Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls: An Interactive Horror Gamebook

by Brennan LaFaro, Mark Tullius (Editor), Dustin Meehan (Illustrator)

Genres: Horror

404 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 1, 2026

About the author

Brennan LaFaro is a music teacher by day, horror writer by night, living in southeastern Massachusetts with his wife, two sons, and his hounds. He is the author of the Slattery Falls trilogy, as well as Last Stay, and the horror western, Buzzard's Edge Saga. You can read his short fiction in various anthologies and find him on Twitter at @brennanlafaro or at www.brennanlafaro.com.

Reviews

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so much fun! The writing is very immersive and draws you into this world. I died multiple times but all my deaths were creative. Eventually, I managed to survive and the ending was worth all the pain and suffering.  If you enjoy immersive stories, this is a must read! Special Thank you to Brennan LaFaro, Vincere Press and Netgalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Trisha Tropiano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Try Not To Die In Slattery Falls is a prequel to Brennan LaFaro’s Slattery Falls Trilogy (which can be found combined into one book called I Will Always Find You) but it’s not necessary to read before reading the TNTD, though I would recommend it because it’s excellent!

If you haven’t read a Try Not to Die book before, it’s similar to a choose your own adventure - you get a few choices, one being correct and the others leading you to an untimely death. I am a huge fan of the Try Not to Die series as well as Brennan LaFaro’s work, so I had no doubt I would love this. I’ve enjoyed all the TNTDs I’ve read so far, but I am a sucker for a good haunted house story, so this is one of my favourites. Highly recommend checking it out!

[Emily Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Try

Welcome to Slattery Falls. The house you are exploring has a history. You must make choices as you go. Hope you choose wisely.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

*3.5 Stars*
Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls is the first book I've read in the Try Not to Die series, and when I finished this book I actually picked up the first three and read them pretty quickly as I enjoyed them quite a bit. I had heard of this series, but never really had the time to indulge so I took the opportunity to do so after finishing this book. This book brought me back to my childhood and my enjoyment at reading the Choose Your Own Adventure books, so I thought it was quite interesting to see a horror version of this type of book. And let's just leave it at the fact that I was no better at choosing my fate as an adult than I was as a kid as I died multiple times in this book.

I was already a fan of this author's work having read the Slattery Falls Trilogy (Book 3 being my favourite) as well as The Demon of Devil's Canyon, so I was familiar with the town of Slattery Falls and some of its history. Therefore, I am not really sure how this book would land with someone who has not read at least the first book in the trilogy. This was definitely an interesting read, but I wasn't surprised at how quickly the storyline went darker than you would think as I expected this, and it definitely did go dark very fast as the story twisted and turned until suddenly, oops, I made the wrong choice yet again, and faced some very severe and ouchy consequences. And I thought I was actually making good and logical choices.

I did enjoy the story and some of the character development, but I did think the character development was somewhat one-dimensional and I also thought the story ended rather abruptly. Now, could the abrupt ending be because of the choices I made rather than the intended purpose, I don't really know, but I did read the alternate endings and I rather liked the darker ending far more. However, I do like twisted stuff so perhaps that was just a personal response. The twists and turns were quite fun however, and you do learn a bit about the characters, but I still felt like the overall story was not as in-depth as it could have been.

Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls was an enjoyable choose-your-own-path book and I do have to say I am no longer confident about my chances of surviving a haunted house after this book as I died pretty abruptly not too long after entering the house and multiple times afterwards. The chapters were the perfect length to get invested in the story, but not so long that you got bored and after several poor choices, I could feel the tension in my body going up a little bit as I really wanted to make a good choice. While I didn't think the characters were greatly developed, they were still relatable and you wanted to root for all of them. I do have to say that the sentient house was one of the highlights of this book though. As I've already mentioned, I was intrigued enough by this book to read three more in the series, so if you want something that may remind you of your childhood, or just something a bit different, this may be for you.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

[Cat Treadwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm an unabashed long-time fan of Brennan's writing, so when I heard that he had crafted an adult 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book in his Slattery Falls world, I was there and ready to go immediately!

This is an interesting read. I chose to pick it up at bedtime, so I'd have a lovely spooky evening atmosphere as I stepped into the adventure, and it did not disappoint. Because this book goes HARD. I died VERY quickly the first time (and the second, dangit), and was amazed at how unrelenting and graphic the sudden Game Over pages are! We're going to enter a haunted house, you see - and it is 100% not guaranteed that you'll return alive!

Each section is much longer than I anticipated, which allows for good story and character development as the action moves along. The setup is great, the sense of 'sneaking in' to the house gripping, and the genuine sense of 'what would I do' made each decision feel life-or-death (in my case, I was jumped-scared when the usually safe haven of the library turned out to be the latter!).

Brennan's always-excellent characterisation succeeds very well here despite the format (which might have left him open to more one-dimensional NPCs against the reader/player). Everyone is well-realized and relatable, and I was reminded strongly of when I first read 'Salem's Lot', with the sense of Ben Mears and his friends entering the Marsden House - it's that tangibly terrifying!

Admittedly, I did feel a little railroaded at some points, but the story has to be told in a certain way, with not every path leading to somewhere of note. I never felt frustrated when I had to return to my 'Saved Game' point just before I died; instead curious as to exactly what choices I'd be faced with next.

Huge fun with genuine stakes and the highest of tension. Dare you step inside these pages...?

I was kindly sent an early copy of this book by the publisher, but the above opinions are entirely my own.

[Danielle Yvonne · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Just because no one else knows how haunted it is,” he says, “doesn’t mean the craziness that goes on inside those walls is any less crazy.”

Full transparency. I SUCK at these books. If there’s a “bad” or “wrong” choice to be made, don’t worry, I will be the one who makes it. And I mean that with my whole heart because when I tell you that I did not intentionally mean to click the option that would soon lead to my death, thus causing me to go back and choose differently EVERY SINGLE TIME, I mean every freaking time. This book sits at over 400 pages, and I swear I read 800. Not because it felt long, but because I refused to do the survivor route right from the start. Apparently, I like to see how many times I can die instead. There are quite a few, if you were wondering, lol.

Anyway, onto the really good stuff, and this one feels tough simply because I don’t even know what to highlight first. I was already a huge fan of LaFaro’s writing before this, so reading an interactive book with familiarity (SLATTERY FALLS) was awesome. Also, no, you do not need to be familiar with or read the SLATTERY FALLS series before this. You won't be lost, and you will still have a fantastic reader experience. LaFaro’s storytelling ability is really awesome. And so is his range. The SLATTERY FALLS series could definitely be marketed to a younger reader but also be enjoyed just as much by someone my age.

I recently read his last release, THE DENZIENS, and whoa, that one was so much different than this and definitely more for an 18+ reader, BUT it was executed perfectly. LaFaro really is an incredibly talented author and deserves every piece of hype he gets—and in my opinion, we should be talking about him more and praising his ability to curate the stories he tells.

There’s also something really special about this book, and that’s the pictures/maps/illustrations inside. Why? Because LaFaro’s son is the one who drew them. And little tidbits of random information like that just make the book even better. This is an author that I cannot recommend enough. But this book in particular is one I highly encourage people to take a chance on. It’s great for those who may not have a high attention span due to the interactive nature of the story. I mean, I really would recommend this one to anyone.

[GJO AND PUPS · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such a fun, interactive read for Summerween!

The haunted, sentient house element is fantastic. The author does a brilliant job of building the atmosphere, and I genuinely felt like I was standing outside the gates, looking in and wondering what on earth was waiting for me inside.

The characters were really well written, and I loved how organically the information was woven into the story. It never felt like I was being subjected to a history lesson about the abandoned house where children have been mysteriously disappearing for years.

The horror is gory and starts boldly as soon as you begin making decisions inside the house. It’s eerie, creepy and absolutely perfect for a little Summerween reading!

The characters were also surprisingly well developed, and considering they’re teenagers, they were not as annoying as some can be.

The interactive elements made the book feel almost never ending! I definitely took a few wrong turns along the way, although I’d like to think that in real life I’d make much better progress by simply not entering the town’s creepy horror house in the first place.

And the villain was set up well. I loved it!

I’m definitely going to be picking up the other books in this series, as well as more from this author.

A fun, creepy, gory and brilliantly interactive read. definitely recommend! 👻

[Erica Robyn Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Try Not to Die: In Slattery Falls: An Interactive Adventure by Brennan LaFaro is a story where you think you’re making the choices for the characters, but there’s something very wicked at play here.

THIS IS SUCH A COOL ADDITION TO AN ALREADY TERRIFYING WORLD! My goodness. If you’ve read the other books in the Slattery Falls world, you know that the house these kids are about to enter isn’t just a haunted house. Weeks is lurking, and while these kids think they’re just going to break in and take a look around, they have no idea that the house itself may choose whether they live or die.

I love, love, looooooove this book! If you haven’t checked this world out yet, what are you waiting for?! Go dive in and prepare yourself; you’re not going to be the one exploring this book, the book will be exploring you 😉

Check out my full review here: https://www.ericarobynreads.com/try-n...

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an adult book, despite it having the choose your own adventure type of storyline. It was a pretty good story. I do like how you can choose to read either the interactive story (it is a choose your own style story) or the survivor style (just the story). I opted to read both. They are the exact same story, but if you read the interactive story, you can make the wrong choice and die. The end of that chapter will tell you the correct answer and you can go back to the chapter before and try again. There is cursing and obviously it is an adult horror story, so you are going to have a darker story line. It is written by the same author who wrote the series Slattery Falls, but this is part of a different series Try Not to Die. I do like that aspect and will be looking into reading the original series and more of this series as well. Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advanced copy.

[Monique Tutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a creepy, fun adventure! I want more interactive reads like this! It took me back to my childhood when I would read the R. L. Stine, Goosebumps - Choose Your Own Adventure and made me think back to the Until Dawn game by Dark Pictures. This was my first “Interactive Adventure” read and I very much enjoyed following, or I suppose more, directing Matty, Nate and Bex as they entered the haunted house.

The book was easy to read; I was able to enjoy it while making banana bread and reading on my KOBO. I went into it choosing whichever choice I wanted, not necessarily having to get it right. I wanted to have fun with it and see where each option led. In the end, they survived and got out, and I had fun reading a book for the first time in a long time.

Thank you to NetGalley, Vincere Press, and Brennan LaFaro for this ARC.

[Audrey Stars in Her Eye · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the aduly Choose Your Own Adventure! I am very excited about this series as a whole! This is the first of the series I have read, though I have several of the books in my collection.
Slattery Falls was a trip! And the choices didn't always go the way I expected! (And I think I liked the ending where I didn't survive the best; very cheeky!). The book is mostly fleshed out with an actual story, and the characters have histories and motivations elevating the book past the ones from my childhood.
The only thing that dragged it down was that there wasn't enough description. I wanted to know more about the house. Describe it. Tell me about the rooms. Don't cheat and say the room is just a "void" (which happens twice). Had atmosphere truly been in play, this would have been a five-star interactive book.

Irecieved an ARC through NetGalley; all opinions are my own.

[Colleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to Mark Tullius for this ARC!
I grew up loving horror & choose your own adventure books. The Try Not To Die series is right up my alley.
With my son in mind, this book feels appropriate for middle grade readers too.
TNTD in Slattery Falls was my introduction to Brennan LaFaro, I’m definately a new fan.
This was a great read. It has all the elements of a great haunted house story, location, labyrinthine basement, secret passageways, ghosts, and in my case many, many deaths!
The end gives you the option to read both endings and I have to say, I preferred the alternate.
There’s also an option to read the “Survivor Version” without all the bad decisions and death but where’s the fun in that?
Read it-Love it-Have fun!

[Cheryl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I grew up on Choose Your Own Adventures books. I can remember sitting on the library floor in front of the mystery section and just reading these books. I have read a few of the books in this series. This one is a fun one.

It does give off the spooky vibes. It does not take long before the action happens. Pretty much from the moment, you knock on the door to stepping into the house. That was a mistake. From this point on, just hope you make the "right" choices. If you don't, it is ok as you can always start again or go back and choose the other option.

The younger readers will like this book. It is not gory or too scary. The main characters are likable. The pacing is good as it moves at a steady, fast pace and the choices you make, just lead to more interesting situations.

[LillianFrost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back...

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for providing me with this complimentary copy of the book. Opinions expressed on this book are completely my own.

This was a harrowing, sad and yet fun interactive tale. You choose your fate, and as a bonus you get to unravel a mystery as well. Not gonna lie but I felt so smug each time I made the right choice ;) It is quite a fun rush and yet you feel the hairs on your neck stand on end as you delve deeper into the Weeks house.

Great characters with more depth than I was expecting. I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a fun scare.

Characters 3/5

Setting 5/5

Story2.5/5

Overall 3.5/5

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Try Not to Die: In Slattery Fall" by Brennan LaFaro was given to me as an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This is another choose-your-own-fate book in the Try Not to Die series, except this one is in a haunted house. I will admit that choosing wrong is par for the course when reading one of these, but that is what makes it so entertaining.

This was a fun and mysterious read that I was able to finish in a couple of days. This book also has a "play it safe" section where you can just read it through without having to make the decision, but I think that takes the adventure out of it. If you are looking for something quick and exciting to read, this is the book for you.

[K K Jones Book Reviews · Rating 5 out of 5]

Try Not to Die: In Slattery Falls by Brennan LaFaro is part of the amazing Try Not to Die interactive book series. This book is about the power of friendship, family, sibling rivalry, haunted houses, and the ability to standby each other, and help each other through thick and thin, only the results of the story depend on which choice the reader makes.

For excitement and pulse pounding adventure, Try Not to Die: In Slattery Falls will draw readers in at the beginning, and hold their attention up until the last heart gripping decision is made. For fans of Slattery Falls, the Try Not to Die series will be a real treat. For fans new to the series, this book is a great way to be introduced.

[Jerrica · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a creepy and fun adventure!

This was my first “Interactive Adventure” read. I enjoyed following/directing Matty, Nate and Bex as they braved entering this haunted house.

The format of the book was perfect. I was easily able to read all of the “wrong” choices to see what would happen before moving forward to the correct path. Most choices I made were correct, the others… death. It was fun to see how each played out.

I think I’ll be staying out of basements though for the foreseeable future.

Thank you to NetGalley, Vincere Press, and Brennan LaFaro for this eARC.

[Lili Hill · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fabulously creepy and twisty "choose-your-own-adventure" set in a haunted and otherworldly 'murder' house. I thoroughly enjoyed this! This is my first ebook of a choose-your-own-adventure and I was hesitant to see that it worked like a usual choose-your-own-adventure, but it absolutely works! The tale itself is creepy as can be and was perfect for a dive into "ok, how twisted can I make this?". I had a blast! Thank-you, Brennan LaFaro and Vincere Press, for this complimentary copy. Opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

[Alexandra Nisneru · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am an experienced reader of these TNTD stories, having read more than half of the whole series. If I'd make a ranking of all the ones I read, this one would be around the middle. Good and solid story, with some tense moments. Character arc is decent and enjoyable. My only complaints was that I would have liked to see the main character/narrator a bit more tormented, and second, the finale felt slightly rushed (and I enjoyed the alternate ending more than the survivor's ending).

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5/5 Stars

If you loved choose-your-own-adventure books as a kid, you'll likely enjoy this adult version. The story keeps you guessing, and the choices are rarely obvious, which makes it a fun and engaging read.

That said, it felt repetitive at times, and I had a hard time connecting with the characters. While the unique format kept me reading, the unlikable cast made some sections drag. Overall, an entertaining read with a clever premise.

[Jacek · Rating 5 out of 5]

A well-crafted entry in the Try Not to Die series, which makes excellent use of its setting, and skillfully uses looping to lull the reader into a false sense of security. I also appreciated how the book slowly revealed the scope of the residence and the true power of the specter that haunts it. The ending(s) is fitting. This book made such a positive impression on me that I am going to give the series that this is based on a try.

[Deii · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

It was fun! It reminded me of the old Choose Your Own Adventures and Goosebumps books. It was fun trying all the different ways to fail and then end up at the beginning. The e-book version, which I was reading, also had links to go back where you came from to start over, which was pretty convenient.

It was a fun read, thank you!

[ChanaReadsHorror · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a kid I loved choose your own adventure books and this made me think of those. I am already a fan of this universe and getting to explore in more in this style was super fun. I will say I did do ok with making some good and some bad choices. I wish I had noted what I did to go back and re-read and make different ones the second time through.

[Stacie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read an ARC of this book. I've read other "Try Not to Die" books and loved them but this one fell short for me. To me the fun of these books is of course, trying not to die, but then seeing all the different ways to die. This book was a bit long winded and I found it a bit boring.

[Jen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Whilst I have always been a big fan of choose your own adventure stories growing up I feel like this read a bit young for me as an adult.
The settings were gory and the suspense within the house had an eerie and adventurous tone to it although it didn't fully have me gripped throughout the book.
Thankyou to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc.

[Crystal DeBoard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher for the advanced copy. I always have so much fun with these books and this one was no exception. I did pretty well as far as deaths go, I lost count but I didn't make ALL wrong decisions. This was entertaining and engaging and I really enjoyed it.

[Dark Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a super fun idea - I grew up with choose your own adventure books, and I loved the chance to do it as an adult. I loved being able to do this on Kindle and just clicking back to the previous spot. A good, suspenseful read and unique type of book.

[Eileen Ortiz · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m really enjoying these chose your own adventure books. Creepy especially for people who have a fear of confined spaces or being underground. I suggest reading on an e reader as it’s so much easier to just click the link for the path you’ve chosen and it takes you straight there.

[Cassidy]

Thanks to Vincere Press, Independent Book Publishers Association, and NetGalley for this ARC! Try Not to Die in Slattery Falls by Brennan LaFaro comes out on June 16, 2026.

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a super fun read! I loved the way the multiple choices added to the story, and as someone who grew up on choose your own adventure books, i feel like this really improved on the formula!!

The antagonists in the book were really interesting. I found myself reading all the different bad endings, just to see all the creative monsters and deaths. I hadn't heard of Slattery Falls before this, but I will definitely be checking out the other books from this author now!

I would recommend this book if you're a fan of teen haunted house horror, choose your own adventures, and Fear Street.

Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy!