Spookshow

by Valkyrie Loughcrewe

Strange things are happening in the small Appalachian town of Skaversdale, just in time for the anniversary of a carnival butchering nearly thirty years ago. A group of friends, back together for the first time in ages, thinks they are in for a night of fun and debauchery. That is until the dead start to rise, infamous serial killers return from the past, and scores of horrific beasts descend in a merciless apocalypse of cosmic horror.

Genres: Horror

336 pages, Paperback

First published October 31, 2024

Reviews

[Curtis]

The first full-length novel from the author of Crom Cruach! This cosmic horror slasher was a lot of fun, reminiscent of a young Clive Barker. I didn't really care about the normies but I loved Serj, a chap who's a little bit slow and flunked out at becoming a big name Holiday Killer like Michael Myers. The book has a very punk vibe, which is fitting because you need to adopt a "typos are punk rock" attitude to get through it lol -- don't read this if you care about the difference between its and it's.

[Shrike]

Spookshow is a TRIP. Classic horror tropes like local legends and reunited childhood friends initially give the Spookshow a spooky, nostalgic vibe...but this levity doesn't last long.

I love how unpredictable this book becomes without sacrificing character or plot quality. Loughcrewe combines elements of diverse horror subgenres into the ultimate Franken-novel. I can't imagine it's easy to pull off eco-horror, slashers, splatter, weird horror, and more in a single book. Somehow, it all clicks together in the end.

While I do love a little chaos, some of my favorite parts of this book are pure psychological horror. Sure, the supernatural is creepy, but unrealized dreams and unreconciled past selves are terrifying. Even the most despicable characters deal with trauma, illness, and desperation.

Thank you to Curious Corvid Publishing for the chance to check out this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

[Laurel]

That was NUTS in the best way. Nobody does epic horror like Val Loughcrewe.

[Dad Squatch]

This won’t be a long review as I wasn’t able to finish the book. I got almost halfway through and couldn’t do it anymore. This is a case of too many genres, too many ideas, too many characters, too much going on, and far too many jump cuts. This could probably work well as a mini series show or a comic run where each small idea and each character could have room to blossom, but as a book it’s far too chaotic to process. Not to mention the many spelling, grammar, and punctuation errors. This feels like an early draft that went to publishing by accident without having more than one or two proofreads.