Maul Rats: A Slasher Novel

by Ivy Tholen

It’s 1999 and there are more people dropping than shopping at the dying Lone Star Mall.

While Ginny Todd’s parents are off saving the world from Y2K, she is trapped in a small town in Texas, forced to live with her neglectful aunt and uncle and her unstable cousin, Michelle.

When Ginny stumbles upon a gruesome murder in an abandoned section of the mall, she finds herself wrapped up in a murder mystery over a year in the making. The worst part? As more bodies pile up and the police follow the most likely suspect, Ginny begins to believe Michelle may be behind it all.

Between a freakish killer in a baby-doll mascot costume, a potential killer in the bedroom next door, and a mall dripping with blood, Ginny only knows one She needs to get the hell out of Texas.

Genres: Horror, Thriller, Young Adult, Fiction, Horror Thriller, Summer Reads

394 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 17, 2023

Reviews

[Stitching Ghost · Rating 3 out of 5]

Way too long for the story it had to tell.

[myo ⋆｡˚ ❀ * · Rating 2 out of 5]

this was just really long, i didn’t care about the characters and it was too long for it to be a slasher. it took so long to get to the point. the killer in the end was kinda boring i think like it made sense i just wish it was more fun

[Erika · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is my first Ivy Tholen, and I'll now be reading the rest of her books because this was one wild ride. I absolutely loved it. Slasher fans will have a great time with this horror read. It's set in the 90s at a mall. People are getting murdered one by one. A great twist!

[Horror Sickness · Rating 3 out of 5]

We are in the 90s in a small town where people that have been to the local mall, seem to die in very tragic ‘accidents’.

The police do not seem to have any clue on who is the killer and while they are trying to figure it out, well… more people are dying.

Ginny will try to find out what is going on and who is behind the kills because if she doesn’t, she might be the next victim.

This was a fun slasher and it had many cool bloody deaths and I loved to read about them. It is something that the author really does well.

However I do have to admit that this book was perhaps a bit too long for its own good. It felt like it started to drag a little bit and it took ages to get to the true climax.

I really liked Ginny and Josh but we get introduced to many different characters that live in this town and that can also be overwhelming at times.

The ending and the reveal was not as exciting as I had hoped and I think that is more on me and it is just my personal taste when it comes to slasher endings.

Overall it was fun and had many great moments but it could have been edited down a bit so that it would have been more fast paced as you kind of expect that from a slasher.

[Natalie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maul Rats had all of the elements of a great Halloween read. Serial killers in crazy costumes, classic-horror-movie-obsessed video rental guys, empty movie theaters and nasty popcorn flavored slushies.. Sounds like you can't go wrong?? I mean, I came for the 90s mall vibes and stayed for the Halloween slasher novel sans the gross misogyny that usually comes along with it....

Listen, I gave this book a chance after feeling a little.... underwhelmed by the execution of Tastes Like Candy but impressed by the vibes. I thought maybe her newest book would be better. And it was, but not enough.

We'll start with the good:

-the vibes (can't argue with a slasher set in a mall in the 90s or a classic horror obsessed heroine who befriends the quirky video store owner)
-the fact that it's impossible to find slashers written by women and I refuse to read horror written by men because it's ALWAYS grossly misogynistic in one way or another (someone try and prove me wrong)
-the characters... one of my complaints with her last book was that the characters were un-memorable and these were.. better. Not great, but better. I could name more than two characteristics about more than one of them.

And finish with the bad:

-too LONG...
-hard to build tension when your characters aren't scared.
-seriously idk what it is with this author and flashbacks and weird formatting, but it's impossible to build any sort of tension if you know something bad is going to happen because you've popped into another random POV...
-Ginny just felt so disconnected from the whole thing the whole time because she was new and she wasn't there for most of the incidents... girl is the main POV and she's not there for half the kills?? It just didn't work for me. It never felt like she was in danger, so I wasn't scared.
-just because it's the 90s doesn't mean we should sprinkle the R slur or the F slur in there?? Hello????
-I continue to feel this author is not a girls girl.. idk why I get that vibe but like.. why are all of these girls so catty?
-the ENDING sucked. commit to an ending or don't I hate a fade to black. the end.

Listen. I really wanted to like this book because I really wanted a good Halloween scary campy fun atmospheric slasher without misogyny and preferably written by a woman a la Fear Street 1994. Instead, what I got was another book that was alright. The writing was fine, the vibes were immaculate and the aesthetic was exactly what I was looking for, but that just makes the lackluster execution even more disappointing. 2 stars.

[Raymie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great slasher novel if you’re looking to get into slasher horror. The gore is still there leaving you scared to turn the next page.

My favorite is still Taste Like Candy but this is a close second as it has a more built up plot and storyline. I definitely wouldn’t be mad if Ivy Tholen wrote more slasher novels.

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Would have been 5 stars but, like so many, could have been 100 pages shorter. I feel like other horror fans will enjoy this one.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first Ivy Tholen, and I'll now be reading the rest of her books. It's set in the 90s at a mall. People are getting murdered one by one. A great twist! Didn't love the characters as much. And I hate how the parents didn't care about the kids.

[✨ Aaron Jeffery ✨]

DNF 10% in
BORING

[Shana C · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was entertained the whole time. Kept me guessing on who the killer may be.

What happened to josh though?!

[Mercy Nurse · Rating 2 out of 5]

Should have DNF’d this one. Way too much filler to the point when something interesting happened I was already too burnt out to be excited or invested in the actual action, which was too few and far between.

[Trisha · Rating 1 out of 5]

Main character was insufferable

[Hot Mess Sommelière ~ Caro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very gorey, cinematic teen slasher with a POC protagonist (yey!)

This one really carries the deep love for B-movie slasher cinema, and not just because the author invented a whole new horror movie franchise with a black final girl that the protagonist is very much obsessed with, or because Friday the 13th, Black Mass, Texas Chainsaw Massacre and more are name-dropped.

No, it's really the atmosphere of this story that gives the campiness, the OTT silly gore, the bloodlust, the unspoken suspicions and the superficial adolescent drama of a slasher movie.

I loved every second and if you want to see annoying teenagers die, go for it.

I also really recommend Ivy Tholen's first novel, Tastes Like Candy. Unlike this ensemble cast, Tastes Like Candy is pretty much girls only :D

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I initially thought that 400 pages was going to be way too long for a 90s throwback teen slasher. I mean, it's like twice as long as a real 90s teen slasher--that can't all be necessary, right? Boy was I glad I was proven wrong! Because while this started out a bit slow, it quickly became engrossing, and ultimately a total page-turner, with multiple characters I got invested in. Plus, the main draw, which was to be hanging out in the mall in the 90s again, well that was super fun as well.

Also loved the video store across the street from the mall that refused to start selling DVDs and stubbornly stuck with VHS for as long as possible, would've loved to have been able to hang out there back in the day. Which reminds me, gotta rewatch Clerks soon...



Anyway, definitely check this out if you're into reliving the 90s, and/or teen slashers in general, it did not disappoint!

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

My rating is more like a 3.5, but what the actual hell.... how you gonna end it like that Ivy? What kind of monster are you? Ugh. I enjoyed Tastes Like Candy a lot more than this book, but this one wasn't bad either. I did deduct half a star for that ending though.

[Mylene · Rating 3 out of 5]

Same Problem as “Tastes like Candy”

I gave author Ivy Tholen another try but I felt the same way about this book as “Tastes like Candy”. Both had awesome concepts and sounded a lot more fun than they were. Although I liked “Maul Rats”better, it dragged. It took me forever to read something that I should have wrapped up in one or two sittings. Perhaps, I am just not the right audience for this. I could see this being a better fit for pre-teens. Too bad!

[Shellbellba · Rating 3 out of 5]

Damn, this book was good! I did NOT see the killer reveal coming! This book had me on the edge of my seat the entire time!

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interconnected universe 🤩🥳

[Jeremy Fowler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The ending of this book made all the building up so worth it! You’ll enjoy this if you’re a fan of My Heart is A Chainsaw!

[Debbie Eaker · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s something about post-July 4th that puts me in the spookiest of spooky moods. Slasher Summer is the kickoff to spooky season and I refuse to accept any disagreements on this statement.

This book was on multiple slasher rec tiktoks, so when I saw it on Kindle Unlimited I knew I had to read it (especially since Maas has put me in another book hangover 😩)

Maul Rats is set in the 90’s, in a random Texas town, at a failing shopping mall. More people have died in the mall than visit it daily for shopping. It all started when Jenny gets accidentally hit by a car in the mall parking lot. A year later it seems like the ghost of Jenny is killing it off every single person who was there to witness her death.

It was kind of long and drawn out, but I really liked it. The cover art is ✨chef’s kids✨ and the 90’s vibe is perfect. I didn’t form any attachments to any of the characters, so no worries when they meet their very gruesome end.

🛑 suicide, self-harm, drug abuse, and it’s is VERY graphic/gory. If you’re squeamish, probably don’t read it 🛑

[Joshua Hair · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had a blast with Maul Rats and will be seeking out Ivy Tholen’s other work as well. I’ll keep it short on here and talk more about the book on my YouTube channel. Suffice it to say that if you are at all into horror movies of the 80’s and 90’s then you’ll have a blast with this book. I was initially worried about the length, as 425 pages seemed quite long for a horror in this style, but it never became boring or a slog. There are still some unanswered questions by the end, but us folks who love horror (especially the movies) should be used to that. Overall it was a great experience with a cool killer that I would love to see make it on to the big screen some day.

[Jeff Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

So. Many. Horror. Movie. References.

I giggled to myself so many times throughout the book at names of things because I was able to recognize them from horror movies. Also, Bradbury as a street name.

Maul Rats was a ton of fun. I loved the story. I loved Ginny’s relationship to everything happening. I feel like this is a perspective that we don’t usually get.

Ivy Tholen knows her genre. If you want fun, this is a great book!

[Grace Galvan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a good slasher novel. Set in the late 1990's, this novel was not overly saturated with on the nose period specific references. I loved the Easter eggs she dropped in from her other books into this plot. I won't go so far as to call this a prequel but all her books seem house in the same universe.

[TBG]

Ten pages in. About twenty people down. Not deaths. Just name dropping within the clusterf*ck of exposition. Dnf'd.

[Jude Deluca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Short version: I couldn't get enough of this book oh my God. I had to stop myself from speeding through it in one reading so I could savor it a little longer.

Long version: I am admittedly not much for new horror when it comes to novels. My focus tends to stick with short stories and anthologies mainly because I feel authors are sometimes able to pack in more when they have less pages. That was not the case with Maul Rats.

I received this book as part of a Secret Santa gift exchange from Nadine Stewart, and spent a couple of weeks slowly reading it. I wasn't really sure what to expect, but this had everything I love in horror fiction. Tholen genuinely cares about the world she's created and the characters who live in it, taking time to flesh them out.

One of my favorite aspects of Maul Rats was the thought Tholen put into crafting the "Across the Street" movies which Ginny loves so much. I wasn't expecting the franchise to be acknowledged outright as a knockoff of Elm Street, but that just highlighted Ginny's love for it even more. I say this as someone who also tends to gravitate to lesser known horror movies and "rip off" films so I get where Ginny's coming from.

The issues within Michelle's family felt believable and Michelle avoided becoming outright unlikable due to her behavior. I appreciate that Tholen makes it obvious if anyone deserves scorn, it's Ginny's aunt and uncle for their piss poor job of helping their daughter heal.

I can easily see myself reading this book over and over again, and it helped me make it through an incredibly unbearable holiday season.

[Rae Fisher · Rating 4 out of 5]

TWs: fatphobia, graphic brutal violence, outdated references/slurs used in regards to mental illness, etc.

It's 1999. With the threat of a massive computer error looming on the horizon in the form of Y2K, Virginia "Ginny" Todd's parents are racing off to Australia with their team of computer scientists to attempt to stop the world-ending chaos that everyone just KNEW was coming. So Ginny finds herself in her worst nightmare: living in Texas for her Senior year with her traumatized cousin and her flighty uncle and borderline neglectful aunt.

Oh, also, someone is killing people left and right at the local mall. Brutally, actually.

I really do not want to give too much away with this one because, honestly, this was not what I expected when I read over the synopsis that Goodreads provided-this was actually way, way better. Y'all already know I'm a fan of Ivy Tholen's writing and the way she writes horror. This was a nod to the old-school slashers of 80s and 90s, which was the perfect move for the timeframe this book was written in.

Like I said, I don't want to give a single spoiler here, but this fits right along with the Tastes Like Candy books as a standalone scary starlet all on her own.

[Roxy · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️This played out like a typical 90s slasher movie- and I LOVED it! Maul Rats was reminiscent of Scream in the sense that it made fun of itself and it referenced a bunch of older slasher movies and for that, I devoured this book. The twist and the ending made me knock down half a star, but let me stew on it some more and I’ll make a final decision.

This book is about a girl named Ginny who is sent to Texas to live with her aunt, uncle and cousins. It takes place in 1999 and there’s a big Y2K scare happening in the background. Her cousin’s, Michelle, best friend died a year earlier and she is still mourning her loss, as is their tight knit group of friends. However, these friends are slowly showing their true colors and someone from the past still isn’t over the incident and is seeking revenge on these teenagers.

Although I genuinely enjoyed this book, I did notice flaws. It felt as though it was trying to be a lot of things. It had some supernatural elements, it had slasher themes and it felt like it wrapped up quickly amd abruptly. I recommend it for the sole purpose of nostalgia and because I liked the writing. I’ll definitely be reading more from this author!

[Miranda Castle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maul Rats is a fun slasher movie, set at the end of the 1990s. With heavy vibes of the nightmare on elm street. About the town of Belldam after people begin getting murdered at the local dead mall.

This book had some very great points about it, though a little confusing at the beginning when it switches from a book started by Jenny and then goes to being a book about Ginny. I love the friendship that grew around Ginny and Josh, and the mentions to a bunch of classic slasher movies as well. I was left trying to figure out who was going to be the murderer. The person that it ended up being I would have never guessed it to be. With the reasoning behind the murders really felt like how the murderer reasons why they did it in the first place.

Though I do think this book had some extra stuff added that wasn't really needed in it. Also there were a few grammar errors in the book.

It was overall a fun book to read when you're in the mood for a high school horror book.

[Pulp_Fiction_Books · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this and still rated it five stars despite the fact I wasn't a fan of the killer reveal (I thought there was a much better set up for an alternate suspect). The reason It's still five stars? So many reasons... Ivy Tholen's books are so fun and so well written, she absolutely excels at writing fantastically unique and wacky antagonists. I felt the characters were also so well written and developed (a criticism I had with her previous book 'Tastes Like Candy' which despite that fact was also a five star read). The fact that she created a whole horror franchise in here too was fantastic and to make the 'final girl' in that franchise and in this book black was another positive for me (I'm white fyi). Finally there are subtle Easter eggs sprinkled throughout giving nods to her previous work which I absolutely ate up and loved and which inferred that we're dealing with a shared universe which is always fun.

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'll admit some of the language could be a bit jarring at times but it makes sense with the setting and with the shallowness of certain characters.

I love the world building set up here; the fictional film series the main character loves, the mall during the end of popularity/beginning of the end, and the small town power dynamics. It fleshes out the setting and just deepens the mystery.

As a horror nerd I loved all the references. One, in particular, is a Chekhov's gun that pays off EXTREMELY well and actually got me to yell "Fuck off!" at my book when I got to that part. Scared my poor roommate who was in the room and I had to explain why I was caught off guard 😅

It reminds me a lot of Scream, which is alluded to several times, and the detective/mystery storyline was just as enjoyable as the graphic and creative kills from a horrifyingly brilliant killer in the form of a Strawberry Shortcake rip-off refurbished to be the mascot of Texas!