Serial Killer Days: A Novel

by David Prill

For more than twenty years, a serial killer has taken a victim from the town of Standard Springs on the same day in July. And the town has responded as would any American town - by holding its annual fair around the event. Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Serial Killer Days. This year Debbie Sue Morning is eighteen and it's her last chance to win the Scream Queen pageant. But she's got stiff competition from the other girls, especially Molly Lovey, whose horrible shrieks could raise goose bumps on the dead. And the real truth is that deep down, nothing scares Debbie Sue. Does Debbie Sue have it in her to win the pageant? Is the stranger who shows up in Mrs. Flatwire's apple orchard actually the killer?

Genres: Horror, Humor

218 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1996

Reviews

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Imagine a small midwestern town preyed upon by a serial killer. Now imagine the town fathers offering a deal: we'll choose one girl a year as a sacrifice, and for the rest of the year you leave us alone and we'll leave you alone. Now imagine a festival, as only small towns can have, springing up around this annual event, with high school girls competing to be crowned queen and sacrifice. Prill is a twisted man, but a funny one.

[Diana Fearn · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was intrigued by the title and decided to give it a go. I think the author had a great premise, but failed to deliver on it in the end. The end of the story left me flat a expecting more. The story centers around a town called Standard Springs. For the past 20+ years a serial killer chooses a victim from the town at the end of Serial Killer week. For the entirety of the week there is a build up in activities that are violence oriented that includes a race, fair, pageant and ends in a parade showcasing that year’s pageant winner along with the other contestants and the rage filled killer of the year in a cage on a float.
The main character is a young woman of 18 named Debbie Morning who has been in the pageant every year, but has always lost to Molly Lovey who was the best screamer in Standard Springs. This year days before the contest Molly goes into a coma and Debbie thinks she may have a chance of winning the pageant.
The town elders are considering changing the name of the town to Serial Killer. In the meantime a poet named Ole Rimbaud makes a quiet entry into the town and gets caught swiping and apple. He is nearly shot, but the deputy takes the old guy and puts him in jail. Ole Rimbaud doesn’t give his real name, so the deputy is certain that this man is the serial killer. The sheriff knows that they need a killer for the pageant float, so he makes a deal with this vagabond to be that years killer. The old guy agrees and is treated like royalty while in his cell.
Come to find out that Debbie is going to read one of Ole Rimbaud’s dark poems for the talent portion of the pageant. While rehearsing the poem a strange mans voice completes a line in the poem. He tells Debbie who he is, but asks her not to tell anyone. They make arrangements to meet that evening. Well, Debbie is over the moon.
Long story short, Molly comes out of her coma just as the pageant begins, neither Molly or Debbie wins the pageant and Debbie realizes that everything she thought about her town was all a fabricated lie to boost tourism.
I finished the book, but was left wanting more of an explanation, which I didn’t get. Serial Killer Days was basically a town living in perpetual Halloween. It was awful, but it could have been much better.

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are times when it can be very difficult to categorize a novel into one genre. Serial Killer Days by David Prill is one such novel. Is it a horror novel, a dark comedy, a social commentary? In this novel the answer to these questions is yes. Yes to all of them. It could be so many things to so many people; it all depends on your perspective. Although it does not have to most satisfying ending ever, the novel kept me hooked to the end. As for my perspective, I read it as an allegory for every young person who realizes they just don’t fit in the small town they grew up in, but that does not make them wrong, just different, and that is OK. It was written in 1996, way before the “It Gets Better” message, but it is almost impossible to miss, unless you want to.

[Kirsten · Rating 3 out of 5]

An off-kilter novel about a town that suffers from a strange serial killer's curse: on the same date every year, one member of the community is murdered. They have been unable to catch the killer, so in true small-town fashion they turn the curse into a celebration: Serial Killer Days, complete with a murder-themed carnival, midnight parade, and annual Scream Queen contest. It's an amusing idea, but I was left a little unsatisfied. Portions of the plot didn't make sense to me, or weren't explained fully, and the end of the novel seemed abrupt. Still, it was a diverting enough read.

[Lisa C · Rating 3 out of 5]

A unique dark comedy about a small town so decimated by a serial killer that they've become famous. So as long as you're famous, why not capitalize on the tourism trade and hold an annual festival? The highlight of the festival is the "scream queen" contest, but being the winner doesn't mean you'll be safe when the killer comes to town this year.

[Beth Shields-Szostak]

1st edition