Book Review: Kill Creek by Scott Thomas

"No house is born bad. Most are thought of fondly, even lovingly. In the beginning, the house on Kill Creek was no exception."

I've heard so much hype about this book and was so thrilled so many people loved it because Scott Thomas's Kill Creek  deserves the praise. If you will allow me to fangirl for a moment: a lot of the book takes place in my very own home sweet home: Kansas! I can't express how cool it feels to have the plot of a popular novel take place in many of the areas I grew up. From the university town of Lawrence to downtown Kansas City, it was easy to visualize the surroundings! To make it even better, I pass the exit for Kill Creek Road on my way to work every single day, and every day I think, "Maybe today I'll finally take a drive down that road and see if the haunted Finch House (or the inspiration for said house) really exists."

[I still haven't mustered up the lady-balls to drive down that road but.......someday]

Kill Creek is the gripping story of four well-known authors (Sam McGarver, Daniel Slaughter, T.C. Moore, and Sebastian Cole) who agree to spend Halloween night in a haunted house as part of a publicity stunt. But these writers are not prepared for the awful horror that awaits them. What at first starts out as a harmless spooky sleepover ends up being a fight for survival.

"The house on Kill Creek still stands. Empty. Quiet. But not forgotten. Not entirely. Rumors are its life, stories its breath."

As I was reading this book, I caught tiny homages to Shirley Jackson's The Haunting of Hill House and Stephen King's The Shining. The story is set up with a similar structure--unsuspecting guests with hidden secrets and dark pasts are invited to stay in an evil residence that slowly starts to invade their minds in hopes of destroying them and/or trapping them within its walls forever. But what set this haunted house story apart from others was the fact that the characters themselves were writers of horror, and ironically these literary weavers of the macabre web have the tables turned on them when they become the victims.

Speaking of characters, this book had some great ones, each with relatable fears and doubts that writers experience all the time--fear of irrelevancy, of never being enough, of failing others, of running dry on ideas, or losing a once loyal audience. I absolutely loved the exchanges between these characters. The dialogue was fantastic. Probably one of my favorite parts of the book is an interview in which each author speaks on their personal definition of the horror genre. However, I (like many other readers apparently) found a few issues with the story's female character. I wasn't a huge fan of the super aggressive, hyper-sexualized T. C. Moore who believed "pain was pleasure", and always wrote while naked. I'm not sure if the character's purpose was an attempt at girl-power forcing its way into a male-dominated genre, but it was...a bit much. Although, I didn't hate her as a character and will say she did have some of the best lines. Plus her dedication to her strict seven-hour writing routine is incredibly enviable.

Now, while this book is definitely a horror novel, it's not so much scary as it is dark. Some pretty grotesque and awful events take place, but nothing that I personally found myself lying awake in terror over. I loved how the house used the fears, pains, and insecurities of the characters to create a personal living nightmare for each of them, breaking them down and revealing their weaknesses.

All in all, I was not disappointed after finishing this book. Well paced, deliciously dark plot, great characters, great dialogue. What more could I ask for? I gave it 5 out of 5 stars for many reasons. (1) It was the perfect read for the Halloween season. Plenty of blood, plenty of horror, plenty of shock. (2) This is Scott Thomas's FIRST book, and for a debut like this I've got to give the man credit. It's great. (3) It takes place in Kansas! Come on! Can you blame me for being so embarrassingly biased? I seriously kid you not, it almost feels like when your favorite pop singer points you out in a crowd of thousands and smiles in your direction. It's a pretty great feeling.

So please pick this one up, save it for next October when you want something chilling. Or read it now! Winter is coming, it's cold outside! What are you gonna do inside all day anyway?

*trigger warnings: domestic violence and suicide


(5/5⭐)

                                                                        xo Nina