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Episode Thirteen
From the macabre mind of Bram Stoker Award nominated author Craig DiLouie, Episode Thirteen is a heart pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense that takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined possible. A beautiful Russian doll of a story... Episode Thirteen hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you. It's House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, in all the best possible ways. -- Peter Clines, NYT bestselling author of The Broken Room Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts. Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen -- and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong. An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one. - Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Kin For more from Craig DiLouie, check out: The Children of Red Peak Our War One of Us
467 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 24, 2023
2734 people are currently reading
58788 people want to read
About the author
Craig DiLouie
62 books1,536 followersCraig DiLouie is an author of popular thriller, apocalyptic/horror, and sci-fi/fantasy fiction.
In hundreds of reviews, Craig’s novels have been praised for their strong characters, action, and gritty realism. Each book promises an exciting experience with people you’ll care about in a world that feels real.
These works have been nominated for major literary awards such as the Bram Stoker Award and Audie Award, translated into multiple languages, and optioned for film. He is a member of the HWA, International Thriller Writers, and IFWA.
In hundreds of reviews, Craig’s novels have been praised for their strong characters, action, and gritty realism. Each book promises an exciting experience with people you’ll care about in a world that feels real.
These works have been nominated for major literary awards such as the Bram Stoker Award and Audie Award, translated into multiple languages, and optioned for film. He is a member of the HWA, International Thriller Writers, and IFWA.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 4,944 reviews
February 4, 2024
“Episode Thirteen” by Craig DiLouie started in such a great way that I was excited to see what would transpire. That intro was such a creepy way to kick things off and it set the tone for what I thought would be an incredible haunted house novel. Unfortunately, it missed the mark for me when it mattered most.
Before I begin my review, I found two trigger warnings while reading. They were…
- Domestic Abuse
- Human experimentation
If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, I am a huge fan of “found footage” horror documentaries. I’ve seen all the popular ones over the years and they are fantastic. You know, The Blair Witch Project, the V/H/S series, The Taking of Deborah Logan, and Hell House just to name a few. “Episode Thirteen” gave me those kinds of vibes and I couldn’t believe that an author would attempt to deliver this unique style of horror in a novel.
I loved all the ghostly encounters at first, including some of the most haunting situations I’ve ever read when it comes to ghosts. I freaked out with these in the first half of the novel and my goodness, they were great. I made several weird faces while reading and simply could not wait to see what else was in store.
You see, in my head, I figured this was a solid start and that even crazier, scarier, and more insane situations would happen. Unfortunately, this novel didn’t keep that momentum going and it started to fizzle out for me from the 50% mark on.
The way this novel was formatted I thought was pretty unique but when it came to increasing the scares and overall horror, it fell flat for me. I enjoyed all the interviews, transcripts, emails, text messages, journal entries, and even graphs but after a while, most of this was just recapping what had already happened in the story.
This started to frustrate me beyond belief. I was hoping for more of that incredible horror at the start of the novel but then everything after that, especially the story, got dull. Yeah, I enjoyed reading the different points of view from the characters as events happened but this aspect of the novel failed. To sit and read page after page of all that scientific stuff, the same repeated text messages recapping the story took me out of the reading experience.
I was hoping that perhaps it would be a slow-burn kind of a novel but nope, it started to get too heavy with dialogue and overexplaining scientific theories/supernatural equipment and not enough horror. I’ve read hundreds of horror novels in my lifetime and if it’s one thing to know about horror enthusiasts such as myself, it’s that we’re here for horror and lots of it. Not scientific-inspired research paper fluff that contributes nothing to the story but padding the pages. Not to know all the different tools, cameras, and technology about ghost-hunting equipment and tactics. Not to be confused due to a bloated story that didn’t go anywhere scary, exciting, or memorable.
Again, there wasn’t enough horror at all. From the 50% mark on, I was anxiously waiting for something, anything to happen that was scary. It’s all mostly talking and recapping events that already happened through the eyes of other characters. Imagine reading the story to then being told the story again but from the perspective of other characters just to hear their thoughts that doesn’t change anything going on.
Besides that, things started to get too technical for me. With a book cover like this, I expected so much more. When you look at the description for this novel, here’s what Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke of “Kin” had to say…
“An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one.”
No offense… what? A living nightmare? Lose their minds over this one? I’m sorry, that wasn’t true at all at least in my case. The ghostly encounters from when it mattered most, the 50% mark on straight to the ending, weren’t frightening at all. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil what exactly happens but it was a snoozefest from that point on to an anticlimactic and confusing ending.
The pacing of this novel was lacking big time and the story was all over the place. This novel severely lacked the usual tension and suspense a horror novel should have, especially that exciting race to the end because ideally, you should be on the edge of your seat. That didn’t happen for me except for the beginning which I enjoyed.
I wanted creepy ghosts, demons, bloody stairs, something, anything, to get me excited. I kept asking myself is it coming later? Is there a huge plot twist or reveal at the end? Why is this dragging on? Wait, that’s how it ends… seriously?
Ultimately, this felt more like a sad attempt to make a modern “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski that went nowhere and will be a novel I can’t wait to forget. It’s one hot, confusing mess towards the end that took the steam out of a great start and fell flat. I do think the way it was written as a “found footage” novel was interesting but it failed in the execution to deliver a great haunted house experience. Even the ending was disappointing and you know it’s bad when I was excited to be done so I could start another horror novel immediately thanks to the sour taste this left in my mouth.
I give “Episode Thirteen” by Craig DiLouie a 2/5 and that’s only because I enjoyed what transpired in the first few chapters. Aside from that, this was one huge dud of a haunted house horror novel. On a scale of 1-10, the horror in this novel is at a 1 because again, the way it started was great and uniquely written but the rest wasn’t up to the level of what a haunted house novel should be. Everything else made things slow-paced, boring, and just a whole bunch of fluff. I was shocked that almost half of this entire novel was mostly dialogue and recaps that weren’t scary at all.
The common theme of this novel is “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” and unfortunately, this was all smoke and not enough fire. The idea was there and had DiLouie kept the horror level high as it was in the beginning, this could have been exceptional. This novel had so much potential but the fire he tried to capture here ended up being just an ember.
Before I begin my review, I found two trigger warnings while reading. They were…
- Domestic Abuse
- Human experimentation
If any of these trigger you, please do not read this novel. Moving along, I am a huge fan of “found footage” horror documentaries. I’ve seen all the popular ones over the years and they are fantastic. You know, The Blair Witch Project, the V/H/S series, The Taking of Deborah Logan, and Hell House just to name a few. “Episode Thirteen” gave me those kinds of vibes and I couldn’t believe that an author would attempt to deliver this unique style of horror in a novel.
I loved all the ghostly encounters at first, including some of the most haunting situations I’ve ever read when it comes to ghosts. I freaked out with these in the first half of the novel and my goodness, they were great. I made several weird faces while reading and simply could not wait to see what else was in store.
You see, in my head, I figured this was a solid start and that even crazier, scarier, and more insane situations would happen. Unfortunately, this novel didn’t keep that momentum going and it started to fizzle out for me from the 50% mark on.
The way this novel was formatted I thought was pretty unique but when it came to increasing the scares and overall horror, it fell flat for me. I enjoyed all the interviews, transcripts, emails, text messages, journal entries, and even graphs but after a while, most of this was just recapping what had already happened in the story.
This started to frustrate me beyond belief. I was hoping for more of that incredible horror at the start of the novel but then everything after that, especially the story, got dull. Yeah, I enjoyed reading the different points of view from the characters as events happened but this aspect of the novel failed. To sit and read page after page of all that scientific stuff, the same repeated text messages recapping the story took me out of the reading experience.
I was hoping that perhaps it would be a slow-burn kind of a novel but nope, it started to get too heavy with dialogue and overexplaining scientific theories/supernatural equipment and not enough horror. I’ve read hundreds of horror novels in my lifetime and if it’s one thing to know about horror enthusiasts such as myself, it’s that we’re here for horror and lots of it. Not scientific-inspired research paper fluff that contributes nothing to the story but padding the pages. Not to know all the different tools, cameras, and technology about ghost-hunting equipment and tactics. Not to be confused due to a bloated story that didn’t go anywhere scary, exciting, or memorable.
Again, there wasn’t enough horror at all. From the 50% mark on, I was anxiously waiting for something, anything to happen that was scary. It’s all mostly talking and recapping events that already happened through the eyes of other characters. Imagine reading the story to then being told the story again but from the perspective of other characters just to hear their thoughts that doesn’t change anything going on.
Besides that, things started to get too technical for me. With a book cover like this, I expected so much more. When you look at the description for this novel, here’s what Bram Stoker Award-winning author Kealan Patrick Burke of “Kin” had to say…
“An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one.”
No offense… what? A living nightmare? Lose their minds over this one? I’m sorry, that wasn’t true at all at least in my case. The ghostly encounters from when it mattered most, the 50% mark on straight to the ending, weren’t frightening at all. Don’t worry, I won’t spoil what exactly happens but it was a snoozefest from that point on to an anticlimactic and confusing ending.
The pacing of this novel was lacking big time and the story was all over the place. This novel severely lacked the usual tension and suspense a horror novel should have, especially that exciting race to the end because ideally, you should be on the edge of your seat. That didn’t happen for me except for the beginning which I enjoyed.
I wanted creepy ghosts, demons, bloody stairs, something, anything, to get me excited. I kept asking myself is it coming later? Is there a huge plot twist or reveal at the end? Why is this dragging on? Wait, that’s how it ends… seriously?
Ultimately, this felt more like a sad attempt to make a modern “House of Leaves” by Mark Z. Danielewski that went nowhere and will be a novel I can’t wait to forget. It’s one hot, confusing mess towards the end that took the steam out of a great start and fell flat. I do think the way it was written as a “found footage” novel was interesting but it failed in the execution to deliver a great haunted house experience. Even the ending was disappointing and you know it’s bad when I was excited to be done so I could start another horror novel immediately thanks to the sour taste this left in my mouth.
I give “Episode Thirteen” by Craig DiLouie a 2/5 and that’s only because I enjoyed what transpired in the first few chapters. Aside from that, this was one huge dud of a haunted house horror novel. On a scale of 1-10, the horror in this novel is at a 1 because again, the way it started was great and uniquely written but the rest wasn’t up to the level of what a haunted house novel should be. Everything else made things slow-paced, boring, and just a whole bunch of fluff. I was shocked that almost half of this entire novel was mostly dialogue and recaps that weren’t scary at all.
The common theme of this novel is “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” and unfortunately, this was all smoke and not enough fire. The idea was there and had DiLouie kept the horror level high as it was in the beginning, this could have been exceptional. This novel had so much potential but the fire he tried to capture here ended up being just an ember.
January 5, 2026
**3.5-stars**
Episode Thirteen sounded perfect to me and while there were quite a few things I enjoyed about the story, it was unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag for me.
I took some time to process my experience with this one before I even attempted to write a review. I was so disappointed initially, but I wouldn't say that would be a fair assessment of all my time with this book.
I think a lot of the disappointment may have stemmed from me building this one up so much in my mind ahead of time. I set my own unrealistically high expectations, if you will.
This story follows a ghost hunting reality tv crew. Quick side note about me, I have been so into ghost hunting YouTube lately. It's like my go-to late night viewing, so I was super pumped that DiLouie was bringing some of that to the page.
I listened to the audiobook and I do feel like this story lends itself well to that medium. The audio production was very well executed and I would recommend it.
But while I really enjoyed the audio production, I wouldn't say I ever really connected with the story overall.
Halfway through, I wouldn't have even been able to tell you the name of the property they were exploring. I also had a difficult time keeping track of some of the male characters. They all seemed like carbon copies to me in the moment.
And even though I celebrate the over-arching vibe of the book, once we got to the crux of the story, it lost me. It reminded me a lot of both Hide and These Fleeting Shadows.
By this I mean, that a certain plot device was used in all three to sort of explain the nature of the places/settings of each of these stories.
It didn't work for me in either of those cases and it didn't work for me here either. The thing is none of the synopsis indicates this is where these stories would go, so there's no actual way to avoid it. Sorry about it, but it's true.
At the end of the day, even though I wasn't dazzled by this one, I would absolutely continue picking up more stories by DiLouie. You can't win 'em all.
Episode Thirteen sounded perfect to me and while there were quite a few things I enjoyed about the story, it was unfortunately a bit of a mixed bag for me.
I took some time to process my experience with this one before I even attempted to write a review. I was so disappointed initially, but I wouldn't say that would be a fair assessment of all my time with this book.
I think a lot of the disappointment may have stemmed from me building this one up so much in my mind ahead of time. I set my own unrealistically high expectations, if you will.
This story follows a ghost hunting reality tv crew. Quick side note about me, I have been so into ghost hunting YouTube lately. It's like my go-to late night viewing, so I was super pumped that DiLouie was bringing some of that to the page.
I listened to the audiobook and I do feel like this story lends itself well to that medium. The audio production was very well executed and I would recommend it.
But while I really enjoyed the audio production, I wouldn't say I ever really connected with the story overall.
Halfway through, I wouldn't have even been able to tell you the name of the property they were exploring. I also had a difficult time keeping track of some of the male characters. They all seemed like carbon copies to me in the moment.
And even though I celebrate the over-arching vibe of the book, once we got to the crux of the story, it lost me. It reminded me a lot of both Hide and These Fleeting Shadows.
By this I mean, that a certain plot device was used in all three to sort of explain the nature of the places/settings of each of these stories.
It didn't work for me in either of those cases and it didn't work for me here either. The thing is none of the synopsis indicates this is where these stories would go, so there's no actual way to avoid it. Sorry about it, but it's true.
At the end of the day, even though I wasn't dazzled by this one, I would absolutely continue picking up more stories by DiLouie. You can't win 'em all.
February 20, 2024
Wow.
WOW.
This is the singular best example of "found footage" horror I've found in a novel and easily one of my new favorite horror books of all time. Incredible characters, brilliant writing and twists, and some of the most immersive scene-setting I've ever read. Full review coming soon!
January 27, 2023
If you're looking to get your spook on then you've come to the right place! 👻
"Welcome to Foundation House."
In this story we follow a ghost hunting reality TV crew enter into what could be the most haunted house in America. This is being filmed as Episode Thirteen of their series Fade to Black.
Back in the '70's The Paranormal Research Foundation conducted experiments on willing folks that ultimately drove them all mad or worse. The scientists conducting these experiments vanished into thin air never to be seen again. Foundation House has been abandoned since then and our current investigators are searching to find answers to the mystery of what happened all those years ago.
"Where there's smoke, there's fire."
What they discover I will leave for you, future reader, to discover on your own. If you dare. 💀
"Again I can't describe it. Empty, panic, corrupt. The words for it haven't been invented yet."
I've read DiLouie in the past with more hits than misses so I was eager to get a copy of this. When I was a teenager I went gaga for these ghost hunting shows even though nothing ever really happens in them but jump scares. Still, this one called to my horror loving heart and I am so happy to say that ultimately it was a success. It starts a little slow to set the scene but I assure you once things start to go bump in the night you'll be eagerly reading and hungry for all the horror DiLouie rains down on you. I definitely felt a nod to House of Leaves and can only assume DiLouie drew inspiration from that.
If I have any complaints it would be that at times the science talk got to be a little too much for my pea brain. Also, this book was longer than it needed to be. A little more editing here or there wouldn't have hurt the story at all. Though the mixed media format in its telling does help with the pacing.
The ending - Bravo! Loved it! 👏
If you like horror, ghost stories, haunted houses, found footage, and mixed media style writing then this is sure to be a winner for you. 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for my complimentary copy.
"Welcome to Foundation House."
In this story we follow a ghost hunting reality TV crew enter into what could be the most haunted house in America. This is being filmed as Episode Thirteen of their series Fade to Black.
Back in the '70's The Paranormal Research Foundation conducted experiments on willing folks that ultimately drove them all mad or worse. The scientists conducting these experiments vanished into thin air never to be seen again. Foundation House has been abandoned since then and our current investigators are searching to find answers to the mystery of what happened all those years ago.
"Where there's smoke, there's fire."
What they discover I will leave for you, future reader, to discover on your own. If you dare. 💀
"Again I can't describe it. Empty, panic, corrupt. The words for it haven't been invented yet."
I've read DiLouie in the past with more hits than misses so I was eager to get a copy of this. When I was a teenager I went gaga for these ghost hunting shows even though nothing ever really happens in them but jump scares. Still, this one called to my horror loving heart and I am so happy to say that ultimately it was a success. It starts a little slow to set the scene but I assure you once things start to go bump in the night you'll be eagerly reading and hungry for all the horror DiLouie rains down on you. I definitely felt a nod to House of Leaves and can only assume DiLouie drew inspiration from that.
If I have any complaints it would be that at times the science talk got to be a little too much for my pea brain. Also, this book was longer than it needed to be. A little more editing here or there wouldn't have hurt the story at all. Though the mixed media format in its telling does help with the pacing.
The ending - Bravo! Loved it! 👏
If you like horror, ghost stories, haunted houses, found footage, and mixed media style writing then this is sure to be a winner for you. 4 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for my complimentary copy.
March 7, 2023
In tonight’s thirteenth episode of Fade to Black, we will be investigating the Foundation House and its many mysteries. A group of scientists decided to combine the occult and modern science, forming something of a hippie commune to conduct their experiments. They all disappeared. Did they find what they were searching for or did something else find them? Our intrepid crew of paranormal investigators will spend seventy-two hours inside this house and what they find will shock you to your core. Stay tuned as we FADE TO BLACK.
Oh man, how do I even review this one? Fun little opening advertisement for the show aside, this is actually a tricky one for me to talk about as I devoured all 433 pages quickly having to know more, but found myself frustrated with it as well.
First off, let me compliment the author as he pulled off something quite tricky. This is a found footage horror novel. Yes, a sub-genre of horror that should be exclusively for film, and he pulled it off as a novel. It’s written in an epistolary fashion, using a lot of journal entries, emails and text messages, but also a good portion of it reads like a script, with descriptions of what is being shown as if we are reading a transcript of the episode. It all works and makes for a fast-paced and fun book.
The characters are also really well done. I believed every single one of them and the direction they go in. Using the journal entries from multiple characters we see how they see themselves and the others around them, so while one may see his or herself in a certain way, we don’t question a seemingly out of character action (from their point of view) because others show us another side of them. It makes for a wonderful character study and shows different ways people react to both fear and obsession.
Which brings me to the reason I can’t give it more than three stars even though I had a lot of fun with it. Frankly the ending hurts it for me. Not because of where each character ends up at the conclusion (all fitting) but because the very nature of the structure makes aspects feel unfinished. There are questions brought up about characters pasts that we can interpret in different ways, but because of the structure being only episode thirteen, we are given no clear answers. For some this will likely add to the allure, for me I found it unsatisfying (particularly in regard to the characters of Matt and Kevin in which they allude to some things pre-show which I would have like to see much more of).
I’m also not a big fan of the final nature of the haunting, but that likely will be something a lot of readers like. So, I can’t say it hurts the novel, just my personal enjoyment of it.
In closing: Is the book good? Yes. Do I recommend it to my fellow haunted house fans? Again, yes. Overall, it’s a very satisfactory novel and I can’t even say that my negatives will be something that bothers anyone else. Give it a shot... but for me it’s an enjoyable 3/5 stars.
Oh man, how do I even review this one? Fun little opening advertisement for the show aside, this is actually a tricky one for me to talk about as I devoured all 433 pages quickly having to know more, but found myself frustrated with it as well.
First off, let me compliment the author as he pulled off something quite tricky. This is a found footage horror novel. Yes, a sub-genre of horror that should be exclusively for film, and he pulled it off as a novel. It’s written in an epistolary fashion, using a lot of journal entries, emails and text messages, but also a good portion of it reads like a script, with descriptions of what is being shown as if we are reading a transcript of the episode. It all works and makes for a fast-paced and fun book.
The characters are also really well done. I believed every single one of them and the direction they go in. Using the journal entries from multiple characters we see how they see themselves and the others around them, so while one may see his or herself in a certain way, we don’t question a seemingly out of character action (from their point of view) because others show us another side of them. It makes for a wonderful character study and shows different ways people react to both fear and obsession.
Which brings me to the reason I can’t give it more than three stars even though I had a lot of fun with it. Frankly the ending hurts it for me. Not because of where each character ends up at the conclusion (all fitting) but because the very nature of the structure makes aspects feel unfinished. There are questions brought up about characters pasts that we can interpret in different ways, but because of the structure being only episode thirteen, we are given no clear answers. For some this will likely add to the allure, for me I found it unsatisfying (particularly in regard to the characters of Matt and Kevin in which they allude to some things pre-show which I would have like to see much more of).
I’m also not a big fan of the final nature of the haunting, but that likely will be something a lot of readers like. So, I can’t say it hurts the novel, just my personal enjoyment of it.
In closing: Is the book good? Yes. Do I recommend it to my fellow haunted house fans? Again, yes. Overall, it’s a very satisfactory novel and I can’t even say that my negatives will be something that bothers anyone else. Give it a shot... but for me it’s an enjoyable 3/5 stars.
May 7, 2023
Yeah this did not work for me at all. What a mess
February 15, 2023
Started out so good then it fizzled out for me.
January 6, 2023
My thanks to Redhook books, Craig DeLouie and Netgalley.
Not a favorite DeLouie book.
It's just a fact. I adore the stuff that this author puts out. But? Yeah, it's all those big buts that get in the way. "That's what she said!"
I just couldn't go whole hog on this book! For me it just eventually became a bit ridiculous.
I'll admit that I'm a bit weird when it comes to "haunted" stuff." I've lived in 1 majorly haunted house and 2 haunted apartments.
This book ended strange for me.
Not a favorite DeLouie book.
It's just a fact. I adore the stuff that this author puts out. But? Yeah, it's all those big buts that get in the way. "That's what she said!"
I just couldn't go whole hog on this book! For me it just eventually became a bit ridiculous.
I'll admit that I'm a bit weird when it comes to "haunted" stuff." I've lived in 1 majorly haunted house and 2 haunted apartments.
This book ended strange for me.
June 15, 2025
For a person that doesn't believe in the paranormal, this started out simply and straightforward enough. A TV team is on the hunt for unusual activity in an old house. What can go wrong? Turns out, just about everything. The more the book progressed, the further and further from reality this seemed to go. I don't have too many nice things to say about the last 1/3.
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook
📱 Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook
April 2, 2023
Matt and Claire Kirklin are the husband-and-wife team that head up the ghost hunting reality TV show, Fade to Black. Every week their team investigates hauntings. Episode Thirteen takes the expert team to the Paranormal Research Foundation. It is the holy grail of hauntings. In the 1970's strange experiments took place there and it is famous for being haunted. They hoped that this would be the episode that put them on the map and kept them there....
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration. This book is mainly told through tapes, journals, correspondence. Someone forget to tell this team of ghost hunters to be careful what you look for it, because it might just find you!
I was all over the place with this book. I enjoyed it initially then felt it went on too long, then enjoyed it again. I kept thinking this book needs some editing as it went on a little too long. By the time it ended, I thought it was in the good not great camp. I wanted this to be creepier and scary. I craved tension and chills and while this delivered some, I felt they were on the milder side. There is some psychological suspense, but I wanted more.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed the narration. This book is mainly told through tapes, journals, correspondence. Someone forget to tell this team of ghost hunters to be careful what you look for it, because it might just find you!
I was all over the place with this book. I enjoyed it initially then felt it went on too long, then enjoyed it again. I kept thinking this book needs some editing as it went on a little too long. By the time it ended, I thought it was in the good not great camp. I wanted this to be creepier and scary. I craved tension and chills and while this delivered some, I felt they were on the milder side. There is some psychological suspense, but I wanted more.
Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com
February 7, 2023
I fucking love haunted house novels and I wanted very, very much to love this book. I was perhaps shooting myself in the foot a bit reading this so soon after losing my ever loving mind over Richard Matheson's Hell House which this book very closely models at least in terms of its set up.
Just like "Hell House" we've got a bunch of intrepid investigators arriving at an abandoned house that was previously the site of clandestine experiments in the paranormal in which lots of people disappeared and/or died. Just like "Hell House" some of them are scientists who scoff at things that go bump in the night and some of them are die hard believers in all things ghost related. Just like "Hell House" there's a lot of arguing between these two sets of people and just like "Hell House" all this pent up passion and anger seems to feed whatever is lurking in the walls and under the floorboards and before long these seekers of truth find way more than they bargained for.
Unfortunately unlike "Hell House" this group, the cast and tech crew of a ghost hunting show called "Fade to Black" (good name by the way) are about as interesting as the dust and mold that's all over the Paranormal Research Institute, the derelict mansion they're there to investigate for the 13th episode of the show.
The book is constructed from the journals and transcribed footage discovered in the aftermath of their attempts at uncovering the Institutes secrets. I very much like the idea of a haunted house epistolary novel and the emails and journal entries of the cast are the strongest parts. Unfortunately most of the narrative is a literal teleplay of the action with actual "stage direction" descriptions of whatever supernatural encounter is happening. As though some intern at the network was tasked with literally describing all the footage they've retrieved. This just destroys any kind of dramatic tension or horror you might get from actual exposition. Instead of slowly ramping up a tense encounter with lots of description of the haunted room everyone is in with strange noises or internal monologues we just get italicized comments like a twenty foot zombie woman then materializes out of the floor and everyone screams.
The characters are also very one note. If you're going to construct your story using the individual voices of your characters I really need to hear those voices and I just didn't. Beyond being told that Claire the scientist is determined to find the secrets of the Foundation and won't give up no matter what I don't have any sense of who she really is or what's driving that determination. I'm told that Kevin the retired cop is a know it all who thinks he should be in charge and he says lots of mansplainy things but I don't really know where any of that is coming from. Every journal entry sounds the same no matter who's talking.
I think the problem with stories like these is that they're ultimately too big to be told. Is there an after life? Are ghosts real? And if they are what even are they? Those are huge questions that are never going to have a satisfying answer in a literary context. The answers almost always going to be disappointing or dumb. Those concepts are just too theoretical. The second you say something like "oh the entire basis for ghosts is from this one thing I've just discovered" you're kind of just set up for failure.
But by the same token not even trying to answer the question or trying to do it with cheesy special effects or wildly overused tropes like "walking into the light" are just as disappointing. Ambiguous endings when you've just spent 400 pages on a quest to find out what ghosts really are just makes me want to throw your book in the garbage.
Cosmic horror works because it acknowledges this idea that there are things in this universe that are simply too huge, too monstrous for our puny human minds to comprehend. Stories set in those kinds of worlds work when we see the characters acknowledging that and still fight on to get to that truth they so desperately want even though they KNOW it will drive them mad. And that drive in turn infects the reader. We know the end will be terrible but, just like the explorers at the mountains of madness we seem to be powerless to stop pushing forward. The story becomes about that battle. The answer isn't so important anymore its the wild, horrifying journey getting to it that we care about.
That doesn't happen here. The supernatural encounters the team has are strangely dull and their reactions amount to little more than "wow that was cool! We just learned ghosts are real! neat!" so there's just nothing to get invested in.
I truly wish I could recommend this and I do admire the authors intent but this was an exhausting and ultimately deeply disappointing read.
Just like "Hell House" we've got a bunch of intrepid investigators arriving at an abandoned house that was previously the site of clandestine experiments in the paranormal in which lots of people disappeared and/or died. Just like "Hell House" some of them are scientists who scoff at things that go bump in the night and some of them are die hard believers in all things ghost related. Just like "Hell House" there's a lot of arguing between these two sets of people and just like "Hell House" all this pent up passion and anger seems to feed whatever is lurking in the walls and under the floorboards and before long these seekers of truth find way more than they bargained for.
Unfortunately unlike "Hell House" this group, the cast and tech crew of a ghost hunting show called "Fade to Black" (good name by the way) are about as interesting as the dust and mold that's all over the Paranormal Research Institute, the derelict mansion they're there to investigate for the 13th episode of the show.
The book is constructed from the journals and transcribed footage discovered in the aftermath of their attempts at uncovering the Institutes secrets. I very much like the idea of a haunted house epistolary novel and the emails and journal entries of the cast are the strongest parts. Unfortunately most of the narrative is a literal teleplay of the action with actual "stage direction" descriptions of whatever supernatural encounter is happening. As though some intern at the network was tasked with literally describing all the footage they've retrieved. This just destroys any kind of dramatic tension or horror you might get from actual exposition. Instead of slowly ramping up a tense encounter with lots of description of the haunted room everyone is in with strange noises or internal monologues we just get italicized comments like a twenty foot zombie woman then materializes out of the floor and everyone screams.
The characters are also very one note. If you're going to construct your story using the individual voices of your characters I really need to hear those voices and I just didn't. Beyond being told that Claire the scientist is determined to find the secrets of the Foundation and won't give up no matter what I don't have any sense of who she really is or what's driving that determination. I'm told that Kevin the retired cop is a know it all who thinks he should be in charge and he says lots of mansplainy things but I don't really know where any of that is coming from. Every journal entry sounds the same no matter who's talking.
I think the problem with stories like these is that they're ultimately too big to be told. Is there an after life? Are ghosts real? And if they are what even are they? Those are huge questions that are never going to have a satisfying answer in a literary context. The answers almost always going to be disappointing or dumb. Those concepts are just too theoretical. The second you say something like "oh the entire basis for ghosts is from this one thing I've just discovered" you're kind of just set up for failure.
But by the same token not even trying to answer the question or trying to do it with cheesy special effects or wildly overused tropes like "walking into the light" are just as disappointing. Ambiguous endings when you've just spent 400 pages on a quest to find out what ghosts really are just makes me want to throw your book in the garbage.
Cosmic horror works because it acknowledges this idea that there are things in this universe that are simply too huge, too monstrous for our puny human minds to comprehend. Stories set in those kinds of worlds work when we see the characters acknowledging that and still fight on to get to that truth they so desperately want even though they KNOW it will drive them mad. And that drive in turn infects the reader. We know the end will be terrible but, just like the explorers at the mountains of madness we seem to be powerless to stop pushing forward. The story becomes about that battle. The answer isn't so important anymore its the wild, horrifying journey getting to it that we care about.
That doesn't happen here. The supernatural encounters the team has are strangely dull and their reactions amount to little more than "wow that was cool! We just learned ghosts are real! neat!" so there's just nothing to get invested in.
I truly wish I could recommend this and I do admire the authors intent but this was an exhausting and ultimately deeply disappointing read.
April 13, 2023
Actual Rating 3.5
Fade to Black is a hit ghost hunting reality TV show. It consists of a husband-and-wife team: Matt is a true believer in ghosts and Claire is a true believer in science. Three other people make up their team, and together they gain access to a house where the Paranormal Research Foundation conducted secret experiments in the 1970s. As they begin filming footage here for Episode 13 of their show, they begin to have a bit of interpersonal drama. For a while, it seems that this will be the only action on the show, until the house slowly begins to reveal itself to them, causing everyone to question what they’ve always taken for the truth.
I liked how this book was set up to be a bit fragmented. Texts, emails, and interviews were incorporated throughout chapters, adding a multimedia approach. I don’t think it served this book as well as it could have, and sometimes seemed to slow it down more than anything. The characters were good overall, though they weren’t quite as engaging as I hoped they would be and felt a little bit stereotypical for a work of horror. It was also difficult to become emotionally attached to them. Similarly, the science in this book was a little lacking. The plot relied heavily on it, but it felt more like the author threw around buzzwords without really diving into their meaning or using it as a real explanation for what was happening.
This would have been a much higher rating for me, but the turn the plot took was a little underwhelming. It was still fascinating, but I read this book because I wanted to be too scared to go to sleep. While that did happen in the first half of the book, once the plot shifted the book was no longer terrifying to me, shifting from horror to more science fiction. The house and the entire work lost the atmospheric dread that I felt had been incorporated relatively well into the first portion. This was also partly due to the fact that there were several places in the book that were longer and slower than necessary – I think it could use a good trim to be a little more concise and make it more impactful.
Overall, this was a good read that really wanted to work more than it did. I wish it had stuck to having a paranormal focus rather than trying to delve into science, as this made it much less interesting in the second half and wasn’t incorporated in a meaningful way. I think the author also tried to get too deep into creating an explanation for the hauntings, which ended up being convoluted and detracting from the book. My thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
Fade to Black is a hit ghost hunting reality TV show. It consists of a husband-and-wife team: Matt is a true believer in ghosts and Claire is a true believer in science. Three other people make up their team, and together they gain access to a house where the Paranormal Research Foundation conducted secret experiments in the 1970s. As they begin filming footage here for Episode 13 of their show, they begin to have a bit of interpersonal drama. For a while, it seems that this will be the only action on the show, until the house slowly begins to reveal itself to them, causing everyone to question what they’ve always taken for the truth.
I liked how this book was set up to be a bit fragmented. Texts, emails, and interviews were incorporated throughout chapters, adding a multimedia approach. I don’t think it served this book as well as it could have, and sometimes seemed to slow it down more than anything. The characters were good overall, though they weren’t quite as engaging as I hoped they would be and felt a little bit stereotypical for a work of horror. It was also difficult to become emotionally attached to them. Similarly, the science in this book was a little lacking. The plot relied heavily on it, but it felt more like the author threw around buzzwords without really diving into their meaning or using it as a real explanation for what was happening.
This would have been a much higher rating for me, but the turn the plot took was a little underwhelming. It was still fascinating, but I read this book because I wanted to be too scared to go to sleep. While that did happen in the first half of the book, once the plot shifted the book was no longer terrifying to me, shifting from horror to more science fiction. The house and the entire work lost the atmospheric dread that I felt had been incorporated relatively well into the first portion. This was also partly due to the fact that there were several places in the book that were longer and slower than necessary – I think it could use a good trim to be a little more concise and make it more impactful.
Overall, this was a good read that really wanted to work more than it did. I wish it had stuck to having a paranormal focus rather than trying to delve into science, as this made it much less interesting in the second half and wasn’t incorporated in a meaningful way. I think the author also tried to get too deep into creating an explanation for the hauntings, which ended up being convoluted and detracting from the book. My thanks to NetGalley and Redhook Books for allowing me to read this work. All thoughts and opinions expressed in this review are my own.
February 27, 2023
I didn't want to put it down but didn't want it to end either. Peter Clines said 'it's House of Leaves meets the Haunting of Hill House', and I couldn't agree more. Super enjoyable!
April 30, 2023
Supernatural nerd Matt and his scientist wife Claire run the youtube channel “Fade to Black” in which they weekly investigate hauntings and try and prove or debunk them both from a paranormal as well as scientific point of view. They of course jump at the opportunity to film in the Paranormal Research Foundation, a haunted mansion with a bad reputation and the dream destination of all paranormal documentary maker ever since a group of hippies conducted a series of bizarre experiments here in the 70s and of course they gather a team of random people from different backgrounds.
Episode Thirteen is a multi-media found footage book consisting of tape recordings, journals, and correspondences, which sets the tone and the fast pace from the first page on, and it was truly impossible to put it down once started. I was less than thrilled by the amount of fluff and pseudo-scientific babble which fill especially the first half of the book, though I’m generally ok with the direction it went later on. I do enjoy haunted house stories and this was a decent one, though I can’t imagine being it being somebody’s favorite book or anything more than a little bit of fun.
Episode Thirteen is a multi-media found footage book consisting of tape recordings, journals, and correspondences, which sets the tone and the fast pace from the first page on, and it was truly impossible to put it down once started. I was less than thrilled by the amount of fluff and pseudo-scientific babble which fill especially the first half of the book, though I’m generally ok with the direction it went later on. I do enjoy haunted house stories and this was a decent one, though I can’t imagine being it being somebody’s favorite book or anything more than a little bit of fun.
March 11, 2023
Thanks to NetGalley and Redhook for granting me an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
The premise of Episode Thirteen is fantastic, gripping, and its style of storytelling is fascinating. I've always enjoyed--and always will--stories that develop through any form of multimedia. But the premise of this book also makes it seem as if this is going to be a nail-biting, scary, fast-paced ride that it simply isn't.
While the book was entertaining enough, I felt that at the end of the day this takes a scientific approach to "horror" that, for me at least, is far less interesting than the alternative. I thought I was going to read a spooky good time about a team of ghost-hunters, but was instead shown a few moments that were clearly supposed to be frightening (but weren't), with long intervals of not much happening, and an ending that was overall just okay.
The maze-like, labyrinthian aspect of the house was interesting. But at one point I felt like I was on a Skyrim quest leading nowhere until...well, literal disintegration. What a bust.
The novel was just okay--a disappointing first read by DiLouie for me, sadly.
The premise of Episode Thirteen is fantastic, gripping, and its style of storytelling is fascinating. I've always enjoyed--and always will--stories that develop through any form of multimedia. But the premise of this book also makes it seem as if this is going to be a nail-biting, scary, fast-paced ride that it simply isn't.
While the book was entertaining enough, I felt that at the end of the day this takes a scientific approach to "horror" that, for me at least, is far less interesting than the alternative. I thought I was going to read a spooky good time about a team of ghost-hunters, but was instead shown a few moments that were clearly supposed to be frightening (but weren't), with long intervals of not much happening, and an ending that was overall just okay.
The maze-like, labyrinthian aspect of the house was interesting. But at one point I felt like I was on a Skyrim quest leading nowhere until...well, literal disintegration. What a bust.
The novel was just okay--a disappointing first read by DiLouie for me, sadly.
Read
December 23, 2022Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie (The Children of Red Peak, Suffer the Children)
Adult Horror Fiction
Sub-genre: Found Footage/Found Media
Writing Style: Epistolary format: journal entries, text messages, emails, raw video footage
What you need to know: The crew of "Fade to Black", a 'ghost hunters' like show, led by a married couple, Claire & Matt (who are a bit mismatched like Mulder & Scully) are given access to the Foundation House. This location was home to the Paranormal Research Foundation which did some experimental and controversial tests on human subjects back in the 70s.
Readers piece together everything that happens through a series of show notes, journal entries, interviews, and transcriptions.
My reading experience: I love found media stories. Multiple POVs enable the reader to look at the same situation from a variety of perspectives. The story progresses quickly because the narrative is broken up into the collected materials. Text messages between a crew member and her sister can take up to six pages but can be read in just a few minutes. The author clearly makes an attempt to familiarize readers with every character and their individual motivations for doing the show. They each have different intentions, aspirations, goals, etc. However, given the nature of being "behind the scenes," it does create some distance between the characters and the reader. I wasn't invested in these people or cared much about what would happen to them. This is fine. The epistolary format doesn't bring the reader into the story as much as exposition does.
All the crew members express how they feel about one another which is helpful in establishing a dynamic. I did feel like things take a minute to get going. Without exposition, the author relies on the characters to drive the storyline, so there's some repetition as we get each person's perspective before moving on to real-time events.
There are some pretty intense/scary scenes. Especially heading into the climax/ending. Worth continuing on through all the stops and starts.
My final recommendation: If you enjoy haunted house horror, found footage, strange scientific/paranormal experiments, and unexplained paranormal discoveries, you will enjoy this book. I had fun with it.
Comps: Ghost Hunters, reality TV, Event Horizon (especially the psychological aspect of the crew hallucinating corresponding to their past hurts and wrongs), House of Leaves (similar elements) and The Blair Witch Project.
Adult Horror Fiction
Sub-genre: Found Footage/Found Media
Writing Style: Epistolary format: journal entries, text messages, emails, raw video footage
What you need to know: The crew of "Fade to Black", a 'ghost hunters' like show, led by a married couple, Claire & Matt (who are a bit mismatched like Mulder & Scully) are given access to the Foundation House. This location was home to the Paranormal Research Foundation which did some experimental and controversial tests on human subjects back in the 70s.
Readers piece together everything that happens through a series of show notes, journal entries, interviews, and transcriptions.
My reading experience: I love found media stories. Multiple POVs enable the reader to look at the same situation from a variety of perspectives. The story progresses quickly because the narrative is broken up into the collected materials. Text messages between a crew member and her sister can take up to six pages but can be read in just a few minutes. The author clearly makes an attempt to familiarize readers with every character and their individual motivations for doing the show. They each have different intentions, aspirations, goals, etc. However, given the nature of being "behind the scenes," it does create some distance between the characters and the reader. I wasn't invested in these people or cared much about what would happen to them. This is fine. The epistolary format doesn't bring the reader into the story as much as exposition does.
All the crew members express how they feel about one another which is helpful in establishing a dynamic. I did feel like things take a minute to get going. Without exposition, the author relies on the characters to drive the storyline, so there's some repetition as we get each person's perspective before moving on to real-time events.
There are some pretty intense/scary scenes. Especially heading into the climax/ending. Worth continuing on through all the stops and starts.
My final recommendation: If you enjoy haunted house horror, found footage, strange scientific/paranormal experiments, and unexplained paranormal discoveries, you will enjoy this book. I had fun with it.
Comps: Ghost Hunters, reality TV, Event Horizon (especially the psychological aspect of the crew hallucinating corresponding to their past hurts and wrongs), House of Leaves (similar elements) and The Blair Witch Project.
September 24, 2024
this “my girlfriend turned into the moon” ass book
December 17, 2022
I wanted to like this book so much but I ended up Dnfing at 10%. I did not like the way it was written at all. The emails and interviews woven in between actual text felt like it was all over the place. This may have worked better for me if I listened to the audiobook.
Fade to Black is the ultimate paranormal hunting television show. Episode 13 takes them to the Paranormal Research Foundation, a mansion where crazy experiments took place in the 1970’s. It is also famous for being haunted. Things don’t go according to plan after the haunting begins.
Episode 13 is available January 24,2023
Thank you to netgalley and redhookbooks for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
Fade to Black is the ultimate paranormal hunting television show. Episode 13 takes them to the Paranormal Research Foundation, a mansion where crazy experiments took place in the 1970’s. It is also famous for being haunted. Things don’t go according to plan after the haunting begins.
Episode 13 is available January 24,2023
Thank you to netgalley and redhookbooks for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
April 25, 2024
I tried to keep my review on Audible short and bitter, but here... here I expand.
What I expected, based on the descriptions: a creepy, maybe even genuinely scary ghost story with a cool format. What I got: a badly written, badly produced, badly performed story with zero suspense and less creepiness. And I don't think it's a ghost story. I will never know - I made it not quite halfway - for some reason I endured this thing through the rest of the work day in which I bought it and started it, but just couldn't face turning it on again this morning. I returned the thing to Audible instead.
Look at that book description. "This heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense", it says. My heart never pounded - it never even accelerated slightly. There was no "horror", as it's commonly applied as a genre. Psychological suspense? Where? The closest this book came to that was having me wonder if some of the characters were acting like touchy jerks because of some influence the stupid house was having on them - which, in retrospect, I think is too subtle for this author. I suspect it was actually just bad writing and acting. Or the characters were just touchy jerks.
The writing: stiff and unrealistic. People don't talk like this. I question the married characters calling each other "darling" in this day and age. And where that felt weirdly dated, the repeated use of more recent slang "fambam" was equally awful. (I find that it's actually a Tagalog word. If this character had been Tagalog, I'd be fine with her use of the word. As it is, it was a painful attempt to sound ... hip? With it? Groovy?) The majority of the book was meant to be journal entries and "raw footage" from the ghost hunting show. It was not written convincingly as such, nor acted convincingly as such (but I'll come back to that). The story itself was predictable and filled with characters I wanted to punch. It was as though the author thought "Hm, MKULTRA is very click-baity ... how can I come up with something even more spectacular..." Only it wasn't. It wasn't creepy - I was told the house was creepy, but I never got that sense of it otherwise. There is usually something subtle about creepiness, isn't there? This was about as subtle as Zak Bagans.
I find it difficult to tell if I disliked all of the characters because they were badly written (which they were) or because the narrations were sub-par (which they were).
The production: the music is annoying and obtrusive. The fact that the truly cringe-worthy "original song" the foreword touts was used as the Audible sample is a hint, folks. Don't ignore it. (Lyrics which I really should not be preserving: "The groovy people are here" ... "Don't let the man get you down - turn that sad frown upside down" ... "open your heart and lend me your ears" ... Wow. Did Bob Dylan write this?) One thing that continually irked me was a departure from the way this sort of epistolary novel is handled: when a narrator is delivering a journal entry for his character, generally if the journal quotes another character the same narrator handles that dialogue also. Done well, this should provide different points of view on the cast of characters, as each was seen through the others' eyes, and it's a logical way to handle the sections. So: if I'm hearing an entry from Jessica's journal, and she quotes Claire, the same narrator should read all of it, maybe doing an impression of the narrator handling Claire's character, maybe not. It's supposed to be in Jessica's head, through Jessica's eyes and ears. Here, the narrator for Claire jumps in with that bit of dialogue, and it makes no sense to me.
Sound engineers - seriously. If the text says a noise happens, that does not mean you need to insert it. And really, truly: if the text says someone laughs, I do not need to hear the narrator playing that character try to fake laughter. And I never, never need to hear a character sneeze in my ear. Or sigh, grunt, snort, or weep. Or wail. The laughter, especially the first time it happens, was like Data pretending emotion in ST:TNG, and it went on forever. Which leads me to - -
The performances: Like the writing, stiff and unrealistic. Sadly, there wasn't a single narrator I ever want to hear again. That fake laughter was painful - literally like someone reading a script that went "ha ha ha ha ha ha". Most of this book was supposed to be "raw footage" and journal entries, and it all sounded like some poor ten year old forced to read a report on cell division in front of their class. If I came upon a "real" YouTube - or, God forbid, network - show whose characters sounded like these narrators, I'd bail on it before the first commercial. I'm not sure why I gave this audiobook more of a chance, except that I wanted to like it.
I had stopped the book I had been listening to because I was excited to get into this - the description sounded that good. I made it about halfway. I let it play out during the work day yesterday, mostly because of inertia I suppose, but this morning I just can't face putting it on again - I can't do it. I won't do it. I would like my credit back now, please ...
What I expected, based on the descriptions: a creepy, maybe even genuinely scary ghost story with a cool format. What I got: a badly written, badly produced, badly performed story with zero suspense and less creepiness. And I don't think it's a ghost story. I will never know - I made it not quite halfway - for some reason I endured this thing through the rest of the work day in which I bought it and started it, but just couldn't face turning it on again this morning. I returned the thing to Audible instead.
Look at that book description. "This heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense", it says. My heart never pounded - it never even accelerated slightly. There was no "horror", as it's commonly applied as a genre. Psychological suspense? Where? The closest this book came to that was having me wonder if some of the characters were acting like touchy jerks because of some influence the stupid house was having on them - which, in retrospect, I think is too subtle for this author. I suspect it was actually just bad writing and acting. Or the characters were just touchy jerks.
The writing: stiff and unrealistic. People don't talk like this. I question the married characters calling each other "darling" in this day and age. And where that felt weirdly dated, the repeated use of more recent slang "fambam" was equally awful. (I find that it's actually a Tagalog word. If this character had been Tagalog, I'd be fine with her use of the word. As it is, it was a painful attempt to sound ... hip? With it? Groovy?) The majority of the book was meant to be journal entries and "raw footage" from the ghost hunting show. It was not written convincingly as such, nor acted convincingly as such (but I'll come back to that). The story itself was predictable and filled with characters I wanted to punch. It was as though the author thought "Hm, MKULTRA is very click-baity ... how can I come up with something even more spectacular..." Only it wasn't. It wasn't creepy - I was told the house was creepy, but I never got that sense of it otherwise. There is usually something subtle about creepiness, isn't there? This was about as subtle as Zak Bagans.
I find it difficult to tell if I disliked all of the characters because they were badly written (which they were) or because the narrations were sub-par (which they were).
The production: the music is annoying and obtrusive. The fact that the truly cringe-worthy "original song" the foreword touts was used as the Audible sample is a hint, folks. Don't ignore it. (Lyrics which I really should not be preserving: "The groovy people are here" ... "Don't let the man get you down - turn that sad frown upside down" ... "open your heart and lend me your ears" ... Wow. Did Bob Dylan write this?) One thing that continually irked me was a departure from the way this sort of epistolary novel is handled: when a narrator is delivering a journal entry for his character, generally if the journal quotes another character the same narrator handles that dialogue also. Done well, this should provide different points of view on the cast of characters, as each was seen through the others' eyes, and it's a logical way to handle the sections. So: if I'm hearing an entry from Jessica's journal, and she quotes Claire, the same narrator should read all of it, maybe doing an impression of the narrator handling Claire's character, maybe not. It's supposed to be in Jessica's head, through Jessica's eyes and ears. Here, the narrator for Claire jumps in with that bit of dialogue, and it makes no sense to me.
Sound engineers - seriously. If the text says a noise happens, that does not mean you need to insert it. And really, truly: if the text says someone laughs, I do not need to hear the narrator playing that character try to fake laughter. And I never, never need to hear a character sneeze in my ear. Or sigh, grunt, snort, or weep. Or wail. The laughter, especially the first time it happens, was like Data pretending emotion in ST:TNG, and it went on forever. Which leads me to - -
The performances: Like the writing, stiff and unrealistic. Sadly, there wasn't a single narrator I ever want to hear again. That fake laughter was painful - literally like someone reading a script that went "ha ha ha ha ha ha". Most of this book was supposed to be "raw footage" and journal entries, and it all sounded like some poor ten year old forced to read a report on cell division in front of their class. If I came upon a "real" YouTube - or, God forbid, network - show whose characters sounded like these narrators, I'd bail on it before the first commercial. I'm not sure why I gave this audiobook more of a chance, except that I wanted to like it.
I had stopped the book I had been listening to because I was excited to get into this - the description sounded that good. I made it about halfway. I let it play out during the work day yesterday, mostly because of inertia I suppose, but this morning I just can't face putting it on again - I can't do it. I won't do it. I would like my credit back now, please ...
November 3, 2024
Thank you to the author, Craig DiLouie, publishers Redhook and Hachette, and as always NetGalley, for an advance digital copy of EPISODE THIRTEEN.
A group of TV supernatural researchers, or ghost hunters, decide for their 13th episode to investigate Foundation House, where decades before, a group of medical researchers and patients disappeared without a trace. The book takes the form of a collection of found footage, journal entries, and other multimedia files produced by the ghost hunters.
Every one of these characters seems to be a parody of a found footage horror film character trope. But maybe you're into that? I found it hard to connect to them because they were little more than sock-puppets.
I love found footage. Blair Witch Project is my baby. But this form didn't work well in writing, unfortunately. Often, I felt like the diary pages were uncomfortably self aware or self referential. Sections, especially diary sections, referred to events that would occur outside the limitations of the format. Breaking the narrative limits might be the point, in certain places. But the technique isn't executed with enough consistency.
But I loved the last scene. I didn't see it coming, and I didn't see that coming!
Rating: 👻👻.5 / 5 ghosts on camera
Recommend? Sure, you do you
Finished: March 14 2023
Read if you like:
🎥 Found footage
🧭 Natural horror
⌚️ Time horror
A group of TV supernatural researchers, or ghost hunters, decide for their 13th episode to investigate Foundation House, where decades before, a group of medical researchers and patients disappeared without a trace. The book takes the form of a collection of found footage, journal entries, and other multimedia files produced by the ghost hunters.
Every one of these characters seems to be a parody of a found footage horror film character trope. But maybe you're into that? I found it hard to connect to them because they were little more than sock-puppets.
I love found footage. Blair Witch Project is my baby. But this form didn't work well in writing, unfortunately. Often, I felt like the diary pages were uncomfortably self aware or self referential. Sections, especially diary sections, referred to events that would occur outside the limitations of the format. Breaking the narrative limits might be the point, in certain places. But the technique isn't executed with enough consistency.
But I loved the last scene. I didn't see it coming, and I didn't see that coming!
Rating: 👻👻.5 / 5 ghosts on camera
Recommend? Sure, you do you
Finished: March 14 2023
Read if you like:
🎥 Found footage
🧭 Natural horror
⌚️ Time horror
January 27, 2023
In the end, I became as obsessed with framing the story of Fade to Black's Episode 13 as the paranormal investigators displayed in creating it. The result is a book that is a rabbit hole about a rabbit hole. An invitation to explore it yourself while experiencing everything its trailblazers felt and witnessed.
And then make up your own mind whether to believe.
Welcome to Foundation House.
Described in one blurb as House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, you better believe Episode Thirteen caught my attention - I'm forever looking for the perfect haunted house story. But although I liked it, I thought it also fell prey to the all-too-common problems with the genre.
There's a great sense of atmosphere at Foundation House, and though it's a found-footage type of a book, splicing crew diaries with recording transcripts, with text messages, I didn't find that interrupted my reading at all. That's a win-some, lose-some though, because I was helped along by characters who shared a voice - I didn't see much variation depending on who was telling that particular part of the story.
I did appreciate that their reactions felt so real though - Craig DiLouie really nailed that part. One person flees at the first sign of something real, only to return, but it didn't feel contrived. The dynamics also felt pretty natural - there are hints of a bit more interpersonal drama that never really play out, though, and some characters just don't get the time they deserved.
And that led to the ending, which just didn't work for me. I know it's so hard to stick the landing in this genre - it's the trickiest of balances, revealing just enough to satisfy the reader, while not having the big scary mystery overexposed by too much detail, losing all its threat. Episode Thirteen threaded that needle in all the wrong places for me, going too much into detail while also absolutely missing a whole lot of threads that needed tying .
So yes, I enjoyed the journey, not so much the destination, and it all ends up in a 3. Will I remember much of this in 6 months? Not as much as I wanted to, I'm pretty sure.
And then make up your own mind whether to believe.
Welcome to Foundation House.
Described in one blurb as House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, you better believe Episode Thirteen caught my attention - I'm forever looking for the perfect haunted house story. But although I liked it, I thought it also fell prey to the all-too-common problems with the genre.
There's a great sense of atmosphere at Foundation House, and though it's a found-footage type of a book, splicing crew diaries with recording transcripts, with text messages, I didn't find that interrupted my reading at all. That's a win-some, lose-some though, because I was helped along by characters who shared a voice - I didn't see much variation depending on who was telling that particular part of the story.
I did appreciate that their reactions felt so real though - Craig DiLouie really nailed that part. One person flees at the first sign of something real, only to return, but it didn't feel contrived. The dynamics also felt pretty natural - there are hints of a bit more interpersonal drama that never really play out, though, and some characters just don't get the time they deserved.
And that led to the ending, which just didn't work for me. I know it's so hard to stick the landing in this genre - it's the trickiest of balances, revealing just enough to satisfy the reader, while not having the big scary mystery overexposed by too much detail, losing all its threat. Episode Thirteen threaded that needle in all the wrong places for me, going too much into detail while also absolutely missing a whole lot of threads that needed tying .
So yes, I enjoyed the journey, not so much the destination, and it all ends up in a 3. Will I remember much of this in 6 months? Not as much as I wanted to, I'm pretty sure.
January 8, 2023
3.5 stars
I can be hit or miss with the haunted house subgenre so it's always a delight when one of these books works for me. I prefer investigation plots and this one was very well done.
Told is a series of formats, this novel offers a dynamic narrative. I read the physical book but I imagine this would translate very well to audio because so much of the story is told through interviews, files etc.
I found this one more than scary but that's not a requirement for me to enjoy a horror story.
I liked this one, but I think other readers who particularly love this set of tropes will love them even more. I would recommend this one to fellow horror readers looking for something new.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
I can be hit or miss with the haunted house subgenre so it's always a delight when one of these books works for me. I prefer investigation plots and this one was very well done.
Told is a series of formats, this novel offers a dynamic narrative. I read the physical book but I imagine this would translate very well to audio because so much of the story is told through interviews, files etc.
I found this one more than scary but that's not a requirement for me to enjoy a horror story.
I liked this one, but I think other readers who particularly love this set of tropes will love them even more. I would recommend this one to fellow horror readers looking for something new.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
February 20, 2023
I devoured this book and loved the entire crazy, weird journey it brought me on. I’m a huge found footage horror fan, and this book was everything I wanted it to be. It’s filled with inescapable dread and paranoia, claustrophobia, mind bending situations, and more. It has some intense and terrifying moments, but I wouldn’t describe it as thrilling or filled with gore and jump scares. It’s more of a psychological horror that gets under your skin.
The last 100 pages were suffocating for me and I was both terrified and exciting to read further. The book definitely feels cinematic and I thought the found footage element worked perfectly for the story. I also loved the mix of journal entries and text messages to give us an idea of who the characters are and how they feel about the scenarios they’re in.
I would compare this to Grave Encounters and As Above So Below - both some of the best found footage horror movies I’ve ever watched. If you’re a fan of found footage horror and ghosting hunting shows, you will love this one. 👻👻👻
The last 100 pages were suffocating for me and I was both terrified and exciting to read further. The book definitely feels cinematic and I thought the found footage element worked perfectly for the story. I also loved the mix of journal entries and text messages to give us an idea of who the characters are and how they feel about the scenarios they’re in.
I would compare this to Grave Encounters and As Above So Below - both some of the best found footage horror movies I’ve ever watched. If you’re a fan of found footage horror and ghosting hunting shows, you will love this one. 👻👻👻
November 15, 2024
Truly fascinating. I have never read anything like this and kudos to the author for coming up with something so unique and just told in a totally different way.
Foundation House is supposed to be located in Denton Virginia. It is a famous haunted house where a lot of unusual and weird experiments were conducted by five paranormal leading scientists in 1972. They all disappeared and the house is now famous for the hauntings that occur. Could it be our missing scientists themselves who are responsible?
So that's the premise and man did the author ever sell it. In reading the prologue and the first few chapters I thought this was based on a true story. I googled Foundation House, I googled the team of five scientists and yeah it is not real, lmao. Yet the author had me really going. I even googled Fade to Black which is a leading paranormal tv show which is basically a ghost hunting tv show that decides to take on the house. Like I said the author truly truly sells it.
So there is a lot of tv lingo throughout the book as well as pov chapters from members of the show but it all comes together nicely. The tv show decides to pay the house in question a visit and they all get an eerie feeling from the get go. They then capture some crazy crazy stuff on video and confirm that there are indeed ghosts there. They have changed the world as we know it with their findings. They capture music being played from a well in the basement. They capture a ghost of a woman coming down the stairs. They capture some real crazy stuff. They then want to communicate with the ghosts. Be careful what you wish for.
So the ghosts decide to play along to a certain extent. The ghosts draw up files from the 1972 group of scientists which deal with the Fade to Black cast. How can that possibly be. The ghosts write up of each member's report and those reports are spot on and full of secrets that only the cast member could possibly know.
The Fade to Black team knowing that they could be in danger simply believe they are not as the ghosts could have killed them at any time but haven't. The Fade to Black team decide the answers are in the well and decide to go in. They find a set of stairs at the bottom of it and descend the 389 of them and once down are confronted by numerous doors and tunnels which the team decide to explore.
At first the team thinks that the maze they have stumbled upon was built by the scientists but then realize it is all too much and deem the ghosts are responsible for doing all this. If I have one complaint about the book its that it is not really scary (at least for me). Again though the take the author comes up with what the ghosts are about and what they are doing is so original and unique and in a way the way they play on the teams minds would be hell on earth and if it literally happened would truly be the scariest thing one could encounter.
In the end I did grasp the ending but there was one part that kind of still has me confused. I am not sure if I should rate this book a 5 or a 4 so lets call it a 4.5. The way it is written, the authors take and where he takes us is just so original that in that alone you have to just admire this work. A fun and interesting story that is just so unique!!
Foundation House is supposed to be located in Denton Virginia. It is a famous haunted house where a lot of unusual and weird experiments were conducted by five paranormal leading scientists in 1972. They all disappeared and the house is now famous for the hauntings that occur. Could it be our missing scientists themselves who are responsible?
So that's the premise and man did the author ever sell it. In reading the prologue and the first few chapters I thought this was based on a true story. I googled Foundation House, I googled the team of five scientists and yeah it is not real, lmao. Yet the author had me really going. I even googled Fade to Black which is a leading paranormal tv show which is basically a ghost hunting tv show that decides to take on the house. Like I said the author truly truly sells it.
So there is a lot of tv lingo throughout the book as well as pov chapters from members of the show but it all comes together nicely. The tv show decides to pay the house in question a visit and they all get an eerie feeling from the get go. They then capture some crazy crazy stuff on video and confirm that there are indeed ghosts there. They have changed the world as we know it with their findings. They capture music being played from a well in the basement. They capture a ghost of a woman coming down the stairs. They capture some real crazy stuff. They then want to communicate with the ghosts. Be careful what you wish for.
So the ghosts decide to play along to a certain extent. The ghosts draw up files from the 1972 group of scientists which deal with the Fade to Black cast. How can that possibly be. The ghosts write up of each member's report and those reports are spot on and full of secrets that only the cast member could possibly know.
The Fade to Black team knowing that they could be in danger simply believe they are not as the ghosts could have killed them at any time but haven't. The Fade to Black team decide the answers are in the well and decide to go in. They find a set of stairs at the bottom of it and descend the 389 of them and once down are confronted by numerous doors and tunnels which the team decide to explore.
At first the team thinks that the maze they have stumbled upon was built by the scientists but then realize it is all too much and deem the ghosts are responsible for doing all this. If I have one complaint about the book its that it is not really scary (at least for me). Again though the take the author comes up with what the ghosts are about and what they are doing is so original and unique and in a way the way they play on the teams minds would be hell on earth and if it literally happened would truly be the scariest thing one could encounter.
In the end I did grasp the ending but there was one part that kind of still has me confused. I am not sure if I should rate this book a 5 or a 4 so lets call it a 4.5. The way it is written, the authors take and where he takes us is just so original that in that alone you have to just admire this work. A fun and interesting story that is just so unique!!
February 27, 2023
This is essentially a "found footage" book. It consists of transcripts of video, journal entries, news articles and similar things. If that sounds a little clunky, that's because it is. The book's biggest problem is that it's a book; it suffers from being the wrong medium and would have been better as a movie/tv show or audiobook. If this were real life, you would have quit reading twenty pages in and went online to find the video. Max Brooks pulled it off with Devolution, but that's a tough act to follow.
The story was fine, but it was just way too long. You could cut 100 pages from it without missing anything important. There were a lot of things included that didn't add anything to the story other than the page count. This is supposed to be a documentary style book put together after the fact from archived data, but it kept including red herrings and distractions that don't really work with the story being told in hindsight.
Then there was the unnecessary back and forth of the ghosts that might be ghosts, but aren't ghosts, but are kind of ghosts because ghosts aren't really ghosts and the author attempting to explain the unexplainable. I prefer the less is more approach to most supernatural horror and think the author should lay the groundwork, but ultimately let the reader come up with their own explanations.
The small detail that bugged me the most was that the journals during the investigation were hand written. Why would they not be recording audio or video journals for a tv show? Hell, they could use their cell phones if they didn't want to use one of the multiple cameras or recording devices they brought with them. In the last act of the book, multiple characters stop to write journal entries while lost in a completely dark labyrinth, using up their flashlight batteries...until the batteries run out and then they write in complete darkness. Why? Such an easy fix that should have never made it to the final version.
I liked Episode Thirteen, but will probably forget about it pretty quickly until/unless the movie version comes out. The found footage genre is great when done well, but is difficult to pull off in film and almost impossible in novel form. Half the time, you forget that you're supposed to be reading a video transcript or a diary entry and it just feels like a regular book.
The story was fine, but it was just way too long. You could cut 100 pages from it without missing anything important. There were a lot of things included that didn't add anything to the story other than the page count. This is supposed to be a documentary style book put together after the fact from archived data, but it kept including red herrings and distractions that don't really work with the story being told in hindsight.
Then there was the unnecessary back and forth of the ghosts that might be ghosts, but aren't ghosts, but are kind of ghosts because ghosts aren't really ghosts and the author attempting to explain the unexplainable. I prefer the less is more approach to most supernatural horror and think the author should lay the groundwork, but ultimately let the reader come up with their own explanations.
The small detail that bugged me the most was that the journals during the investigation were hand written. Why would they not be recording audio or video journals for a tv show? Hell, they could use their cell phones if they didn't want to use one of the multiple cameras or recording devices they brought with them. In the last act of the book, multiple characters stop to write journal entries while lost in a completely dark labyrinth, using up their flashlight batteries...until the batteries run out and then they write in complete darkness. Why? Such an easy fix that should have never made it to the final version.
I liked Episode Thirteen, but will probably forget about it pretty quickly until/unless the movie version comes out. The found footage genre is great when done well, but is difficult to pull off in film and almost impossible in novel form. Half the time, you forget that you're supposed to be reading a video transcript or a diary entry and it just feels like a regular book.
April 13, 2023
Far and away the best and scariest found footage haunting I’ve ever read. Wow!!!
November 25, 2025
"Not all ghosts haunt houses. Some try to live in your head."
"The trick is, ghosts aren’t easy to talk to. If it was easy, they’d tap you on the shoulder while you’re making supper and ask you if you’d be willing to discuss their feelings about your house being built on their burial ground.
You can’t show up and expect them to perform for you because finally they have an appreciative audience for their wall banging or floating down the stairs."
3.5✨
"The trick is, ghosts aren’t easy to talk to. If it was easy, they’d tap you on the shoulder while you’re making supper and ask you if you’d be willing to discuss their feelings about your house being built on their burial ground.
You can’t show up and expect them to perform for you because finally they have an appreciative audience for their wall banging or floating down the stairs."
3.5✨
May 17, 2023
Entertaining? Yes!
Weird? Definitely!
Did the layout format work? Not really.
Did it warrant a 5 star review: Unfortunately not - it had loads of creepy and scary aspects as you would expect. I did not like Jessica or Kevin's characters at all, they were polar opposites characterwise but their inner monologues were too much. I suppose there is always unlikeable characters in books, but I felt we saw too much off them. For this type of genre I would prefer it action packed from start to finish, with this book most action and scary bits took place in part 3. Perhaps it was just too long with scenes that should have been left out.
I started off on audio but felt like I might be missing important parts, as in written transcriptions or notes so I jumped on my kindle and did a half and half between the audio and the ebook. I am happy I did that as I would have missed out on the experience this book was trying to project. The audio is really entertaining, the narrators are great and they had really spooky music and noises which really brought some of that creepiness' and helped to forget the format the author was trying to achieve. Not a bad read at all, just a few bumps along the way, 3.75 stars.
Weird? Definitely!
Did the layout format work? Not really.
Did it warrant a 5 star review: Unfortunately not - it had loads of creepy and scary aspects as you would expect. I did not like Jessica or Kevin's characters at all, they were polar opposites characterwise but their inner monologues were too much. I suppose there is always unlikeable characters in books, but I felt we saw too much off them. For this type of genre I would prefer it action packed from start to finish, with this book most action and scary bits took place in part 3. Perhaps it was just too long with scenes that should have been left out.
I started off on audio but felt like I might be missing important parts, as in written transcriptions or notes so I jumped on my kindle and did a half and half between the audio and the ebook. I am happy I did that as I would have missed out on the experience this book was trying to project. The audio is really entertaining, the narrators are great and they had really spooky music and noises which really brought some of that creepiness' and helped to forget the format the author was trying to achieve. Not a bad read at all, just a few bumps along the way, 3.75 stars.
dnfed
September 10, 2025DNFed the audiobook at 18% it annoyed me so much I couldn't get into the story at all.
Note to self: stop trying to read audiobooks, you hate all of them.
Note to self: stop trying to read audiobooks, you hate all of them.
February 11, 2023
Sooooo....this wasn't good.
The mixed media/found footage style of writing in this book was a clunky mess that lacked any narrative tension and made for a disjointed story and silly seeming action sequences (the writing style alone almost made me DNF the book at around page 92, sadly I did not listen to my instincts and forged ahead). The book in my opinion was not scary at all and was often meandering and boring. The characters felt one dimensional and lacked personality and depth. I also hated all the 60's crap, it just made everything feel even more silly and ridiculous.
Now let's talk about the science. Oh the science. This could have been so cool and what made this book stand out as a haunted house story. The book tries to expound on scientific theory, physics, and quantum mechanics and how hauntings and spirits could be manifestations of things like different dimensions or some other unknown aspect of science, but all it really does is throw around words like "dark matter" and "particles" with abandon, instead of actually delving into these ideas. What we got instead of actual science or even cool weird bizarre science, were pointless charts, a physicist who barely talks about physics and a very woo-woo ending with a lot of hand waving. I know we were supposed to feel in awe at the cosmic horror and the unknowable universe slant that the ending gave us, but it just seemed like a bunch of mumbo jumbo was thrown at the reader and like the author needed a convenient way to wrap up the story without having a solid grasp on what kind of story he wanted to tell. In a word it was frustrating.
Skip this book and watch Grave Encounters instead.
Disclaimer: I won this kindle ebook in a Goodreads Giveaway. Clearly I am not swayed by this, lol...
The mixed media/found footage style of writing in this book was a clunky mess that lacked any narrative tension and made for a disjointed story and silly seeming action sequences (the writing style alone almost made me DNF the book at around page 92, sadly I did not listen to my instincts and forged ahead). The book in my opinion was not scary at all and was often meandering and boring. The characters felt one dimensional and lacked personality and depth. I also hated all the 60's crap, it just made everything feel even more silly and ridiculous.
Now let's talk about the science. Oh the science. This could have been so cool and what made this book stand out as a haunted house story. The book tries to expound on scientific theory, physics, and quantum mechanics and how hauntings and spirits could be manifestations of things like different dimensions or some other unknown aspect of science, but all it really does is throw around words like "dark matter" and "particles" with abandon, instead of actually delving into these ideas. What we got instead of actual science or even cool weird bizarre science, were pointless charts, a physicist who barely talks about physics and a very woo-woo ending with a lot of hand waving. I know we were supposed to feel in awe at the cosmic horror and the unknowable universe slant that the ending gave us, but it just seemed like a bunch of mumbo jumbo was thrown at the reader and like the author needed a convenient way to wrap up the story without having a solid grasp on what kind of story he wanted to tell. In a word it was frustrating.
Skip this book and watch Grave Encounters instead.
Disclaimer: I won this kindle ebook in a Goodreads Giveaway. Clearly I am not swayed by this, lol...
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