Death Head Valley

Death Head Valley #1

by David Charlesworth

You got a new job at the asylum in Haddonfield. You bought a dream home on Elm Street. You took your summer vacation down at Crystal Lake. So, what's next?

In the American mid-west there's a valley nestled between two dark, unscalable mountains. It has no official name, but the locals call it the 'Death Head' on account of how it looks on the map... That, and the slew of “accidents” and disappearances that have plagued the valley since the disaster at the old quarry all those years ago.

There's something in the woods there. Something that demands blood and will stop at nothing to get it.

So when Annie and her friends unknowingly picked 'The Death Head' for their camping trip, all they saw was the valley's natural beauty. And now, unaware of its terrible history, they find themselves victims of the unstoppable force that resides there and will be picked off one by one and slaughtered like cattle.

Death Head Valley is unabashedly written to feel like a novelization of an Eighties-esque slasher movie that was never made. The kills come thick and fast and will leave you reeling. This is extreme horror and not for the faint hearted.

Rated 18/NC-17

Genres: Horror

134 pages, Kindle Edition

Published February 1, 2021

Reviews

[Peter · Rating 2 out of 5]

Promising cover, some references to 80s slasher horror, high expectations. When I put up the book I was eagerly delving into the story. Okay there were some 80s music and horror but the story soon became a bit long winded and tedious. Group of campers being thrilled by a mysterious stalker slashing people in a kind of national park. C'mon. Friday 13th part 30 would be more interesting than this pastiche. Didn't like the characters. Wasn't too intriguing. Better take a true 80s novel (e.g. Laymon) and have some fun. This one was a bit disappointing, the spark didn't come to a flame.

[David Sodergren · Rating 5 out of 5]

Slasher fans step on up, this is old-school 80s horror done right. A quick read that’ll give you flashbacks to classic rural slasher flicks like Just Before Dawn and The Prey, Death Head Valley achieves exactly what it sets out to do.
Bonus points for giving us a whole bunch of genuinely likeable characters!
Now, if someone could hurry up and make the damn movie...

[Dale Robertson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this. A quick, fun, slasher book where you can switch your brain off and enjoy the carnage. Hopefully the sequel explains more about Connor and other elements of the story.

[BadWithWords · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun and gore! Wasn't sure what I was getting but it felt true to the classic slasher style. I don't have many books in this genre under my belt but I really enjoyed this short story. It doesn't run deep but you sure do get some entertainment.

Basically, a group of post-college friends go for an annual meet-up in the woods. An anticipated relaxing weekend turns into a nightmare. Who or what is lying in those woods, waiting? "Where's Billy?? Why isn't he back yet? Did you guys hear that?"

Is your tongue drying out, reader?

Get ready for some page-turning, heart pounding excitement with this vacation into the woods. Think Vorhees but with all the yummy details. You can definitely read this on a Friday night if you want to save some money and not go dining out or drinking. It came in at around 140 pages and took me about 2.5 hours to read. Just get some peanut m&ms and some tea or what have you and relax. Check it out on Amazon.

There may be more to come from this universe, Charlesworth hints. I hope so!



Rating :: 4 / 5

[Luke Ramsden]

Brilliant slashery goodness!

Absolutely loved this book! Blood and boots galore. Really easy to read due to the authors writing style and such a good story line, really want to know more about connor! Loved it! 10/10

[Elford Alley · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel takes its time, letting us get to know potentially doomed campers and giving weight to the slasher mayhem that follows. A great ode to the genre, but one that subverts expectations with some fun twists and turns.

[William Mills · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where to start.... Well the idea of this is excellent, retro horror is what I'd call it.... Splatter punk means nothing to me! It was no more glory than most other horror I read so I'm not sure what it even means but that's just me.
My wife bought me the first 2 books (novellas) in this series for Christmas and I'd never heard of the author so went in open minded and excited as I love 80's horror. The story is very good, if a little generic, and it moves at a fast pace but it lacked something that puts it up there as great. On top of that there were a lot of printing errors as spellings, punctuation and other errors littered the book which had me re-reading sentences to make sense of them.... Extra words were in sentences which should have been picked up with a quick proof read. These don't normally bother me in books because they are normally quite rare but for a 126 page book to have well into double figures of errors then it just brakes up the story and it's clumsy. I would have given this 4 star because it was a good short story that would sit well in an 80's horror film collection but given the aforementioned problems I give it a generous 3. I would still recommend it for a quick read though.

[Kasey Loftis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed this little novella. It was a very nice slasher. I love the friends go camping, psycho maniac comes after them horror novels. They are my favorite and I could read them all day. This one was pretty good for the length. I hate that the second book only seems to be an ebook though because I would love to read it, but I only do actual physical copies.


My only complaint was the typos. The word 'beside' kept being written as 'besides.' At first, I just looked over it as a typo. It happens. But then I noticed it was every single time. For example, "he sat down besides her." or "The can was besides him."

[D.E. McCluskey · Rating 4 out of 5]

So... It was a slasher book, the age old tale of stupid kids, doing stupid things, in stupid locations, with some stupid people telling them about the stupid legends that resides in the woods...

But this was written so well, the characters were so engaging, and I absolutely loved the fact that the author tongue was placed, firmly, within his cheek when the story developed...

I loved it...

Onto Death Head Valley #2 now

[Ernesto In Rome · Rating 4 out of 5]

A group of likeable friends take a trip into the woods. A shadowy figure stalks them, and the locals warn of a dangerous legend. You think you know the story, but you don't. Be prepared for a fun, bloodsoaked, romp.

[M.H. Smith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun read!

[Wolverinefactor · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun romp that takes a slight nose dive with a silly final act

[Colin Oaten · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent Kickstarter funded slasher novel. Be careful what you find in the woods...

[John Bender · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very satisfying. Hidden delights abound!

This was a lean, tough novella, and was my intro to Dave Charlesworth, along with his collection, HEADCASE.

One of the things I appreciated most was the author taking his time developing the characters. The first half of the story is a standard slasher in the woods, with satisfying gore and buildup in between; the character of Bilbo was a favorite. This half is capped off by a cringe-y scene involving a car door. Well played, Davey-boy, you've got my attention.

The second half of the story is a completely different BEAST. Lots of background and secrets are revealed that deepened my involvement.

Also, Connor. The guy I'm picturing in my head looks pretty dang fierce, and I like it.

Gave it four stars as part of my new system. 4 is a solid, worthy-of-your-time read.

[Harriet · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pretty good fun. The characterisation was better than it needed to be and the plot held together. By the end, I wasn't absolutely sure whether the Cult or Connor Finlayson who had killed a few people, like the fishermen in the beginning, and that could have been tighter. Also, one difficulty with this being prose rather than a film is that you can't really do the 'surprise! The killer was a woman' thing because as soon as yiu describe the shape using gender neutral pronouns it's obvious it's going to turn out to be female.

Still fun, and very short. No time to get bored or hung up on minor points.