What do you think?
Rate this book
Year of Blood #2
Golf Curse
Ronnie has the perfect summer job at the Indian Hill Golf Course. All day he gets to ride around on mowers and golf carts, check out the beautiful drink cart girls, joke around with his best friend Mark, and get plenty of fresh air and sunlight.
That all changes when a huge late spring hailstorm blows in one night, leaving the golf course in shambles. As they clean up all the limbs and downed trees, Ronnie and Mark learn about the Native American Kikawa tribe that was brutally massacred at the top of the hill near the seventeenth green, and the evil medicine man known as Chief Tomahawk who supposedly put a curse on the land. It seems that the curse may prove to be real as the golf course is dogged with bad luck, and a dark figure wearing a wooden Chief's mask and a black-feathered headdress is watching them from the shadows.
Now, in preparation for the biggest golf tournament of the year, Ronnie and the maintenance crew have to come in and work through the night. They are about to find out that Chief Tomahawk has returned, and he wants revenge for his slaughtered people.
That all changes when a huge late spring hailstorm blows in one night, leaving the golf course in shambles. As they clean up all the limbs and downed trees, Ronnie and Mark learn about the Native American Kikawa tribe that was brutally massacred at the top of the hill near the seventeenth green, and the evil medicine man known as Chief Tomahawk who supposedly put a curse on the land. It seems that the curse may prove to be real as the golf course is dogged with bad luck, and a dark figure wearing a wooden Chief's mask and a black-feathered headdress is watching them from the shadows.
Now, in preparation for the biggest golf tournament of the year, Ronnie and the maintenance crew have to come in and work through the night. They are about to find out that Chief Tomahawk has returned, and he wants revenge for his slaughtered people.
300 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 19, 2019
12 people are currently reading
346 people want to read
About the author
Cameron Roubique
8 books242 followersCameron Roubique is a horror author. His books include Frankie Graves, Golf Curse, Disco Deathtrap, and Kill River.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
May 13, 2019
This book was sent to me by the author in exchange for an honest review. Video review coming soon.
At last! Cameron Roubique, author of '80s horror throwbacks such as Kill River , Kill River 2 , and Disco Deathtrap , releases his latest slasher novel Golf Curse, this time with a supernatural twist.
When Ronny scores a job at Indian Hill Golf Course, he anticipates many breezy summer afternoons spent goofing off with his friend and coworker Mark. And that's exactly what he gets... until the murders begin. As it turns out, Indian Hill Golf Course is cursed with a dark history, one filled with Native American battles and massacres. As a result, the spirit of an angry medicine man known as Chief Tomahawk is back to avenge the deaths of his people.
Back in the '80s, we got a whole slew of horror paperbacks featuring living skeletons on the covers. The majority of these were courtesy of fan-favorite publisher Zebra Books, but while the covers themselves were a huge selling point, the interior rarely delivered on murderous skeleton action. Now we have Mr. Roubique, whose hand-painted covers clearly take inspiration from those bizarrely wonderful Zebra paperbacks of yesteryear. The question is: Does Golf Curse literally feature an evil Native American skeleton, or is this just an echo of Zebra Books? Well, creeps, I can indeed confirm that Golf Curse is the killer skeleton novel you've always wanted! Well... it's the killer skeleton novel I've always wanted.
What you see on the cover is exactly what you get, everything from the skeleton bursting out of the ground Return of the Living Dead-style to the dead bat on its headdress. It's all there in the story. I was overjoyed by this. Every time the skeleton would burst out from its hiding place and murder someone in the craziest way, I would chuckle with delight. I have to say, Cameron Roubique writes kill scenes like its nobody's business. They are bloody and gory, but they are over-the-top in a way that keeps those scenes from being too disturbing. Roubique's objective is to show the reader a spooky good time, not terrify them.
Speaking of, Golf Curse is filled with humor. The novel details many of the shenanigans that Ronny and Mark get themselves into, giving the book a light-hearted energy. Cameron writes these goofy encounters effortlessly, probably because he used to work on a golf course. In fact, in the afterward of this book, he states that many of the things that happened in the story actually happened to him in real life -- minus the murderous Native spirit. While these funny scenes serve to give the book its charm and to build the brotherly bond between Ronny and Mark, there does come a point around the middle where the pace comes to a stand-still. Roubique acknowledges this in his afterward, saying that the earlier chapters may have been a little self-indulgent, but he had fun writing them. Those chapters definitely gave the book some character, but I was eager to get to the slashery bits.
Once the book does get into the action though, it takes right off. Cameron is a pro at amping up the tension before letting all hell break loose in the final pages. Like Roubique's previous novels, Golf Curse ends with a bang, and the epilogue serves to further enhance the mystery of The Year of Blood. Which reminds me, this is the second book in The Year of Blood series, the first book being Disco Deathtrap. This is a series of companion books that all take place in the same town and reference one another, but you don't have to have read Disco Deathtrap before reading this one. However, I personally enjoyed Disco Deathtrap a little more than Golf Curse for its sheer lunacy and crazy-high bodycount, so I'd recommend reading that one first if you haven't already. You will also appreciate the Deathtrap references in Golf Curse a lot more if you do.
Overall, Golf Curse lived up to my expectations and gave me the killer skeleton mayhem I was longing for. Check it out!
At last! Cameron Roubique, author of '80s horror throwbacks such as Kill River , Kill River 2 , and Disco Deathtrap , releases his latest slasher novel Golf Curse, this time with a supernatural twist.
When Ronny scores a job at Indian Hill Golf Course, he anticipates many breezy summer afternoons spent goofing off with his friend and coworker Mark. And that's exactly what he gets... until the murders begin. As it turns out, Indian Hill Golf Course is cursed with a dark history, one filled with Native American battles and massacres. As a result, the spirit of an angry medicine man known as Chief Tomahawk is back to avenge the deaths of his people.
Back in the '80s, we got a whole slew of horror paperbacks featuring living skeletons on the covers. The majority of these were courtesy of fan-favorite publisher Zebra Books, but while the covers themselves were a huge selling point, the interior rarely delivered on murderous skeleton action. Now we have Mr. Roubique, whose hand-painted covers clearly take inspiration from those bizarrely wonderful Zebra paperbacks of yesteryear. The question is: Does Golf Curse literally feature an evil Native American skeleton, or is this just an echo of Zebra Books? Well, creeps, I can indeed confirm that Golf Curse is the killer skeleton novel you've always wanted! Well... it's the killer skeleton novel I've always wanted.
What you see on the cover is exactly what you get, everything from the skeleton bursting out of the ground Return of the Living Dead-style to the dead bat on its headdress. It's all there in the story. I was overjoyed by this. Every time the skeleton would burst out from its hiding place and murder someone in the craziest way, I would chuckle with delight. I have to say, Cameron Roubique writes kill scenes like its nobody's business. They are bloody and gory, but they are over-the-top in a way that keeps those scenes from being too disturbing. Roubique's objective is to show the reader a spooky good time, not terrify them.
Speaking of, Golf Curse is filled with humor. The novel details many of the shenanigans that Ronny and Mark get themselves into, giving the book a light-hearted energy. Cameron writes these goofy encounters effortlessly, probably because he used to work on a golf course. In fact, in the afterward of this book, he states that many of the things that happened in the story actually happened to him in real life -- minus the murderous Native spirit. While these funny scenes serve to give the book its charm and to build the brotherly bond between Ronny and Mark, there does come a point around the middle where the pace comes to a stand-still. Roubique acknowledges this in his afterward, saying that the earlier chapters may have been a little self-indulgent, but he had fun writing them. Those chapters definitely gave the book some character, but I was eager to get to the slashery bits.
Once the book does get into the action though, it takes right off. Cameron is a pro at amping up the tension before letting all hell break loose in the final pages. Like Roubique's previous novels, Golf Curse ends with a bang, and the epilogue serves to further enhance the mystery of The Year of Blood. Which reminds me, this is the second book in The Year of Blood series, the first book being Disco Deathtrap. This is a series of companion books that all take place in the same town and reference one another, but you don't have to have read Disco Deathtrap before reading this one. However, I personally enjoyed Disco Deathtrap a little more than Golf Curse for its sheer lunacy and crazy-high bodycount, so I'd recommend reading that one first if you haven't already. You will also appreciate the Deathtrap references in Golf Curse a lot more if you do.
Overall, Golf Curse lived up to my expectations and gave me the killer skeleton mayhem I was longing for. Check it out!
May 14, 2019
4.0 Stars
Video Review: https://youtu.be/gZ1h-F1qk68
Fun, gory and filled with 1980s nostalgia, I got exactly what I wanted from the latest book by Cameron Roubique!
As a big fan of author’s previous works, I was eager to pick up Golf Curse and I am happy to report that it did not disappoint. Like all his previous books, this is a very classic slasher story inspired by the classic horror movies of past decades. There was a fantastic build throughout the novel with some gory moments and a great climax.
The reader does not need to understand or enjoy the golf in order to appreciate this novel. In fact, the story is more focused on the maintenance of the greens rather the the game itself. From the amount of detail in this book, I quickly surmised that the setting for this book was largely inspired by the author’s own employment background.
As is often the case in slashers, the characters aren’t incredibly fleshed out, but were still enjoyable. The characters read more like teenagers, although I might be incorrectly overestimating the maturity of college students.
I was initially concerned that the inclusion of Native American elements could be handled insensitively. However, I felt like the author did a good job by addressing this potentially problematic material directly in a forward at the beginning of the novel where he talked about his respect for the culture.
Anyone who has read and enjoyed the authors previous books will likely enjoy his latest book just as much. I would recommend this horror novel to any readers looking for a fun, nostalgic slasher experience.
I received a copy of this book from the author.
Video Review: https://youtu.be/gZ1h-F1qk68
Fun, gory and filled with 1980s nostalgia, I got exactly what I wanted from the latest book by Cameron Roubique!
As a big fan of author’s previous works, I was eager to pick up Golf Curse and I am happy to report that it did not disappoint. Like all his previous books, this is a very classic slasher story inspired by the classic horror movies of past decades. There was a fantastic build throughout the novel with some gory moments and a great climax.
The reader does not need to understand or enjoy the golf in order to appreciate this novel. In fact, the story is more focused on the maintenance of the greens rather the the game itself. From the amount of detail in this book, I quickly surmised that the setting for this book was largely inspired by the author’s own employment background.
As is often the case in slashers, the characters aren’t incredibly fleshed out, but were still enjoyable. The characters read more like teenagers, although I might be incorrectly overestimating the maturity of college students.
I was initially concerned that the inclusion of Native American elements could be handled insensitively. However, I felt like the author did a good job by addressing this potentially problematic material directly in a forward at the beginning of the novel where he talked about his respect for the culture.
Anyone who has read and enjoyed the authors previous books will likely enjoy his latest book just as much. I would recommend this horror novel to any readers looking for a fun, nostalgic slasher experience.
I received a copy of this book from the author.
June 30, 2019
Another winner from slasher aficionado Cameron Roubique. This one is more supernatural than the Kill River series, because why shouldn’t ghosts get in on the fun too?
It’s a bit slow to start - as Roubique freely admits in his afterword, he indulged himself, drawing on his real-life experience of working on a golf course.
But once the killer begins his grisly work, it’s full-on slasher fun all the way.
Recommended.
It’s a bit slow to start - as Roubique freely admits in his afterword, he indulged himself, drawing on his real-life experience of working on a golf course.
But once the killer begins his grisly work, it’s full-on slasher fun all the way.
Recommended.
June 21, 2023
In the summer of 1981, 20 year old Ronnie Wilford gets a job at Indian Hills Golf Course with his best friend, Mark. Ronnie loves his job - from playing pranks on his coworkers, to working alongside his best friend, and even seeing his crush every day. Little does he know, all of that is about to change, because Indian Hills is built on top of a mass grave of Native Americans. And one angry spirit in particular just doesn't want to stay dead.
One night, when a young kid working at the course decides to visit late at night with his friends for some pranks and vandalism, they cut down the old tree at the top of the hill and accidentally release the spirit of Chief Tomahawk, one half of the Tomahawk Brothers, "two of the craziest, wildest Indians that ever walked the Earth." Right at that moment, a vicious storm hits, leaving the golf course in shambles.
Ronnie's older coworker, while telling him the history of the golf course, continues on to say Chief Tomahawk was the one in charge, and they were both cold-blooded killers, outcasts, who practiced summoning evil spirits and were rumored to be able to make men have evil visions and control animals.
Tensions between the brothers and new white settlers rose, eventually ending in a bloody massacre that left Chief Tomahawk tied up to the tree on the hill to die slowly - but not before cursing the men responsible, and their families for generations to come, the people in town, the farmland and even the hill itself.
The next day, when the boss, Bill, sees the destruction of the golf course, due to both the vandalism and the storm, he is very distraught, after all, they are supposed to be hosting a huge tournament for Memorial Day weekend in just a few days. He puts a sign up sheet to work overnight Friday, to get all the clean up done. Ronnie, Mark and several others elect to work the overnight, despite suddenly feeling inexplicable bad vibes on the course - but what they don't ever imagine is how true those legends really are.
That Friday night, Chief Tomahawk will rise again - and he'll stop at nothing to get his revenge and kill everyone in his path. Can Ronnie and his coworkers escape the undead Native American and survive the night?
---------------------
This was my first book by this author and I had really high expectations, because his books just sounded so good, and I'm happy to say I was not let down. I really loved this one and I can't wait to read more.
One night, when a young kid working at the course decides to visit late at night with his friends for some pranks and vandalism, they cut down the old tree at the top of the hill and accidentally release the spirit of Chief Tomahawk, one half of the Tomahawk Brothers, "two of the craziest, wildest Indians that ever walked the Earth." Right at that moment, a vicious storm hits, leaving the golf course in shambles.
Ronnie's older coworker, while telling him the history of the golf course, continues on to say Chief Tomahawk was the one in charge, and they were both cold-blooded killers, outcasts, who practiced summoning evil spirits and were rumored to be able to make men have evil visions and control animals.
Tensions between the brothers and new white settlers rose, eventually ending in a bloody massacre that left Chief Tomahawk tied up to the tree on the hill to die slowly - but not before cursing the men responsible, and their families for generations to come, the people in town, the farmland and even the hill itself.
The next day, when the boss, Bill, sees the destruction of the golf course, due to both the vandalism and the storm, he is very distraught, after all, they are supposed to be hosting a huge tournament for Memorial Day weekend in just a few days. He puts a sign up sheet to work overnight Friday, to get all the clean up done. Ronnie, Mark and several others elect to work the overnight, despite suddenly feeling inexplicable bad vibes on the course - but what they don't ever imagine is how true those legends really are.
That Friday night, Chief Tomahawk will rise again - and he'll stop at nothing to get his revenge and kill everyone in his path. Can Ronnie and his coworkers escape the undead Native American and survive the night?
---------------------
This was my first book by this author and I had really high expectations, because his books just sounded so good, and I'm happy to say I was not let down. I really loved this one and I can't wait to read more.
August 7, 2021
Supernatural Slasher
Another fun horror novel by Cameron Roubique. His stories are a blast to read!
This book is very reminiscent in style to the original Kill
River, in which it takes about half the book for the actual
action to take place. Once it does though, the reader will rocket through the rest of the book.
I actually found the scenes in this story to be much creepier than Kill River. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Chief Thomas to attack. At first, I thought a supernatural Kiwawa Chief would be lame in terms of horror... I was wrong.
It is easy to visualize this narrative as a 1980s horror movie.... think Sleepaway Camp with a new plot.
Although there is not a great deal of depth to the characters ( and Ronnie is not the same level of survivor as Cindi) and the story itself is quite simple, Roubique certainly infuses his book with a great deal of enthusiasm, humour, storytelling, and love of the genre.
One great addition to a Cameron Roubique book is the included Soundtrack.
Another fun horror novel by Cameron Roubique. His stories are a blast to read!
This book is very reminiscent in style to the original Kill
River, in which it takes about half the book for the actual
action to take place. Once it does though, the reader will rocket through the rest of the book.
I actually found the scenes in this story to be much creepier than Kill River. I was on the edge of my seat waiting for Chief Thomas to attack. At first, I thought a supernatural Kiwawa Chief would be lame in terms of horror... I was wrong.
It is easy to visualize this narrative as a 1980s horror movie.... think Sleepaway Camp with a new plot.
Although there is not a great deal of depth to the characters ( and Ronnie is not the same level of survivor as Cindi) and the story itself is quite simple, Roubique certainly infuses his book with a great deal of enthusiasm, humour, storytelling, and love of the genre.
One great addition to a Cameron Roubique book is the included Soundtrack.
October 30, 2022
This dude might be my favourite author at the moment, and I can't wait for the next book. These are the ultimate schlocky 80s slasher horror books, everything about Mr Roubique's bibliography is just phenomenal and I'll read any single thing this dude writes.
October 31, 2022
2.5 stars. Almost nothing happens until halfway through the book! But once it started it was fun.
November 24, 2020
Really enjoyed this one! I had a better time with it than I did Year of Blood book 1. Golf Curse just held my attention much more, and did not require as much suspension of disbelief (despite being a book with a supernatural antagonist!)
I initially thought I would not enjoy the story. I abhor golf and everything about it. Luckily, the golf elements weren’t over-the-top, and Cameron does a good job of describing things in a way that makes them easy to picture. This is a book that takes place on a golf course, but isn’t about golf. I was very thankful for that.
My one issue with the story has to do with Zeke. It was obvious that he was setup for a bigger role, so I kind of knew the ending from the beginning. I’m not sure how this could have been handled differently. The ending is still a great time!
I’m a huge fan of Cameron’s work and can’t wait to read the next Year of Blood installment.
4.5 stars.
Something to note — I read the Kindle version. It was riddled with proofreading errors. They weren’t bad enough to make the book difficult to understand, but they were present all throughout. I’m not sure whether the physical copy is any better. Regardless, not docking any points for that.
I initially thought I would not enjoy the story. I abhor golf and everything about it. Luckily, the golf elements weren’t over-the-top, and Cameron does a good job of describing things in a way that makes them easy to picture. This is a book that takes place on a golf course, but isn’t about golf. I was very thankful for that.
My one issue with the story has to do with Zeke. It was obvious that he was setup for a bigger role, so I kind of knew the ending from the beginning. I’m not sure how this could have been handled differently. The ending is still a great time!
I’m a huge fan of Cameron’s work and can’t wait to read the next Year of Blood installment.
4.5 stars.
Something to note — I read the Kindle version. It was riddled with proofreading errors. They weren’t bad enough to make the book difficult to understand, but they were present all throughout. I’m not sure whether the physical copy is any better. Regardless, not docking any points for that.
September 5, 2024
I just can't go wrong when I pick up a Cameron Roubique. If you want a fun, 80's style slasher novel look no farther. I know every time that I won't be disappointed, I only wish he put out books much more often so I could allow more than 1 per Halloween reading season (I always save a Roubique for my fall/Halloween reading).
I believe this is the first one by Roubique that didn't star a teenaged cast but that does not mean that any of them are YA books and it was kind of fun and refreshing to have a bit of a more adult mindset from the characters.
Golf Curse is the second in The Year of Blood series and I read Disco Deathtrap for Halloween last year. So far it seems like it is going to be a series of sister books, not necessarily building directly on the previous novels. They mentioned the events in Disco Deathtrap briefly in this one but that was it. The way things ended I am curious to see where things go in the future, if there will be more continuity from this point, we'll see but no matter what I am here for the ride.
I believe this is the first one by Roubique that didn't star a teenaged cast but that does not mean that any of them are YA books and it was kind of fun and refreshing to have a bit of a more adult mindset from the characters.
Golf Curse is the second in The Year of Blood series and I read Disco Deathtrap for Halloween last year. So far it seems like it is going to be a series of sister books, not necessarily building directly on the previous novels. They mentioned the events in Disco Deathtrap briefly in this one but that was it. The way things ended I am curious to see where things go in the future, if there will be more continuity from this point, we'll see but no matter what I am here for the ride.
April 21, 2020
LOVED IT
So Good!!! I absolutely adored reading it! The slasher vibes are alive and well, and all thriving in the books of Cameron Roubique! Made me wanna re-read all his books again and again. They’re just so fun!
So Good!!! I absolutely adored reading it! The slasher vibes are alive and well, and all thriving in the books of Cameron Roubique! Made me wanna re-read all his books again and again. They’re just so fun!
May 11, 2019
Warning: This review contains massive spoilers about not just this book, but also may contain some mild ones on the author's past books. If you've not read them all, I suggest you stop reading this and go check them out.
Time to review the fourth book in what I now call the Roubique-verse, especially because Golf Curse takes place in the exact same town as Disco Deathtrap took place, it's outright mentioned in the book (said town may well be cursed), and the fact that the name "Kikawa" is also mentioned makes it so it also ties in with the Kill River books. Now, if you've read my reviews, you'll know that after the very strong showing of Kill River, which I rated 5 out of 5, the following two books, Disco Deathtrap and Kill River 2, just didn't do it for me, unfortunately. So I was hoping that this fourth book could go back to basics and try to capture the magic of Kill River, which I felt was as strong as it was because of its humble and simple approach. So, did Golf Curse manage to do that? Well, in many ways, it really did.
When it comes to the build up, this one takes its time even more than Kill River did, with plenty of time spent with the characters at work, though it does have a couple of kills before the main event. Some people may find it dull to go for so long with few kills, but I appreciate a slow burn, because I want to get to know these characters. We do luck out with main character Ronnie, who is quite likable, a sort of geeky type who's more of a follower but not afraid to let loose with those he likes, and I liked his odd friendship with Mark (this and Cyndi and Stacy's friendship in Kill River show that Cameron can write odd friendships very well). A downside, though, is that there are a lot of characters here, and unfortunately, we don't spend enough time on many of them to get to know them well enough, which is a shame. Nevertheless, the killer surfaces soon enough and we do get a couple of kills before the main event, plus there's just this dreary atmosphere that settles on the golf course as the days pass, the place becoming quieter, less welcoming, less people around, and it really sets the mood, especially on the bits where we know the undead murderer is stalking the employees of the place. The fact that it's a golf course helps out, as even though there's lots of open space, the place is still so big and has many hidey holes where the killer could be, and it's also a ways away from the rest of civilization, making it so it feels more isolated, adding to the atmosphere, with the storm that comes during the big night of murder really being the cherry on top in terms of atmosphere, as personally, few things set a spooky mood on a horror story as good as a stormy night. Though, as I've never seen a golf course besides some glimpses on TV and movies, I had to look up a lot of stuff on Google and had a couple of issues imagining the layout of the golf course, but fortunately, it was nothing egregious and I was able to manage well enough.
The killer being supernatural is a new approach for the author, and I must say it's handled quite well, especially because the killer is a skeleton, which I feel are very underrated figures in the horror genre. Said killer skeleton is a master stalker, using stealth very well, and also packs a couple of magical tricks that add to its supernatural menace, though they are quite short lived and I wish we could've seen more, including more of the coyote, it was a good attack scene and more of a menacing animal controlled by the killer would certainly have been cool. I will admit, having the killer dress up and put on a silly wooden mask that it cut off of a wooden statue kinda removed some of the menace for me, I would've preferred it to remain an uncovered skeleton without the need for covering up, as I personally feel it would've felt a lot creepier creepier and more menacing in my opinion; though I won't deny that one of the best mental images in the whole book is the one painted by one of the characters seeing the killer standing by a lake and thinking it's the wooden statue, only to realize that the wooden statue was somewhere else, and when peeking back, the killer is no longer there, it was just a really effective scene. Overall, the scenes of the killer stalking people throughout the several days that happened in the book were great and set a superb creepy mood.
And then there are the kills. Cameron successfully strikes a fine balance between simpler deaths and more elaborate ones; some aren't much gory at all, some are very gory and gruesome, and all are quite well thought out. And even though Cameron does telegraph them in some ways so you know what's gonna happen, that doesn't lessen their impact, and Golf Curse has some of the best kills in all of Cameron's books thus far. I also highly admire the fact that, even though the bodycount is in the double digits, it's by far the most subdued in all of Cameron's books, more in tune with a traditional slasher story, and I for one am very grateful to have a reasonable bodycount rather than one where it goes into the several dozens. I'm one of those rare horror fans that prefers smaller bodycounts (I've always felt the horror is more on the stalking, the attack and the chase rather than the murders), so for this one to have been what it was is something I was very okay with and I applaud that. In terms of bodycount and kills, I feel this has been Cameron's strongest effort.
Now, unfortunately, I must go on to the cons I had with the book. For starters, the original massacre that took place in the golf course grounds, explained in a story told by old timer Zeke, was rather too dark for my personal tastes, easily the darkest anything Cameron has ever written, so I'm glad that it was told only once. Next, even with the relatively subdued bodycount, the fact that most of the cast ends up dead plays very like traditional slasher movies, in the way that most of the action in the big night amounts to the killer stalking someone, they notice too late that something's out to kill them, they get killed, and only the final very few characters notice there's a killer on time to try to do anything about it, and it goes like that for a long time, so it becomes a little repetitive to go from focus on one character to get them killed and move on to the next. More chases and struggles with the killer would've been great to break up the repetitiveness, especially because the book does feature a great chase scene (the one with the coyote) and a short but great final fight with the killer out in the rain, featuring some well used vehicles and a tool for the golf course maintenance, so more chases and fights/struggles would've given the book some extra pep. And as I mentioned before, there are a lot of characters but few of them get more than just a couple of scenes to display their personalities, and some of them don't even get a description as to their physical description, so we barely get to know them, and that lessens the impact of their deaths.
And on that note, a downside for me was the character Wendy. She barely appears in the book but ends up surviving, and to me she was just not likable, as she spent most of her short time in the book either shrieking in terror (understandable given the situation) or whining about how much of a bitch her older sister Tanya is, and from what little was shown, Wendy herself was just as more of a bitch as Tanya, maybe even bitchier, because at least Tanya got to show more friendliness and interaction with the main characters, Ronnie and Mark. With Wendy, it kinda felt like she survived just solely because main character Ronnie liked her, since something done in horror for decades is that if more than one person survives, it's the main character and either one friend or a love interest, sometimes both. There's also how it feels convoluted how Wendy survives, as the killer has just offed her sister and is in the same building, on his way to kill Wendy, but out of nowhere he just decides to leave her for later so he can kill many others first because apparently he feels they deserve it more and she can wait, but he never goes back for her at all, only stumbling back on her because he's chasing Ronnie, the only other person left that he's trying to kill, and Ronnie goes get Wendy (and Tanya, who he doesn't know is dead) to try to escape, so it just didn't make sense to me at all how he just decides to forego someone that's right there with him ready to be killed. Now, Wendy surviving brings me to the survivors themselves. Only three survivors, two of them very predictable, the third semi-predictable, so it would've been cool to see maybe four or five survivors, or to at least mix it up and not have the typical ones be the ones to survive, it's something I keep hoping to see in one of Cameron's books but it has happened only once so far (in Disco Deathtrap), so I hope Cameron can pop up a survivor surprise again in future books. And finally, there was the epilogue, which even though it added creep factor, I was kinda bummed to see it be another conspiracy type thing, just like it was in Kill River 2, though this one does feel a lot more subdued and understandable, so it's not a big negative point, more of a nitpick of mine than anything.
Final bit for me to review upon, the unanswered questions, of which there were three in the book. One can be explained with imagination, which is how the killer always knew where people were at any and all times, always either already there to kill them or arriving where they are and catching them by surprise, but my guesses are either he used magic or was a skilled tracker even back when he was alive, or maybe a mix of both. The second is how the book makes it clear that the killer is baffled by technology and can only operate the simplest of things (flick a switch or push a button), but after killing Jimmy, people believe he ran away, but no explanation is given as to just where Jimmy's car is, so I just assume either he had a bike and not a car, since it's easy to get rid of a bike, or maybe someone was to pick up Jimmy at work. The final question is from the epilogue, as a pair of brothers steal the killer's charred remains to give to his still living, equally evil brother for further evil-doing (gotta have that sequel hook, always appreciated), but police where already there, so how did these two guys manage to steal a corpse right from under the noses of the police at the very crime scene itself? That is the one question I have no speculative answers for, still trying to figure that one out.
After everything said and done, I was pondering whether to give this book a rating of either 3 or 4, weighting in the pros and cons, as well as how the book fits in with the other three, being a shared universe. The pros are strong, but the cons are more than those I had with the first Kill River. But ultimately, I felt that the pros were strong enough to outweight the cons, making the rating a solid 4 out of 5. It had a likable and relatable main character, a different cast from the usual (almost the whole cast were adults, several of them over the age of 50) an effective and well utilized setting, a great atmosphere, well done stalking scenes, superb kills, a fairly reasonable bodycount, and a well done final showdown with the killer, on top of the added bonus of the killer being a decayed skeleton, as the awesome cover art displays. For Cameron's first full-out supernatural slasher, it was quite the strong showing, one that I enjoyed, and it has me looking forward to seeing what more Cameron can do when he delves with the supernatural once again in the future.
Time to review the fourth book in what I now call the Roubique-verse, especially because Golf Curse takes place in the exact same town as Disco Deathtrap took place, it's outright mentioned in the book (said town may well be cursed), and the fact that the name "Kikawa" is also mentioned makes it so it also ties in with the Kill River books. Now, if you've read my reviews, you'll know that after the very strong showing of Kill River, which I rated 5 out of 5, the following two books, Disco Deathtrap and Kill River 2, just didn't do it for me, unfortunately. So I was hoping that this fourth book could go back to basics and try to capture the magic of Kill River, which I felt was as strong as it was because of its humble and simple approach. So, did Golf Curse manage to do that? Well, in many ways, it really did.
When it comes to the build up, this one takes its time even more than Kill River did, with plenty of time spent with the characters at work, though it does have a couple of kills before the main event. Some people may find it dull to go for so long with few kills, but I appreciate a slow burn, because I want to get to know these characters. We do luck out with main character Ronnie, who is quite likable, a sort of geeky type who's more of a follower but not afraid to let loose with those he likes, and I liked his odd friendship with Mark (this and Cyndi and Stacy's friendship in Kill River show that Cameron can write odd friendships very well). A downside, though, is that there are a lot of characters here, and unfortunately, we don't spend enough time on many of them to get to know them well enough, which is a shame. Nevertheless, the killer surfaces soon enough and we do get a couple of kills before the main event, plus there's just this dreary atmosphere that settles on the golf course as the days pass, the place becoming quieter, less welcoming, less people around, and it really sets the mood, especially on the bits where we know the undead murderer is stalking the employees of the place. The fact that it's a golf course helps out, as even though there's lots of open space, the place is still so big and has many hidey holes where the killer could be, and it's also a ways away from the rest of civilization, making it so it feels more isolated, adding to the atmosphere, with the storm that comes during the big night of murder really being the cherry on top in terms of atmosphere, as personally, few things set a spooky mood on a horror story as good as a stormy night. Though, as I've never seen a golf course besides some glimpses on TV and movies, I had to look up a lot of stuff on Google and had a couple of issues imagining the layout of the golf course, but fortunately, it was nothing egregious and I was able to manage well enough.
The killer being supernatural is a new approach for the author, and I must say it's handled quite well, especially because the killer is a skeleton, which I feel are very underrated figures in the horror genre. Said killer skeleton is a master stalker, using stealth very well, and also packs a couple of magical tricks that add to its supernatural menace, though they are quite short lived and I wish we could've seen more, including more of the coyote, it was a good attack scene and more of a menacing animal controlled by the killer would certainly have been cool. I will admit, having the killer dress up and put on a silly wooden mask that it cut off of a wooden statue kinda removed some of the menace for me, I would've preferred it to remain an uncovered skeleton without the need for covering up, as I personally feel it would've felt a lot creepier creepier and more menacing in my opinion; though I won't deny that one of the best mental images in the whole book is the one painted by one of the characters seeing the killer standing by a lake and thinking it's the wooden statue, only to realize that the wooden statue was somewhere else, and when peeking back, the killer is no longer there, it was just a really effective scene. Overall, the scenes of the killer stalking people throughout the several days that happened in the book were great and set a superb creepy mood.
And then there are the kills. Cameron successfully strikes a fine balance between simpler deaths and more elaborate ones; some aren't much gory at all, some are very gory and gruesome, and all are quite well thought out. And even though Cameron does telegraph them in some ways so you know what's gonna happen, that doesn't lessen their impact, and Golf Curse has some of the best kills in all of Cameron's books thus far. I also highly admire the fact that, even though the bodycount is in the double digits, it's by far the most subdued in all of Cameron's books, more in tune with a traditional slasher story, and I for one am very grateful to have a reasonable bodycount rather than one where it goes into the several dozens. I'm one of those rare horror fans that prefers smaller bodycounts (I've always felt the horror is more on the stalking, the attack and the chase rather than the murders), so for this one to have been what it was is something I was very okay with and I applaud that. In terms of bodycount and kills, I feel this has been Cameron's strongest effort.
Now, unfortunately, I must go on to the cons I had with the book. For starters, the original massacre that took place in the golf course grounds, explained in a story told by old timer Zeke, was rather too dark for my personal tastes, easily the darkest anything Cameron has ever written, so I'm glad that it was told only once. Next, even with the relatively subdued bodycount, the fact that most of the cast ends up dead plays very like traditional slasher movies, in the way that most of the action in the big night amounts to the killer stalking someone, they notice too late that something's out to kill them, they get killed, and only the final very few characters notice there's a killer on time to try to do anything about it, and it goes like that for a long time, so it becomes a little repetitive to go from focus on one character to get them killed and move on to the next. More chases and struggles with the killer would've been great to break up the repetitiveness, especially because the book does feature a great chase scene (the one with the coyote) and a short but great final fight with the killer out in the rain, featuring some well used vehicles and a tool for the golf course maintenance, so more chases and fights/struggles would've given the book some extra pep. And as I mentioned before, there are a lot of characters but few of them get more than just a couple of scenes to display their personalities, and some of them don't even get a description as to their physical description, so we barely get to know them, and that lessens the impact of their deaths.
And on that note, a downside for me was the character Wendy. She barely appears in the book but ends up surviving, and to me she was just not likable, as she spent most of her short time in the book either shrieking in terror (understandable given the situation) or whining about how much of a bitch her older sister Tanya is, and from what little was shown, Wendy herself was just as more of a bitch as Tanya, maybe even bitchier, because at least Tanya got to show more friendliness and interaction with the main characters, Ronnie and Mark. With Wendy, it kinda felt like she survived just solely because main character Ronnie liked her, since something done in horror for decades is that if more than one person survives, it's the main character and either one friend or a love interest, sometimes both. There's also how it feels convoluted how Wendy survives, as the killer has just offed her sister and is in the same building, on his way to kill Wendy, but out of nowhere he just decides to leave her for later so he can kill many others first because apparently he feels they deserve it more and she can wait, but he never goes back for her at all, only stumbling back on her because he's chasing Ronnie, the only other person left that he's trying to kill, and Ronnie goes get Wendy (and Tanya, who he doesn't know is dead) to try to escape, so it just didn't make sense to me at all how he just decides to forego someone that's right there with him ready to be killed. Now, Wendy surviving brings me to the survivors themselves. Only three survivors, two of them very predictable, the third semi-predictable, so it would've been cool to see maybe four or five survivors, or to at least mix it up and not have the typical ones be the ones to survive, it's something I keep hoping to see in one of Cameron's books but it has happened only once so far (in Disco Deathtrap), so I hope Cameron can pop up a survivor surprise again in future books. And finally, there was the epilogue, which even though it added creep factor, I was kinda bummed to see it be another conspiracy type thing, just like it was in Kill River 2, though this one does feel a lot more subdued and understandable, so it's not a big negative point, more of a nitpick of mine than anything.
Final bit for me to review upon, the unanswered questions, of which there were three in the book. One can be explained with imagination, which is how the killer always knew where people were at any and all times, always either already there to kill them or arriving where they are and catching them by surprise, but my guesses are either he used magic or was a skilled tracker even back when he was alive, or maybe a mix of both. The second is how the book makes it clear that the killer is baffled by technology and can only operate the simplest of things (flick a switch or push a button), but after killing Jimmy, people believe he ran away, but no explanation is given as to just where Jimmy's car is, so I just assume either he had a bike and not a car, since it's easy to get rid of a bike, or maybe someone was to pick up Jimmy at work. The final question is from the epilogue, as a pair of brothers steal the killer's charred remains to give to his still living, equally evil brother for further evil-doing (gotta have that sequel hook, always appreciated), but police where already there, so how did these two guys manage to steal a corpse right from under the noses of the police at the very crime scene itself? That is the one question I have no speculative answers for, still trying to figure that one out.
After everything said and done, I was pondering whether to give this book a rating of either 3 or 4, weighting in the pros and cons, as well as how the book fits in with the other three, being a shared universe. The pros are strong, but the cons are more than those I had with the first Kill River. But ultimately, I felt that the pros were strong enough to outweight the cons, making the rating a solid 4 out of 5. It had a likable and relatable main character, a different cast from the usual (almost the whole cast were adults, several of them over the age of 50) an effective and well utilized setting, a great atmosphere, well done stalking scenes, superb kills, a fairly reasonable bodycount, and a well done final showdown with the killer, on top of the added bonus of the killer being a decayed skeleton, as the awesome cover art displays. For Cameron's first full-out supernatural slasher, it was quite the strong showing, one that I enjoyed, and it has me looking forward to seeing what more Cameron can do when he delves with the supernatural once again in the future.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 27, 2020
I have loved every single one of Cameron Roubique's books and this was no exception. They all take me straight back to my childhood, pure retro slasher fun. You could tell he got a little nostalgic describing his personal adventures while working at a Golf course, but it worked well with the story. As with all of his books, his characters are so familiar, relatable, and likable, it's like I personally knew them "back in the day", and his books suck me into the world completely.
Read
December 6, 2019......The Year of Blood is not over yet. Just a few short months later!
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞."
𝔾𝕠𝕝𝕗 ℂ𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖
Genre: Adult | Horror | Fiction
5 out of 5 stars
The perfect summer job!... Or so Ronnie thought
Nightmares can hide anywhere... you never know when they will strike, perhaps for an awful revenge!
Golf Curse was such a wild ride! Indian Hill Golf Course really does sound like the perfect summer job, that is until the stories of the land being cursed starts to add up. Enough to terrify the believers anyhow... maybe not so much for the non-believers.
Again the detail in Roubique's novels astound me. Each character is perfectly placed with a good amount of a background story, helping you decide who the trouble makers are and who the goody too-shoes are. I don't know about you but I find myself already planning out who may be the first to go simply based on their personalities. Than comes in this whole story behind Indian Hill Golf Course and why they say it's cursed.
They do say write what you know, which is exactly what Roubique has done. Having the knowledge from working at a golf course himself and man has it worked out for him.
Cameron's work will keep your heart pounding. Be prepared!
An author I highly recommend across the board. Oh and I can't forget! His mind blowing covers are his own incredible paintings.
"𝐘𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝟏𝟖𝐭𝐡 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐞 𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐯𝐞."
𝔾𝕠𝕝𝕗 ℂ𝕦𝕣𝕤𝕖
Genre: Adult | Horror | Fiction
5 out of 5 stars
The perfect summer job!... Or so Ronnie thought
Nightmares can hide anywhere... you never know when they will strike, perhaps for an awful revenge!
Golf Curse was such a wild ride! Indian Hill Golf Course really does sound like the perfect summer job, that is until the stories of the land being cursed starts to add up. Enough to terrify the believers anyhow... maybe not so much for the non-believers.
Again the detail in Roubique's novels astound me. Each character is perfectly placed with a good amount of a background story, helping you decide who the trouble makers are and who the goody too-shoes are. I don't know about you but I find myself already planning out who may be the first to go simply based on their personalities. Than comes in this whole story behind Indian Hill Golf Course and why they say it's cursed.
They do say write what you know, which is exactly what Roubique has done. Having the knowledge from working at a golf course himself and man has it worked out for him.
Cameron's work will keep your heart pounding. Be prepared!
An author I highly recommend across the board. Oh and I can't forget! His mind blowing covers are his own incredible paintings.
July 10, 2021
I really loved this one! It's funny because of all the other books Cameron has written, this was the one I was most hesitant on and waited the longest to buy. As soon as I saw Kill River, I bought them instantly, no hesitation. But this one just didn't sound like my type of book. But all of a sudden, I got in a mood where this one actually sounded like a good idea to try. It does take a little while to get to the suspense. And the beginning is a little drawn out. I felt like the first 50-60 pages could have been cut down a little if it wasn't so much of the boys just messing around on the golf course. Otherwise, it's a great book. I loved the story behind it with Chief Tomahawk.
July 21, 2021
Cameron Roubique is back at it again with book two in his “The Year of Blood” series, Golf Curse! If you’re fan of Roubique’s work, Golf Curse will rile you up with so much more of that same 80’s slasher goodness in this follow up to Disco Death Trap. A swath of 80’s teens who work at Indian Hill Golf Course find out the hard way that the legend of the Kikawa and Chief Tomahawk is super bloody and terrifyingly real. They find out in waves of imaginative, fun and brutal deaths, as per usual for Roubique. There’s so much to love here, and as all Cameron’s books do, you’ll fall head over heels for all the 80’s deliciousness. Five stars from me, go check it out!
April 21, 2019
Any horror fan need to check out the criminally underrated Cameron Roubique as his books are highly entertaining and makes you connect with the characters. You really want to see them succeed as you read extremely horrific things happen to them. This book that reminds me of The Fog as a golf course is attacked by a creepy spirit of vengeance due to events of 100 years ago. The gradual build as we learn each character and we are attached to them before. I had just as much fun reading this as I had with all his other books and is definitely someone all horror fans need to read.
June 24, 2023
Another great entry in Cameron Roubique's expanding Year of Blood series. These novels are all absolute delights for slasher fans and just shy of being critical must-reads.
I can't say there's a lot of books like these out there these days. Sure, there are plenty of horror novels out there, scores of murder mysteries with heinous villains. But how many just straight up, old school, slasher movie in book form novels are out there these days? How many new ones are being written? And of those, how many are being written with such clear love, respect, and adoration for the slasher subgenre as a whole? I'm willing to be it's a sickeningly short list. So thank God for Roubique jumping in and fighting the good fight for us slasher fans far and wide. These books, despite the copious murders contained within, give me life.
Golf Curse is the first supernatural slasher from Roubique and its clear that he was having plenty of fun writing it. A great backstory/legend that ties into the growing mythology of the Year of Blood and that provides us with a great slasher villain in Chief Tomahawk.
The pacing of his novels is still a little hit or miss in this entry. It takes a little while to get into the slicing an dicing mayhem, but that does provide us plenty more time to know and care about (some of) the potential victims. Roubique admits the first chunk of the book might be a bit self-indulgent and I agree with him, but I wouldn't say it was boring or distracting. I don't golf and don't know shit about it so if anything the endless information about golfing and golf courses was my only qualm. I liked hearing about all the dumb shit these kids did to entertain themselves at work and it reminded me of plenty of jobs I've had over the years. Especially summer jobs.
The slashing is top notch in this novel. Some really creative kills and set pieces and I think that's crucial. Especially if you're doing a self-proclaimed 80s throwback. Gotta have wild murders, just one of the bylaws of the subgenre, and Roubique provides that in spades. For those counting, there's 11 murders in this book, not counting the myth/flashback/story, and only one of them is "off screen". I think that might be the most individual set pieces Roubique has in any of the five novels of his I've read. And I was here for every single on of them. He even surprised me with some of the victims and the order in which some of them bought it, so that was fun for me to experience.
It's a quick read, as all of his novels are, and he really sucks you into the world he's creating. There's clearly a vision he has here for the Year of Blood. It's not a hundred percent clear what that vision is but he's earned my trust at this point to just enjoy the ride. I liked a lot of the characters, even the cipher ones that are just there to get mangled, and despite all the time we spent with them in the beginning of the book I do kind of wish we'd learned a bit more about a few of them (Ronnie, Mark, Wendy, Tanya). The kills are gnarly and the villain is an All-Timer. I kinda hope Golf Curse gets a sequel.
I love this series of novels and I love Roubique's writing. His passion for horror and for slashers is as evident as it is infectious. And, as I've said before, he's journey of writing these and publishing them himself is nothing short of inspiring for an aspiring horror novelist like myself. I feel genuine excitement knowing he has two new novels that came out this year and I've already nabbed my copies. I can't wait to see where he takes this series and what new killers and locations he'll take on next. I'm all in.
Roubique and his Year of Blood books is pretty essential reading for horror fans, but most assuredly for lovers of old-school slasher horror. Highly recommended.
I can't say there's a lot of books like these out there these days. Sure, there are plenty of horror novels out there, scores of murder mysteries with heinous villains. But how many just straight up, old school, slasher movie in book form novels are out there these days? How many new ones are being written? And of those, how many are being written with such clear love, respect, and adoration for the slasher subgenre as a whole? I'm willing to be it's a sickeningly short list. So thank God for Roubique jumping in and fighting the good fight for us slasher fans far and wide. These books, despite the copious murders contained within, give me life.
Golf Curse is the first supernatural slasher from Roubique and its clear that he was having plenty of fun writing it. A great backstory/legend that ties into the growing mythology of the Year of Blood and that provides us with a great slasher villain in Chief Tomahawk.
The pacing of his novels is still a little hit or miss in this entry. It takes a little while to get into the slicing an dicing mayhem, but that does provide us plenty more time to know and care about (some of) the potential victims. Roubique admits the first chunk of the book might be a bit self-indulgent and I agree with him, but I wouldn't say it was boring or distracting. I don't golf and don't know shit about it so if anything the endless information about golfing and golf courses was my only qualm. I liked hearing about all the dumb shit these kids did to entertain themselves at work and it reminded me of plenty of jobs I've had over the years. Especially summer jobs.
The slashing is top notch in this novel. Some really creative kills and set pieces and I think that's crucial. Especially if you're doing a self-proclaimed 80s throwback. Gotta have wild murders, just one of the bylaws of the subgenre, and Roubique provides that in spades. For those counting, there's 11 murders in this book, not counting the myth/flashback/story, and only one of them is "off screen". I think that might be the most individual set pieces Roubique has in any of the five novels of his I've read. And I was here for every single on of them. He even surprised me with some of the victims and the order in which some of them bought it, so that was fun for me to experience.
It's a quick read, as all of his novels are, and he really sucks you into the world he's creating. There's clearly a vision he has here for the Year of Blood. It's not a hundred percent clear what that vision is but he's earned my trust at this point to just enjoy the ride. I liked a lot of the characters, even the cipher ones that are just there to get mangled, and despite all the time we spent with them in the beginning of the book I do kind of wish we'd learned a bit more about a few of them (Ronnie, Mark, Wendy, Tanya). The kills are gnarly and the villain is an All-Timer. I kinda hope Golf Curse gets a sequel.
I love this series of novels and I love Roubique's writing. His passion for horror and for slashers is as evident as it is infectious. And, as I've said before, he's journey of writing these and publishing them himself is nothing short of inspiring for an aspiring horror novelist like myself. I feel genuine excitement knowing he has two new novels that came out this year and I've already nabbed my copies. I can't wait to see where he takes this series and what new killers and locations he'll take on next. I'm all in.
Roubique and his Year of Blood books is pretty essential reading for horror fans, but most assuredly for lovers of old-school slasher horror. Highly recommended.
July 14, 2022
Let me first say, that I have LOVED every book Cameron Roubique has ever written and I was so excited to read this one! However, this fell short and was hard to get through. The whole book was very predictable. I’m not sure if it was because the murderer was a resurrected skeleton (unlike his other books where the killer is an actual breathing person) or if it was because the whole setting takes place at a golf course, but this book didn’t have the terrifying feel of his others. Even the killings seemed mediocre and boring.
The characters also had very similar names Mack/Mark, Joe/Jeff, Bill/Brian and it was hard to keep track (probably because I was trudging my way through this whole book).
I would definitely recommend his Kill River series, but this one you should probably pass on.
The characters also had very similar names Mack/Mark, Joe/Jeff, Bill/Brian and it was hard to keep track (probably because I was trudging my way through this whole book).
I would definitely recommend his Kill River series, but this one you should probably pass on.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 16, 2023
4.5 ⭐ rounded up to 5 ⭐
It's been a while since I've read Cameron Roubique's slasher novels, and you know what, each of them have been a joy to read. This one, I didn't quite have as much fun with as the others but it's still a good time, nevertheless. The characters weren't as fleshed out as I'd personally liked but there are some pretty gnarly kills in here. The concept of a skeletal killer looks really cool. In true '80s fashion, I kept imagining the skeletal spectre to either be realized through stop motion or a rubber suit, or both if it were to be adapted into a feature film.
It's been a while since I've read Cameron Roubique's slasher novels, and you know what, each of them have been a joy to read. This one, I didn't quite have as much fun with as the others but it's still a good time, nevertheless. The characters weren't as fleshed out as I'd personally liked but there are some pretty gnarly kills in here. The concept of a skeletal killer looks really cool. In true '80s fashion, I kept imagining the skeletal spectre to either be realized through stop motion or a rubber suit, or both if it were to be adapted into a feature film.
September 25, 2023
I want to start by saying I really enjoyed the idea behind this one and the killer was really cool as well!
While there were some gory kills that I loved, the first half of the book was much too slow for my liking. It seemed to take forever to get to the good stuff. I think cutting some of the beginning down would really help bump up the pace and keep things interesting.
Also I'm not really a golf fan so most of the terminology and specific golf course job descriptions went over my head.
While there were some gory kills that I loved, the first half of the book was much too slow for my liking. It seemed to take forever to get to the good stuff. I think cutting some of the beginning down would really help bump up the pace and keep things interesting.
Also I'm not really a golf fan so most of the terminology and specific golf course job descriptions went over my head.
August 9, 2025
Come out to play at Indian Hill Golf Course, featuring 18 holes, refreshments at the clubhouse, and a vengeful dead Indian chief. The maintenance crew of the Indian Hill Golf Course is in for a surprise when they sign up to work overnight. The chief is back from the dead and killing everyone in sight, who will survive the night filled with bloody terror.
It was a good book. It was slow at first but worked up to a steady pacing. The killing to me was pretty mild compared to other books I've read.
It was a good book. It was slow at first but worked up to a steady pacing. The killing to me was pretty mild compared to other books I've read.
August 31, 2021
Just four months after the grisly events of Disco Deathtrap, the Year of Blood continues at the Indian Hill golf course. Roubique once again delivers on fleshed out, likable characters that ultimately meet gruesomely creative deaths. This one is a little different from his standard slasher format as it takes more of a supernatural element (there's actually skeletons in this one, guys!)- and you can tell he had an absolute blast writing it. As usual with Cameron's writing, I highly recommend it!
August 28, 2020
Incredible slasher story here. I've read both Year of Blood books so far and this one, while not as good as the first imo, still has a lot going for it. There's some good dark content, some greater mystery to the universe hinted at, and a lot of references to Disco Deathtrap as well. I can't wait to see where this series goes from here!
December 1, 2021
I’m incredibly sad to give this a low rating but it just was not for me. Too much golf talk and barely any horror. HOWEVER I highly HIGHLY recommend the Kill River trilogy and Disco Deathtrap, which are some of my fave horror novels I’ve ever read. Even though I didn’t care for this, I am and will always be a huge Cameron Roubique fan and will be first in line to buy any future works!
March 3, 2020
Gotta say i loved it
I really would love to see this author books turn into slasher films because lately horror has sucked...i won't go into details about the book but i give this 5 tomahawk axes out of 5
I really would love to see this author books turn into slasher films because lately horror has sucked...i won't go into details about the book but i give this 5 tomahawk axes out of 5
December 6, 2019
Another solid slasher
Golf Curse is another great and gory 80s slasher, definitely worth a read of you like the Kill River series
Golf Curse is another great and gory 80s slasher, definitely worth a read of you like the Kill River series
April 24, 2020
Very fun novel by Cameron Roubique. I’ve now read all of his novels and enjoyed them all. If you’re looking for some 80’s slasher fun read his books!
January 4, 2021
2.5 stars
September 8, 2023
Not as good as Kill River, but it was still an enjoyable read.
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews