The Sleepover Massacre

by Brian G. Berry

In the suburban landscape of Rockton, a man with a thirst for blood has crashed the party. Anthony Ulrich, The White Hall Slayer, is on the loose. Escaped from the halls of the Willows Grove Institution, he cuts a deadly path of slaughter that finds him as the uninvited guest at a sleepover crawling in warm, young bodies.

But on his trail is Gregory Quinton, a storied detective who is battling the memories of his past while seeking out the lunatic who is responsible for a climbing death toll of mutilations. One he fears will continue to increase as the night goes on.

Lock your doors, turn out the lights, hug your children, Ulrich is on the loose in The Sleepover Massacre

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk

183 pages, Kindle Edition

Published March 28, 2021

About the author

a.k.a Brian Berry

Brian G Berry is new to the world of writing. He writes everything from 1980s inspired horror, SCIFI/Action-horror, to the strange. His biggest influences are the writers of the weird including Lovecraft, Howard, Clark Ashton Smith, to the pulp horror authors of the golden age 70s/80s- and a splattering of others. Author of The Pail, A Bloody Christmas, Splatter Fiend Series, Slasherback Series, Campfire Tales Beneath a Pallid Moon, Accursed Ground, Blood Lanes, The Night Mutilator, Thanksgiving Day Massacre, and his newest: SNOW SHARK.

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

Gosh, this brought me back to the 80s slashers. Brian Berry is such a fun writer who continues to explore his niche in the horror community. The story is not going to be for everyone. It was written a certain way that was meant to be a fairly superficial bloodbath, which appeals to me and many others, but not for all horror fans. Yes, speaking of blood. Well, there's a great deal in here. For some reason, made me sort of hungry reading the kill scenes. I already had breakfast, so maybe my bloodlust is getting the best of me again. Oh well...lots of blood, killing, frantic running, and sexy teens acting inappropriately because there is no adult supervision. Plenty of immature humor, too, which I always love to see. My only critique would be that I wanted a better conclusion for Quinton, who was a pretty darn good side character. But the twist that happens on the final page made up for that slight shortcoming. Brian Berry, keep these kind of books coming!

[Sarah ♡ (let’s interact!) · Rating 4 out of 5]

A decent slasher, reminiscent of watching those iconic ‘80s horror flicks. It is a tad slower-paced than I would have liked in the middle, but is still over quite quickly as it’s only around 160 pages long. Definitely a book I would have finished much quicker if I didn’t have a busy couple of days and keep feeling exhausted lately.

Lock your doors. Turn out the lights. Hug your children… Nobody is safe in the town of Rockton when the White Hall Slasher is on the loose.
Plenty of tension and gory-kills like you’d expect. 💀🔪🩸

3.5 Stars

[Hail Hydra! ~Dave Anderson~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

She wanted to crawl up and hide, get away from this house, find somewhere far away to forget what she saw, but that was impossible—asking for too much. The memory was imprinted upon her soul; a constant companion to remind her of that sleepover that never was.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

First in the series of slashers. This was a great 80's style slasher. Jessica was a great character. Full of gore and sex which is a must for Slashers. Reminded me of The Slumber Party Massacre which is one of my favorite Slashers.

[Corrina Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my 2nd book by Brian and I enjoyed it as much, if not more than the first.
This was an awesome, fast paced, and extremely brutal slasher. I loved every word of it and found it very hard to put down. I really liked all the nods to the 80s too, I grew up in the 80s and the descriptions took me right back there!! 😁

I bought this as the sequel has just been released and I will definitely be buying and reading that one too!

5 big slasher knives from me 🔪🔪🔪🔪🔪

[Todd Condit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bought this completely on a whim and happy that I did.

As an avid horror movie fan I loved all the nods to the slasher genre sprinkled throughout. Full of gore and graphic violence that at no point holds back. Nobody is safe in this one and the killer is a creepy bastard. Also, had some great and inventive kills. Gasoline scene....ehh.

I do have some minor gripes regarding the story. Some of the females went from 0-100 on the reaction scale when talking about males outside their social circle. Their thoughts would instantly go to "this person is a rapist or jerking off" quite often, which was odd. There are some editing errors but I don't count that against indie writers. The story was good and that's what matters. Didnt really care for the cast of victims, minus the cop, I felt they were all interchangeable.

Overall a brutal, unrelenting love letter to slasher movies.

Support indie horror authors!!!

Brian, send me a message man!

[Mylene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Could have been awesome….

So, if you like 80s horror, give this is try.

The synopsis drew me in as this is the type of book I love. There is some great stuff in here and feels like a mix of The Slumber Party Massacre and Halloween. There are some interesting characters, brutal villain, and some intriguing kill scenes. However, something just did not flow. I didn’t feel immersed into the story. When you read a Laymon novel, you can’t put it down. This was not like that. Many a time I felt that I had to read parts over again because I would lose interest as the plot and timing was clunky. Too bad because the intro and the conclusion were terrific.

[Nikki · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was my first book by this author and my fist book read of 2022. It was a quick, brutal, and gory slasher book that I just couldn’t put down and finished in one day. Its extremely graphic, terrifying, and had my heart beating quickly during most of the book. He build his characters up and make them likable right before they run into the killer. Plays out like an 80s slasher film where your screaming “don’t go there” “just leave” “make sure he’s dead” (because they never seem to die in movies). And that ending!!! I highly recommend to slasher fans!

[She Reads So Much · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mega 80s-90s horror vibes. It made me feel like I was watching Friday the 13th Slumber Party edition. I love a killer and I love reading about dumb unsuspecting teenagers falling victim to one. 4.5/5⭐️ EASILY🖤

[Nick Watters · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nostalgic Horror!

This book is taken straight out of the 80's. The real glory years of slasher horror. Sleepover massacre is a very fast paced journey into an all too normal situation. A handful of hormone driven high school students in a house with no parents but plenty of alcohol and weed.

Oh yeah, did I mention a guy escaped a local insane asylum?

[D.F. Douglas · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun 80’s throwback style slasher. This is the beginning of quite an impression collection of books so I’m very much looking forward to continue reading his works and following his writing journey.

[Katie (DeathByPaperbacks) · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you love teenage sleepovers gone wrong, filled with carnage and the slaughter of our youth, then you’ve come to the right place!! The Sleepover Massacre was such a fun, fast paced slasher. Brian Berry did a fantastic job revamping a classic horror scenario and adding his own twist on things. This was my first dive into his work and I will definitely be returning soon!

[Stephen Cooper · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun slasher throwback with all the troupes you'd expect and want from the genre. Maybe a little too simple a story and some tell-tell signs that it's a first novel, but a very fun start to what I'm sure will be an awesome writing career. Looking forward to reading more of his work.

[Meg Fisher · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book follows our main character as she has a sleepover with her two friends, Pauline and Kristy. The sleepover then takes a brutal turn. Sleepover Massacre is the first book in a trilogy.

Ultimately, this book was a quick and fun read that was reminiscent of 80s and 90s horror movies such as Scream or Friday the 13th! Brian Berry incorporated a lot of horror tropes, such as premarital sex, teenagers being home alone, and a stalkerish killer—something that further reinforced the nostalgia of 80s and 90s horror classics. Brian Berry did a fantastic job at describing the murders in great detail, as well as incorporating tons of sensory imagery. I am excited to read the rest of this series, as well as more works from Brian Berry!

[Ernesto In Rome · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brutal, bloodsoaked and short, an homage to slasher movies.

It's a tale as old as time, an insane killer escapes and then hunts, kills and dismembers the nearest bunch of teens. The kills are great in Brian G Berry's Sleepover Massacre. Brutal and slavishly detailed, the stench of death rises from the page (okay, screen).

There's a weary detective on the case too, and as much as he needs this he's always just one step behind.

It's like a novelisation of an 80s slasher that they dared not make. This is a fast paced and fun romp, with the usual caveats that come with most self published books.

[Damien Casey · Rating 5 out of 5]

I sort of had this predetermined idea of what I was going to get when I started this. I got that, I got that times about ten. I wanted an ooey gooey throwback to slashers like Sleepaway Camp, The Burning, Etc. Etc. You know what I’m saying right? If that’s what you’re in the mood for then you just flat out can’t go wrong with this book. To quote the old Pieces marketing “It’s exactly what you think it is” and in this case I’m happy it was.

[Norman Miller · Rating 1 out of 5]

I try to be nice when I do reviews, but I also try to be truthful and the truth is this is probably the worst book I've ever read. The story was horrible. The writing was bad. The editing was weak - it made my skin crawl every time the author used "allot" instead of "a lot."

I'm not anti-violence or gore in books or movies, but there needs to be a story to support it. When there's nothing but gore and violence and no story, it's not good. I wish I could find something to say positive about this, but I really can't.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 2 out of 5]

All I really have to say about this is that it was underwhelming and half-baked, and relied too much on gross-out gore for me to care about anything going on. Didn't really have characters either, just caricatures.

[Charlotte Taylforth · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book, it had everything you would want from a slasher horror. Really enjoyed it and loved the ending!

[Dez Nemec · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reads like a slasher movie. Lots of blood soaked fun!

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 3 out of 5]

THE SLEEPOVER MASSACRE by Brian Berry is definitely a book for, well, I mean you see the title!? So you can go ahead and mark this one to read if you like slashers. The introduction was probably my favorite of all the Berry stories I have read. And the ending is in the Top 2, for sure! But, for me, the middle had too much police work / investigating and not enough sleepover-ing and massacring. Berry writes well, I just could not really connect or care about all the police and detective stuff. But when it gets to the camaraderie of the teens and all their banter as well as the kill scenes and how terrifying the killer comes across, Berry is absolutely crushing it!

[Jason Nickey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesomely brutal slasher story. Berry's slasherback series is a lot of fun.

[Sharon Leung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great read

I really enjoyed this book. It was a great storyline and I especially enjoyed the ending, the teenager characters were good and fun. You could envision them all acting as they were. Younger children included. The police hunt was fascinating too, especially the parts regarding the force with the detective in the case so to speak. The twist at the end had me by surprise and it was the only part that actually shocked me. You sort of knew what to expect as you read along with the storyline. But still a great read and one of recommend for a nice easy read.

[Kate Victoria RescueandReading · Rating 3 out of 5]

A spin on the classic slasher! Blood, gore & terror abound in this book. Not for the faint of heart 😈

[Pico C4t · Rating 3 out of 5]

What you see is what you get. A very literal, straightforward homage to 80s slashers. That's not necessarily a bad thing, especially if you know what you're getting into, and personally I found the concept exciting. I love slashers and I love extreme horror, and this slasher series by the author seems to be exactly what I'm looking for. While I mostly enjoyed this, I had a few issues.

Although this was a fairly quick read (I could have gone through this a lot faster if I had longer reading sessions), I definitely felt like it dragged in parts. I'd say about half, if not slightly more of the book focuses on the detective plotline. That's not necessarily a bad thing in of itself, and I thought that the character it was centered around was the most fleshed-out of the cast, but those parts definitely felt like they were "padding out the runtime" more than anything. The author also had a tendency of going on random, sometimes entirely useless tangents in these parts that really exemplified their purposelessness. Sometimes there'd be a bit of extra gore to read about, but usually that was all those parts amounted to. And even though the main detective guy or whatever was definitely the most developed character, he still felt rather dull. For most of the book, these parts didn't feel like they had much sense of progression, or buildup to the sleepover. It didn't feel like the killer was being actively hunted until the second half of the book or so, which again, not necessarily a bad thing but I wish that the time prior to that was utilized better to maybe flesh out the characters a little bit more.

This being based off 80s slashers, it didn't come as a surprise that the characters were all rather bland. I went in expecting that and that was exactly what I got. But even then, I would have liked at least some distinguishing traits of the characters. Majority of the characters show up and die a few pages later, which is fine I guess but even in old slashers the main group of characters are at least distinguishable enough for you to know who's who. Aside from the main girl, the officer, and the main girl's brother, the characters were either random throwaway death or "girl 1, girl 2, boy 1, boy 2, boy 3." I don't need character depth in something like this, but fun or diverse characterization is all I'm really asking for. Unfortunately, however, most of the characters were interchangeable.

I know a lot of people have issues with writing quality in modern extreme horror, but I thought that it was mostly pretty good here. The pacing definitely could have been better, but the style was decent and there were some good passages. Not too many typos either; at least not from what I could tell. My main issue was definitely in some of the death scenes, though, because I feel like in quite a few of them it was hard to tell exactly what was going on. While the gore descriptions were definitely great at times, and some of the kills were equally fun/brutal, there were a few where I was completely lost as to what exactly was happening or where it was happening. As much as I love the focus on the actual gore itself I would have liked a better picture of what was actually happening. Although I think that could have partially been due to the fact that a lot of the layouts of locations weren't described at all. And going back to the pacing, again I know this is based off old slashers but some of the throwaway deaths/gore scenes took me out. Especially in the detective parts. The last third was gory enough, and some of the tangents about past kills in the police parts were honestly more tiresome than anything. Just give me like two or three throwaway deaths in the middle of the book and I'd be fine! The ones at the gas station were good, just leave me with those and the opening kills. I don't have a death quota of like 50 people.

Even though I definitely had my issues with this book, I'd still say that I mostly liked it and I'm excited to read the other ones in this series. I tend to write more about things I dislike than I like, so I hope I don't come off as too negative. For what it was, I still thought it was trashy fun. I don't care about nudity but if you like that then there's a decent amount, and there are some great kills. Some parts flew by (in a good way), especially the last third, and one of the deaths actually surprised me. The ending was kinda meh, but if you've seen slashers from the era this is based on it's honestly to be expected. And even though I had my issues with the characters, you could at least look forward to them being torn apart. Not great, but not particularly bad either. I definitely think this has the foundations for more exciting slashers from this author and I can't wait to check them out.

[Matthew · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first book by Brian Berry and I’m very excited to read more!

In terms of slashers, this books kills were more surprising than average. It gets annoying when slashers get very predictable and you know exactly who is going to die, but The Sleepover Massacre had some deaths that I didn’t see happening that early. A very nice touch when it gets the reader thinking, “Wow, I didn’t think that would happen”. The killer was also very crazy and ruthless. Some of the other characters had some interesting scenes too.

What prevents this book from being an elite slasher is that the last 60ish pages are rushed. The beginning had a great build up and I was excited to see if all unfold, but then the end just went by way too quickly. The whole sleepover massacre scene could have been more drawn out. Having the ending go by so fast gave me little time to see the emotions of the characters and their thoughts to what was going on. All we got was that they were scared. I wanted more dialogue and more inner thoughts. Also, the ending didn’t make any sense because it was t developed to where I believed that character would react in that way.


However, I believe Brian G Berry has a high ceiling for success. His writing kept me intrigued and he doesn’t hold back. Sure this book had a few errors, but he doesn’t have an editor or proofreader so his work is still impressive. I’ll need to read more of his novels to give a better judgement, but so far so good!

[L. Stephenson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Do you love a good violent slasher movie? Classic horror flicks such as Intruder, Nightmares In A Damaged Brain, The Burning or The Prowler?

Well, combine them all and drown them in steroids, and then you might come close to the glorious ferociousness of Brian G. Berry’s The Sleepover Massacre, the first instalment in the author’s Slasherback series.

You know from that title exactly what you’re gonna get, and Berry knows exactly what he’s doing. Because when he writes the good stuff, the page just drips with atmosphere until he’s ready to let it erupt with torrents of blood and gore. Both of which he describes in wonderfully disgusting detail.

I waited far too long to check out this writer's books. I hope not to make that mistake again.

[Mikepottz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eyes were black. Blacker than the night. Eyes of the dead. Not quite Michael Myers. A hot babe in the front seat of her car, a long black blade from the back seat. The meaty bone scraping sound of the blade. An escaped lunatic from a mental asylum. A dentist. One of his victims was his wife. The blade in her mouth, stabbing, smashing out teeth. Laughing aloud. Laughing, laughing. Another victim had gasoline poured down his throat. A match in his mouth, flames travelling down into his guts. His belly streaming, frying, cooking. Smell it. The killing wasn't enough. He preyed on a sleepover. Hence the name. He moves quickly, chopping off heads. This vile evil deviant is enjoying himself. Based off the really cool 80s slasher slumber party massacre.

[James Holloway · Rating 2 out of 5]

Absolutely no sense of realism which keeps it from drawing you in

I hate to give 2/5 stars, but I want to be honest. I don’t consider what I’m about to say to be spoilers. Just in case though, don’t read further if you don’t want to see any.





Look, the gore is fun, the kills are fun, the parts written in the killers view are great. Everything else is lackluster. There is no depth to the story. Every single character makes all the wrong choices all the time, which gets very tiring. Some make zero sense, if you’re hiding from a killer why are you screaming? Almost every person freezes in terror?

That made it kind of boring. The ending gives, “Halloween 4: The Return of Michael Myers.”

[Julien Ouellette · Rating 3 out of 5]

nice start to an ELEVEN part novel series! it delivered the 80s-90s campy slasher film vibe it anticipated. it was slightly slow to the main course, and ended pretty quickly once it got there.

the twist at the end was fun and decently unique for a campy slasher. horny teenagers & stab wounds are a MUST for an 80s slasher, and again, it delivered splendidly.

the gore was to be expected, but didn't disappoint. the sodomy scene was intense. the scenes between the police officers were interesting and fun.

some of the dialogue actually had me cackle to myself, it's definitely that of the era.

just an overall fun time with brian berry's first novel in the series - looking forward to BLOOD LANES next!