Elder God Dance Squad

by Carrie Harris

When the escapades of Audrey Labadie's cheating boyfriend take center stage during a show rehearsal, she up and leaves her beloved theater group to avoid the humiliation. Finding refuge in her high school's dance squad, she believes the drama is behind her. Until the earthquake.
Audrey's dreams become plagued with creepy tentacle creatures crawling out of a sinkhole underneath her school in the aftermath of the seemingly unnatural natural disaster. Dreams that soon become a horrific reality for her and her new teammates.
Faced with an ancient evil intent on taking over their small town, Audrey and her ragtag group of friends are the only ones dancing in their way. Every dance squad has its rivals, but she didn't expect them to have gills.
Elder God Dance Squad is a perfect literary storm where Stranger Things and Bring It On collide into a dark and hilarious genre mash-up of epic proportion.
Grab your copy of Elder God Dance Squad today and discover the thrilling Lovecraftian remix from Marvel writer Carrie Harris that everyone is raving about!

Genres: Audiobook, Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal, Humor, Ebooks

324 pages, Hardcover

First published September 14, 2021

About the author

Carrie Harris is a geek-of-all-trades and proud of it. Brains are her specialty; she used to work at a lab where they were delivered daily via FedEx. After that, it seemed only natural to write a zombie book. Now she lives in Utah with her ninja-doctor husband and three zombie-obsessed children.

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

What if Lovecraft was just a girlboss? Well, we'd probably get this story.

I'm kidding. This was great. Loved the main couple, they were soooo sweet and the pacing was just right. It's so delightfully campy, the definition of just turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.

I found Nora a little bit annoying, but that's mostly because her descent into madness happens so quickly it feels unnatural, BUT I don't think that's necessarily a deal-breaker. Plus, teens are gonna be teens you know?

Anyway, yeah. Would totally recommend it if you want a fun campy YA Lovecraft retelling of sorts.

[NotTheTea · Rating 2 out of 5]

What the heck I just read?

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok so I literally just started this book and zoomed right through it. I have to say there are a lot of similarities to Buffy the Vampire Slayer with the high school setting and sink hole pretty much being a hell mouth. I got a kick out of this book especially the Yellow Man. He was interesting. Now for Constantine I wanted to rip seven ways to Sunday he’s such an ass.

All in all this was a fun easy read.

I received this book from BookSirens and I’m Lea my review voluntarily

[Leah Clifford · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a fun and creepy Halloween romp!

[Kati]

DNF page 42.

This is not the good campy fun that I was wanting.

I think this would have been better as a graphic novel.

The characters are two dimensional and the plot is just not moving to keep my interest.

[Leighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the publisher and BookSirens for this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Elder God Dance Squad by Carrie Harris is a fun YA horror novel that will appeal to fans of Teen Wolf and My Babysitter's A Vampire. The story revolves around Audrey, who has just caught her boyfriend cheating on her during a drama club rehearsal. She decides to join her school's dance squad instead. Little does she know that the dance squad is about to have some drama of their own. Mysterious earthquakes, horrifying dreams, tentacles with eyeballs - something seriously freaky is going on, and only the dance squad can stop an evil being from entering the school and then taking over the world.

Here is a fun excerpt from Chapter 1, which is from Audrey's point of view:

"It just proved that you couldn’t trust anyone. Her best friend was a passive aggressive witch, and her boyfriend was a curtain humper. Her fury over these facts gave her strength when she wanted to fold. After all, she hadn’t done anything wrong. She hadn’t stabbed her best friend in the back. She hadn’t cheated after years of playing the Kim to his Conrad Birdie, the Juliet to his Romeo, the Stella to his tortured Stanley in Streetcar."

Overall, Elder God Dance Squad is a fun and spooky YA horror novel and the perfect Halloween read! The first part, when Audrey discovers her cheating boyfriend, is a great example of high school drama, and the latter part introduces the Lovecraftian elements. One highlight of this book is the creepy scenes involving tentacles and underwater monsters. There were some parts that seriously freaked me out and made me wish I hadn't read them so close to bedtime. The YA and horror elements of the plot also blend very well together. I could totally see this as a movie in the future. If you're intrigued by the excerpt above, or if you're a fan of YA horror, I highly recommend that you check out this book when it comes out in September!

[Siobhain · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review: Elder God Dance Squad by Carrie Harris.
 
I want to start by saying if there is one thing I love more than anything it’s Horror…now throw in Dark Humor and Horror Comedy and you have me hooked already. Add in Elder Gods and well…I figured I would love this and I wasn’t wrong.
 
We follow Audrey Labadie through high school – seems typical right but it’s not. Following the escapes of her cheating boyfriend Audrey has to leave her beloved theatre group and soon finds refuge in her school’s dance squad. The drama is well and truly behind her until the earthquake.
 
Slowly Audrey’s dreams become plagued with tentacle creatures crawling out from underneath her school in the aftermath. These dreams though soon become a reality for her and her teammates. Faced with an ancient evil planning to the plunge their small town into chaos, Audrey and her ragtag group of friends decide to take matters into their own hands. Every dance squad, high school or not has its rivals but they didn’t expect them to have gills!
 
Filled to brim with darkly funny moments, hints and references to other literary works and wonderful characters this book is definitely one of my favourites of 2021 and I will be sure to re-read this again. The characters are memorable, the story is funny, if a little dark a times and the style is engaging and easy to follow. I will definitely be getting a physical copy of this and have already recommended it my friends who share my humor and love of all things horror.
 
 

[Books_inthe_Batcave · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bring It On vs Cthulhu.

3.5 stars.

Audrey loves the drama club until she discovers her boyfriend cheating & her 'best friend' knew about it. Audrey then decides she needs a break from all that drama & tries out for the dance squad. Along the way she makes new friends, reconnects with old ones & finds a new love interest. All is going well until earthquakes start & suddenly a portion of the school is pulled into a sink hole. Then the nightmares start & people around Audrey start acting strange. A tentacle god will use a rival schools dance squad to bring him forth & Audrey & a few in the know must find a way to stop it before its too late.

I enjoyed the overall premise & the characters. It was great to have a bunch of female friends have each others backs & be supportive. Developing all the friendships between the characters did slow the story down for the first third of the story. But it seemed this was necessary for when the friends came together in the end. I did find the ending rushed & wish it had played out a little longer with the god creature.

Even though I did enjoyed this, I couldn't quiet connect with it, something seemed to be missing for me, but I would still recommend for any fans of YA horror or anyone interested in how a high school dance squad takes on an Elder God unless you have a fear of tentacles.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

[Heather Salter-Purves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carre Harris' Elder God Dance Squad is a little young adult horror novel. It gave me that sort of Riverdale meets Cheer vibes. 3.5 stars
This book was an easy and quick read. The premise and the characters overall gave an excellent development of female friendship. However, I found the pacing a little rushed towards the end of the novel. This was in contrast to the slow start to the book when we had to establish new relationships within an already existing high school ecosystem. The added elements of HP Lovecraft started to provide me with the weirder side of horror I gravitate towards during my reading. However, I did not find myself clicking with a few of the characters and the decisions made during the novel. I also found some of the character names a bit distracting at times, which pulled me out of the reading experience. Overall I highly recommend this if you're looking for a cute young adult horror this spooky season. Read the elements as long with the campy sort humour of Riverdale or Buffy the Vampire Slayer.
Thank you to Book Siren and the book publisher for providing an earlier copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw someone say that this book gave them "Bring It On" meets "Stranger Things" vibes and I have to say I 100% agree. I did like the book, it had all the romantic and supernatural elements it promise and with the fast pace, it made for a very enjoyable book. But, I just didn't click with certain parts of the book. Nonetheless, it was still a nice read which helped me out of my annual school reading slump.

I did receive an e-ARC copy of "Elder God Dance Squad" for free, and this is an honest review. :)

[Sylri · Rating 4 out of 5]

A real hidden gem! I’m not sure how I never heard about this, since it’s right up my alley: a cheerleading squad has to stop a rival squad from summoning an eldritch deity? What’s not to love??

I was a little worried this book was going to be like other YA “Cthulhu Mythos” books I’ve read, where the story is said to take place in Arkham but then the name of the town is about as Mythosy as it gets and it’s just a standard supernatural story.
That’s definitely not the case here!
There are names like Derleth and Innsmouth High - I think it’s a little funny that Derleth’s name is used for the rival school. His Elder Sign is used quite well in the story, so it’s all in good fun, similar to Lovecraft and friends putting each other’s names and creations into their stories.

If you’re a fan of the wider Mythos, this will be a treat. There’s even a new Great Old One created for this story (they’re called Elder Gods in here, but all of the terms are used so interchangeably in the fandom you’ll quickly get the gist). I always love to see a new Great Old One - the more the merrier!
Derleth’s Elder Sign is quite important, and it’s used appropriately based on Lovecraft’s original stories. Also, one of my favorite Great Old Ones makes a delightful appearance (or two or three) and makes the ending just perfect.

The author does a very good job writing the mainly female teenage characters, so I could see this book not being for the usual Cthulhu Mythos fan. It’s going to focus on the concerns and daily lives of teenage girls, who are also trying to deal with their classmates turning into fish monsters.
Very fun and campy Mythos story that’s perfect for Halloween reading.

[Jenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Over all I enjoyed this book but it did have a few editing problems. The first couple of chapters I had a bit of trouble with the segues but then it smoothed out. There was a Princess Bride reference, some good humor and a bit of horror mixed in there. I thought the teenagers were very believable and I think the angst and energy of popular high school cliques was very well done. All in all this was an enjoyable read.
I received this book free from BookSirens and I am happy to leave this reveiw.

[Samantha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the genre of high school teenager takes on the paranormal. It's giving Buffy, Riverdale, Jennifer's Body, My Best Friend's Exorcism, etc. This time, teenagers tackle H.P. Lovecraft's Elder God creations. And yes I pictured Hastur as incredibly hot. This was a super fun read. I wish there was less of a romance subplot to make room for other high school drama and other creepy experiences. 4.5 Stars.

[☾La Musa literaria☽ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Strange Things/The lost boy vibes

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

An entertaining comic/horror YA novel for fans of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Stranger Things

[Lynette · Rating 4 out of 5]

A pop-y fun YA with Lovecraftian elements.

[KAROL · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐3.5⭐

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

Yes, the book is as cheesy as the title, Elder God Dance Squad, sounds. But I actually had a really good time listening to it. Sometimes you just need a fun silly book that allows you to just sit back and enjoy. It has the typical teen drama of trying to figure out where one fits in, navigating changing friendships and finding out about yourself along the way. Throw in a demon who recruits teens to perform a dance ritual to release him from his eternal prison and you have a really fun time.

I like all of the characters. I really enjoyed that most of them came away having learned a lesson or at least changed in some way. There is a very cute romance that allows Aubrey to learn what a good relationship is like and how one should be treated. There are really cryptic and creepy characters. This book very much gave off Buffy the Vampire Slayer monster of the week vibes. I think this would be a fun addition to any YA horror collection. I highly recommend giving it a try.

[Raygun ∆ Gothic · Rating 2 out of 5]

I hoped this was supposed to be funny, but....dnf

I think this might be cringe only in a bad way and I'm confused about how a silly title like that was employed. Also, the MC is no Buffy. She's more of an early Cordelia, which I want no part of.

Another reviewer @Kati said exactly what I couldn't figure out how to say:

This is not the good campy fun that I was wanting.

I think this would have been better as a graphic novel.

The characters are two dimensional and the plot is just not moving to keep my interest.

More like this next time, author: 😑👾💃

....What's Spock got to do with it?

I went ahead and give it to stars for the author being literate and for the title. I really like the title.

[Alice · Rating 4 out of 5]

Exactly what it says on the tin. Fun. A little shallow.