MINOTAUR

by J.M. Fickling

A professional thief finds himself on the run after a botched heist, under fire and pursued by his enemies. Upon taking a wrong turn, however, he finds himself trapped in a 600,000,000 square mile labyrinth of empty rooms and hallways. Plagued with hunger, thirst, and madness he finds himself being hunted by a creature so horrifying that it must be witnessed to be believed... And avoided at all costs.

A breakneck plunge into sheer insanity, MINOTAUR explores the realm of liminal horror and the breaking point of man; a rendition of the Backrooms that has yet to be realized until now.

Genres: Horror

112 pages, Paperback

Published April 23, 2024

Reviews

[Vicki Herbert]

Abandon All Hope
Ye Who Enter Here...

MINOTAUR
by J.M. Fickling

4 stars. I have never heard of backroom horror, so I wasn't as disappointed as some of my fellow reviewers. In fact, I quite enjoyed this story...

Escaping from a botched bank robbery with police in hot pursuit, Ricky Watkins ducked into what appeared to be a vacant building...

He had a sudden sense of deja vu...
Had he been here before?

It was massive inside. Like the backrooms of a mall with random adjoining rooms. But where were the exits?

There was only the buzz of fluorescent lights and a monochromatic beige carpet throughout. The ceiling seemed impenetrable...

Was this a sick dream?
Was he crazy?

This place couldn't exist. It had to be part of some kind of sting...

He was trapped in this building without food and water. He had been walking 5 hours. He could find no exit, and he began to panic...

His only companions were a scrap of wallpaper taken off a wall and a smoke detector he'd removed from the ceiling...

Both communicated with him, telling him to run for his life from the minotaur, which up to that point he'd not met...

Five hours turned into two days. His legs refused to stop running, like they had a mind of their own...

Abandon all hope all ye who enter here... Where had he heard that before?

This was a very different kind of story, and I thought it was very good. Sometimes, it pays to go into a book blindly like I did. The dialog didn't seem flat to me... just weird.

[Ghoul Von Horror]

TW/CW: Language, guns, violence, cheating, toxic family relationships, blood


*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
A professional thief finds himself on the run after a botched heist, under fire and pursued by his enemies. Upon taking a wrong turn, however, he finds himself trapped in a 600,000,000 square mile labyrinth of empty rooms and hallways. Plagued with hunger, thirst, and madness he finds himself being hunted by a creature so horrifying that it must be witnessed to be believed... And avoided at all costs.
Release Date: April 23rd, 2024
Genre: Horror
Pages: 110
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐

What I Liked:
1. Enjoyed the writing style
2. Backrooms type book

What I Didn't Like:
1. Felt very monotone
2. Not much happened for a large chunk of the book
3. "Put me in the corner"

Overall Thoughts:
{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}

"Even fake cash has a use."

So smart using the money as a trail.

I'm so grossed out that he is sucking on the carpet. I mean I get it but ew. So somehow the room has been keeping him alive since it has been weeks that he has actually had water or food, so it must just be the basic idea of wanting water more like a comfort thing. Some of the rules came across convoluted and confusing at times. The Minotaur can move a wall if Ricky removes a piece of wall.

I'm amazed at all Ricky can accomplish without food or water. I go 8 hours without eating and I don't even know my name I am so out of it. Plus he isn't sleeping too.

Oh so, Sully tried to kill Ricky and Ricky tried to kill Sully for Sully's wife but actually we find out that Ruth was the one who framed him. Don't know why it doesn't say.

"Put me in the corner"
"Put me in the corner"
"Put me in the corner"
"Put me in the corner"
"Put me in the corner"

We get it! Repeating it is annoying

So Ricky got shot and is really on his way to hell. For some reason the cops who shot him keep telling him to hold on and please don't die on me, which is very weird since they're the ones who shot him eight times.

I love that in this book every Italian American has to read Italian. I wonder if the author is a little bias on people who are Italian that can't read the language.

It's interesting to me that the cop who shot Ricky wouldn't have to go to the station to make a report about his involvement

Final Thoughts:
I just saw the back rooms movie yesterday and I loved it. As a fan of back rooms I thought this book was just okay. It seemed like it paid homage to it but it could have been longer and more things could have been centered around back rooms instead of Ricky having this back and forth with the wallpaper.

Certain things would happen and you would be left wondering why they happened with no explanation. Some things Ricky did made me scratch my head. Also the ending felt completely rushed.

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[Seb]

The writing was kinda flat. I never got into the backrooms with the MC. I mostly read what happened without "living" it.

The time perception is probably the worst part: a few weeks could pass in a blink, events could switch and turn without any frame because "there's no time in the backrooms" 🙄

The ending was expected.

Meh.

I largely recommend House of Leaves or 2120 over this

[William Becker]

WELCOME TO FLUORESCENT HELL. J.M. Fickling, a little known author ( hopefully this won't be the case for long) has crafted one of the most unique premises for a book I have ever seen. The set up? A thief named Ricky Watkins goes on a heist that goes wrong, and when things go south and he goes on the run, he ends up in a strange building at the end of an alley.

At first, the building is strange because it's completely empty. But then, Ricky finds that all of the rooms are the same: hallways with cheap carpet, yellow wallpapered rooms, and fluorescent lighting. As he travels through, he finds that the place is bigger on the inside, like impossibly large, complex, and the walls move. Hence the name, Labyrinth. Now, any Labyrinth must have a....

*Insert book title here*

There's something following him down there. Something dark and foreboding. Without spoiling anything, this book turns into a strange, fever dream version of liminal horror. It's uncanny, uncomfortable, creative, and absolutely riveting from beginning to end. Give this one a chance because it's such a unique concept and written in this style that really blends well with the story. I read it in one sitting. Highly recommend.

[Desiree Horton]

This was a fun, quick read! A very unique take on the “back rooms” mythology, and a stirring and creepy tale of self awareness and redemption. I enjoyed the descriptions of the endless halls with the scents and the wall paper; almost like you’re there yourself. Highly enjoyable!

[Joel Austin]

I haven’t seen the Backrooms film yet, but I love Kane Paraon’s YouTube series and Minotaur by J.M. Fickling scratches the itch that’s been driving me nuts while I haven’t been able to make it to the theatre. At just over 100 pages, the story wastes no time throwing you right into the madness of the backrooms.

The basic premise is a robbery goes wrong and a fleeing thief finds himself in the backrooms with no food, water, or company. We, at first..

I was very impressed with how well Fickling was able to balance the monotony and repetition of endless yellow wall paper and soggy carpet with the high stakes intensity of a heist movie with one of the best chase scenes I’ve ever read. The Minotaur itself is f***ing scary. I won’t give this unique take away, but I would never want to encounter this thing.

Absolutely loved this one. If you’re a fan of the backrooms universe, you’ll love it! And if you aren’t sure if weird liminal horror is for you, give this one a shot. Not only is it deeply unsettling, it has some incredible wit and a scene that yanked the hell out of my heartstrings.

[River]

I lept into this book immediately after reading Parker by JM Fickling. I really appreciate the authors writing style, good detail without dragging on and on, a creepy and uncomfortable vibe in the book and uncertainty that keeps you turning the pages. I have a decent understanding of the concept of "The Back Rooms" through online videos and such, so it was really interesting to read a book based in that area of reality. Overall i enjoyed the book and everything it had to offer.

[Tinkerbuff]

I can acknowledge its merit but this just wasn't for me. The writing style is very basic and straightforward. Its essentially a YouTube backrooms creepypasta on 112 pages but without much of the necessary ambience. I didnt particularly like most of the dialogue and this was overwhelmingly dialogue driven.

[Julie]

The writing was flat. Zero character development. A great idea, poorly executed. Did absolutely nothing for me. I feel truly awful for the people rating this 5 stars. Like, what garbage have you read in your life to think this is a great book???

[AHZ]

3.5/5 for this one. It had potential but executed poorly. The Minotaur entity was creative but this one is no 'Piranesi' or 'A short stay in hell'.

[Sam]

Minotaur is a quick, entertaining read.

[Chris]

3.5

[aciddelight]

loooove the backrooms and love books about hell and people going insane. so naturally i loved this.

[doowopapocalypse]

A bit flat. The backrooms is a hard concept to put into words, I think. Sucking on carpet for moisture was gross, in a good way.

[Madeline Rands]

Ooh how I love a little novel with psychological torment and self reflection wrapped in a neat little strange story 🫢

[Jay Fennec]

A fresh take on The Backrooms lore, but arguably the only one to remain faithful to the original source quote. Fickling does an outstanding job with pacing and immersion for such a short read (I finished it in one sitting), so convincing that it has stayed with me ever since. I get the impression that in my mad rush through the first read I may have missed clues within the plot and will undoubtedly pick this back up in the near future. Highly recommended!