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The Literary Six
Introducing An Exciting New Voice In Horror! For the faculty, students, and alumni of Bendleton University, The Literary Six was the scourge of its collective existence for four long years. Notorious across the campus for its snobby witticisms and scathing critiques of the university, its faculty, its students, and its founders, this elite group of college literati fashioned itself in the likeness of Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Tableùan irreverent group of playwrights, theatre critics, and novelists who regularly lunched at the historic Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s. Indeed, graduation day for the members of The Literary Six brought a sigh of relief for many on the receiving end of the group's caustic pen. As members of The Literary Six disbanded after graduation and went on to pursue careers as successful novelists, journalists, publishers, editors, and academics, they made a pact to reunite and celebrate the glory days of their scandalous collegiate association. This year, the six members of the infamous literary club are making their way to Shelter Rock Island, to the home of fellow member and bestselling authoress Taylor Miller and her television producer husband for a New Year's Eve weekend of rekindled friendships, reminiscing, and unrequited love. But this year's annual reunion will be like no other; a face from their collective past will be joining them. And as the island is cut off from the mainland in a winter storm that blankets the New England coastline, the members of The Literary Six will face retribution for the sins committed through their literary transgressions at the hands of a malevolence none of them could have conjured in the deepest recesses of their creative minds. And as the snow falls in silence around them, The Literary Six will begin to fall one by one and a desperate struggle for survival will unfold.
- GenresHorror
293 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
37 people want to read
About the author
Vince A. Liaguno
17 books78 followersVince Liaguno is the Bram Stoker Award-winning editor of UNSPEAKABLE HORROR: FROM THE SHADOWS OF THE CLOSET (Dark Scribe Press 2008), an anthology of queer horror fiction, which he co-edited with Chad Helder. His debut novel, 2006’s THE LITERARY SIX, was a tribute to the slasher films of the 80’s and won an Independent Publisher Award (IPPY) for Horror and was named a finalist in ForeWord Magazine’s Book of the Year Awards in the Gay/Lesbian Fiction category.
He also edited BUTCHER KNIVES & BODY COUNTS (Dark Scribe Press, 2011), a collection of essays on the formula, frights and fun of the slasher film, UNSPEAKABLE HORROR 2: ABOMINATIONS OF DESIRE (Evil Jester Press, 2017), and UNSPEAKABLE HORROR 3: DARK RAINBOW RISING (Crystal Lake Publishing, 2023). Most recently, he co-edited OTHER TERRORS: AN INCLUSIVE ANTHOLOGY (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2022), which was nominated for both the prestigious Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy Awards. His debut poetry collection, DEMO REELS AND ARTHOUSE MADNESS, releases February 2025 from Raw Dog Screaming Press.
He currently lives in the mitten-shaped state of Michigan, where he is a licensed nursing home administrator by day and a pop culture enthusiast by night whose jam is books, slasher films, and Jamie Lee Curtis. He is a member (and former Secretary) of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), International Thriller Writers (ITW), and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC).
He also edited BUTCHER KNIVES & BODY COUNTS (Dark Scribe Press, 2011), a collection of essays on the formula, frights and fun of the slasher film, UNSPEAKABLE HORROR 2: ABOMINATIONS OF DESIRE (Evil Jester Press, 2017), and UNSPEAKABLE HORROR 3: DARK RAINBOW RISING (Crystal Lake Publishing, 2023). Most recently, he co-edited OTHER TERRORS: AN INCLUSIVE ANTHOLOGY (William Morrow Paperbacks, 2022), which was nominated for both the prestigious Shirley Jackson and World Fantasy Awards. His debut poetry collection, DEMO REELS AND ARTHOUSE MADNESS, releases February 2025 from Raw Dog Screaming Press.
He currently lives in the mitten-shaped state of Michigan, where he is a licensed nursing home administrator by day and a pop culture enthusiast by night whose jam is books, slasher films, and Jamie Lee Curtis. He is a member (and former Secretary) of the Horror Writers Association (HWA), International Thriller Writers (ITW), and is a member of the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 27, 2010
I’m late to the party with this novel (released in 2006) and boy am I sorry it took me so long to stumble upon it. Take a slasher flick, mix in a dash of Agatha Christie and a pinch of Ghost Story while folding in really interesting, rich characters, and the result is a novel you can enjoy while curled up in bed on a cold winter night or on a beach somewhere as you tan away your summer vacation.
From beginning to end this novel is fun, giving those of us raised on 80s slasher films a nostalgic feeling in our chests while adding a dimensionality one didn’t usually get in those same films. In short, Liaguno (who would go on to win a coveted Stoker Award as co-editor of Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet) has given us something to love without having a reason to be embarrassed for loving it.
Liaguno clearly loves his slasher films and there is plenty of homage here, but what Liaguno does so well is expand upon that formula and the tropes within it. Instead of brainless teens that we never really care about getting slaughtered left and right, he gives us adults, each of them haunted by their collective past as part of The Literary Six, as well as by ghosts of their own making since the Six went their separate ways. There are secrets and sweaty liaisons and infidelities. The result is a group of really interesting characters with fascinating back stories…and we know we’re going to see each of them get picked off…one by one…in very gruesome ways…in an abandoned hotel…on an isolated island…on New Year’s Eve. What could be more fun?
But Liaguno doesn’t limit his homage to just slasher films. There are references to various literary figures in the horror world as well, moments which are evocative of the long history of horror and dark fiction. With a deft hand, Liaguno weaves all this together with a nice, sharp prose and an eye for detail. When he describes the cold and the twists in the road leading to the hotel, you feel the nip of the wind and the snap of every twig as the ice slices through them. There’s a wonderful cinematic feel to this novel and the result is an atmospheric piece with genuine creepy moments and many out and out heart-stoppers.
And what I also love is that there is a gay presence in this novel. Gay characters were pretty much absent in the films I grew up watching, and Liaguno rectifies that here, not only giving us a gay character (or two?), but writing interesting guys and a little steamy action here or there. It’s nice to be represented in a genre you happen to love. But what happens to the gay character? Does he live. Do they die? Hmmmm….you’ll have to read to find out.
If I had one nit to pick, it would be those passages where the POV switches to that of the “crazed murderer” tended to interrupt the pace of the piece for me. But this is a minor, minor gripe because these passages also added to that cinematic feel that makes me all warm and cozy. In the end, what Liaguno delivers in this novel is exactly what is promised…a good time interrupted by indiscretions of youth…and a garden implement or two.
From beginning to end this novel is fun, giving those of us raised on 80s slasher films a nostalgic feeling in our chests while adding a dimensionality one didn’t usually get in those same films. In short, Liaguno (who would go on to win a coveted Stoker Award as co-editor of Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet) has given us something to love without having a reason to be embarrassed for loving it.
Liaguno clearly loves his slasher films and there is plenty of homage here, but what Liaguno does so well is expand upon that formula and the tropes within it. Instead of brainless teens that we never really care about getting slaughtered left and right, he gives us adults, each of them haunted by their collective past as part of The Literary Six, as well as by ghosts of their own making since the Six went their separate ways. There are secrets and sweaty liaisons and infidelities. The result is a group of really interesting characters with fascinating back stories…and we know we’re going to see each of them get picked off…one by one…in very gruesome ways…in an abandoned hotel…on an isolated island…on New Year’s Eve. What could be more fun?
But Liaguno doesn’t limit his homage to just slasher films. There are references to various literary figures in the horror world as well, moments which are evocative of the long history of horror and dark fiction. With a deft hand, Liaguno weaves all this together with a nice, sharp prose and an eye for detail. When he describes the cold and the twists in the road leading to the hotel, you feel the nip of the wind and the snap of every twig as the ice slices through them. There’s a wonderful cinematic feel to this novel and the result is an atmospheric piece with genuine creepy moments and many out and out heart-stoppers.
And what I also love is that there is a gay presence in this novel. Gay characters were pretty much absent in the films I grew up watching, and Liaguno rectifies that here, not only giving us a gay character (or two?), but writing interesting guys and a little steamy action here or there. It’s nice to be represented in a genre you happen to love. But what happens to the gay character? Does he live. Do they die? Hmmmm….you’ll have to read to find out.
If I had one nit to pick, it would be those passages where the POV switches to that of the “crazed murderer” tended to interrupt the pace of the piece for me. But this is a minor, minor gripe because these passages also added to that cinematic feel that makes me all warm and cozy. In the end, what Liaguno delivers in this novel is exactly what is promised…a good time interrupted by indiscretions of youth…and a garden implement or two.
January 11, 2023
“One of the best blurbs I got for LIT6 cited it as “the book Agatha Christie would have written if she married John Carpenter”, so I’m hoping that the English cozy-meets-slasher film hybrid will become my genre niche.”
-quote from the author
Before I babble on and on, this book is a good read. I liked it. I’ll read it again some day. And I think it should be better known. I wish Vince A. Liaguno would publish more. It dances on the line where mystery meets horror, kind of like how giallo flicks do but not exactly. It’s not uncommon to hear slasher film fans rightly bemoan the fact that there’s not much slasher fiction; well, this is that. And it’s worth your time.
(Also, heads up: if you’re one of those nutters who reads books when they’re set (like, say, Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October in October), here’s your New Year’s Eve sorted.)
Every time I think I’ve read the last (readable) Ten Little Expletives riff, I chance upon yet another. This author’s name bubbled up when looking for some horror shorts (he’s only written a few that I can see, but he’s edited more.) So, Ten Little Whatevers but horror? Set on a lonely island off the coast of New England, on New Year’s Eve, during a nor’easter? Yeah, I ordered the hell out of this book.
Ten Little Lit Majors fits into the Friend Group Reunite in Closed Location subgenre: there will be communication problems, internal and external, long buried secrets will come to light, alliances will fray and change, then one by one... And it’s definitely one of the best of its kind that I’ve read.
So: The Literary Six takes place in an alternate dimension where college friends actually do stay BFFs and elitists aren’t overly hate-able. This friend group was the be all and end all of their campus, allegedly, at least in their own imaginations. “Everyone wondered who we were… everyone wanted to be us.” (Why would they want to be you if they were still wondering who you were?) They compare themselves to the infamous Algonquin Round Table—even though they never demonstrate much of that kind of wit. The six friends, their friendship formed at their alma mater’s literary magazine and forged by what else but a collective sin, are so far up each other’s asses they meet up every single year. For 20 years. What a crazy dimension this is!
More that Canadian Slasher tv show than Friday the 13th, the isolated group is soon under attack externally while dealing with internal conflicts. Not to say the killer doesn’t have a few things in common with Jason Voorhies. And Michael Meyers. And Kurt Wagner. One of my favorite literary devices is when there is an ironical, recursive, inevitable structure to the story and this is present here to good effect.
I admit, my enthusiasm dampened a bit because Vince shows the killer’s perspective too much. It’s not a crazy lot, yet it’s more than I wanted because it took most of the mystery away. I wanted to at least entertain the notion that anybody could be the killer. It also dampened a bit when we learn one of the book’s bad guys is a hellfire and brimstone, anti-gay, anti-abortion nut. It’s so uncreative. I wonder if I’d have rolled my eyes if I’d read it when first published, in 2006? Nota bene, two gay stories I never need to ever again read: coming out stories and Christian homophobe stories. (The whole “Repiglican”/good party-bad party dichotomy is so dated now. )
A core part of the novel is betrayal. One of those betrayals is a dysfunctional marriage—the husband is either bi or gay, the wife is in denial. Husband and wife, are both members of the Six, and ever since college the husband has been banging another member of the Six, a mutual friend. The whole thing is played like the husband is a liar, the wife a victim. But I disagree. The husband has been banging his gay friend for as long as he’s known his wife. That’s extenuating circumstances. It could even be argued that the wife was the third party. Their marriage, at this point, in these circumstances, is just a piece of paper since the two men couldn’t have married one other back then. Also, the wife clearly knew about the affair for a long time making her complicit in the whole mess. It doesn’t seem to occur to her and maybe even the author that she’s culpable for the situation, too.
One element missing was a bigger dose of bitchiness. There’s plenty fodder here and a few characters are available to play the catty role, but Vince never goes all in. There were a few moments that came close but I needed acid tongue lashings, especially with the aforementioned Dorothy Parker references.
Hey, if you’re looking for something that might be called a grown-up version of Fear Street—cheesy horror—this might be for you. It’s a little staid to be exactly that, though. It’s kind of a slow burn: the author definitely takes his time setting up his story, putting his pieces in place. It’s a rich story, though, but also feels longer than it is. The author says it’s a hybrid of April Fools Day and Ten Little Indians. When I said it dances on the line between horror and mystery, I also meant sometimes its feet are nowhere near that line. If that makes sense. Um… by that I mean sometimes it’s not doing either of those things.
Three and half stars-worthy, anyway, and a shot of Adrenalin would have kicked it up to a four at least. I do appreciate how Vince connects GAD country house whodunnits and slashers because they are obviously huddled under the same umbrella and it’s surprising more don’t connect the two. Hopefully LIT6 will be republished soon, maybe if Vince ever gets around to another novel. (Come on, Vince! Contact me for help.)
Stray thoughts:
-Next time I read this, and there will be a next time, I’ll skip all the sections from the killer’s POV.
-One dramatic scene is kicked off by the lack of sex, aka blue balls. Vince doesn’t deny his characters or his readers for too long, though, and delivers a steamy scene, albeit an interrupted one.
-The story really doesn’t kick in until the halfway point. The pacing is strange, actually. Some stretches feel like pure melodrama, punctuated by promises of horror to come.
-A curious decision to have the bad guy wear a mask but not really describe it for the reader. What a missed opportunity. I still get creeped out when I think of the villain from Cold Moon Over Babylon.
-quote from the author
Before I babble on and on, this book is a good read. I liked it. I’ll read it again some day. And I think it should be better known. I wish Vince A. Liaguno would publish more. It dances on the line where mystery meets horror, kind of like how giallo flicks do but not exactly. It’s not uncommon to hear slasher film fans rightly bemoan the fact that there’s not much slasher fiction; well, this is that. And it’s worth your time.
(Also, heads up: if you’re one of those nutters who reads books when they’re set (like, say, Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October in October), here’s your New Year’s Eve sorted.)
Every time I think I’ve read the last (readable) Ten Little Expletives riff, I chance upon yet another. This author’s name bubbled up when looking for some horror shorts (he’s only written a few that I can see, but he’s edited more.) So, Ten Little Whatevers but horror? Set on a lonely island off the coast of New England, on New Year’s Eve, during a nor’easter? Yeah, I ordered the hell out of this book.
Ten Little Lit Majors fits into the Friend Group Reunite in Closed Location subgenre: there will be communication problems, internal and external, long buried secrets will come to light, alliances will fray and change, then one by one... And it’s definitely one of the best of its kind that I’ve read.
So: The Literary Six takes place in an alternate dimension where college friends actually do stay BFFs and elitists aren’t overly hate-able. This friend group was the be all and end all of their campus, allegedly, at least in their own imaginations. “Everyone wondered who we were… everyone wanted to be us.” (Why would they want to be you if they were still wondering who you were?) They compare themselves to the infamous Algonquin Round Table—even though they never demonstrate much of that kind of wit. The six friends, their friendship formed at their alma mater’s literary magazine and forged by what else but a collective sin, are so far up each other’s asses they meet up every single year. For 20 years. What a crazy dimension this is!
More that Canadian Slasher tv show than Friday the 13th, the isolated group is soon under attack externally while dealing with internal conflicts. Not to say the killer doesn’t have a few things in common with Jason Voorhies. And Michael Meyers. And Kurt Wagner. One of my favorite literary devices is when there is an ironical, recursive, inevitable structure to the story and this is present here to good effect.
I admit, my enthusiasm dampened a bit because Vince shows the killer’s perspective too much. It’s not a crazy lot, yet it’s more than I wanted because it took most of the mystery away. I wanted to at least entertain the notion that anybody could be the killer. It also dampened a bit when we learn one of the book’s bad guys is a hellfire and brimstone, anti-gay, anti-abortion nut. It’s so uncreative. I wonder if I’d have rolled my eyes if I’d read it when first published, in 2006? Nota bene, two gay stories I never need to ever again read: coming out stories and Christian homophobe stories. (The whole “Repiglican”/good party-bad party dichotomy is so dated now. )
A core part of the novel is betrayal. One of those betrayals is a dysfunctional marriage—the husband is either bi or gay, the wife is in denial. Husband and wife, are both members of the Six, and ever since college the husband has been banging another member of the Six, a mutual friend. The whole thing is played like the husband is a liar, the wife a victim. But I disagree. The husband has been banging his gay friend for as long as he’s known his wife. That’s extenuating circumstances. It could even be argued that the wife was the third party. Their marriage, at this point, in these circumstances, is just a piece of paper since the two men couldn’t have married one other back then. Also, the wife clearly knew about the affair for a long time making her complicit in the whole mess. It doesn’t seem to occur to her and maybe even the author that she’s culpable for the situation, too.
One element missing was a bigger dose of bitchiness. There’s plenty fodder here and a few characters are available to play the catty role, but Vince never goes all in. There were a few moments that came close but I needed acid tongue lashings, especially with the aforementioned Dorothy Parker references.
Hey, if you’re looking for something that might be called a grown-up version of Fear Street—cheesy horror—this might be for you. It’s a little staid to be exactly that, though. It’s kind of a slow burn: the author definitely takes his time setting up his story, putting his pieces in place. It’s a rich story, though, but also feels longer than it is. The author says it’s a hybrid of April Fools Day and Ten Little Indians. When I said it dances on the line between horror and mystery, I also meant sometimes its feet are nowhere near that line. If that makes sense. Um… by that I mean sometimes it’s not doing either of those things.
Three and half stars-worthy, anyway, and a shot of Adrenalin would have kicked it up to a four at least. I do appreciate how Vince connects GAD country house whodunnits and slashers because they are obviously huddled under the same umbrella and it’s surprising more don’t connect the two. Hopefully LIT6 will be republished soon, maybe if Vince ever gets around to another novel. (Come on, Vince! Contact me for help.)
Stray thoughts:
-Next time I read this, and there will be a next time, I’ll skip all the sections from the killer’s POV.
-One dramatic scene is kicked off by the lack of sex, aka blue balls. Vince doesn’t deny his characters or his readers for too long, though, and delivers a steamy scene, albeit an interrupted one.
-The story really doesn’t kick in until the halfway point. The pacing is strange, actually. Some stretches feel like pure melodrama, punctuated by promises of horror to come.
-A curious decision to have the bad guy wear a mask but not really describe it for the reader. What a missed opportunity. I still get creeped out when I think of the villain from Cold Moon Over Babylon.
April 18, 2018
A gem of a book for all slasher fans, Vince Liaguno's love for the genre shines through here and he does a fantastic job of representing the best elements of dead teenager movies in literary form.
It's as much an Agatha Christie-style murder-mystery as it is a slasher book, with the characters a generation or so older than the characters you'd normally find in a Friday the 13th film, but this merely allows for more character development and whilst us slasher fans are only too happy to forgo that aspect in our films, Liaguno is smart enough to realise that this development is much more vital in book form.
Liaguno's prose is precise and at times inventive and there are some nice references in there for the fans to find. He also does a great job of creating a cinematic feel in many of the sequences, and has a deftness of touch when it comes to the subtle interactions between the characters.
I would like to have perhaps seen but this is a minor quibble overall.
Highly rewarding and enjoyable - I would love to see more work from this author.
It's as much an Agatha Christie-style murder-mystery as it is a slasher book, with the characters a generation or so older than the characters you'd normally find in a Friday the 13th film, but this merely allows for more character development and whilst us slasher fans are only too happy to forgo that aspect in our films, Liaguno is smart enough to realise that this development is much more vital in book form.
Liaguno's prose is precise and at times inventive and there are some nice references in there for the fans to find. He also does a great job of creating a cinematic feel in many of the sequences, and has a deftness of touch when it comes to the subtle interactions between the characters.
I would like to have perhaps seen but this is a minor quibble overall.
Highly rewarding and enjoyable - I would love to see more work from this author.
September 2, 2014
The Literary Six is a fast, fun homage to 1980's slashers with nods to Agatha Christie and Donna Tartt. Twenty years after graduating college, a group of friends are drawn together to a remote island for a reunion. Someone is using the occasion to make them pay for a secret buried in their collective past. Liaguno does a nice job bringing the slasher horror of the 1980's to life on the page. Recommended.
November 13, 2024
It was a fun, campy, utterly unbelievable book. The parts that were unbelievable were included to add to the gruesomeness of the story; necessary in a story like this. The author truly understands slashers, this being the second of his I've read. It has all of the elements a slasher should have. I was thoroughly entertained.
October 12, 2014
A very average, almost substandard thriller. A very cliched and run-of-the-mill book. No suspense and no chills. Don't intend to read more by this author.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews