Murder House

VHS Terrors #3

by Regina Watts

YOU'LL BE HUNTING EGGS. I'LL BE HUNTING YOU.

You've played the game, now read the book! The third novelization in Puppet Combo's VHS Terrors Series, Murder House, puts you right in the middle of a classic 80s SLASHER!

Emma tells herself that a little time spent interning at the dysfunctional station of Channel 9 will help her get ahead—until the murder house. When she's dragged along with the rest of the crew to the site of the infamous Easter Ripper killings, the eerie atmosphere yields to bloody visions, ghostly apparitions, and a dismantled news van. On the window is a note with a familiar calling card: an offering of escape. Find the Easter eggs and live.

But can this really be the same man who called himself the Easter Ripper? With the killer allegedly executed on death row, Emma is faced with far more questions than answers...and almost no time left in which to answer them. While the Channel 9 team falls to pieces around her, can Emma come out on top of this twisted game?

Or will she be yet another victim to the brutal killer known as THE EASTER RIPPER?

Genres: Horror

188 pages, Kindle Edition

First published April 7, 2022

About the author

Regina Watts is an an absolute goddess of femdom fiction who loves writing torrid smut about the corruption of innocent girls and boys by wicked, more experienced young ladies and depraved older men--and if those dirty old men get what's coming to them at the hands of those same corrupted youths, even better. From kinky experimentation to twisted taboos, nothing is too extreme for Regina. Check her out on twitter @WritesWatts or follow Painted Blind Publishing's website for more information about her work, whether it's erotic fiction or transgressive literature.

*Author's Note: Pay no attention to my Goodreads genres I noticed they didn't include 'erotica' as a category and got a lil passive aggressive lmao

Reviews

[The Local Spooky Hermit · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another banger. like the other 2 books thoroughly enjoyed it. I always look forward to each one. And just hate the wait for the next one to come out. I keep trying so see when a new one will come out and completely missed any announcements about this one, idk how it slipped by me.
Guy kills ppl dressed as a Easter bunny. You expect b movie grindhouse.

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This series by Regina Watts and Puppet Combo is so good. Murder House is such a great gory story. The killer is so creepy. The setting and characters are a lot of fun. Everything you can want in a Slasher is in Murder House.

[Collin Henderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Probably the strongest collaboration between puppet combo and Regina watts yet. Murder house, the book, certainly lives up to the game that inspired it. The slayings are downright brutal, the atmosphere is creepy, the characters are goofy enough, and most of all, the Easter Ripper is a formidable, terrifying antagonist.

For those who don’t know, murder house is a story about a third rate tv news crew shooting a story at the house of the Easter Ripper, a positively vicious child murderer with 11 known kills and likely more unaccounted for. The Easter Ripper dressed as the Easter bunny to lure his victims in, then did really, really bad things to them back at his house. The news crew gets more than they bargained for when someone starts offing them one by one at the house. Someone dressed in an Easter bunny costume.

Seriously, if violence towards children is something that bothers you, stay far far away from this book or the game that inspired it. While there isn’t a ton of detail given explicitly about the things the Easter Ripper did to his victims, the implication is insanely disturbing.

Watts even went so far as to connect a few of the narrative dots left unspoken in the game, giving the ER a slightly more fleshed out backstory. Additionally, she plays up the toxic work environment that protagonist Emma suffers through, giving her more dimension and background than she has in the game. It’s nothing crazy or canon changing, but it helps fill in some narrative gaps of the game.

Overall this is a really brisk and enjoyable read (if you like your slashers brutal and disturbing). It’s certainly not high art in any sense, but like the game that inspired it, it’s bloody and well worth a look for the curious.

[Courtney Key · Rating 5 out of 5]

The third installment in Puppet Combo’s VHS terror series is the titular Murder House — the house of the infamous Easter Ripper being the setting for this 80’s slasher bloodbath.

Emma, an underpaid and under-appreciated intern at Channel 9, is part of the crew working on a fluff piece involving the Easter Ripper. Taking place in the murderer’s abandoned house, Emma begins to learn there are worse things than a sleazy boss and bad coworkers.. things like a bloody sickle and soulless black eyes of a costumed rabbit head.

The settings and characters are all very well done. Regina Watts does a great job bringing these characters and situations to life; my only nitpick is a few scenes from the game weren’t included, but they aren’t relevant to the plot itself so I understand why they were not in the book.

A really fun and quick read, the creepy and blood soaked pages grab your attention and hold it. I highly recommend this to anyone looking for gory horror, 80’s slasher homages, or are just interested in Puppet Combo’s IPs.

[pothreads · Rating 4 out of 5]

8/10 - Really enjoyed this once it got going. I think it hit harder because alot of the victims were children. I feel like it ended very abruptly though, it could have done with an epilogue.

[Natali · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The third book based on a series of video games inspired by 80s slasher-themed horror movies. This one open in 1982 where a creepy mall Easter Bunny turns out to be a child killer who picks his victims thanks to his job, until he's finally caught and executed. Flash forward three years and lowly Channel 9 news has managed to get access to the Easter Ripper's former house in order to film a puff piece on the anniversary of his death. Emma, a young intern who's had to deal with a lousy unpaid job that includes a lecherous boss, a prima donna reporter and an introverted camera man, soon discovers secrets in the house, among them ghostly visions of children who died there. When bodies start piling up around her, Emma soon finds that the Easter Ripper has returned, and she'll have to play a deadly game if she wants to make it out of the house alive.
This story was better than Nun Massacre, although, again, the truth behind the killer is pretty obvious even before the more blatant clues start showing up. But as it seems the game was likely a straightforward one, I guess that part isn't so surprising. I think Babysitter Bloodbath is my favorite of the three, but this was still a solid 3.5-4*

[Addam Dallman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another Great Story from Puppet Combo

Murder House by Puppet Combo, and Regina Watts is a non stop thrill ride. The plot follows a you news intern as she visits the Murder House. The horror in this story is really well done. It blends the slasher and supernatural genres together fairly well. I was not sure about this combo but I thought it worked pretty well. The characters were all very well written. The slasher of the story The Easter Ripper was a great villain as he was not just psychotic but he was truly sick and twisted. All in all Murder House is a great read for all horror fans and I do recommend it to anyone and everyone.

[Dope Ghost Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just like Nun Massacre, Regina Watts knocks this one out of the park!

The grammatical errors and editing issues are virtually non-existent this go-around. Unfortunately, they're replaced by one single dilemma: a middle section that intermixed timelines of events a bit incoherently. Luckily the remainder of the book is great (although the ending is abrupt as Hell).

Probably my favorite of the Pupper Combo works done by Regina Watts yet!

[Alexander Monaco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much like the previous Puppet Combo novels by Regina Watts, a fun adaptation that successfully recalls the vibes of an '80s slasher. I personally prefer Nun Massacre for the expanded storyline that goes beyond the game upon which it is based, but Murder House is probably the best paced of the three VHS Terrors novels that have come out so far -- a snappy read that keeps you wanting more, even if you've already played Murder House.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

HAVING PLAYED THE GAME….
this follows the plot of the game basically word for word line for line except it ends without the cop out film ending and instead goes for something more vague. That being said, I really enjoyed it! Regina Watts makes fun easy to read pulpy horror adaptations of these great ps1 era games. I highly recommend these books to anyone who has played Puppet Combo games.

[Kayla · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended! Super fun and suspenseful! Hard to put down.

[Chloe Edwards · Rating 4 out of 5]

My favourite of the 3 ✨

[Jason Reads · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome old school horror vibes.