Kill Creek by Scott Thomas {Haunted House Book Review}
During my recent “haunted house” binge, I uncovered what may be one of my favorite works in the subgenre so far. KILL CREEK by Scott Thomas follows four horror authors as they spend the night in a haunted house for an “interview” conducted by an Irish trust fund baby. Don’t think for a moment that this book repeats those old tropes of surviving a haunted house for the night. No, the Finch House haunts each author in a way that will resonate with any writer out there.
I think this quote will help give you an idea of what I mean without spoiling anything:
Blog Host: “I can’t force you to do this [spend the night at Finch House]. You’re free to leave now. Or you can stay the night—we have rooms booked for each of you at a hotel on the Plaza—and you can leave in the morning.” He leaned over the table, the spotlight overhead casting long streaks of shadow down his face. “Or you can come with me to Kill Creek and, by the first of November, you won’t just be the four most famous horror authors in the country; you’ll be the four most famous authors on the planet.”
“We’re already famous,” Sebastian countered, his posture stiffening. (Sebastian is the old-school literary horror writer).
Wainwright slowly nodded. “Yes, sir, you are. To a certain generation. But what happens when they forget you?”
He looked to Daniel Slaughter (a writer similar to RJ Stine of Goosebumps). “Or they outgrow you.”
To Moore (edgy author of violent erotica). “Or they misunderstand you?”
To Sam (main character). “Or they give up on you?”
Expect the sort of character-driven horrors seen in works by Stephen King, Joe Hill, and Paul Tremblay (as opposed to the slasher atmosphere of Matheson’s Hell House etc.) Also expect to feel downright moved by some passages. Here’s one of my favorites:
Sebastian ran a finger over the spines of the books on the shelf. It did not matter to him what the titles were. They were books. They were filled with thoughts. Their relevance was debatable; he was sure some were exceptional while others were the works of lesser minds. He was not above calling a book unreadable. But their literary merit wasn’t important at this moment. They were words strung together to represent the firing of neurons and the transferring of information through synapses. They were human minds set into paper, and Sebastian loved every single one of them, even the ones he found disposable.
Like that blasted Adudel book, he thought.
Yes, even the Adudel book deserved to exist, because the man himself had sat down and pounded keys until all of the clutter in his brain was carefully organized and displayed for others to experience.
This is why we do it, Sebastian told himself as he looked down the row of leather-bound tomes. To live on. To exist when we stop existing. To be remembered.
“It’s a beautiful room.”
So if you’re not only looking for a fantastic haunted house book, but also a deep outlook on writing as a profession, look no further than KILL CREEK.
