striving towards, apart from manning the radio tower and trying not to die.
Nonetheless, this has been one of the best books I’ve read in a long time and I really hope I can find more books like this to read in the future!
August 10, 2024
I have bought a few self published horror books and they really show similar issues. This book strongly resembles Takes From A Gas Station, another self published book. Both take place largely in a singular location with limited characters and weird stuff happening. Okay, that is fine but the problem is pacing. In this book the plot just inches along. Along with that there is never an answer as to why the strange stuff happens in the woods and it just ends, nothing really accomplished or changed outside some character growth.
November 11, 2024
I picked this book up because of my interest in the video game "firewatch" (Highly recommend).
This book captured some of the elements of that game and did a really good job crafting a story that makes you feel alone in the woods and on edge! The characters, while not as compelling as they were in the video game I enjoyed - were still intriguing. Sometimes I struggled with the motivations of the characters in this book but I thought overall they were pretty interesting.
Really good read overall - while not perfect I think it satisfies what I wanted from it and makes for a creepy story!
This book captured some of the elements of that game and did a really good job crafting a story that makes you feel alone in the woods and on edge! The characters, while not as compelling as they were in the video game I enjoyed - were still intriguing. Sometimes I struggled with the motivations of the characters in this book but I thought overall they were pretty interesting.
Really good read overall - while not perfect I think it satisfies what I wanted from it and makes for a creepy story!
April 11, 2024
I was so excited by the premise of this one, but I disliked the three separate first-person POV's, especially since they didn't offer any drastically different perspectives. I also never felt genuinely creeped out or scared, which was a disappointment considering how cool the concept was. Actual rating is 2.5 stars.
February 4, 2025
the horror elements really carried this book in my opinion, the author definitely has a talent for the gorey and grotesque. however, everything else in the book just fell flat for me. the characters felt inconsistant, the setting felt vague, and the plot felt derivative. it honestly seemed like two seperate books entirely. the way the narration style was structured was somewhat inconsistant and it didnt come together for me the way the author intended. as far as the setting goes it really lacked any sort of cultural detail; is it Appalachia? the pacific northwest? the rockies? we dont know! every small town in the mountains is exactly the same! the story was just lacking in little details that would have really made it stick out. like with the protagonists alcoholism, we dont actually see evidence of her addiction, we're just told she's a recovering alcoholic. no further details about that. sorry about the rambling it just makes me crazy when a book has one extremely good element but the rest is flat. the books plot summary feels somewhat misleading as well.
also how is there a janitors closet, bathroom, and kitchen in the watch tower? im trying to come up withe a mental floorplan and its not working.
also how is there a janitors closet, bathroom, and kitchen in the watch tower? im trying to come up withe a mental floorplan and its not working.
March 11, 2024
this book was amazing. funny, creepy, gross. i really liked all of the pov characters. i really hope we get more from this world/series. the monsters/forest was such good character design/description.
October 21, 2025
Alright, closer to 2.5 stars. I was really hooked in the middle but kind of uninterested/bored in both the beginning in the end, which is strange because most books have the opposite problem? The bird with human eyes was fun though.
June 24, 2025
Solid NoSleep, Creepypasta vibes stretched out too thin.
There's something nostalgic and comforting about the early-to-middle part of the book. It's got a good NoSleep atmosphere and begins to develop a kind of found family, hold down the fort plot which veers toward cosy horror. The actual scares are pretty good but also feel a bit eclectic. I know they're setting up the wider mythology to be revealed in sequels but it ends up making everything feels a bit randomly thrown together by the end and nothing resolves at all. The book just kind of ends. I'm not sure but I get the sense it was written and released as a serial almost? The end point for book 1 feels a bit arbitrary. I think I might read #2 still though.
2 Human Eyed Birds out of 5
🐦🐦⬛⬛⬛
There's something nostalgic and comforting about the early-to-middle part of the book. It's got a good NoSleep atmosphere and begins to develop a kind of found family, hold down the fort plot which veers toward cosy horror. The actual scares are pretty good but also feel a bit eclectic. I know they're setting up the wider mythology to be revealed in sequels but it ends up making everything feels a bit randomly thrown together by the end and nothing resolves at all. The book just kind of ends. I'm not sure but I get the sense it was written and released as a serial almost? The end point for book 1 feels a bit arbitrary. I think I might read #2 still though.
2 Human Eyed Birds out of 5
🐦🐦⬛⬛⬛
October 26, 2024
Read this for my book club, kinda wish I didn't.
This book was pure guts and gore and gross-out without anything actually scary going on. The pacing was all over the place, there's little mystery at the start about what the hell goes on in the creepy town of Pinehaven because within a few pages you find out anyway. Then, in the end you don't even get to learn why the creatures are there?
absolutely not for me.
Also I spotted a load of copyediting mistakes, I understand this is an indie book but things like seeing an "=" and the start of a sentence really threw me off.
This book was pure guts and gore and gross-out without anything actually scary going on. The pacing was all over the place, there's little mystery at the start about what the hell goes on in the creepy town of Pinehaven because within a few pages you find out anyway. Then, in the end you don't even get to learn why the creatures are there?
absolutely not for me.
Also I spotted a load of copyediting mistakes, I understand this is an indie book but things like seeing an "=" and the start of a sentence really threw me off.
January 7, 2024
I enjoyed this book so much! It reminds me alot of John dies at the end or tales from the gas station, which are my favorite books. I've had a lot of trouble finding similar feel to those books and this one nailed it. Hope there are more to come!
September 15, 2024
Me ha encantado. Es como si hubiesen metido en un bote un montón de cosas chulas (Welcome to Night Vale, Oxenfree, Gravity Falls, Silent Hill o La niebla de Stephen King, por ejemplo), lo hubiesen agitado y este fuese el producto resultante.
Opino que hay que tener mucho talento para describir situaciones completamente horribles y conseguir que la historia se sienta por momentos como una lectura cozy, pero es lo que ocurre cuando logras crear unos personajes entrañables e introducir algún toque de humor acertado aquí y allá. Al final, el ver cómo se va desarrollando la amistad entre los trabajadores de la emisora acaba eclipsando hasta el suceso más terrorífico.
Sé que a muchos les resultará inverosímil la relativa tranquilidad con la que el pueblo de Pinehaven se toma los eventos que allí tienen lugar, y tampoco entenderán que los protagonistas se queden en el puesto una vez que entienden por qué están realmente en la torre de radio, pero creo que lo más fácil es hacer las paces con el hecho de que las cosas a veces simplemente son así.
Aún hay muchas respuestas por resolver y estoy deseando que se publique el siguiente libro.
Opino que hay que tener mucho talento para describir situaciones completamente horribles y conseguir que la historia se sienta por momentos como una lectura cozy, pero es lo que ocurre cuando logras crear unos personajes entrañables e introducir algún toque de humor acertado aquí y allá. Al final, el ver cómo se va desarrollando la amistad entre los trabajadores de la emisora acaba eclipsando hasta el suceso más terrorífico.
This was how she did things. This was how we both did things. If we were scared or uncomfortable, we had to laugh about it or else we'd go mad.
Sé que a muchos les resultará inverosímil la relativa tranquilidad con la que el pueblo de Pinehaven se toma los eventos que allí tienen lugar, y tampoco entenderán que los protagonistas se queden en el puesto una vez que entienden por qué están realmente en la torre de radio, pero creo que lo más fácil es hacer las paces con el hecho de que las cosas a veces simplemente son así.
Aún hay muchas respuestas por resolver y estoy deseando que se publique el siguiente libro.
September 20, 2024
honestly...I'm just gonna call a DNF on this one. I tried sooo hard to get through it and made it halfway but I had to call it there. it just makes no sense. why are these people still living in this town? why do they not quit their jobs at the radio station? you're telling me you're almost killed MULITPLE TIMES by strange things coming out of the woods and you're just going to keep working there. I get suspension of belief when reading fiction but be so fucking for real right now.
I also don't think this author did enough research before publishing this book (did the author self publish? it seems like she did) because there are so many issues. telling someone they HAVE to come to the police station or else but yet they're not under arrest? doing blood tests on them at the police station without a warrant/permission?? an alcoholic with no withdrawal symptoms? this guy in the story says his grandparents who were Cherokee told old stories that have been passed down about the woods in this town (implying they are old stories passed down through the generations) but it's in Michigan????? it really feels like the author just picked a well known Indigenous American tribe and smacked them down in Michigan??? that was literally my last straw.
over it, can't do it, won't do it. should have been left as a creepypasta on reddit. one thing I'll give the author is some of the imagery is creepy, but a good horror novel needs more than that.
I also don't think this author did enough research before publishing this book (did the author self publish? it seems like she did) because there are so many issues. telling someone they HAVE to come to the police station or else but yet they're not under arrest? doing blood tests on them at the police station without a warrant/permission?? an alcoholic with no withdrawal symptoms? this guy in the story says his grandparents who were Cherokee told old stories that have been passed down about the woods in this town (implying they are old stories passed down through the generations) but it's in Michigan????? it really feels like the author just picked a well known Indigenous American tribe and smacked them down in Michigan??? that was literally my last straw.
over it, can't do it, won't do it. should have been left as a creepypasta on reddit. one thing I'll give the author is some of the imagery is creepy, but a good horror novel needs more than that.
August 4, 2024
4.5 stars
This book is pretty good with disclosing trigger warnings at the beginning, but I’ll add child death and animal death (no pets).
Oh my god I loved this one. The tension started from like the third page? And finally a flawed main character that I LIKE! Who has screwed up and made bad choices and is a recovering addict and dealing with a whole lot and feels HUMAN! And the side characters!! I loved them all!
My e-copy had a few typos which is really sad bc the book deserves a better editor/better editing process.
Deducting .5 for a very unsatisfying ending, though. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a series? But the ending wasn’t conclusive at all, and it felt like the final climax was just thrown in there for no reason. After so much tension and build up I wanted a morsel of closure, and didn’t get it. I also felt the book was slightly too long, it introduces two antagonists it didn’t need to that (as per my conclusion critique) don’t really add to the story and its finale.
Overall highly recommend this one, I LOVED reading it. Such a good horror book.
This book is pretty good with disclosing trigger warnings at the beginning, but I’ll add child death and animal death (no pets).
Oh my god I loved this one. The tension started from like the third page? And finally a flawed main character that I LIKE! Who has screwed up and made bad choices and is a recovering addict and dealing with a whole lot and feels HUMAN! And the side characters!! I loved them all!
My e-copy had a few typos which is really sad bc the book deserves a better editor/better editing process.
Deducting .5 for a very unsatisfying ending, though. I’m not sure if this is meant to be a series? But the ending wasn’t conclusive at all, and it felt like the final climax was just thrown in there for no reason. After so much tension and build up I wanted a morsel of closure, and didn’t get it. I also felt the book was slightly too long, it introduces two antagonists it didn’t need to that (as per my conclusion critique) don’t really add to the story and its finale.
Overall highly recommend this one, I LOVED reading it. Such a good horror book.
December 28, 2024
hmmmmm. ok.
the good: pretty cool concept, and some really great creature descriptions! lots of good fucked up folk/nature based horror. i also really enjoyed evelyn and dan’s relationship. mlm/wlw solidarity!
the bad: generally felt very unfocused; there wasn’t really an overarching plot. i think maybe this would have been better as a collection of short stories. some of the plot points went, in my opinion, unresolved, such as the nature of evelyn and jennifer’s relationship. the constant sarcasm and banter from the main characters also got pretty old pretty quick. and the writing style felt very amateur, just overall not very well written.
i think this author should take a bit more time to work on refining their craft before coming back with another book, but there is potential.
the good: pretty cool concept, and some really great creature descriptions! lots of good fucked up folk/nature based horror. i also really enjoyed evelyn and dan’s relationship. mlm/wlw solidarity!
the bad: generally felt very unfocused; there wasn’t really an overarching plot. i think maybe this would have been better as a collection of short stories. some of the plot points went, in my opinion, unresolved, such as the nature of evelyn and jennifer’s relationship. the constant sarcasm and banter from the main characters also got pretty old pretty quick. and the writing style felt very amateur, just overall not very well written.
i think this author should take a bit more time to work on refining their craft before coming back with another book, but there is potential.
April 11, 2025
This one is for all the Welcome to Night Vale fans out there. It checks all the boxes. A mysterious, spooky radio station broadcasting in the middle of nowhere, ominous warnings, eldrich horrors in the woods and a radio host who is rather unfazed by the events. Even the audio production quality was similar and I had to check if Night Vale house band Dispirition was behind the music here ( they are not!) Honestly, this was a ride! I’d love to see this get either more traditionally published books or adapted into a podcast at some point. It’s that good! Would almost recommend the audio over the book though.
Update! Sooo..it turns out this was based off a creepy pasta Reddit thread? With that in mind the inconsistencies and unpolished nature of the text makes a lot more sense.
Update! Sooo..it turns out this was based off a creepy pasta Reddit thread? With that in mind the inconsistencies and unpolished nature of the text makes a lot more sense.
April 21, 2025
This was such a mysterious and atmospheric read! Yeah, sure, it did have a few 'plot holes' (or rather lack of explanation of a few parts in the story, such as 'why the fuck do they keep going back' and so on,) BUT I DON'T GIVE A FUCK, because it was supposed to be entertaining and thrilling - and that, it absolutely was. Also, wonderful writing by the author, it just worked for my brain really well lol.
January 30, 2025
This book really could have used some skilled editing but the author’s gift of describing otherworldly gore and grotesque creatures was a lovely distraction from all of the plot flaws and continuity issues. The Welcome to Nightvale/ Killer Frequency/ Firewatch/ Annihilation vibe was a perfect combo and I really cannot wait to read her next book!
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