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A Night to Slay For
New Year’s bucket list: party hard, slay harder!
The luxurious, surprisingly affordable party cabin in the isolated, scenic Croatian countryside was all Irma and her friends had hoped for—jacuzzi and no close neighbors included. The recent grads have packed their car chock-full of good music, better booze, and plenty of brownies to guarantee a New Year’s to remember.
The arrival of a second car packed with girls ready to prove their own claim on the cabin seems like a recipe for disaster—until they realize the other group is as hyped-up for New Year’s as they are, upping Irma’s chances of getting her midnight kiss. For once in her chronically-single life, everything seems to be going well… until the snow outside starts piling up through the night, and her friends’ bodies soon follow suit.
In the blink of an eye, Irma’s New Year’s dream turns into a New Year’s nightmare. Will she live to see another (new) year?
This sapphic horror novella is ready to fill all your snowed-in dreams with some good old slashery feels.
The luxurious, surprisingly affordable party cabin in the isolated, scenic Croatian countryside was all Irma and her friends had hoped for—jacuzzi and no close neighbors included. The recent grads have packed their car chock-full of good music, better booze, and plenty of brownies to guarantee a New Year’s to remember.
The arrival of a second car packed with girls ready to prove their own claim on the cabin seems like a recipe for disaster—until they realize the other group is as hyped-up for New Year’s as they are, upping Irma’s chances of getting her midnight kiss. For once in her chronically-single life, everything seems to be going well… until the snow outside starts piling up through the night, and her friends’ bodies soon follow suit.
In the blink of an eye, Irma’s New Year’s dream turns into a New Year’s nightmare. Will she live to see another (new) year?
This sapphic horror novella is ready to fill all your snowed-in dreams with some good old slashery feels.
139 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 27, 2025
120 people want to read
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October 24, 2025A terrific modern slasher-feeling horror set in the Croatian countryside. Irma and friends have booked a remote house to get plastered for New Year's. But the snow is thick and the forest is scary (the depiction of place is super vivid here), and everyone is taking too many drugs, and then another carful of girls arrive...and people start vanishing.
The thing that works beautifully here is, we're really not sure for most of the book what the big bad is. Is it the endless empty forest? The thick deadly snow? The memory of the war, in the very material shape of possible land mines? The likelihood of horrible homophobic rural people turning their eyes on a carful of young city lesbians? Are the new visitors for real? Is there a supernatural force at work or a very human murderer, and are they all too boozed and drugged up to work it out in time? The author keeps the tension high (like the body count) and the questions hovering for a really filmic-feeling experience.
Thoroughly enjoyable sapphic horror, highly recommended for your scary-season reading. Definitely take this if you're off for some debauchery in the woods.
The thing that works beautifully here is, we're really not sure for most of the book what the big bad is. Is it the endless empty forest? The thick deadly snow? The memory of the war, in the very material shape of possible land mines? The likelihood of horrible homophobic rural people turning their eyes on a carful of young city lesbians? Are the new visitors for real? Is there a supernatural force at work or a very human murderer, and are they all too boozed and drugged up to work it out in time? The author keeps the tension high (like the body count) and the questions hovering for a really filmic-feeling experience.
Thoroughly enjoyable sapphic horror, highly recommended for your scary-season reading. Definitely take this if you're off for some debauchery in the woods.
February 20, 2025
I wrote it, I'm allowed to be subjective about it 💅🏻
October 13, 2025
This is not my genre and I didn't expect to enjoy it as much as I did. There are some things I didn't like, but I finished it in one sitting when I planned to just read 2-3 chapters and then go to sleep, so that's high enough praise from me.
March 1, 2025
Disclaimer: i have not been objective a day in my life
As a seasoned road trip girlie, this book nailed the vibe of literally every girls road trip from food, music, alcohol amount, the stress of navigating while your friend drives...
Cant say any of my trips turned into a slasher but if they did i imagine this is how it would go. The reactions the girls had were very realistic and the erie vibe was nicely undercut with comedic elements.
The characters are very relateable in general and I found myself liking most of them and the ones that annoyed me I had fun yelling at even though they are not actual people. I think the author made it very easy to feel like you are part of the friend group as they go through their seasonal mental breakdowns.
Big props for the ending, I was not expecting that (go read it if you want to know, i aint no snitch).
All in all the book was slay all the way! ✨️
As a seasoned road trip girlie, this book nailed the vibe of literally every girls road trip from food, music, alcohol amount, the stress of navigating while your friend drives...
Cant say any of my trips turned into a slasher but if they did i imagine this is how it would go. The reactions the girls had were very realistic and the erie vibe was nicely undercut with comedic elements.
The characters are very relateable in general and I found myself liking most of them and the ones that annoyed me I had fun yelling at even though they are not actual people. I think the author made it very easy to feel like you are part of the friend group as they go through their seasonal mental breakdowns.
Big props for the ending, I was not expecting that (go read it if you want to know, i aint no snitch).
All in all the book was slay all the way! ✨️
February 21, 2025
This was fun with a capital f!
As someone who has been on a very similar winter vacation in the past with my own group of friends (no one died, though, thank! God!), this was eerily familiar to read! A lot of the situations these characters found themselves in made me snort or giggle because it was extremely easy to visualize all of it. The characters were very fun to follow, and their growing paranoia made complete sense. The story was equally chilling and funny — the author managed to find the perfect balance of scaring the reader and making them cosily snuggle up with this book. Honestly, I'll definitely keep my shackles up the next time I go on a trip like this; because of the ending, the story was a lot more realistic than what I expected it to be!
Highly recommend giving this book a try! It's short, it's fun, it's just a little bit gory — everything you need to binge it in a single day! Oh and also, you'd be supporting a debut author from Croatia! 😇
A huge thank you to Shtriga Books and the author for sending me an ARC of this!
As someone who has been on a very similar winter vacation in the past with my own group of friends (no one died, though, thank! God!), this was eerily familiar to read! A lot of the situations these characters found themselves in made me snort or giggle because it was extremely easy to visualize all of it. The characters were very fun to follow, and their growing paranoia made complete sense. The story was equally chilling and funny — the author managed to find the perfect balance of scaring the reader and making them cosily snuggle up with this book. Honestly, I'll definitely keep my shackles up the next time I go on a trip like this; because of the ending, the story was a lot more realistic than what I expected it to be!
Highly recommend giving this book a try! It's short, it's fun, it's just a little bit gory — everything you need to binge it in a single day! Oh and also, you'd be supporting a debut author from Croatia! 😇
A huge thank you to Shtriga Books and the author for sending me an ARC of this!
April 15, 2025
This is my favorite novel ever!
Usually am not a fan of horror anything, but this was extremely fun, an the suspence was killling me (even tho i mostly knew what was going to happen, thank you for that once again). It was a proper fun slasher, scarry but not leaving me with nightmares, great for my smizla brain.
The characters are so fun, in the same time loveable and annyoing (as people in their mid 20s are) you can't help but root for them.
I immensly enjoyed every little croatian reference: from music, food, horrible countryside roads and "that white shit".
And of course not to forget the all queer friendship groups, i would read anything with that theme set in croatia. Croatian writers: please please please am begging you give us more of it! Maybe even sometnih dark academia?? 👀
5/5 if and i'll shout it from the rooftops until somebody arrests me
Usually am not a fan of horror anything, but this was extremely fun, an the suspence was killling me (even tho i mostly knew what was going to happen, thank you for that once again). It was a proper fun slasher, scarry but not leaving me with nightmares, great for my smizla brain.
The characters are so fun, in the same time loveable and annyoing (as people in their mid 20s are) you can't help but root for them.
I immensly enjoyed every little croatian reference: from music, food, horrible countryside roads and "that white shit".
And of course not to forget the all queer friendship groups, i would read anything with that theme set in croatia. Croatian writers: please please please am begging you give us more of it! Maybe even sometnih dark academia?? 👀
5/5 if and i'll shout it from the rooftops until somebody arrests me
February 23, 2025
I didn't think my first ever review would be a review of a satirical slasher, but here we are!
Equal amounts of horror and comedy, this made such an enjoyable read, keeping me on the edge of my seat with suspence. If a New Year's getaway with your very best friends to the mountains ruined by unexpected visitors and a whodunnit scenario sounds like your cup of tea, definitely check this novella out!
Equal amounts of horror and comedy, this made such an enjoyable read, keeping me on the edge of my seat with suspence. If a New Year's getaway with your very best friends to the mountains ruined by unexpected visitors and a whodunnit scenario sounds like your cup of tea, definitely check this novella out!
March 21, 2025
“I was very alone, very drunk, and possibly ovulating.”
I giggled and blushed reading this book until I didn’t.. and that's all I'll say, give this book a chance and you won’t be disappointed.
I giggled and blushed reading this book until I didn’t.. and that's all I'll say, give this book a chance and you won’t be disappointed.
November 11, 2025
Horror novella about a group of Croatian lesbian friends who rent a house in the woods for New Year's... I stayed up past my bedtime to finish this, it's super fun. Not super frightening, rather a perfect book version of a slasher you yell and laugh at with friends!
I also really had fun with the writing: mostly, the characters talk like very believable mid-20 y.o., and then once in a while the phrasing of the dialogue/inner monologue jumps a bit formal, reminding me that the author's mother tongue isn't English. I realise this sounds like an insult but it's really, really the opposite - I live in central Europe and this mix of casual and suddenly formal is how most of my friends speak English. So it extra drew me in, as part of their friend group 😊
I also really had fun with the writing: mostly, the characters talk like very believable mid-20 y.o., and then once in a while the phrasing of the dialogue/inner monologue jumps a bit formal, reminding me that the author's mother tongue isn't English. I realise this sounds like an insult but it's really, really the opposite - I live in central Europe and this mix of casual and suddenly formal is how most of my friends speak English. So it extra drew me in, as part of their friend group 😊
February 8, 2026
My rating with partial stars would be 2.75.
I picked up this book as a part of StoryGraph's Reads the World challenge! Croatia was up, and I wanted to select a book that was just about some people instead of being a riveting story about the hardships of surviving war like a lot of the other Reads the World prospects. I read it a little too late to cash in on the New Years vibes, but I got as close as I could. It really captures the vibes of the holiday slump where you just want to be cozy and turn your brain off and shed the entire year like a molting reptile. Even if I don't personally partake in heavy drinking and hard drugs, I could appreciate the "party hard" energy. The atmosphere was quite good! Unfortunately, a handful of things did keep me from enthusiastically enjoying this book.
Let's start with some positives. Two things this book does pretty well are telling jokes and building tension. These are two ideal boxes to tick in a horror comedy! I enjoyed the references to Croatian pop culture and general observational humor about what it's like to live there. This is part of why I do the Reads the World challenge for, after all. Some of the turns of phrase didn't land for me, but there were some standouts.
"The fuckery of this wannabe road" is just an excellent phrase in general. Integrating swears into prose isn't easy, but I think this does it well.
This is a cheeky jab at the word "situationship" (which I use with similar distaste) while also poking fun at, I don't know, Croatian grandma culture. That's fun. I enjoy little insights like that.
I found the building of tension to be well-done because you're right there with the characters in really not knowing whether or not there's a stranger in the house with them. The result is a fucked-up domino effect of mistrust and frayed nerves. The addition of new people to the dynamic works to generate more anxiety.
I think it also did a good job at foreshadowing certain events. However, that last point does also verge into my complaints.
In general, I had difficulty connecting with Irma as a main character. I struggle with apathetic characters as a whole, and some of her behaviors rubbed me the wrong way. Which, I didn't feel like the book was really trying to make you absolutely love all of its characters — it felt like more of a highlight reel of how messy and insane queer people can be — but these aspects do make it harder to get into a protagonist for me personally. Her conviction that it doesn't count as ghosting if you weren't initially going out with the person got under my skin. It's certainly in character, and it certainly supports her being a coward, so perhaps this was the intention.
Despite me not liking her that much, I also think she was done a little dirty by the narrative.
There's unfortunately some timeline fuckery that took me out of the story. So, the friend group is set to rent the country house for five days — until Wednesday, AKA New Year's Day. But the second group of girls arrives on what is said to be "the fifth day". And then Irma thinks about how New Year's Eve is tomorrow, and the night passes, and it gets dark again after that. The connection to time gets a little inky when Irma takes a nap, but we at least have the detail that the rescue car comes to get them "through the morning mist". At the police station, she verifies that it is New Year's Day. All of these details cannot be true at the same time.
There were also some typos that made me have to reread sentences a couple times. I'll cut some slack for the author most likely having English as a second language, but I did have to raise an eyebrow at "tho" slipping into the finished product. At one point, it's also said that "Marlena and Sara retreated to the kitchen to get Sara something to drink." I've gotta commend the author, though, for using "blonde" (with an "e" as opposed to "blond" without) to refer to men. I'm sick to bastard death of the gendered spelling of that word! Thank you!!
Overall, I wish I'd enjoyed this book more, but there were still things to like about it. I liked that we're left on uncertain footing with certain plot points at the end. I like how unapologetically queer and raunchy it is. It's definitely refreshing when the prevailing idea of "good queer rep" still follows a very sanitized cookie cutter mold. I appreciated the inclusion of a playlist in the Author's Note. The author seems like a lovely person; I think I'll still check out some of her other work to see if something else hits me any harder.
I picked up this book as a part of StoryGraph's Reads the World challenge! Croatia was up, and I wanted to select a book that was just about some people instead of being a riveting story about the hardships of surviving war like a lot of the other Reads the World prospects. I read it a little too late to cash in on the New Years vibes, but I got as close as I could. It really captures the vibes of the holiday slump where you just want to be cozy and turn your brain off and shed the entire year like a molting reptile. Even if I don't personally partake in heavy drinking and hard drugs, I could appreciate the "party hard" energy. The atmosphere was quite good! Unfortunately, a handful of things did keep me from enthusiastically enjoying this book.
Let's start with some positives. Two things this book does pretty well are telling jokes and building tension. These are two ideal boxes to tick in a horror comedy! I enjoyed the references to Croatian pop culture and general observational humor about what it's like to live there. This is part of why I do the Reads the World challenge for, after all. Some of the turns of phrase didn't land for me, but there were some standouts.
I was trying to keep my eyes on the fuckery of this wannabe road while also trying to guess if I was even on it.
"The fuckery of this wannabe road" is just an excellent phrase in general. Integrating swears into prose isn't easy, but I think this does it well.
After years on Tinder, I used the word 'situationship' in the same way my grandmas used the word 'unmarried'—not even trying to hide my disgust.
This is a cheeky jab at the word "situationship" (which I use with similar distaste) while also poking fun at, I don't know, Croatian grandma culture. That's fun. I enjoy little insights like that.
I found the building of tension to be well-done because you're right there with the characters in really not knowing whether or not there's a stranger in the house with them. The result is a fucked-up domino effect of mistrust and frayed nerves. The addition of new people to the dynamic works to generate more anxiety.
I think it also did a good job at foreshadowing certain events. However, that last point does also verge into my complaints.
In general, I had difficulty connecting with Irma as a main character. I struggle with apathetic characters as a whole, and some of her behaviors rubbed me the wrong way. Which, I didn't feel like the book was really trying to make you absolutely love all of its characters — it felt like more of a highlight reel of how messy and insane queer people can be — but these aspects do make it harder to get into a protagonist for me personally. Her conviction that it doesn't count as ghosting if you weren't initially going out with the person got under my skin. It's certainly in character, and it certainly supports her being a coward, so perhaps this was the intention.
Despite me not liking her that much, I also think she was done a little dirty by the narrative.
There's unfortunately some timeline fuckery that took me out of the story. So, the friend group is set to rent the country house for five days — until Wednesday, AKA New Year's Day. But the second group of girls arrives on what is said to be "the fifth day". And then Irma thinks about how New Year's Eve is tomorrow, and the night passes, and it gets dark again after that. The connection to time gets a little inky when Irma takes a nap, but we at least have the detail that the rescue car comes to get them "through the morning mist". At the police station, she verifies that it is New Year's Day. All of these details cannot be true at the same time.
There were also some typos that made me have to reread sentences a couple times. I'll cut some slack for the author most likely having English as a second language, but I did have to raise an eyebrow at "tho" slipping into the finished product. At one point, it's also said that "Marlena and Sara retreated to the kitchen to get Sara something to drink." I've gotta commend the author, though, for using "blonde" (with an "e" as opposed to "blond" without) to refer to men. I'm sick to bastard death of the gendered spelling of that word! Thank you!!
Overall, I wish I'd enjoyed this book more, but there were still things to like about it. I liked that we're left on uncertain footing with certain plot points at the end. I like how unapologetically queer and raunchy it is. It's definitely refreshing when the prevailing idea of "good queer rep" still follows a very sanitized cookie cutter mold. I appreciated the inclusion of a playlist in the Author's Note. The author seems like a lovely person; I think I'll still check out some of her other work to see if something else hits me any harder.
January 28, 2026
Wait, I just realized I never wrote a review for this. A shame on me.
Do you want a fun horror romp full of realistic characters? Do you want a taste of the real Croatian culture? Do you want to never feel safe in the snow again?
If so, this book is your perfect next read!
And you get to learn who Severina is!
It kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time as I desperately tried to figure it out. I didn't solve it before the reveal, but the clues are all there, which makes it a very satisfying read.
Do you want a fun horror romp full of realistic characters? Do you want a taste of the real Croatian culture? Do you want to never feel safe in the snow again?
If so, this book is your perfect next read!
And you get to learn who Severina is!
It kept me at the edge of my seat the entire time as I desperately tried to figure it out. I didn't solve it before the reveal, but the clues are all there, which makes it a very satisfying read.
September 17, 2025
Read this insane little book in one sitting, and I encourage you to do the same (with at least one glass of something alcoholic by your side, you know, emotional support and all).
It made me laugh out loud, it made me gasp audibly, it even made me roll my eyes a bit. Just enough campy to be fun, just enough serious to make you truly invested.
Special points for all the Croatian (and especially the alt. Zagreb) references. If you're not Croatian, either get a Croatian friend or ask for help online because if you don't, you'll miss on soooo much flavour of this book.
p.s. Am I *completely* missing the point if I have this sudden urge to rent a cabin in the middle of nowhere with a few lesbian friends (they'll excuse my straightness I'm sure)?
It made me laugh out loud, it made me gasp audibly, it even made me roll my eyes a bit. Just enough campy to be fun, just enough serious to make you truly invested.
Special points for all the Croatian (and especially the alt. Zagreb) references. If you're not Croatian, either get a Croatian friend or ask for help online because if you don't, you'll miss on soooo much flavour of this book.
p.s. Am I *completely* missing the point if I have this sudden urge to rent a cabin in the middle of nowhere with a few lesbian friends (they'll excuse my straightness I'm sure)?
March 13, 2025
A short but enjoyable read, perfectly balancing gore, suspension, and Severina.
Though I haven't yet had a NYE party in the woods (my queer friend group prefers city parties), I can picture us in a similar setting as the characters of this story. Each character had a specific tone, and was easily distinguishable from others, and so their actions and decisions kept true to their personalities.
Overall, I enjoyed the novella and will happily recommend it to lovers of slashers and horror with pinches of comedy.
Though I haven't yet had a NYE party in the woods (my queer friend group prefers city parties), I can picture us in a similar setting as the characters of this story. Each character had a specific tone, and was easily distinguishable from others, and so their actions and decisions kept true to their personalities.
Overall, I enjoyed the novella and will happily recommend it to lovers of slashers and horror with pinches of comedy.
March 3, 2025
Phew! That was a nerve-racking read!
This novella really has a knack for inducing anxiety - from the distorted sense of reality to the feeling of helplessness. The pop-culture references (especially those specific to Croatia) add that little extra kick to the story, as do the incredibly written characters (some of which HAD IT COMING).
Loved the premise, loved the setup, loved the execution (pun intended)!
This novella really has a knack for inducing anxiety - from the distorted sense of reality to the feeling of helplessness. The pop-culture references (especially those specific to Croatia) add that little extra kick to the story, as do the incredibly written characters (some of which HAD IT COMING).
Loved the premise, loved the setup, loved the execution (pun intended)!
March 16, 2025
Sam kraj mi je nekako smanjio doživljaj knjige. Ne zbog samog zaključka da nema ubojice nego načina na koji se sve završilo. Prebrzo i naglo. Ali stil pisanja mi se jako svidio, navijam za još knjiga od spisateljice!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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December 16, 2025This was not really my thing, though I could see a different sort of reader really liking it.
It was darkly funny even as it was tragic, and the confused narrator keeps the reader off balance in a skillful way.
But what can I say, I don’t love senseless violence.
It was darkly funny even as it was tragic, and the confused narrator keeps the reader off balance in a skillful way.
But what can I say, I don’t love senseless violence.
February 27, 2025
Great read 👏
April 26, 2025
Really an amazing book. It really drew me in. I especially loved the ending, and the humorous moments that lightened the mood.
October 10, 2025
I liked this book, just because it was so fun (I loved Irma fr). I liked the development of the story and the mystery (the ending was just crazy) and the characters are really well developped and interesting. I was an easy and funny read, i recommend it.
January 11, 2026
I am usually not a slasher person but I picked it up on recommendation and then accidentally read the whole thing in what was basically one sitting (and even made a little fanart).
It's got all the murdery chaos I expected with my limited genre savviness, the characters are disasters in very entertaining and realistic ways (especially in terms of having “local flavor” endemic to the setting, which was refreshing to read, especially in the characterisation, behavior, history, and treatment of queer characters!), the banter and different relationship chemistries really landed for me, and I really had no idea who would make it to the end until we got there :)
Incredibly enjoyable read overall, looking forward to more works from the author.
It's got all the murdery chaos I expected with my limited genre savviness, the characters are disasters in very entertaining and realistic ways (especially in terms of having “local flavor” endemic to the setting, which was refreshing to read, especially in the characterisation, behavior, history, and treatment of queer characters!), the banter and different relationship chemistries really landed for me, and I really had no idea who would make it to the end until we got there :)
Incredibly enjoyable read overall, looking forward to more works from the author.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews