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The Social Media Murders
After a string of violent murders occur in their town, the senior class of Redwood High School is terrorized by a masked killer. Charlene Sanchez, a popular senior, believes everyone is a target-and everyone is a suspect. When videos of the murders begin to surface on social media, Charlene enlists the help of her closest friends and races to find the serial killer. Can she stop the killer before he stops her?
Jon Athan, author of Butcher Road and Camp Blaze, brings you another violent slasher inspired by the classics.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of graphic violence. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.
Jon Athan, author of Butcher Road and Camp Blaze, brings you another violent slasher inspired by the classics.
WARNING: This book contains scenes of graphic violence. This book is not intended for those easily offended or appalled. Please enjoy at your own discretion.
216 pages, Paperback
First published July 6, 2017
117 people are currently reading
667 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 73 reviews
June 28, 2023
I love Jon Athan so much UGH
January 29, 2024
I expected a lot more out of this after being so impressed by The Groomer from the same author. The story follows a girl named Charlene and her group of friends who investigate a string of murders where girls who attend Redwood High School have their jaws disfigured and their tongues ripped out. My biggest gripe about this was that to be advertised as "extreme horror," this was awfully similar to a Scream movie (and even made numerous references to that franchise) and had a relatively low body count. I had fun with this, but I would only recommend it to fans of teen slashers, complete with the 'final girl'-style gimmick and everything. There was a pretty touching message at one point (I don't want to give away any spoilers) and that was cool, but otherwise this was pretty forgettable.
April 14, 2025
Now, listen.
I enjoy Jon Athan— but maybe my first read from him shouldn’t have been Into the Wolves’ Den. I say this because it set my standards fairly high and The Social Media Murders just really missed the mark.
It’s your typical teenage slasher story, and pretty much a direct ripoff of Scream.
The story follows Charlene Sanchez and a group of her friends, who set out to investigate a string of brutal murders on fellow students from her school. These killings are the making of a serial killer— as each young woman is stabbed in the abdomen and has their jaw severed from their face.
And not only are these teen girls mercilessly mutilated, but the slayings are recorded by the killer and posted to social media platforms— creating widespread panic and unease in the town.
While the story had a motive that many of us can have empathy for, there was absolutely no development. That goes for both the lack of expansion on characters and of the plot. It was virtually an empty slasher story, but I’m not necessarily complaining.
The kills were quite boring and repetitive, but I mean— serial killers tend to commit their murders in similar fashion. I get it.
Yet, it made the book quite predictable. Less than halfway through the story, I also knew who would live and who would die— who would become accomplices, and what the outcome would ultimately be.
I mean, The Social Media Murders has some of your overly-common tropes— a masked slasher, a final girl, and is your typical whodunnit murder mystery.
None of these tropes were reformed, reimagined, or executed well.
I’m rating this book ★ ★ stars because it wasn’t the most awful thing I’ve read, but it wasn’t good. This also doesn’t stop me from continuing to read Jon Athan in the future— he’s a good writer. He has an easygoing writing style and a knack for usually creating excellent kill scenes. This one just wasn’t for me.
I enjoy Jon Athan— but maybe my first read from him shouldn’t have been Into the Wolves’ Den. I say this because it set my standards fairly high and The Social Media Murders just really missed the mark.
It’s your typical teenage slasher story, and pretty much a direct ripoff of Scream.
The story follows Charlene Sanchez and a group of her friends, who set out to investigate a string of brutal murders on fellow students from her school. These killings are the making of a serial killer— as each young woman is stabbed in the abdomen and has their jaw severed from their face.
And not only are these teen girls mercilessly mutilated, but the slayings are recorded by the killer and posted to social media platforms— creating widespread panic and unease in the town.
While the story had a motive that many of us can have empathy for, there was absolutely no development. That goes for both the lack of expansion on characters and of the plot. It was virtually an empty slasher story, but I’m not necessarily complaining.
The kills were quite boring and repetitive, but I mean— serial killers tend to commit their murders in similar fashion. I get it.
Yet, it made the book quite predictable. Less than halfway through the story, I also knew who would live and who would die— who would become accomplices, and what the outcome would ultimately be.
I mean, The Social Media Murders has some of your overly-common tropes— a masked slasher, a final girl, and is your typical whodunnit murder mystery.
None of these tropes were reformed, reimagined, or executed well.
I’m rating this book ★ ★ stars because it wasn’t the most awful thing I’ve read, but it wasn’t good. This also doesn’t stop me from continuing to read Jon Athan in the future— he’s a good writer. He has an easygoing writing style and a knack for usually creating excellent kill scenes. This one just wasn’t for me.
April 16, 2022
The senior class of Redwood High School is being terrorized by a masked killer. While some friends are on a video chat, they are horrified to see a masked man step out of a girl's closet and butcher her while they all watch helplessly. More murders follow, and they are all live-streamed. I could definitely see inspiration from the Scream franchise, but there was also a subtle message about the thirst for violence our society has, especially teenagers. Nobody steps in to stop bullying and fights; instead, phones come out to record the violence to post for likes and internet fame.
Without giving spoilers, there is more depth to this book besides being just a typical extreme horror tale. If you work with teens or are the parents of teens, there are some lessons in this book you should take to heart.
Without giving spoilers, there is more depth to this book besides being just a typical extreme horror tale. If you work with teens or are the parents of teens, there are some lessons in this book you should take to heart.
March 28, 2018
Going against popular opinion with this one.
Did anybody else start rooting for the serial killer because the characters were so unlikable?
It's hit and miss with this author for me, and this one didn't work on any level.
Did anybody else start rooting for the serial killer because the characters were so unlikable?
It's hit and miss with this author for me, and this one didn't work on any level.
December 28, 2023
Not my favourite book by him but good nevertheless. This one is also a revenge story like the one I read early this year (Sympathy for the widow) but not as good.. First of all, in the first you could almost feel - palpatable, the hatred, the need for revenge. Here it was written the other way around. He started introducing the characters, people being killed and as the book progress we learn more of the death. It's a Scream kind of book. In the beginning there is no knowledge why everything is happening and later on we get glimpses of why. I thought that this being scream inspired, the killer would be one of the protagonists, could even be the a woman (usually they are always male). But alas, when we get to know what was the killer I was a bit "oh.. ok"
don't get me wrong. This is Jon Athan. He is a great storyteller. Probably not the best written novel, he lacks some finesse there BUT in terms of stories I've never read on of his books and said - oh this is crap. I can't say that for much authors. 6/10
Good, but if you want to start with his books go read the one I mentioned before. Next one without a doubt is going to be Blenders Babies :)
don't get me wrong. This is Jon Athan. He is a great storyteller. Probably not the best written novel, he lacks some finesse there BUT in terms of stories I've never read on of his books and said - oh this is crap. I can't say that for much authors. 6/10
Good, but if you want to start with his books go read the one I mentioned before. Next one without a doubt is going to be Blenders Babies :)
February 8, 2024
THIS WAS SO MUCH FUN
This is what I’m wanting when I pick up a slasher.
I want to feel on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next show to drop and the next murder. I want to be yelling at the main character calling them an idiot because just run!! to safety not to the killer!!
This was gorey, it was tense and it was spooky. I loved every minute of it.
I also loved the fact that they kept mentioneing Scream when it’s my favourite movie franchise. You can see how this book found inspiration for some aspects from the movies but also managed to make it its own.
“No one is sitting in their beds reading about this before they sleep.”
I audibly giggled when I read this. This was such a great way to subtly break the fourth wall.
I just know I need to check out this author’s other works immediately
This is what I’m wanting when I pick up a slasher.
I want to feel on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next show to drop and the next murder. I want to be yelling at the main character calling them an idiot because just run!! to safety not to the killer!!
This was gorey, it was tense and it was spooky. I loved every minute of it.
I also loved the fact that they kept mentioneing Scream when it’s my favourite movie franchise. You can see how this book found inspiration for some aspects from the movies but also managed to make it its own.
“No one is sitting in their beds reading about this before they sleep.”
I audibly giggled when I read this. This was such a great way to subtly break the fourth wall.
I just know I need to check out this author’s other works immediately
October 20, 2017
My first written review is for THIS book
I have read literally hundreds of books on my kindle , about 75% of the time I will submit a star or five, this is the first time I have felt compelled to take a moment and write a review so kudos, Jon! I have read and enjoyed most he dark writing of Mr Athan, and typically know what to expect . This book was. different and illuminating in terms of what he is capable of. The characters and p!ot lime were extremely well developed, making the story not the gore the main attraction. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to dip their toes into the world as Jon sees it and decide if they wAnt to take the plunge into his depths.
I have read literally hundreds of books on my kindle , about 75% of the time I will submit a star or five, this is the first time I have felt compelled to take a moment and write a review so kudos, Jon! I have read and enjoyed most he dark writing of Mr Athan, and typically know what to expect . This book was. different and illuminating in terms of what he is capable of. The characters and p!ot lime were extremely well developed, making the story not the gore the main attraction. I would highly recommend this for anyone who wants to dip their toes into the world as Jon sees it and decide if they wAnt to take the plunge into his depths.
May 3, 2018
GORY, VIOLENT DEATHS!
If you're squeamish reading about horribly, disturbing extremely brutal DEATHS, this isn't the book for you. Besides the gore-fest it's a classic kill a group of teens and guess who the killer is and why story line, with social media as a tool.
This was a quick, read full of thrills n chills, my favorite death scene was the bathroom scene with the intestines ( I've said enough on THAT topic) but WOW, I envisioned it actually happening...EWWW!
I really wonder what a calm moment looks like for author Jon Athan. I have seven other Athan novels in my queue and WILL be adding more, this was a good read.
If you're squeamish reading about horribly, disturbing extremely brutal DEATHS, this isn't the book for you. Besides the gore-fest it's a classic kill a group of teens and guess who the killer is and why story line, with social media as a tool.
This was a quick, read full of thrills n chills, my favorite death scene was the bathroom scene with the intestines ( I've said enough on THAT topic) but WOW, I envisioned it actually happening...EWWW!
I really wonder what a calm moment looks like for author Jon Athan. I have seven other Athan novels in my queue and WILL be adding more, this was a good read.
March 12, 2018
So entertaining
Fast paced, realistic dialog, good back story... Opening for a sequel??? I'm hooked, I'll be reading more from this author!!
Fast paced, realistic dialog, good back story... Opening for a sequel??? I'm hooked, I'll be reading more from this author!!
December 26, 2021
The senior class of a high school is being terrorised by a masked killer. The brutal murders are the worst the town has ever seen - and they have started being broadcasted on social media. Teenager Charlene is worried the killer could come after her, so groups together her friends to find the killer. But will she find the killer, or will the killer find her?
Oh this book is BRUTAL. I mean literally, had to read through my fingers, take a second after reading each vicious murder kind of brutal. It gets going right from the start, it's one of the most horrific gore books I've ever read, and it kept me hooked the whole way through! I loved this book so much, once I'd finished it I felt so gutted I went on to amazon and started adding all their books to my wish list! I can't wait to read more by this author, its unlike anything I've read and it's left me needing to read more!
Love gore? Love thrills? Love reading through your fingers at gruesome murders? READ THIS BOOK.
Oh this book is BRUTAL. I mean literally, had to read through my fingers, take a second after reading each vicious murder kind of brutal. It gets going right from the start, it's one of the most horrific gore books I've ever read, and it kept me hooked the whole way through! I loved this book so much, once I'd finished it I felt so gutted I went on to amazon and started adding all their books to my wish list! I can't wait to read more by this author, its unlike anything I've read and it's left me needing to read more!
Love gore? Love thrills? Love reading through your fingers at gruesome murders? READ THIS BOOK.
September 23, 2024
This one didn't satisfy my need for intelligent twists. I propose a new title: 'Predictible Murderer Massacres Half of the Student Body, Leaving Behind two Extremely Predictable Survivors'.
Not Jon Athan's finest work🤷🏽♀️.
Not Jon Athan's finest work🤷🏽♀️.
March 20, 2018
Wow that sure was a stinker. Basically the plot of the film "Unfriended" except without the interesting bits. The author was creative with the various killings, though, so I'll give it 2 stars.
May 29, 2024
The kids: yes let’s hide in the school he can’t get us in the school.
2 chapters before: a kid dies in the school DURING school hours but sure let’s go in the dead of night that makes sense.
2 chapters before: a kid dies in the school DURING school hours but sure let’s go in the dead of night that makes sense.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2021
The Social Media Murders - 5/5
By Jon Athan
This book reminded me of Scream - my favourite horror movie franchise. It was wonderful and everything I want in an extreme horror novel.
This book was extremely fast paced and easy to read. I didn’t find this book as graphic or disturbing as some books I have read by this author - but it definitely ticked all the boxes for what makes an awesome read!
I absolutely love the cover of this book. And do find they play a huge part in me deciding whether I want to read them or not!
By Jon Athan
This book reminded me of Scream - my favourite horror movie franchise. It was wonderful and everything I want in an extreme horror novel.
This book was extremely fast paced and easy to read. I didn’t find this book as graphic or disturbing as some books I have read by this author - but it definitely ticked all the boxes for what makes an awesome read!
I absolutely love the cover of this book. And do find they play a huge part in me deciding whether I want to read them or not!
May 12, 2025
Oh boy, do I have some opinions about this book.
Starting this book: Oh fun, this is like Unfriended meets Scream!
A few chapters in: Oh. This is literally just Unfriended meets Scream...
This book is not entirely lacking in self awareness, it references horror movies many, many times. In particular, it heavily references Scream, which I found quite funny and ironic because
It doesn't directly reference Unfriended at any point, which is probably for the best since it 'borrows' a lot from its plot, minus all the weird internet ghost stuff, but also minus a surprising ending. Look, I enjoy a fun but cliched B-movie plot, but if I had to describe this book with one word, it would have to be: 'Derivative'.
While the book makes a fair effort to convince us that the extremely obvious bad guy is totally not the extremely obvious bad guy... Yeah, no. The story is just so derivative that anyone familiar with the genre should be able to guess exactly what's going on immediately. In fact, it was so derivative that I thought maybe, just maybe the author would at least attempt some weird Freida McFadden-esque last second ass-pull twist to add a bit of interest, but no such luck. Well I mean he did attempt one I guess, it was just so poorly done that I refuse to acknowledge it.
The writing in this book was absolutely bizarre, and not in a good way. The characters do and say things that just boggle the mind and feel like complete non-sequiturs, and not in a funny 'B-movie characters acting like dumbasses for entertainment value' way, events and dialogues will literally just make no sense. I'm willing to excuse familiar old tropes of 'let's split up!' or some idiot wandering off alone when they know there's a serial killer running around, but the weird writing choices here are a different brand. Also, there are multiple instances where Athan seems to have written the wrong word, causing the sentence to make no sentence in context, and then just left it there.
For a non-spoilery example of this weirdness, the protag Charles is woken up by her ringtone, then proceeds to spend an entire page whining about how much she hates the overproduced pop/rap song that's playing. The song SHE picked for her ringtone. THEN WHY DID YOU SET IT AS YOUR RINGTONE??? The only possible explanation for this bs that I can think of is that Athan wanted to reinforce that Charles is not like other teenagers, she's too smart and sophisticated for overproduced pop/rap music. Terribly executed though.
Another mostly non-spoilery example is the characters visiting a crime scene and Charles telling everyone not to touch anything. 2 sentences and presumably less than 5 seconds later, another character tries to move stuff around by nudging it with his foot. WHAT DID SHE LITERALLY JUST SAY??? And again, this is not done in a funny 'haha look at this dumb character doing dumb things' way, it's played completely straight and feels like Athan just forgot what he wrote 2 sentences ago.
A slightly more plot relevant example is that the characters decide that observing a suspect for an hour or two after school on one day is enough to totally rule them out as the killer. What. I get that these are dumb high schoolers (apart from Charles who is very special), but that doesn't hold up to even a second of proper thought if your brain is even semi-developed.
The police leave a horribly mutilated body just out in the open in a public space, not even trying to set up a tent in order to 'preserve the crime scene', despite the fact that literal children are standing nearly who can see the horribly mutilated body.
Our heroine Charles (don't even get me started on her, it seems like she's supposed to be fairly smart, but she is somehow stupider than most b-movie characters ) states that movie characters are dumb to not just call 911 for contrived reasons. They immediately go on to not call 911 for contrived reasons when they easily could have. Charles completely fails to acknowledge this.
Also, the entire premise of this story and Charles getting involved in it makes zero logical sense if you actually think about it for more than 2 seconds. The whole hysteria over the killer potentially having their phone numbers and addresses felt like the most insane and nonsensical justification for Charles to fixate on this case. I expected there to be some reveal later on the actually justified why she freaked out over this so badly over this small issue, but nope, it was just an excuse for her to start investigating. Could Athan really not come up with something a bit more reasonable and logical? I could go on and on with more examples, but if I attempted to 'Cinema Sins' this entire book, we'd be here all day.
I know that these complaints sound mostly trivial, but nonsensical things just kept happening again and again, and every time, it would take me out of the story. I kept having to reread paragraphs wondering if I had misread something. Proofreading? Not even once, seemingly. I don't ask for the writing in EH/Splatterpunk books to be amazing, we're just all here to have a good time, right? But can we at least attempt to have some logical consistency?
By the way, this may be a complaint specific to me, but if I hadn't known that this book was written by Jon Athan, I would have guessed that it was written by Aron Beauregard. Mostly because of the abysmal character writing (no, not just because they're cliches, cliches can be fun), especially some of the dialogue and internal monologue of the female characters. I've read a lot of Athan's books at this point (around 10?) and while his characters are hardly great literary works of art, other than the blatant yellow fever, I haven't really had a problem with his characters in the past. In this book though, I found myself cringing multiple times within the first few chapters.
Ughhhhhhhhhh. This. Freaking. Book.
I can't in good faith give this book a 1-star rating, since that's reserved for books that I believe have zero redeeming value, and least this book was fairly entertaining. Like I said, I do enjoy horror B-movies. Everything else though, nah. I think it's time for me to give up on Athan's older works and stick to the newer ones.
Also I want to acknowledge a fun little tidbit: "No one is sitting in their beds reading about this before they sleep". - I read this line at like 3am in my bed before I was going to sleep which was very amusing.
If nothing else, I can at least be impressed at how much Athan's writing has improved. To go from this sort of derivative content to writing a few of my favourite EH/Splatterpunk books of all time in just a few years is a feat, for sure. Silver linings!
Starting this book: Oh fun, this is like Unfriended meets Scream!
A few chapters in: Oh. This is literally just Unfriended meets Scream...
This book is not entirely lacking in self awareness, it references horror movies many, many times. In particular, it heavily references Scream, which I found quite funny and ironic because
It doesn't directly reference Unfriended at any point, which is probably for the best since it 'borrows' a lot from its plot, minus all the weird internet ghost stuff, but also minus a surprising ending. Look, I enjoy a fun but cliched B-movie plot, but if I had to describe this book with one word, it would have to be: 'Derivative'.
While the book makes a fair effort to convince us that the extremely obvious bad guy is totally not the extremely obvious bad guy... Yeah, no. The story is just so derivative that anyone familiar with the genre should be able to guess exactly what's going on immediately. In fact, it was so derivative that I thought maybe, just maybe the author would at least attempt some weird Freida McFadden-esque last second ass-pull twist to add a bit of interest, but no such luck. Well I mean he did attempt one I guess, it was just so poorly done that I refuse to acknowledge it.
The writing in this book was absolutely bizarre, and not in a good way. The characters do and say things that just boggle the mind and feel like complete non-sequiturs, and not in a funny 'B-movie characters acting like dumbasses for entertainment value' way, events and dialogues will literally just make no sense. I'm willing to excuse familiar old tropes of 'let's split up!' or some idiot wandering off alone when they know there's a serial killer running around, but the weird writing choices here are a different brand. Also, there are multiple instances where Athan seems to have written the wrong word, causing the sentence to make no sentence in context, and then just left it there.
For a non-spoilery example of this weirdness, the protag Charles is woken up by her ringtone, then proceeds to spend an entire page whining about how much she hates the overproduced pop/rap song that's playing. The song SHE picked for her ringtone. THEN WHY DID YOU SET IT AS YOUR RINGTONE??? The only possible explanation for this bs that I can think of is that Athan wanted to reinforce that Charles is not like other teenagers, she's too smart and sophisticated for overproduced pop/rap music. Terribly executed though.
Another mostly non-spoilery example is the characters visiting a crime scene and Charles telling everyone not to touch anything. 2 sentences and presumably less than 5 seconds later, another character tries to move stuff around by nudging it with his foot. WHAT DID SHE LITERALLY JUST SAY??? And again, this is not done in a funny 'haha look at this dumb character doing dumb things' way, it's played completely straight and feels like Athan just forgot what he wrote 2 sentences ago.
A slightly more plot relevant example is that the characters decide that observing a suspect for an hour or two after school on one day is enough to totally rule them out as the killer. What. I get that these are dumb high schoolers (apart from Charles who is very special), but that doesn't hold up to even a second of proper thought if your brain is even semi-developed.
The police leave a horribly mutilated body just out in the open in a public space, not even trying to set up a tent in order to 'preserve the crime scene', despite the fact that literal children are standing nearly who can see the horribly mutilated body.
Our heroine Charles (don't even get me started on her, it seems like she's supposed to be fairly smart, but she is somehow stupider than most b-movie characters ) states that movie characters are dumb to not just call 911 for contrived reasons. They immediately go on to not call 911 for contrived reasons when they easily could have. Charles completely fails to acknowledge this.
Also, the entire premise of this story and Charles getting involved in it makes zero logical sense if you actually think about it for more than 2 seconds. The whole hysteria over the killer potentially having their phone numbers and addresses felt like the most insane and nonsensical justification for Charles to fixate on this case. I expected there to be some reveal later on the actually justified why she freaked out over this so badly over this small issue, but nope, it was just an excuse for her to start investigating. Could Athan really not come up with something a bit more reasonable and logical? I could go on and on with more examples, but if I attempted to 'Cinema Sins' this entire book, we'd be here all day.
I know that these complaints sound mostly trivial, but nonsensical things just kept happening again and again, and every time, it would take me out of the story. I kept having to reread paragraphs wondering if I had misread something. Proofreading? Not even once, seemingly. I don't ask for the writing in EH/Splatterpunk books to be amazing, we're just all here to have a good time, right? But can we at least attempt to have some logical consistency?
By the way, this may be a complaint specific to me, but if I hadn't known that this book was written by Jon Athan, I would have guessed that it was written by Aron Beauregard. Mostly because of the abysmal character writing (no, not just because they're cliches, cliches can be fun), especially some of the dialogue and internal monologue of the female characters. I've read a lot of Athan's books at this point (around 10?) and while his characters are hardly great literary works of art, other than the blatant yellow fever, I haven't really had a problem with his characters in the past. In this book though, I found myself cringing multiple times within the first few chapters.
Ughhhhhhhhhh. This. Freaking. Book.
I can't in good faith give this book a 1-star rating, since that's reserved for books that I believe have zero redeeming value, and least this book was fairly entertaining. Like I said, I do enjoy horror B-movies. Everything else though, nah. I think it's time for me to give up on Athan's older works and stick to the newer ones.
Also I want to acknowledge a fun little tidbit: "No one is sitting in their beds reading about this before they sleep". - I read this line at like 3am in my bed before I was going to sleep which was very amusing.
If nothing else, I can at least be impressed at how much Athan's writing has improved. To go from this sort of derivative content to writing a few of my favourite EH/Splatterpunk books of all time in just a few years is a feat, for sure. Silver linings!
May 26, 2020
Despite the whole story I liked the way the ending part finishes. It was amplifying the final twist with more interesting outcomes. Quite a read that was...
Nothing much to say actually about the story as it has a simple and straight psychological horror tale to read. The beginning was slow but as the story progress it continues to elaborate itself. It's Redwood High School and while occurring a vicious murder the students of that school couldn't believed their as they being haunted by a masked killer. Charlene Sanchez couldn't believe anyone. She assumed anyone could do these crimes it could be Adam, Stephen, Collin anyone. Things got more ugly when the murder continued in front of their eyes but they just couldn't so nothing but watch. There's been live videos surfacing throughout the social media, the police too couldn't get their hands on that psycho murderer. Things happening very fast if they couldn't capture him in the right time they will be next victim of that vicious killer, one by one. So, yeah time's short. Hurry you guys...
Nothing much to say actually about the story as it has a simple and straight psychological horror tale to read. The beginning was slow but as the story progress it continues to elaborate itself. It's Redwood High School and while occurring a vicious murder the students of that school couldn't believed their as they being haunted by a masked killer. Charlene Sanchez couldn't believe anyone. She assumed anyone could do these crimes it could be Adam, Stephen, Collin anyone. Things got more ugly when the murder continued in front of their eyes but they just couldn't so nothing but watch. There's been live videos surfacing throughout the social media, the police too couldn't get their hands on that psycho murderer. Things happening very fast if they couldn't capture him in the right time they will be next victim of that vicious killer, one by one. So, yeah time's short. Hurry you guys...
July 7, 2017
Amazing
I haven't read this type of book in a long time, the book is different to what I'm used too, but I have it a go. A very good whodunit.
I haven't read this type of book in a long time, the book is different to what I'm used too, but I have it a go. A very good whodunit.
July 10, 2017
I started reading this on the night it was released, and I had to stop because I got freaked out! That's so great!! I started again once I woke up ;)
Full RTC
Full RTC
March 15, 2018
Gruesome
May 14, 2018
I have found a new horror author!
Fast paced, gory and brutal. Loved it!
Fast paced, gory and brutal. Loved it!
December 5, 2024
“You didn't help him... No, you didn't hurt him, but you didn't help him. It's the same thing, isn't it? It's the same damn thing.”
Drenched in the walls of Redwood High School is a scandalous rumor that left one teenager so cornered and broken he turned to suicide to escape the relentless bulling. Casey Marshall was vulnerable, and as the bullies cornered him in the gymnasium, his elder brother Nico would come to his aid but in doing so would seal his fate of an early and untimely death. Rumored to of been caught having sex with his own brother, it pushed Casey to slicing into his wrists and consuming sleeping pills before finally tugging that noose over his head in his closet just to escape it all. It’s now been closing in on one year since his death and his entire family is ready to avenge the boy they lost. Starting with the first student to be slain; Anna Lee, the family took turns killing the following victims. Tiffany Anderson was brutally slaughtered while in her bedroom while on a Skype call with her friends; Melanie Myers, Kyle Webb, and Hailey Washington, and as her friends watched the brutal kirder unfold they were powerless to escape their own deaths. Charlene Sanchez was horrified as news of each murder unfolded and was determined to solve the mystery before anything could happen to her. Unfortunately each victim was slain before real answers could even come to light. With the police fighting for any leads, every teenager involved in that bullying scandal was at risk of being murderer, something her friend group would come to understand after Michael Miller was killed with a baseball bat at the local field.
“I... I know about the pain. A child shouldn't have to feel that pain. You kids... You fucking kids... It seems harmless on the surface, just games and words, but it burns and it burns until there's nothing left to burn. Oh, God, if you only knew that pain...”
Each killer wore a paper mache mask donned with makeup and bloody tears as the killings unfolded. Donned in steel toed shoes and black raincoats, they were a sight of terror as each teenager would lay eyes on them and the cruelty they would unleash. Confusion in their math teach, Colin Wilson, the group would learn of his love affair with fellow student Dominique Martinez. Agreeing to help them in exchange for silence regarding his inappropriate relationship, he let them into the school and secured the doors behind them. Unfortunately, one among them was feeding the killers all the information and it was only a matter of time before they began being hunted down. First to go was Dominique as she was assaulted and killed in the restroom before Stephen Walker would be nearly gutted as he tried to save his friend. Rushing back to the room, it left him the prime suspect as Charlene, Adam Walker and Britney Cook were quick to escape the horror unfolding. Brittney would separate from the group and take shelter in the principal’s office and manage to dial police, but would sadly succumb to her injuries. Meanwhile, Charlene would discover her own boyfriend Adam was responsible for sharing information and leading to the deaths as he was bargaining to save his own skin. When Nico now refused to spare him, her and Stephen would run from the gymnasium where Adam was being stabbed to death. With the arrival of the police, Nico would be shot and wounded before being taken into custody. His three surviving family members would escape and run away, leading police back to their home and to where the three committed suicide in Casey’s bedroom. Relieved her one friend survived, Charlene is horrified and heartbroken by so many deaths as nearly all her friends were killed.
Are you okay? Did you survive?–
Drenched in the walls of Redwood High School is a scandalous rumor that left one teenager so cornered and broken he turned to suicide to escape the relentless bulling. Casey Marshall was vulnerable, and as the bullies cornered him in the gymnasium, his elder brother Nico would come to his aid but in doing so would seal his fate of an early and untimely death. Rumored to of been caught having sex with his own brother, it pushed Casey to slicing into his wrists and consuming sleeping pills before finally tugging that noose over his head in his closet just to escape it all. It’s now been closing in on one year since his death and his entire family is ready to avenge the boy they lost. Starting with the first student to be slain; Anna Lee, the family took turns killing the following victims. Tiffany Anderson was brutally slaughtered while in her bedroom while on a Skype call with her friends; Melanie Myers, Kyle Webb, and Hailey Washington, and as her friends watched the brutal kirder unfold they were powerless to escape their own deaths. Charlene Sanchez was horrified as news of each murder unfolded and was determined to solve the mystery before anything could happen to her. Unfortunately each victim was slain before real answers could even come to light. With the police fighting for any leads, every teenager involved in that bullying scandal was at risk of being murderer, something her friend group would come to understand after Michael Miller was killed with a baseball bat at the local field.
“I... I know about the pain. A child shouldn't have to feel that pain. You kids... You fucking kids... It seems harmless on the surface, just games and words, but it burns and it burns until there's nothing left to burn. Oh, God, if you only knew that pain...”
Each killer wore a paper mache mask donned with makeup and bloody tears as the killings unfolded. Donned in steel toed shoes and black raincoats, they were a sight of terror as each teenager would lay eyes on them and the cruelty they would unleash. Confusion in their math teach, Colin Wilson, the group would learn of his love affair with fellow student Dominique Martinez. Agreeing to help them in exchange for silence regarding his inappropriate relationship, he let them into the school and secured the doors behind them. Unfortunately, one among them was feeding the killers all the information and it was only a matter of time before they began being hunted down. First to go was Dominique as she was assaulted and killed in the restroom before Stephen Walker would be nearly gutted as he tried to save his friend. Rushing back to the room, it left him the prime suspect as Charlene, Adam Walker and Britney Cook were quick to escape the horror unfolding. Brittney would separate from the group and take shelter in the principal’s office and manage to dial police, but would sadly succumb to her injuries. Meanwhile, Charlene would discover her own boyfriend Adam was responsible for sharing information and leading to the deaths as he was bargaining to save his own skin. When Nico now refused to spare him, her and Stephen would run from the gymnasium where Adam was being stabbed to death. With the arrival of the police, Nico would be shot and wounded before being taken into custody. His three surviving family members would escape and run away, leading police back to their home and to where the three committed suicide in Casey’s bedroom. Relieved her one friend survived, Charlene is horrified and heartbroken by so many deaths as nearly all her friends were killed.
Are you okay? Did you survive?–
April 8, 2023
Gonna split this down the middle. It's well written and if you're looking for a whodunnit with some teeth, this might work for you. It felt like a YA novel to me about 90% of the time though - and that's just not my thing. The other 10% is gruesome, gory violence that would never fit into young adult story, which helped at least entertain and break the monotony.
We follow some characters who go to a high school where students are being picked off one by one. Frequently getting their jaw ripped off and tongue cut out, but not exclusively. Early in the story Charlene takes an interest and tries to figure out what's going on, and in doing so becomes a target and her friends get pulled into the trap. Unless her friends are involved and she just fell into their trap. Everyone ends up scared at everyone else as the paranoia grows.
By the time it's done, a none-too-subtle parable about the dangers of bullying and oversharing is evident. If you enjoy mysteries and slashers - and you aren't turned off by the usual YA trappings (talking about drama, sports, cliques, etc), this is a solid read. I enjoyed it more than I expected after I realized that the characters were going to be annoying to my sensibilities. I can't recommend it, but I'm not the right audience. I have enjoyed plenty of other books from Jon Athan, so take it with a grain of salt.
We follow some characters who go to a high school where students are being picked off one by one. Frequently getting their jaw ripped off and tongue cut out, but not exclusively. Early in the story Charlene takes an interest and tries to figure out what's going on, and in doing so becomes a target and her friends get pulled into the trap. Unless her friends are involved and she just fell into their trap. Everyone ends up scared at everyone else as the paranoia grows.
By the time it's done, a none-too-subtle parable about the dangers of bullying and oversharing is evident. If you enjoy mysteries and slashers - and you aren't turned off by the usual YA trappings (talking about drama, sports, cliques, etc), this is a solid read. I enjoyed it more than I expected after I realized that the characters were going to be annoying to my sensibilities. I can't recommend it, but I'm not the right audience. I have enjoyed plenty of other books from Jon Athan, so take it with a grain of salt.
April 24, 2018
In the last week or two, I've discovered that authors stating that they write "extreme horror" are quite restrained when compared with the greats, like King, Laymon and Little. The Social Media Murders was no different yet it was better written compared with some that I've read recently.
This novel was an homage to slasher films from the 70s and 80s. It covered very little new ground except for the advent of social media. And even then - when it mentioned likes, and posts, and bullying - it seemed a little forced. That said, it did approach relevant issues in a kind-hearted yet stilted fashion. But it was clear from the afterword that the author meant to highlight these issues sincerely.
Was it extreme? No. Richard Laymon would have had a field day with this in his prime. But was it worth reading? Absolutely. Sure, it's fucked up but it's fucked up in a fun kinda way.
This novel was an homage to slasher films from the 70s and 80s. It covered very little new ground except for the advent of social media. And even then - when it mentioned likes, and posts, and bullying - it seemed a little forced. That said, it did approach relevant issues in a kind-hearted yet stilted fashion. But it was clear from the afterword that the author meant to highlight these issues sincerely.
Was it extreme? No. Richard Laymon would have had a field day with this in his prime. But was it worth reading? Absolutely. Sure, it's fucked up but it's fucked up in a fun kinda way.
August 24, 2025
Wow 😮
I don’t even know where to start, I’ve read and watched a lot of thriller/horror stories but something about this one really had me on edge and checking the doors before bed 😂
It was a great slasher/horror movie style read with definite scream vibes and had you questioning everyone at some point as you tried to figure out who the killer was.
I loved the ‘dear reader’ part at the end too which discussed the very real issues with bullying and social media etc. the world has a very dark and scary side and I think that’s what made me a little on edge reading this book as it may seem a little far fetched and twisted but sadly and scarily it is the way the world seems to be heading
If you like horror films and sick twisted gory deaths then definitely check out this book but it isn’t for the faint hearted I’m not squeamish but parts had me feeling a little green 😂
I don’t even know where to start, I’ve read and watched a lot of thriller/horror stories but something about this one really had me on edge and checking the doors before bed 😂
It was a great slasher/horror movie style read with definite scream vibes and had you questioning everyone at some point as you tried to figure out who the killer was.
I loved the ‘dear reader’ part at the end too which discussed the very real issues with bullying and social media etc. the world has a very dark and scary side and I think that’s what made me a little on edge reading this book as it may seem a little far fetched and twisted but sadly and scarily it is the way the world seems to be heading
If you like horror films and sick twisted gory deaths then definitely check out this book but it isn’t for the faint hearted I’m not squeamish but parts had me feeling a little green 😂
November 19, 2022
I think this is the first book I've ever read that had an actual warning about gruesomeness at the beginning! Other than reading the warning, I had absolutely no expectations about the book. I'd never before read any books by Athan. And now I'm happy to report --- I LOVED IT! I'm not completely sure why because I usually don't like horror at all. I guess there was just the right mix of campy, gory, back-stabbing, anxiety-inducing action and logical, loyal-friends-working-together vibes for me.
By far, not the most gory book I've ever read. But the warning is probably a good idea for especially sensitive readers. Keep that in mind. But if it doesn't bother you, I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves this genre.
By far, not the most gory book I've ever read. But the warning is probably a good idea for especially sensitive readers. Keep that in mind. But if it doesn't bother you, I'd recommend this book to anyone who loves this genre.
April 25, 2023
From the dark mind of Jon Athan comes The Social Media Murders, an extreme slasher with echoes of Scream and all our other favorite teen slashers with an extreme and modern twist. Our killer in this book is #trending on social media when they post their murders. By far the best thing about this book was the violent and bloody kills. A lot of people say slashers get repetitive but each kill was unique and had tons of gory pay-off. Another high point for me was the callbacks to Scream and other slasher films. I love that the characters in this book exist in our world where they know Scream, Friday the 13th, and mother legendary horror movies of our nightmares. The motive was well executed in this book. One my big detractor is how obvious one of the “whodunnits” was. Other than that, Athan continues to impress me with each book I pick up from him.
May 10, 2024
It’s currently 2.19 am. I have school in the morning. That was such a good book! When I thought I knew who the killer was, BAM I was wrong
Definitely recommend this book. It was my first horror book and it was amazing. I wanted a book that was like the scream movies( my favourite horror movies ever) and it definitely gave me what I was looking for. I loved this book so much.
It was such an easy and fun read. Some scenes were intense to the point where I had to put it down for a sec and think about what I’ve read but WOW. It was incredible.
I didn’t love the last chapter because it was a bit rushed but it was a short and good read. So excited to read more slasher books. If anyone has any recommendations please share 🫶🫶🫶
Definitely recommend this book. It was my first horror book and it was amazing. I wanted a book that was like the scream movies( my favourite horror movies ever) and it definitely gave me what I was looking for. I loved this book so much.
It was such an easy and fun read. Some scenes were intense to the point where I had to put it down for a sec and think about what I’ve read but WOW. It was incredible.
I didn’t love the last chapter because it was a bit rushed but it was a short and good read. So excited to read more slasher books. If anyone has any recommendations please share 🫶🫶🫶
October 8, 2017
Good little horror novel.
There were a few things that knocked down the rating for me, including the way the book seemed to repeat itself a few times. For instance, as people die, he mentions they die from the shock...more than once (hopefully that isn't a spoiler as we are reading a horror novel here and expect people to die).
And when he talked about 2 or more people he always called them a couple. Maybe call them a pair or a duo. These are obviously small things but they did irritate me a bit as I was reading.
Overall, it was a fun, horror-filled read and I will definitely give this author another go in the future.
There were a few things that knocked down the rating for me, including the way the book seemed to repeat itself a few times. For instance, as people die, he mentions they die from the shock...more than once (hopefully that isn't a spoiler as we are reading a horror novel here and expect people to die).
And when he talked about 2 or more people he always called them a couple. Maybe call them a pair or a duo. These are obviously small things but they did irritate me a bit as I was reading.
Overall, it was a fun, horror-filled read and I will definitely give this author another go in the future.
March 28, 2018
A little bit bummed, thought it was going to be greater then what I read.
I thought it was going to be more grotesque based on the "trigger warnings" & that dropped the rating a bit.
Kudos to the author for the title & overall theme, considering that social media has such a enormous impact on today's youth.
Solid characters that sound so much like the youngsters that attend high schools today.
There were a few scenes that were just too ridiculous to being even close to accurate (I'm not going to say which ones) that has me shaking my head & exclaiming," no way! Not possible" so that is why I can only give this a 3 star rating.
I thought it was going to be more grotesque based on the "trigger warnings" & that dropped the rating a bit.
Kudos to the author for the title & overall theme, considering that social media has such a enormous impact on today's youth.
Solid characters that sound so much like the youngsters that attend high schools today.
There were a few scenes that were just too ridiculous to being even close to accurate (I'm not going to say which ones) that has me shaking my head & exclaiming," no way! Not possible" so that is why I can only give this a 3 star rating.
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