Decrepit Ritual

by Valkyrie Loughcrewe

DECREPIT RITUAL is a second-person narrative about a suicidal protagonist who has gone up into the wilds of Norway to take their own life. While there, they happen across a mysterious VHS tape that contains a bizarre film like nothing they've ever seen before.

"...a gore-soaked howl captured on decaying VHS, the cursed tape from The Ring by way of a psychedelic gut-stomping SOV horror flick. It'll cave your skull in." — Trevor Henderson, creator of Siren Head

"...like a horror film remembered from a dream; characters at once familiar and alien, operating under the stomach-lurching logic of a nightmare. Proof, if ever it was needed, that Loughcrewe is one of the most exciting voices working in the genre today." —Saoirse Ní Chiaragáin, author of Wax & Wane

Genres: Horror

110 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 26, 2024

Reviews

[Mike (Hail Horror Hail) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm... where to start? The protagonist is in the midst of a drug fueled delirium as he prepares to kill himself. His journey has led him to this remote cabin. As he begins to "trip" and readies himself for death, he is sidetracked upon uncovering a VHS tape with a movie of outlandish Lovecraftian/body horror proportions.

As our MC watches the journey unfold on the small screen, his drug addled mind embarks on a supersonic journey that seemingly melds with what is witnessed on screen. What follows is a trippy excursion into the excesses of chaos magic, cosmic nightmares, and the psychic war between the MC and what transpires on the screen. Reality is not what it used to be, nor are the movies a safe space to unwind while preparing to "off" yourself.

If this is all a bit confusing, that's okay. The story is a hallucinogenic story that snowballs out of control as it collapses under the weight of its own imagination and subsequent madness.

Did I enjoy it? Hell, I don't know what to think of it, and that's okay. Sometimes I just like to get fucked up on words.

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a surreal trip of a story.
There’s nothing wrong with it, the plot/characters and I just didn’t vibe.

Read this is you like:
-metal
-gore
-unreliable narrators
-2nd person POVs
-fever dream fiction.

“You wonder who it was who taught you to hate yourself, if anyone. Maybe you were just built for it, factory-designed to self-destruct.”

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Evil Dead meets the delirium of Lovecraft's "The Dream-Quest of Unknown Kadath"! This was a unique reading experience, starting from the viewing of a randomly found VHS tape, and diving into a sea of surreal images and a maelstrom of plot. The main character has gone to a cabin to unalive themselves, but, drawn into the world of the movie on the tape, the unaliving becomes a wild trip into body horror and occult terror. What transpires is very difficult to summarize: from superheroic attacks to giant goddesses and fleshy monsters, organic explosions and otherworldly shenanigans, the story soon spins out of control, and takes over the viewer. It's worth giving this a shot, if only to enjoy the vertigo-inducing writing style! Recommended!

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is basically the book version of that South Park episode where Kenny would huff cat piss and then have elaborate hallucinations of being in Heavy Metal magazine.

[Ven · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

My thought's on this one ran the full love/hate gauntlet hence the 3 stars, this one really was a mixed bag for me. So let me start by saying if you want a quick, gore filled Metal as hell B-movie horror inspired fever dream with some genuine nightmare fuel, you should absolutely check this one out.

The Good:
The premise of someone at their lowest moment, medicated and out in a remote cabin in the woods watching their final movie has a lot of potential.
This hits a very specific horror film nostalgia vibe, especially with some of the dialogue and over-the-top gore.
Some of the imagery in here is genuine nightmare fuel that is definitely going to help inspire my home Dnd horror themed games in the future

However:
This is written as a second person perspective, and partially because of that it left me feeling confused and disorientated as to where the lines of what was real and what wasn't actually were. I do understand that this is a deliberate choice due to the MC's mental state, but it was too blurry for me personally.
Secondly, and this may be because I have hit splatterpunk relatively recently, the gore didn't land like I expected it to, which feels odd to say as their was plenty of it, and it was well written, but it lacked some of the punch that other imagery in the title had.

Overall, I wanted to love this on, and at points I did, I definitely have a few friends who I think will absolutely love this and I will be recommending it to.

[Jen Self · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow!! I don't even know how to describe what I just read, but I loved it! Fast paced, black metal, fever dream, nightmare rollercoaster?!

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a bold experiment, and one that I greatly respect. It wasn't ultimately for me though even though it started out as such. There was so much that I loved but I felt in the latter half that it was being smeared together. That being said, there are other people who like trippy second person narratives in addition to myself that would love this and I will recommend it to them.

More importantly, it got me into checking out the author's musical output, which I very much do like with no reservations.

[Ladz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Content warning: suicide, gore

Decrepit Ritual is the most invested I've ever been in watching someone else watch a movie.

A nameless protagonist goes to a cabin in the Norwegian woods to end their life. While high out of their mind and psyching themself up to go through with it, they stumble upon a video tape that is the most high octane slasher splatterfest I've had the pleasure of reading.

Loughcrewe does a great job putting the reader in the narrator's shoes. The second person makes this an uncomfortably intimate read, and the way the film is presented really gets the reader invested. It's very strange; it's like nothing I've ever read before. The descriptions are vivid and leap off the page, never presenting that closeness that comes with prose, but with such visual specificity that the image comes as alive in the readers' head as it does the viewers'. It really works.

This is a case of another piece of media finding a viewer right as they need it, and for the nameless protag, I cannot tell if it's for better or for worse, and I'm enriched for it.

[Cari · Rating 2 out of 5]

So, I appreciate a weird book. I really do. But there has got to be some thread of sense to it, somewhere, and I just couldn't find that here. I kept reading and waiting for something to come together but it just got weirder and weirder and made less and less sense! I'm really not sure what to make of it all. Perhaps I am missing something...?

[Tarrah · Rating 3 out of 5]

The writing was good, and this was written in a very compelling way, but the story was a bit hard to follow. I also wasn't very sure what happened in the end.

Overall a very interesting concept and execution though.



I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jeff Ringiesn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Decrepit Ritual is a gore-filled fever dream conspired from a suicidal main character whose ideation manifests as a post-apocalyptic splatterpunk D&D session pulled straight out of Heavy Metal Magazine.

While short, the author pulls no punches, keeping you engaged with page after page of visceral carnage that is reflective of a drug-induced moment of clarity, driven by the main character’s reflection of their existence and their choice to end it.

This story is certainly not for the faint of heart, especially those who are sensitive to intense violence and self-harm. But looking beyond the initial shock that the author’s prose delivers, it is a deeply emotional and reflective message of empowerment, existence, and self-acceptance.

Really, my only critique is that I wish there was more time to breathe between scenes. The tension of the story just kept going without many breaks, and after several dozen pages of nonstop intense imagery, it became exhausting.

Overall, if you love gore, fantasy, and existential horror, then this one is definitely for you!

[Books For Decaying Millennials · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
note: I read a digital ARC of the kindle edition. an error on the goodreads site is preventing me from posting there, so here we are
-
The 35mm Film is porous.
This pile of spooled out VHS Tapes are porous.
flesh is porous .
Reality is porous...and something is bleeding through.
Decrepit Ritual is more than just a simple homage to found footage horror, and tropes from horror cinema. The signs are definitely there, but there is much more going on here. Loughcrewe doses the reader with the literary equivalent of psychedelics cooked up from videotapes and and the lurid, expansive album art that only Metal can deliver. This is a roiling nightmare bordering on exhaustive delirium. There were moments deep into the book I had to attempt to catch my breath, "nightmare exhaustion". When that hit I was left to attempt to focus, get a steady bearing on where I was in the story, WHO I was. I feel this was by design, the long trek through "October Country" follows no easy path. Flesh Is porous, videotape is porous, Film is porous. Loughcrewe leaves you wondering where it all ended. Did It?

[Jason M · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a wacky, creepy, crazy read.

But there’s something about found footage stories that are really entertaining. Decrepit Ritual is definitely worth reading.

[Timothy Frandsen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating book. A decent delve into a persons psyche. The writing style brings the reader along at a decent pace. It didn’t disappoint.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Kat M · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was hooked from the tagline and was engaged from what I was looking for, it uses the horror element perfectly and was invested in what was going on. The characters had that element that I was hoping for and enjoyed the feel of the plot and how it worked with them. Valkyrie Loughcrewe has a strong writing style and thought the overall feel worked in the genre. It had that horror element that I was looking for and was glad I got to read this.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Rob White · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got a copy of this book from BookSirens.

This was a trippy read, a mix between a David Lynch movie and a hyper violent slasher movie. Well written, moved at a cracking pace and lots of Gore and violence. Well worth a read

[Shrike · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this author's style so so so much!!! Decrepit Ritual is packed with disoriented symbolism and a generous serving of splatter. Be prepared for the lines between character and audience to blur.

Every sentence is full of dizzying action and vivid descriptive language. I'm a bit shocked it only came out to 111 pages...the story feels so much larger. I think this would be a great fit for a buddy read or book club. Dissect and discuss this wonderful oddball of a book.

I grabbed this book the second I saw the author since I loved Spookshow. It's very different yet has a lot of similar style points. Cosmic horror, splatterpunk, and classic horror goodness. If you like one, I bet you'll enjoy the other. There's even a reference to Spookshow hidden somewhere in these pages.

Thanks so much for the chance to check out this book for free. I'm leaving this review of my own accord.

[AgoraphoBook Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Decrepit Ritual

Valkyrie Loughcrewe


4.75 / 5


If you want to embark on a knarly, dark drug trip without taking a substance but just by reading a book, this is the one. 


Holy s#it.

Honestly I can't get my thoughts together after this hallucinatory cosmic nightmare of a novel. I'm just trying to ground and recenter myself in the here and now. 


A horrific tale of drug induced delirium that quickly and terrifyingly spirals out of control -from bad to worse- and begins bleeding into real life. 


Gave me some analogue vibes, the body horror and the descriptions of the monsters are grotesque ... It's just really good horror, y'all. Really good. 


This book scratched so many itches that I didn't even recognize weren't being scratched much for me within the genre lately. 


I highly recommend checking this nasty little nugget of a novel out. 


4.75 / 5

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the darkest of times. In an out of the way cabin in a far off land.. A person visits with the intent to unlive themselves. In this cabin there is a video cassette filled with an epic horror movie unlike no other.

Like the protagonist, the reader is caught up in the frenetic pace of this epic film. Will it change the mind of the protagonist? Does the film become prophetic?

All of these questions and more may or may not be answered by jumping into this quick dip into this novel. To those who dare, buckle up for this ride.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

This novella moves fast and takes you, yes YOU, the reader and POV, for a wild ride. If this story had to come off the page, it would have to be a video game (action-packed, ultra-violent and neon). I have not read anything of this genre in the perspective given: the story is told exactly as it is processed by you in real time. I don't know if it works for a piece this long.

*I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.*

Between describing what you are seeing on a screen and what you are feeling and thinking outside of that, I got a bit confused and had trouble picturing things clearly. There is a lot of action where maybe there should have been more description or exposition. I felt like the author could have kept going, maybe from other perspectives, and that the ending works both "as is" and/or "to be continued".

[C Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a fan of what would be termed ‘b-movies’ I found a lot to enjoy in this piece. Characters that portrayed tropes from various genres but added an ideology to their roles that elevated it beyond just parody. The story itself is packed with memorable and inventive scenes. There is a beautiful play between mysticism and science that reminded me of the work of Grant Morrison. At time the denseness of the prose could be a little confusing but this didn’t interfere with the pace and intrigue. The wraparound sections of the narrator in the cabin were well written and interesting however I found myself wanting to get back to the characters on the VHS and the perils they faced.

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a trippy and interesting little read. 2nd person is so rarely done that it was jarring at first, but here it’s done well. The wild VHS tape movie plays like an absolute acid trip. I found it fun in places and uninteresting in others. The gore was solid, it had a cool heavy metal vibe, and it was very creative in its approach. Having the book be one long chapter annoyed me to no end, but I see why it was done this way both stylistically and from a narrative perspective. It wasn’t all the way for me, but I think for the right person this will fucking rock.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Lux · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can only compare the experience of reading this book to one other previous experience in my life, which was watching Mandy for the first time while literally delirious with a fever. I will be surprised if a third thing ever manages to evoke a similar feeling. Maybe if I ever accidentally end up at a death metal festival on like a thumbprint of acid. Or if I ever have an incredibly skilled DM running a dnd campaign inspired by a desire to use the Doom soundtrack.

I thought this was fantastic. The only reason it isn’t 5 stars for me is because at a point it became overwhelming such that it was difficult to focus for a while. But I loved the ride.

[SemiSinful · Rating 4 out of 5]

4/5

The beginning quarter of this book had me hooked and there were some parts in the middle quarters that had me rolling my eyes and questioning why I picked up the book in the first place, even losing the ability to accurately follow the story for a while but I found it eventually. The last quarter of the book really tied all the threads together neatly and I feel it had a rather satisfying conclusion. If I had decided to give up on this book when it was frustrating me, this would've been a 2.5/5 star read but honestly, I'm coming away from it feeling that it did something unique with the way that it told it's story and utilized horror and gore and I appreciate that.

[rat · Rating 3 out of 5]

i enjoyed the concept and, without going into spoilers, equally enjoyed how much it is a love letter to the grosser parts of horror (if i understood correctly), especially as someone who also is drawn to those parts because of real-life things. however, i wish the editing was a little tighter as the typos were really glaring, and i understand it was trying to convey how quickly scenes were changing, but i wish there was a gap between scene changes or something of the sort to make it a little easier to follow. overall i really hope i understood what it was going for, and i’d like to read more from this author too!

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I wasn’t sure what to make of this story the first 20 pages or so but I really loved it the longer I read. It’s incredibly action packed—another reviewer said “vertigo inducing” which is totally accurate. But in the brief portions where we hear from the protagonist, we find a really tender tragic tale of someone who has lost all hope—maybe with a bit of humor sprinkled in too. The ending cinched it for me as a 5-star read. If you’re looking for something fast paced, gory, funny, and a bit of sentimentality, this is for you.

[Zakk Madness · Rating 4 out of 5]

My brain feels abused, pulverized, by the chaotic pulses of this narrative. There’s a lot of awesomeness to unpack from beginning to end, keep your mind agile because it’s going to be everywhere, all at once. An absurdist sci-techno slash fear-and-loathing inferno.

I did enjoy this book quite a lot, because I had a bit of a difficult time following along at times, my overall personal entertainment value is 4 stars.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily. Big thanks to Ghoulish Books and Booksirens.

[David Swisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Weird as hell. Like an ultra cosmic Ring but make it metal and on acid and then fill it with splatter. I dig the 2nd person POV as well.

The only drawback I think is how disorienting this read is. I believe it's intentional. A case of being too good at making it disorienting.

[Dex · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jarring and uncomfortable in the best way possible.

I had to keep putting it down and walking away to sort of catch my barring. This book is BRUTAL and doesnt ever give you a moment to feel comfortable.

[Erica Summers · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decrepit Ritual was like a wild, visceral fever dream that intentionally disorients the reader. I really enjoyed this one. Fresh and original with a hook that kept me riveted from the start.