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Yeehaw Junction
"Welcome to Yeehaw Junction, Florida. I'm Skeet. The date is June-something, 1999 and I'm gonna be a school shooter when I grow up." When a family of thieves and runaways joins the search for a missing girl in rural Florida, they're drawn into a chemical conspiracy that extends far beyond their worst nightmares.
About the author: Kayli Scholz is the author of Saint Grit (Ghoulish Books, 2023) and Black Rain Season (Curious Corvid Publishing, 2024). Her short fiction has appeared in Dark Moon Digest, A Formal Invitation, and others. Kayli lives and writes in the wilds of Florida.
About the author: Kayli Scholz is the author of Saint Grit (Ghoulish Books, 2023) and Black Rain Season (Curious Corvid Publishing, 2024). Her short fiction has appeared in Dark Moon Digest, A Formal Invitation, and others. Kayli lives and writes in the wilds of Florida.
180 pages, Paperback
Published November 5, 2025
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Kayli Scholz
8 books18 followersAuthor of Yeehaw Junction, Black Rain Season, Saint Grit, and various short stories.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 63 reviews
August 24, 2025
⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2
I was a teenager in the late 90s, so I remember when Marilyn Manson became the scapegoat for the emerging school shooting epidemic, or really anything that didn’t conform to a Christian conservative worldview for that matter.
He became a symbol for the downtrodden and misanthropic, for anyone who didn’t adhere to a narrow worldview. His presence throughout this novel was a perfect backdrop for its depravity, and Skeet’s misplaced idolatry of him embodied the spirit of the times.
This is bleak and nihilistic. It’s well written and immersive. But there’s something missing that prevented it from becoming a complete story. It would have benefitted from a greater sense of purpose. It would have been better if it stood for something more than a frigid nothingness. There was no pay off for any aspirations, as amoral and wicked as those aspirations were.
I think the author is on to something here, and I will keep checking in on her work. She clearly has writing chops, and I could see her putting all the pieces together for something brilliant in the future.
I was a teenager in the late 90s, so I remember when Marilyn Manson became the scapegoat for the emerging school shooting epidemic, or really anything that didn’t conform to a Christian conservative worldview for that matter.
He became a symbol for the downtrodden and misanthropic, for anyone who didn’t adhere to a narrow worldview. His presence throughout this novel was a perfect backdrop for its depravity, and Skeet’s misplaced idolatry of him embodied the spirit of the times.
This is bleak and nihilistic. It’s well written and immersive. But there’s something missing that prevented it from becoming a complete story. It would have benefitted from a greater sense of purpose. It would have been better if it stood for something more than a frigid nothingness. There was no pay off for any aspirations, as amoral and wicked as those aspirations were.
I think the author is on to something here, and I will keep checking in on her work. She clearly has writing chops, and I could see her putting all the pieces together for something brilliant in the future.
October 4, 2025
Review in the October 2025 issue of Booklist and on the blog here: https://raforallhorror.blogspot.com/2...
(link live on 10/7)
Three Words That Describe This Book: discomfiting, thought provoking, sympathetic but awful narrator
Did you like the movies-- The Florida Project? Then read this book. I will say it is a bit more extreme in terms of the violence than that book BUT it is the same concepts.
The present of this book is set in 1999 and it is mostly told by Skeet, a young man who tells us in the first sentence that he is a school shooter in training.
But throughout he use of ephemera-- police documents, transcripts of true crime videos, 911 transcripts, newspaper articles and more-- all clearly dates-- readers get a sense of what happened before we meet Skeet and way after he leaves us. The use of dates is key because info is giving to the reader throughout the present storyline and some is set before and some after. It adds to the extreme unease of this story.
The world building is excellent. Readers get a sense of this hopeless place-- Yeehaw Junction-- right in the middle of nowhere FL. A place literally poisoned-- the DDT remnants are still leaving a mark on the people who live there-- including Skeet.
The less you know about this book going in the better. It is a full body experience to read it. You will feel disgust, anger, and terror but also sadness, hope for better for Skeet even though you know the odds are impossibly against him. You will also be forced to take a hard look at the America that is just off the interstate on your way to the amusement park.
This is a book for the space where psychological suspense and horror over lap. In your face horrors with plenty of humanity-- like in the work of Gabino Iglesias, Eric LaRocca, and CJ Leede.
Especially great for fans of The Devil Takes You Home or Coyote Songs by Iglesias.
(link live on 10/7)
Three Words That Describe This Book: discomfiting, thought provoking, sympathetic but awful narrator
Did you like the movies-- The Florida Project? Then read this book. I will say it is a bit more extreme in terms of the violence than that book BUT it is the same concepts.
The present of this book is set in 1999 and it is mostly told by Skeet, a young man who tells us in the first sentence that he is a school shooter in training.
But throughout he use of ephemera-- police documents, transcripts of true crime videos, 911 transcripts, newspaper articles and more-- all clearly dates-- readers get a sense of what happened before we meet Skeet and way after he leaves us. The use of dates is key because info is giving to the reader throughout the present storyline and some is set before and some after. It adds to the extreme unease of this story.
The world building is excellent. Readers get a sense of this hopeless place-- Yeehaw Junction-- right in the middle of nowhere FL. A place literally poisoned-- the DDT remnants are still leaving a mark on the people who live there-- including Skeet.
The less you know about this book going in the better. It is a full body experience to read it. You will feel disgust, anger, and terror but also sadness, hope for better for Skeet even though you know the odds are impossibly against him. You will also be forced to take a hard look at the America that is just off the interstate on your way to the amusement park.
This is a book for the space where psychological suspense and horror over lap. In your face horrors with plenty of humanity-- like in the work of Gabino Iglesias, Eric LaRocca, and CJ Leede.
Especially great for fans of The Devil Takes You Home or Coyote Songs by Iglesias.
September 6, 2025
Oof. This book is messed up—in the best possible way. It’s bleak, it’s rancid, it’s unapologetically depraved, and I devoured every page.
Narrated by Skeet, a teenage boy who casually announces he’s a school shooter in training, the story unfolds in the scorched backroads of Yeehaw Junction, Florida in 1999. Under the threat of Y2k, Skeet drifts through town stirring up chaos everywhere he goes, living in a ramshackle home with Trudy, her mentally disabled sister Cricket, and three kids—one biologically hers, the others, like Skeet, absorbed into her orbit through circumstance or neglect.
They’re the living embodiment of white trash and wear the label like armor. Things spiral quickly after a local girl vanishes from a rest stop, snatched in broad daylight from beneath her mother’s nose. While the town mobilizes in a frantic search, Skeet and his feral foster crew set up shop roadside—hawking poisoned dirt in mason jars and bootlegged Hope 4 Heather t-shirts. To stave off boredom, they capitalize on an opportunity to torment a man and his very pregnant wife when the couple crosses their path. and things only get darker from there.
Scholz weaves in found-footage elements with eerie finesse—peppering the narrative with snippets of news articles, police transcripts, interviews, and YouTube clips that deepen the dread and blur the line between fiction and documentary. It’s a storytelling style that feels voyeuristic, invasive, and brilliantly immersive.
Narrated by Skeet, a teenage boy who casually announces he’s a school shooter in training, the story unfolds in the scorched backroads of Yeehaw Junction, Florida in 1999. Under the threat of Y2k, Skeet drifts through town stirring up chaos everywhere he goes, living in a ramshackle home with Trudy, her mentally disabled sister Cricket, and three kids—one biologically hers, the others, like Skeet, absorbed into her orbit through circumstance or neglect.
They’re the living embodiment of white trash and wear the label like armor. Things spiral quickly after a local girl vanishes from a rest stop, snatched in broad daylight from beneath her mother’s nose. While the town mobilizes in a frantic search, Skeet and his feral foster crew set up shop roadside—hawking poisoned dirt in mason jars and bootlegged Hope 4 Heather t-shirts. To stave off boredom, they capitalize on an opportunity to torment a man and his very pregnant wife when the couple crosses their path. and things only get darker from there.
Scholz weaves in found-footage elements with eerie finesse—peppering the narrative with snippets of news articles, police transcripts, interviews, and YouTube clips that deepen the dread and blur the line between fiction and documentary. It’s a storytelling style that feels voyeuristic, invasive, and brilliantly immersive.
June 17, 2025
I read an advance copy of this book and provided a blurb. The blurb, which I'll let stand in for my review here, went something like this: Yeehaw Junction is perhaps the most unsettling book I've ever read. But it's not just unsettling, it's un-everything: uncompromising, unflinching, but mostly un-put-down-able.
June 17, 2025
Kayli Scholz’s YEEHAW JUNCTION is a contemporary Southern Gothic that immerses its readers in the bleak reality of a world that exists between fuel pumps, cigarette cartons, dive bars, and sinister homemade videos. A smart psychological thriller that burgeons with sadistic pleasures.
September 21, 2025
I easily could have read this in a single sitting, but had to put it down about three quarters in because it's so messed up that it was kinda ruining my day. Yeehaw Junction is an unrelentingly bleak story about fucked-up hillbillies doing some grotesquely depraved shit in sun-scorched, contaminated middle-of-nowhere Florida just before the turn of the millennium.
Our narrator is Skeet, a twelve-year-old aspiring school shooter. We soon meet the other violent misfits in his found family of broken people, who mostly survive by stealing, peddling poisoned soil in mason jars to gullible tourists, and shooting fucked-up, snuff-like home videos to sell on the Dark Web or to local perverts. When an 11-year-old girl is kidnapped at a gas station in broad daylight, Skeet's crew decides to join the community's frantic search party for the promised reward... while peddling bootlegged Hope4Heather shirts on the side, of course. Not a single thing that happened in this novel is what I expected, at any point.
The story jumps around from Skeet's narrated chapters to 911 calls, police reports and interviews, youtube video transcripts, patient records, and news articles—a gimmick I generally don't much like, but it worked here, adding to the atmosphere of the very specific time and place this story takes place in, blurring the lines between fact and fiction. They also gave objective context to what was happening in the story, because honestly, Skeet is so crazy, I was never really sure how reliable a narrator he really was, and whether these things were actually happening, or just his violent imagination. I also repeatedly had to remind myself of his young age, because by his voice alone, I would've judged him to be at least 16 years old—I suppose you have to grow up fast when society first neglects and then forgets you.
Considering some of the things that happen, the gore surprisingly isn't overly graphic—in fact, I kind of missed a bit of horror? Like, what was the point of the creepy guy in a suit? Or of the other kidnapping, other than delivering the most skin-crawling scene? For such a short book, I found the story hard to follow because of how surreal and chaotic it gets—I often had to re-read paragraphs. I can objectively appreciate the world-building that went into crafting this gritty Y2K Southern Gothic novel, but the result wasn't entirely my cup of tea—I like my stories to have a point, and felt that Yeehaw Junction was as jaded and nihilistic a portrayal of abject violence as you could possibly get. Maybe that is the point, and where the actual horror I missed is meant to be found. I certainly know where I won’t be stopping for gas if I ever make it to Florida.
—————
Note: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Our narrator is Skeet, a twelve-year-old aspiring school shooter. We soon meet the other violent misfits in his found family of broken people, who mostly survive by stealing, peddling poisoned soil in mason jars to gullible tourists, and shooting fucked-up, snuff-like home videos to sell on the Dark Web or to local perverts. When an 11-year-old girl is kidnapped at a gas station in broad daylight, Skeet's crew decides to join the community's frantic search party for the promised reward... while peddling bootlegged Hope4Heather shirts on the side, of course. Not a single thing that happened in this novel is what I expected, at any point.
"We were rotten people and we came from a rotten place."
The story jumps around from Skeet's narrated chapters to 911 calls, police reports and interviews, youtube video transcripts, patient records, and news articles—a gimmick I generally don't much like, but it worked here, adding to the atmosphere of the very specific time and place this story takes place in, blurring the lines between fact and fiction. They also gave objective context to what was happening in the story, because honestly, Skeet is so crazy, I was never really sure how reliable a narrator he really was, and whether these things were actually happening, or just his violent imagination. I also repeatedly had to remind myself of his young age, because by his voice alone, I would've judged him to be at least 16 years old—I suppose you have to grow up fast when society first neglects and then forgets you.
"The world was suddenly like a roach I was gonna crush under my shoe."
Considering some of the things that happen, the gore surprisingly isn't overly graphic—in fact, I kind of missed a bit of horror? Like, what was the point of the creepy guy in a suit? Or of the other kidnapping, other than delivering the most skin-crawling scene? For such a short book, I found the story hard to follow because of how surreal and chaotic it gets—I often had to re-read paragraphs. I can objectively appreciate the world-building that went into crafting this gritty Y2K Southern Gothic novel, but the result wasn't entirely my cup of tea—I like my stories to have a point, and felt that Yeehaw Junction was as jaded and nihilistic a portrayal of abject violence as you could possibly get. Maybe that is the point, and where the actual horror I missed is meant to be found. I certainly know where I won’t be stopping for gas if I ever make it to Florida.
—————
Note: I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
July 14, 2025
YEEHAW JUNCTION by Kayli Scholz is a book like no other. This Florida Gothic novel perfectly describes those small, in between towns off highways where anything goes and things are lost in the asphalt cracks of decay. It will disturb you and linger with your conscience long after you finish reading. Scholz masters the voice and description of Skeet and his rotten world. I’ve driven through Yeehaw Junction a few times and grew up near a pocket sized Florida town, and the descriptions are spot on. I love the inclusion of police interviews and YouTube transcripts to help tell this dark narrative. I was reminded of the tragedy of Demon Copperhead, the bleakness of The Destructors, and the grittiness of the film Gummo.
Thank you to Moonstruck Books for this arc.
Thank you to Moonstruck Books for this arc.
July 2, 2025
Yeehaw Junction is super fucked up and bleak, and I loved every word. Tightly written and beautifully paced, with not a single wasted word. This is for people who like their Southern Noir extra dark.
Thanks to Moonstruck Books for kindly providing me with an arc.
Thanks to Moonstruck Books for kindly providing me with an arc.
November 6, 2025
How do I describe Yeehaw Junction?
You know that feeling you get after watching a particularly grimy horror movie? I don't mean popular stuff like Saw, but more like Saint Maud or the original See No Evil. You just sit there, staring at the screen as the credits roll, maybe tearing up a little. Maybe you're disgusted. You think about how you were a different person two hours ago, and you kinda miss that person, because the movie changed your brain, and you'll never forget it. That's what reading Yeehaw Junction feels like.
I already knew this from Black Rain Season, but Kayli Sholz is a master of language. She uses words not just to tell a story, but to make you feel it. And this time, she makes you feel...grimy. Shocked. Disgusted. You think about things you don't want to when you read Yeehaw Junction, you experience a life you were (hopefully) lucky enough to be previously ignorant of.
I'm a sucker for a Florida setting, and Kayli does that better than anyone. (Slight spoiler, but I was so happy to see Sugar Bends!) The epistolary elements make this story feel especially real; the characters are so dynamic that it's hard to register you're not reading true crime.
Can I recommend this? It's not for everyone. It's shocking and grotesque, and pretty damn depressing. Some senes will stick with me forever. But if you like literature that moves you and changes you, that has so many layers you'll think about it for days, then yeah. Read it. But be warned, it's a disgusting and depraved journey.
"[She] was coming back today, and I'd show her my life's work: the blood, what bones I'd broken, the way I carried us all through it, and the footage we got."
You know that feeling you get after watching a particularly grimy horror movie? I don't mean popular stuff like Saw, but more like Saint Maud or the original See No Evil. You just sit there, staring at the screen as the credits roll, maybe tearing up a little. Maybe you're disgusted. You think about how you were a different person two hours ago, and you kinda miss that person, because the movie changed your brain, and you'll never forget it. That's what reading Yeehaw Junction feels like.
I already knew this from Black Rain Season, but Kayli Sholz is a master of language. She uses words not just to tell a story, but to make you feel it. And this time, she makes you feel...grimy. Shocked. Disgusted. You think about things you don't want to when you read Yeehaw Junction, you experience a life you were (hopefully) lucky enough to be previously ignorant of.
I'm a sucker for a Florida setting, and Kayli does that better than anyone. (Slight spoiler, but I was so happy to see Sugar Bends!) The epistolary elements make this story feel especially real; the characters are so dynamic that it's hard to register you're not reading true crime.
Can I recommend this? It's not for everyone. It's shocking and grotesque, and pretty damn depressing. Some senes will stick with me forever. But if you like literature that moves you and changes you, that has so many layers you'll think about it for days, then yeah. Read it. But be warned, it's a disgusting and depraved journey.
"[She] was coming back today, and I'd show her my life's work: the blood, what bones I'd broken, the way I carried us all through it, and the footage we got."
August 24, 2025
I mean wow. This book was chaotic, gritty, messy, and raw. There was so much trauma and insanity and unbelievable wtf moments, but I COULD.NOT.STOP.READING!
This was an incredibly unique horror/slasher read that will probably stick with me forever. Kayli did NOT shirk on shock value. She did NOT shirk on chaos. I appreciate that this was something that I hadn't really come across before.
We follow this young male character who is so mentally insane that you truly do not know whether what he sees is the truth or a hallucination. His found family is a cluster of insane and broken beings who are simply just trying to make it through the day.
This book and the way it is told throws you around and roughs you up and expects you to hold on tight and take whatever is thrown at you. I loved the gritty atmosphere, the absolute chaos in story telling, it was an incredible experience I will not soon forget and I will recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slashers!
This was an incredibly unique horror/slasher read that will probably stick with me forever. Kayli did NOT shirk on shock value. She did NOT shirk on chaos. I appreciate that this was something that I hadn't really come across before.
We follow this young male character who is so mentally insane that you truly do not know whether what he sees is the truth or a hallucination. His found family is a cluster of insane and broken beings who are simply just trying to make it through the day.
This book and the way it is told throws you around and roughs you up and expects you to hold on tight and take whatever is thrown at you. I loved the gritty atmosphere, the absolute chaos in story telling, it was an incredible experience I will not soon forget and I will recommend this book to anyone who enjoys slashers!
October 7, 2025
This was bleak, graphic and dark to read. But I couldn’t put it down. Skeet, the narrator, is as white trash as they get, proud of his unusual upbringing and family life. His so called siblings are just as unhinged, encouraged by their guardian who radiates chaos and violence. The plot becomes more and more unraveled after the kidnapping of a local girl, Heather.
I loved this style of writing and the weaving of different methods of storytelling, from YouTube video transcripts to 9-1-1 calls. The entire story was heavy and dark but I couldn’t look away, it was like a trainwreck. The writing was so descriptive, I could smell the sweat, blood and dirt coming off these characters. A real success for bleak storytelling and unlikeable characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #YeehawJunction #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I loved this style of writing and the weaving of different methods of storytelling, from YouTube video transcripts to 9-1-1 calls. The entire story was heavy and dark but I couldn’t look away, it was like a trainwreck. The writing was so descriptive, I could smell the sweat, blood and dirt coming off these characters. A real success for bleak storytelling and unlikeable characters.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for kindly providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review. #YeehawJunction #NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
August 27, 2025
I don't think I've ever been so speechless after finishing a book before. I don't even know what to say right now. This book threw me off so many times. There were several parts that made my skin crawl but I absolutely could not put it down. I needed to know where it was going. You just need to check your triggers and go along for the wild hillbilly ride for yourself.
October 21, 2025
Happy Spooktober!
This was a crazy short novel set in the summer of 1999 in a small swampy town, Yeehaw Junction, Florida. It is a sneaky little book about a band of misfit kids who have to fend for themselves after their foster mom Trudy finds herself in handcuffs and on the wrong side of a prison cell. It has a lot of late 90s nostalgia which was a big bonus for me as I was transported to my first years of high school and counting down the days to Y2K. Yeehaw Junction itself becomes a bit of a character in and of itself as the action unfolds. I have no idea if the town actually exists or if it is a figment of the author's imagination, but it definitely represents one of many small towns that still exist in rural Florida. The soil there is literally poisoned with DDT from the 60s and 70s and the people who call it home have suffered many physical and mental defects and disabilities as a result of the poison. Our narrator, a twelve-year old boy named Skeet, suffers from some physical deformities as a result of this poisoning and it also becomes clear quickly that he also is a very disturbed kid. He seemingly worships Marilyn Manson in a time when Manson became the media scapegoat for the school shooting epidemic that gripped the nation following the Columbine tragedy. Skeet also introduces himself to the audience as someone who wants to be a school shooter when he grows up.
I really thought that this one was going to be too disturbing for me, but I was pleasantly surprised in how it flowed for me. The writing was quite good, albeit not perfect, but I really found myself invested in this whacky story pretty quickly. I also enjoyed how the story unfolded with some time jumps and shifts in perspective. The ending was enigmatic yet it worked and a lot of the seemingly random elements came together nicely in the conclusion. I found myself thinking a lot about this one after I finished so I gave it another half star, settling on 3.5
It really examines dysfunctional relationships, and the effect on dire poverty on important issues such as mental health. It is a close character study on those who proverbially fall through society's cracks in places like Yeehaw Junction which is hard to find on any map, but is home to many who will most likely remain there. Just as the DDT poisoned the literal ground, this book demonstrates how many different poisons exist and can do so much damages on individuals and families. The poison of media, the poison of abandonment, the poison of poverty, and the poison of 24/7 entertainment. This is a horror novel that examines all of the human horrors all too well including those who are ignored, marginalized, or seemingly forgotten. Skeet was not a likeable narrator by any means but as the story goes on he does become somewhat sympathetic when it becomes clear what his daily life consists of and in all the ways the system has literally failed him and people like him. It was not a perfect book and needed a little editing and polish, but many Kayli Scholz can write and write well and I will be keeping this author on my radar. Excellent book to kick off my 2025 Spooktober!
I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
This was a crazy short novel set in the summer of 1999 in a small swampy town, Yeehaw Junction, Florida. It is a sneaky little book about a band of misfit kids who have to fend for themselves after their foster mom Trudy finds herself in handcuffs and on the wrong side of a prison cell. It has a lot of late 90s nostalgia which was a big bonus for me as I was transported to my first years of high school and counting down the days to Y2K. Yeehaw Junction itself becomes a bit of a character in and of itself as the action unfolds. I have no idea if the town actually exists or if it is a figment of the author's imagination, but it definitely represents one of many small towns that still exist in rural Florida. The soil there is literally poisoned with DDT from the 60s and 70s and the people who call it home have suffered many physical and mental defects and disabilities as a result of the poison. Our narrator, a twelve-year old boy named Skeet, suffers from some physical deformities as a result of this poisoning and it also becomes clear quickly that he also is a very disturbed kid. He seemingly worships Marilyn Manson in a time when Manson became the media scapegoat for the school shooting epidemic that gripped the nation following the Columbine tragedy. Skeet also introduces himself to the audience as someone who wants to be a school shooter when he grows up.
I really thought that this one was going to be too disturbing for me, but I was pleasantly surprised in how it flowed for me. The writing was quite good, albeit not perfect, but I really found myself invested in this whacky story pretty quickly. I also enjoyed how the story unfolded with some time jumps and shifts in perspective. The ending was enigmatic yet it worked and a lot of the seemingly random elements came together nicely in the conclusion. I found myself thinking a lot about this one after I finished so I gave it another half star, settling on 3.5
It really examines dysfunctional relationships, and the effect on dire poverty on important issues such as mental health. It is a close character study on those who proverbially fall through society's cracks in places like Yeehaw Junction which is hard to find on any map, but is home to many who will most likely remain there. Just as the DDT poisoned the literal ground, this book demonstrates how many different poisons exist and can do so much damages on individuals and families. The poison of media, the poison of abandonment, the poison of poverty, and the poison of 24/7 entertainment. This is a horror novel that examines all of the human horrors all too well including those who are ignored, marginalized, or seemingly forgotten. Skeet was not a likeable narrator by any means but as the story goes on he does become somewhat sympathetic when it becomes clear what his daily life consists of and in all the ways the system has literally failed him and people like him. It was not a perfect book and needed a little editing and polish, but many Kayli Scholz can write and write well and I will be keeping this author on my radar. Excellent book to kick off my 2025 Spooktober!
I received a copy of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 24, 2025
Yeehaw Junction is a Florida town so small it rarely shows on maps. It’s where Skeet grew up, a foster kid who identifies as “rotten” and aspires to someday be a school shooter.
When 11-year-old Heather Studebaker goes missing nearby, Skeet and his foster family consider ways to get a reward for finding her.
Yeehaw Junction is a work of meta-fiction, telling a story from Skeet’s point of view interspersed with newspaper clippings, YouTube blogs, and police interrogation transcripts.
Be warned, this one is not for weak stomachs: extreme violence and incredibly fucked-up bizarre content, including (but not limited to) a stripper posing suggestively with corpses wearing a Monica Lewinsky mask.
As a sucker for mixed media and a true sicko, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kayli Scholz’s writing style is top notch with unforgettable characters and world-building that feels viscerally immersive. If you liked Gummo, you’ll love this. Certified Wicked.
When 11-year-old Heather Studebaker goes missing nearby, Skeet and his foster family consider ways to get a reward for finding her.
Yeehaw Junction is a work of meta-fiction, telling a story from Skeet’s point of view interspersed with newspaper clippings, YouTube blogs, and police interrogation transcripts.
Be warned, this one is not for weak stomachs: extreme violence and incredibly fucked-up bizarre content, including (but not limited to) a stripper posing suggestively with corpses wearing a Monica Lewinsky mask.
As a sucker for mixed media and a true sicko, I thoroughly enjoyed it. Kayli Scholz’s writing style is top notch with unforgettable characters and world-building that feels viscerally immersive. If you liked Gummo, you’ll love this. Certified Wicked.
August 31, 2025
Thank you to the folks at Moon-Struck Books for providing me with a digital ARC to review in exchange for my honest opinions.
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Yeehaw Junction is one hell of a ride. It's a scorched earth policy enacted on late 90's/Millennium nostalgia. Much like the Environs of Yeehaw Junction, poisoned with DDT and a host of other chemicals, America back then was seeing exactly the kind of ugly, violent fruit had sprouted, from the sown seeds scattered in the final decades of the 20th century. If you were a teenager at the time, as many of us were, Kayli's book acts as a boot, kicking you back to that pocket of time. Not a pleasant experience, but a necessary one. Politicians and the media sought to mop away the shootings, the ignorance, the religious extremism. However, it was nothing but a small bandage on a shotgun wound, performative at the least, surface effort at best.
Kayli Scholz has an immediacy to her writing. Readers familiar with her other work, like SAINT GRIT, will recognize that I'm referring to. This a Postmortem, where new tragedies and horrors some to be revealed in every chapter. A tale of the monstrous things people do, and the cycles of abuse and misery that they perpetuate. The immediacy Kayli channels in her writing, means that we the reader, cannot look away, we must see every grisly moment. A the tale of young Skeet and his kin unraveled, I found myself thinking about the Sawyer family, in the 1974 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like the residents of Yeehaw Junction, the Sawyer's were folk of the periphery. The social and economic support once present was long gone, and they were forced to fend for themselves. outliers of The Lumpen, finding strength and purpose in things hideous and violent.
This is a reminder of the depraved and ugly things that people are capable of, the nastiness and cruelty that most media artifacts of the time sought to hide under a glossy veneer.
This book comes out November 5th, I highly recommend readers pre-order or snag it, once it drops.
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Yeehaw Junction is one hell of a ride. It's a scorched earth policy enacted on late 90's/Millennium nostalgia. Much like the Environs of Yeehaw Junction, poisoned with DDT and a host of other chemicals, America back then was seeing exactly the kind of ugly, violent fruit had sprouted, from the sown seeds scattered in the final decades of the 20th century. If you were a teenager at the time, as many of us were, Kayli's book acts as a boot, kicking you back to that pocket of time. Not a pleasant experience, but a necessary one. Politicians and the media sought to mop away the shootings, the ignorance, the religious extremism. However, it was nothing but a small bandage on a shotgun wound, performative at the least, surface effort at best.
Kayli Scholz has an immediacy to her writing. Readers familiar with her other work, like SAINT GRIT, will recognize that I'm referring to. This a Postmortem, where new tragedies and horrors some to be revealed in every chapter. A tale of the monstrous things people do, and the cycles of abuse and misery that they perpetuate. The immediacy Kayli channels in her writing, means that we the reader, cannot look away, we must see every grisly moment. A the tale of young Skeet and his kin unraveled, I found myself thinking about the Sawyer family, in the 1974 film Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Like the residents of Yeehaw Junction, the Sawyer's were folk of the periphery. The social and economic support once present was long gone, and they were forced to fend for themselves. outliers of The Lumpen, finding strength and purpose in things hideous and violent.
This is a reminder of the depraved and ugly things that people are capable of, the nastiness and cruelty that most media artifacts of the time sought to hide under a glossy veneer.
This book comes out November 5th, I highly recommend readers pre-order or snag it, once it drops.
August 15, 2025
I really enjoyed this. Not only was it beautifully atmospheric, but it also had a very strong sense of place. While in the beginning I was shocked to find out that Skeet was only 12 because his narrative voice was very mature, I do think that speaks to how difficult living situations force kids to grow up and become very skeptical of the world and others at a young age. I also liked how I was never quite sure whether Skeet was being manipulated by those around him, showing how despite his actions and words, he really was just a kid who wasn’t being protected in the way he needed to be. The more information based sections were cool for giving more objective facts against Skeet’s subjective worldview which was missing a lot of greater context, as well as foreshadowing. I liked the ambiguity of the ending too because it feels like these characters really are missing and I’m a regular person who will never know what happened to them. The Survivors Day gun becoming a physical barrier between Skeet and the connection he craves to other people while allowing him an easy link to his intrinsic violence is a really cool metaphor for how American gun culture seperate vulnerable people from emotional regulation and leads to violent crime. Overall this was a really interesting picture of how both people and institutions fail to protect the poor and children, and how crime is able to take place due to the failings of many people, not just perpetrators.
August 17, 2025
True Rating: 4.5 Stars
I’m still reeling from this book an hour after I finished it and I assume I will be for the next few weeks at least. Before reading this, I was a firm believer in the idea that there is not a single piece of media that similarly captures the heart and grit of my favorite movie, Gummo. This book proved me wrong. This book captures the spirit of Harmony Korine’s masterpiece perfectly.
Scholz’s incredible talent was on full display for this gut-wrenching novel. I picked it up and didn’t put it down until it was over. The way the chapters are presented- with oscillation between media content, interviews, and narrative, while skipping through the timeline was a brilliant way of allowing you to put pieces together while also providing pieces of foreshadowing that felt necessary to furthering the plot. More than once, I found myself searching the character’s names on Google to find news articles about them because their stories felt so real. The storytelling was compelling, cohesive, and an all-around dreadful and disturbing delight to read. This book is forever burned into my brain and will be a frequent recommendation to anyone who loves a well-written, twisted, and morally complex adventure.
Thank you to Kayli Scholz and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book to review.
I’m still reeling from this book an hour after I finished it and I assume I will be for the next few weeks at least. Before reading this, I was a firm believer in the idea that there is not a single piece of media that similarly captures the heart and grit of my favorite movie, Gummo. This book proved me wrong. This book captures the spirit of Harmony Korine’s masterpiece perfectly.
Scholz’s incredible talent was on full display for this gut-wrenching novel. I picked it up and didn’t put it down until it was over. The way the chapters are presented- with oscillation between media content, interviews, and narrative, while skipping through the timeline was a brilliant way of allowing you to put pieces together while also providing pieces of foreshadowing that felt necessary to furthering the plot. More than once, I found myself searching the character’s names on Google to find news articles about them because their stories felt so real. The storytelling was compelling, cohesive, and an all-around dreadful and disturbing delight to read. This book is forever burned into my brain and will be a frequent recommendation to anyone who loves a well-written, twisted, and morally complex adventure.
Thank you to Kayli Scholz and NetGalley for the ARC copy of this book to review.
August 19, 2025
an unrelentingly dark, oppressively bleak, and deeply unsettling novel with a delightful, zine-esque cover, yeehaw junction is a brilliantly written deep dive into the darkest parts of america told from the wildly vivid voice of twelve year-old skeet, a boy with an unquenchable thirst for violence. jumping between skeet's narrative, youtube transcripts, and police interviews, kayli scholz tells the story of skeet, his rotten family, their involvement in a local child abduction case, and the upsetting foundations of all their lives. at once a crime story, a southern gothic, and a coming-of-age story, yeehaw junction is raw, atmospheric, and will leave you reeling after its unforgettable last pages, where one could be forgiven for believing that all of this might have actually happened. for those of you who want your fiction horrifying, miserable, and impossible to put down, i can't recommend this enough.
(it's extremely important to note here that this book contains nearly any trigger warning that may apply to you and is unflinching in its portrayal of depravity. if you do venture into yeehaw junction, please take care.)
(it's extremely important to note here that this book contains nearly any trigger warning that may apply to you and is unflinching in its portrayal of depravity. if you do venture into yeehaw junction, please take care.)
July 15, 2025
“Welcome to Yeehaw Junction, Florida. I’m Skeet. The date is June-something, 1999 and I’m gonna be a school shooter when I grow up.”
As you can guess from our protagonist’s opening line, this book isn’t gonna be for everyone. If you can sit with discomfort, though, you’re in for a gripping read with the newest from Kayli Scholz.
Let me just reiterate here that this book is not for all readers (and that's okay). If you're not a regular reader of transgressive fiction or horror, and you're looking to test the waters. . . this might not be the best book to start with. I'm really stressing this here because of one specific incident and that one specific incident alone (if you've read, then you know, lol).
Yeehaw Junction is not your typical slice-of-life drama. Alternating between Skeet’s narration and various media (transcripts of YouTube videos, police reports, etc.), readers witness the unfolding of a child abduction case and its investigation. In the process of solving that mystery, we get to know Skeet’s family and watch as they make a living off of the worst impulses, fascinations, and secrets of others. We also find ourselves in the role of helpless witness– or is implicated bystander more appropriate – as Skeet and the others do some utterly ghoulish things themselves. This story comes barreling at you like a bullet train but you just can’t bring yourself to try diving out of the way; and as more and more pieces click into place, you find there’s still some truly shocking revelations in store at the end.
This is an excellent quick read for fans of transgressive stories and crime fiction. You may just find yourself at the end of the ride way too quickly, trying to make sense of everything you’ve learned and wondering how long you’ll wish you knew what happened to some of these characters. . . whether it’s wanting to know if they’re safe or if others are safe from them.
Many thanks to Moon Struck Books for the ARC!
Save the date: Yeehaw Junction releases November 5th, 2025.
As you can guess from our protagonist’s opening line, this book isn’t gonna be for everyone. If you can sit with discomfort, though, you’re in for a gripping read with the newest from Kayli Scholz.
Let me just reiterate here that this book is not for all readers (and that's okay). If you're not a regular reader of transgressive fiction or horror, and you're looking to test the waters. . . this might not be the best book to start with. I'm really stressing this here because of one specific incident and that one specific incident alone (if you've read, then you know, lol).
Yeehaw Junction is not your typical slice-of-life drama. Alternating between Skeet’s narration and various media (transcripts of YouTube videos, police reports, etc.), readers witness the unfolding of a child abduction case and its investigation. In the process of solving that mystery, we get to know Skeet’s family and watch as they make a living off of the worst impulses, fascinations, and secrets of others. We also find ourselves in the role of helpless witness– or is implicated bystander more appropriate – as Skeet and the others do some utterly ghoulish things themselves. This story comes barreling at you like a bullet train but you just can’t bring yourself to try diving out of the way; and as more and more pieces click into place, you find there’s still some truly shocking revelations in store at the end.
This is an excellent quick read for fans of transgressive stories and crime fiction. You may just find yourself at the end of the ride way too quickly, trying to make sense of everything you’ve learned and wondering how long you’ll wish you knew what happened to some of these characters. . . whether it’s wanting to know if they’re safe or if others are safe from them.
Many thanks to Moon Struck Books for the ARC!
Save the date: Yeehaw Junction releases November 5th, 2025.
August 12, 2025
I think the greatest compliment I can give to Kayli Scholz's fiery, tense, and exceptionally written novel is its verisimilitude is such that I often forgot I was reading. I was lost in this world, following these characters around, often sick to my stomach as I did so, unable to stop turning the page. I think that's part of the reason why, when I finished, I turned back to page 1 and reread it all over again.
Don't get me wrong, this is a book designed to punch you in the teeth and in the gut - and in that order. There is sunsoaked misery within these pages. But Yeehaw Junction also showcases an unmistakable humanity that, in and of itself, exemplifies the reason why we crave and love stories - even those that ask a lot of us. Even those that are as bleak as Florida poverty.
This book is releasing on November 5. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.
A big thank you to Moonstruck Books for the ARC.
Don't get me wrong, this is a book designed to punch you in the teeth and in the gut - and in that order. There is sunsoaked misery within these pages. But Yeehaw Junction also showcases an unmistakable humanity that, in and of itself, exemplifies the reason why we crave and love stories - even those that ask a lot of us. Even those that are as bleak as Florida poverty.
This book is releasing on November 5. Do yourself a favor and pick up a copy.
A big thank you to Moonstruck Books for the ARC.
August 15, 2025
Thank you, NetGalley and Moonstruck Books, for the eARC!
The blurb alone caught my eye—it’s not often you see a life goal most people wouldn’t dream of aspiring to as adults. Told through Skeet’s perspective, the story follows the disappearance of a young girl. As well as the life of the family members, and just how things can deteriorate quickly, despite what someone tries to do to hold everyone together.
The introductions of the family members capture a bleak reality, showing how lives can slip through the cracks of the asphalt in a place you might simply pass through—much like the saying, “They can’t see the forest for the trees.”I also enjoyed the use of 911 calls and investigation transcripts, along with snippets from a YouTube channel. These added depth and realism, bringing the events—and their aftermath—to life.
It's an unsettling read that turned into a one more page situation for me while reading it. The ending left me wanting more, but I think it was best for it to end the way it did.
The blurb alone caught my eye—it’s not often you see a life goal most people wouldn’t dream of aspiring to as adults. Told through Skeet’s perspective, the story follows the disappearance of a young girl. As well as the life of the family members, and just how things can deteriorate quickly, despite what someone tries to do to hold everyone together.
The introductions of the family members capture a bleak reality, showing how lives can slip through the cracks of the asphalt in a place you might simply pass through—much like the saying, “They can’t see the forest for the trees.”I also enjoyed the use of 911 calls and investigation transcripts, along with snippets from a YouTube channel. These added depth and realism, bringing the events—and their aftermath—to life.
It's an unsettling read that turned into a one more page situation for me while reading it. The ending left me wanting more, but I think it was best for it to end the way it did.
July 1, 2025
Florida man... ah, we all know the headlines that start like this. But this is next level fucked. No one is innocent. I loved the overgrown 12 year old tumor that is the MC (lol sorry, I hated and loved Skeet). I liked that he was a confident, little know it all, as opposed to the teen MC's in most horror novels that lean on the fact that they are super naive about the world. Well, Skeet can tell an adult a thing or two about how the world works. How Yeehaw Junction, Florida is anyway. I always did wonder where snuff films come from, and who tf buys them.
What I learned from this book is that its all Marilyn Manson's fault. Haha. Just kidding, but no really, did we debunk that rumor about his ribs??
Highly recommend. Trigger warnings throughout.
What I learned from this book is that its all Marilyn Manson's fault. Haha. Just kidding, but no really, did we debunk that rumor about his ribs??
Highly recommend. Trigger warnings throughout.
August 18, 2025
Yeehaw Junction is a Sourhern Gothic based in the late 90’s in Florida and brings that dark grit of the 90’s. I was first intrigued by the title, then the cover and finally the description. In between the story telling are transcripts of police interviews, 911 calls and YouTube clips. Kayli Schulz writing is atmospheric and visceral, I was often feeling the elements and descriptions throughout the story. This bleak and unsettling book is a fast read, couldn’t put it down and read it in one sitting, but left with that ‘what did I just read?’ feeling, wanting a bit more but realized where it ended was right for the story. This one will stick with me for awhile.
Thank you NetGalley and Moonstruck Books for the arc!
Thank you NetGalley and Moonstruck Books for the arc!
February 8, 2026
my favorite book of 2026 so far (2/8/26) if you were to take the firefly family from the devils rejects and transplant them into Gummo by way of Florida you have yeehaw junction. I really would love to see a film adaptation of this.
September 4, 2025
I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley and I thank the author and publisher for the chance to have read this book.
This book is really like nothing I’ve read before. While there was an overarching plot, the structure felt more like small vignettes than chapters. The violence was violent, but not overly gory. I also think the violence was almost another character, a shadow that loomed throughout the story. Speaking of characters, it’s truly a motley crew, but they were really brought to life in such a simple but very real way.
My favorite parts of the book were the “break-in” sections that were really just there for exposition, but they had sense and were very helpful. I really did overall enjoy this book, and while I’m not sure it’s for every reader, I really do recommend it, and I am going to check out more offerings from this author!
This book is really like nothing I’ve read before. While there was an overarching plot, the structure felt more like small vignettes than chapters. The violence was violent, but not overly gory. I also think the violence was almost another character, a shadow that loomed throughout the story. Speaking of characters, it’s truly a motley crew, but they were really brought to life in such a simple but very real way.
My favorite parts of the book were the “break-in” sections that were really just there for exposition, but they had sense and were very helpful. I really did overall enjoy this book, and while I’m not sure it’s for every reader, I really do recommend it, and I am going to check out more offerings from this author!
September 2, 2025
This was an unhinged, twisted little read and I ate it up! The author draws you right in and keeps you hooked with the descriptive prose. You actually feel and feel for Skeet, the MMC, the bleak little town, and the hopelessness of its characters.. The dialogue cracked me up but also gave me that feeling this is the real deal. As a Gen X who grew up in the 80s and 90s, I appreciated the worldbuilding the author used by providing dates, news reports, 911 transcripts, etc. I’d recommend!
August 8, 2025
Yeehaw Junction is a horrific white-trash slice of life crime story told through the eyes of a disturbed twelve-year-old boy who goes by Skeet, along with police interrogations and news reports. The overarching story revolves around the disappearance of a young girl named Heather. Skeet and his foster family decide to look for the girl in hopes of claiming the 100,000 dollar reward. But that’s just the start of what becomes a series of horrific events caused by this “dirty rotten family.”
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. It started out pretty tame. Skeet and his oldest “foster sister” sell jars of what they call DDT soil to tourists for money. Jenna records disturbing content with a camcorder to sell online to people looking for macabre videos and items. Clothing worn by murder victims, abducting children, and the like. Sure, it was weird and creepy until they decided to be the cause of the footage they captured. Page 89 is where the story takes its terrible turn, and it’s all downhill from there. The actions taken by the “dirty rotten family” are terrifying, but when they’re the brainchild of a 12-year-old boy, that just amplifies the horror.
Even though the main story is “Frakensteined,” together I never really got lost, but I did have to go back and check the dates at the beginning of each chapter every now and then. However, that was mainly so I could keep up with the amount of time that passed. By the end of the book, all the pieces fell into place for a mind-blowing twist. I don’t know if this is a negative, but when I turned over the last page, I was left with so many questions and wanting to know more. I think that’s just because Scholz crafted such an intriguing story. I’ve already decided that I’m going to be rereading this soon to find clues that I might have missed.
Scholz also crafted characters that are believable and subtly terrifying. When I started reading, I could definitely tell something was off about these people, and as the story went on, their true nature was revealed. What makes Skeet so scary is that for a 12 year old boy, he knows what he’s doing is wrong, but in his mind, he’s justified. He knows how to manipulate the people around him in order to get what he wants, even from his siblings. Cricket is a character that we want to sympathize with, but there’s a darkness that lurks under the surface. Jenna mainly sits on the sidelines, but in truth, she’s the quiet catalyst for a lot of what happens within the story.
I love Scholz’s writing style and her ability to craft a story with vivid details and visuals. I could see everything Scholz described in the novel and feel the heat coming from SR-60. It probably helps that I live in South Florida, only about 90 minutes from YeeHaw Junction, but I digress. Despite being set in the Sunshine State, the tone of the novel is consistently dark. While there is some humor sprinkled throughout the book for balance, it matches the overall tone of the book.
Yeehaw Junction by Kayli Scholz is dark, gritty, a slice of Americana horror noir, and perfect for horror fans who are ready to dip their toes into the splatterpunk subgenre. It’ll leave you wanting to know so much more about this dirty, rotten family that makes their living off selling the souvenirs of local tragedies. It will be available on November 5th, 2025, wherever books are sold, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book. It started out pretty tame. Skeet and his oldest “foster sister” sell jars of what they call DDT soil to tourists for money. Jenna records disturbing content with a camcorder to sell online to people looking for macabre videos and items. Clothing worn by murder victims, abducting children, and the like. Sure, it was weird and creepy until they decided to be the cause of the footage they captured. Page 89 is where the story takes its terrible turn, and it’s all downhill from there. The actions taken by the “dirty rotten family” are terrifying, but when they’re the brainchild of a 12-year-old boy, that just amplifies the horror.
Even though the main story is “Frakensteined,” together I never really got lost, but I did have to go back and check the dates at the beginning of each chapter every now and then. However, that was mainly so I could keep up with the amount of time that passed. By the end of the book, all the pieces fell into place for a mind-blowing twist. I don’t know if this is a negative, but when I turned over the last page, I was left with so many questions and wanting to know more. I think that’s just because Scholz crafted such an intriguing story. I’ve already decided that I’m going to be rereading this soon to find clues that I might have missed.
Scholz also crafted characters that are believable and subtly terrifying. When I started reading, I could definitely tell something was off about these people, and as the story went on, their true nature was revealed. What makes Skeet so scary is that for a 12 year old boy, he knows what he’s doing is wrong, but in his mind, he’s justified. He knows how to manipulate the people around him in order to get what he wants, even from his siblings. Cricket is a character that we want to sympathize with, but there’s a darkness that lurks under the surface. Jenna mainly sits on the sidelines, but in truth, she’s the quiet catalyst for a lot of what happens within the story.
I love Scholz’s writing style and her ability to craft a story with vivid details and visuals. I could see everything Scholz described in the novel and feel the heat coming from SR-60. It probably helps that I live in South Florida, only about 90 minutes from YeeHaw Junction, but I digress. Despite being set in the Sunshine State, the tone of the novel is consistently dark. While there is some humor sprinkled throughout the book for balance, it matches the overall tone of the book.
Yeehaw Junction by Kayli Scholz is dark, gritty, a slice of Americana horror noir, and perfect for horror fans who are ready to dip their toes into the splatterpunk subgenre. It’ll leave you wanting to know so much more about this dirty, rotten family that makes their living off selling the souvenirs of local tragedies. It will be available on November 5th, 2025, wherever books are sold, and I highly recommend you pick up a copy.
November 5, 2025
When a book opens with a quote by Aileen Wuornos, you know it's going to be good. Reading this felt like being in the backseat of a beat-up pickup going way too fast down a country road, no seatbelt, holding on for dear life, knowing something terrible is going to happen any second. But at the same time, there's that pulse of adrenaline, that excitement when you're doing something you shouldn't. This story left grit between my teeth and felt unbearably, brutally honest about the darkest corners of our society, where all of the dirtbags gather, left to their own lurid devices.
December 1, 2025
Thank you for the ARC Netgalley and Moonstruck Books!
This is a HARD read, and not in a bad way but in a "this is really intense subject matter" way. As a man who was born in 1995, I don't have a ton of memory of the 90's but lets all be honest with each other the 1990's didn't really end until like 2003. So while I don't have much concept of the 90's from an adult perspective I DO remember it from a childhood lens. One of the things I remember so vividly is that most parents didn't really mind or care about where you were and what you did as long as you were back home by the time the streetlights were on for dinner.
One of the things that I actually enjoyed about this novella is the flashes forward to things like transcripts, interviews, and death reports. It adds a fair amount of depth to the overall story. However, there's also several things that I really don't understand the point of it being included other than for some "Saw"-genre torture porn (Chapter 9 specifically). I also was not a fan of Cricket's characterization, I understand she's got some trauma that hasn't been able to be resolved in her life but she suffers a lot from "show don't tell" and she's all tell, namely because we're literally told everything by Skeet.
A lot of this book seems fucked up just for the sake of being fucked up, I actually saw the initial page count and said to myself "oh this would make a good afternoon horror read" and then started reading the book itself and then I started getting to the real messed up parts and had to put it down for several days and felt immense dread that I didn't want to leave it unfinished. And my problem wasn't with the book being too graphic or anything like that, (I'm a millennial man who was raised by the early 00's internet, I've seen a LOT that I'll never unsee) my entire problem is that a fair amount of the messed up stuff seemed to happen just for the sake of it? It's highly surreal as a novella entirely because Skeet is so high out of his gourd and suffering from several unclear health conditions (thanks DDT) that he became an unreliable narrator.
This truly is like no other book I've read, I see lots of folks calling it bleak and honestly I don't think it's bleak, it feels fucked up for the sake of "why not" and there's absolutely nothing wrong with an author wanting to write fucked up bad people as their characters. It's just that EVERYBODY sucked, so there's really no positive thing that ever happens in this book and it overshadows what could have been a really interesting commentary on poverty and living in these small no-name towns that are affected by crime.
This is a HARD read, and not in a bad way but in a "this is really intense subject matter" way. As a man who was born in 1995, I don't have a ton of memory of the 90's but lets all be honest with each other the 1990's didn't really end until like 2003. So while I don't have much concept of the 90's from an adult perspective I DO remember it from a childhood lens. One of the things I remember so vividly is that most parents didn't really mind or care about where you were and what you did as long as you were back home by the time the streetlights were on for dinner.
One of the things that I actually enjoyed about this novella is the flashes forward to things like transcripts, interviews, and death reports. It adds a fair amount of depth to the overall story. However, there's also several things that I really don't understand the point of it being included other than for some "Saw"-genre torture porn (Chapter 9 specifically). I also was not a fan of Cricket's characterization, I understand she's got some trauma that hasn't been able to be resolved in her life but she suffers a lot from "show don't tell" and she's all tell, namely because we're literally told everything by Skeet.
A lot of this book seems fucked up just for the sake of being fucked up, I actually saw the initial page count and said to myself "oh this would make a good afternoon horror read" and then started reading the book itself and then I started getting to the real messed up parts and had to put it down for several days and felt immense dread that I didn't want to leave it unfinished. And my problem wasn't with the book being too graphic or anything like that, (I'm a millennial man who was raised by the early 00's internet, I've seen a LOT that I'll never unsee) my entire problem is that a fair amount of the messed up stuff seemed to happen just for the sake of it? It's highly surreal as a novella entirely because Skeet is so high out of his gourd and suffering from several unclear health conditions (thanks DDT) that he became an unreliable narrator.
This truly is like no other book I've read, I see lots of folks calling it bleak and honestly I don't think it's bleak, it feels fucked up for the sake of "why not" and there's absolutely nothing wrong with an author wanting to write fucked up bad people as their characters. It's just that EVERYBODY sucked, so there's really no positive thing that ever happens in this book and it overshadows what could have been a really interesting commentary on poverty and living in these small no-name towns that are affected by crime.
November 4, 2025
I picked up the eARC, this is an honest review.
I did not expect to read this in one entire sitting, I had planned to read like half tonight and then finish tomorrow, but the next thing I knew I had 13 pages left.
I was a bit worried that it would end up too edgy that it turned into cringe from the synopsis but I was so please that, while yes it is terribly edgy, it makes sense and isn't using it as some sort of shock value; making light of it. It was also the perfect length for what it is. In books this short you usually want them to be longer, but while this didn't wrap itself up with a pretty bow; there was little else you could think would be a better ending.
While the main character, Skeet, was incredibly unlikeable and terribly unreliable you could tell that wasn't the point. You weren't supposed to root for him, even if you did want to see him survive in the end. There is "found family" for all of you who love those buzzy tropes but it is so satisfying to see it fall apart. Them abandoning each other, selling each other out in the fight for greed or just to survive. Even those who "made it" to the end never really had each other.
The mystery was really good, and I loved the mixed media sort of aspect every other chapter. Letting the readers get little hints of what is coming and how it all ended.
I mean this in the best way I can, I hope the author never expands on this story.
Once again, this is one of those cases in which I should, logically, give the book 5 stars but there was just something that didn't click. I'm not sure what it was, but it was great. I think I wanted it to linger a bit more on the sadism? For a character who's basically foaming at the mouth to kill (even though he does struggle with morality and the gross of it all in a few scenes) whenever he does so I feel it could have had at least a little bit more description to emphasize, but when am I not asking for more in this type of story.
I did not expect to read this in one entire sitting, I had planned to read like half tonight and then finish tomorrow, but the next thing I knew I had 13 pages left.
I was a bit worried that it would end up too edgy that it turned into cringe from the synopsis but I was so please that, while yes it is terribly edgy, it makes sense and isn't using it as some sort of shock value; making light of it. It was also the perfect length for what it is. In books this short you usually want them to be longer, but while this didn't wrap itself up with a pretty bow; there was little else you could think would be a better ending.
While the main character, Skeet, was incredibly unlikeable and terribly unreliable you could tell that wasn't the point. You weren't supposed to root for him, even if you did want to see him survive in the end. There is "found family" for all of you who love those buzzy tropes but it is so satisfying to see it fall apart. Them abandoning each other, selling each other out in the fight for greed or just to survive. Even those who "made it" to the end never really had each other.
The mystery was really good, and I loved the mixed media sort of aspect every other chapter. Letting the readers get little hints of what is coming and how it all ended.
I mean this in the best way I can, I hope the author never expands on this story.
Once again, this is one of those cases in which I should, logically, give the book 5 stars but there was just something that didn't click. I'm not sure what it was, but it was great. I think I wanted it to linger a bit more on the sadism? For a character who's basically foaming at the mouth to kill (even though he does struggle with morality and the gross of it all in a few scenes) whenever he does so I feel it could have had at least a little bit more description to emphasize, but when am I not asking for more in this type of story.
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