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Terror at Back Woods Lodge
Back Woods Lodge has re-opened its doors. Thanks to The Anvil Group, hunting is off the table, so the proprietors have shifted direction, turning the old place into an artists’ retreat.
Things aren’t going great for Paul Webster, once an artist of some acclaim, so he accepts a job guiding the first skilled painters who have been through a divorce. The point of the retreat is art, but Paul still finds a fresh love interest in Carla Moore. Before their love has any chance to bloom, a monster creeps from the thick forest to feed on the artists.
…And you know what they if you see one monster, there’s probably more hiding in the shadows. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
Things aren’t going great for Paul Webster, once an artist of some acclaim, so he accepts a job guiding the first skilled painters who have been through a divorce. The point of the retreat is art, but Paul still finds a fresh love interest in Carla Moore. Before their love has any chance to bloom, a monster creeps from the thick forest to feed on the artists.
…And you know what they if you see one monster, there’s probably more hiding in the shadows. But maybe that’s not such a bad thing.
218 pages, Paperback
Published October 1, 2024
5 people are currently reading
7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
October 4, 2024
Over the years, Eddie Generous has found a groove that’s let him continue to release fantastic, slasher/thriller/creature feature novellas at a rate that is simply mind-boggling.
Don’t believe me? Go take a look at his output listed on Goodreads. And while there, don’t look at the sheer volume of releases and think to yourself that they are not good. No, Eddie continues to pump out fantastic gems that grab you and don’t let go.
When he shared on IG that his next book was going to be released on his own, instead of with Severed Press (as they’ve started to go the route of using AI covers – BOOOOO), I was so excited. Look at that cover! At first you think it’s a werewolf, but you’d be wrong. Instead, it’s some massive rat-beast, trashing a car. Sign me up!
What I liked: The story is set in the 80’s and follows a group of divorced folks, who all head into the British Columbia wilderness for an art retreat. A former hunting lodge has been repurposed by the owners, looking to get new business. What they don’t know is that hundreds of years ago, a horrible event occurred and the company behind it, is still up to nefarious things.
Generous gives us a brief introduction to the folks who’re attending, and then from that moment on, it’s essentially all teeth, claws, blood-fountains and screams. The group begins to be picked off, even as love blooms between a few, and as more go missing, those still alive contact the RCMP to get help, though, as expected, the cops believe this to be a rogue grizzly or moose.
Throughout, the scenes of carnage are the highlights and easily remind the readers that Generous is the same person behind the Unnerving series ‘Rewind or Die.’ This could’ve absolutely been a featured novella when those books were coming out and would’ve been a highlight of the series.
The final quarter of the story features a very unique ‘revelation’ that transforms some of the prologue into a more impactful aspect, as well as gives us an unexpected hero to battle the rat-beast. It was a very fun, engaging moment and allowed the epilogue to feel connected and not thrown on for word or page count filling.
What I didn’t like: The reality here, is that all the characters, even the main ones, are very light in terms of depth of development and in some cases, even description. It does lessen the impact of many of their deaths, but honestly, it didn’t both me, because I expected no survivors. The way Eddie framed this one, I figured it was a creature-slasher where this rat-beast would come in, lay waste to the attendee’s and return to the woods.
I will say, the part that will either work or not for people will absolutely be the transformative aspect to the story near the end. Readers are either going to pump their fists or shake their heads. In my case, I was stoked, but I can see why some may not respond to it.
Why you should buy this: While different in vein to Eddie’s monumental releases ‘Plantation Pan’ and ‘The Walking Son,’ this novella is a tight, action-packed story akin to his ‘Savage Beasts of the Arctic Circle’ – only more fun. It might be because of the setting, or that it just felt like Generous was having a blast writing this, but not matter, this one hummed along from start to finish and had me grinning like a mad man throughout. If you’re a huge fan of Hunter Shea’s style of creature-slashers, then this might be the perfect Generous novella to dive into, if you’ve never read him before. Otherwise long time fans of Eddie’s are in for a treat!
Don’t believe me? Go take a look at his output listed on Goodreads. And while there, don’t look at the sheer volume of releases and think to yourself that they are not good. No, Eddie continues to pump out fantastic gems that grab you and don’t let go.
When he shared on IG that his next book was going to be released on his own, instead of with Severed Press (as they’ve started to go the route of using AI covers – BOOOOO), I was so excited. Look at that cover! At first you think it’s a werewolf, but you’d be wrong. Instead, it’s some massive rat-beast, trashing a car. Sign me up!
What I liked: The story is set in the 80’s and follows a group of divorced folks, who all head into the British Columbia wilderness for an art retreat. A former hunting lodge has been repurposed by the owners, looking to get new business. What they don’t know is that hundreds of years ago, a horrible event occurred and the company behind it, is still up to nefarious things.
Generous gives us a brief introduction to the folks who’re attending, and then from that moment on, it’s essentially all teeth, claws, blood-fountains and screams. The group begins to be picked off, even as love blooms between a few, and as more go missing, those still alive contact the RCMP to get help, though, as expected, the cops believe this to be a rogue grizzly or moose.
Throughout, the scenes of carnage are the highlights and easily remind the readers that Generous is the same person behind the Unnerving series ‘Rewind or Die.’ This could’ve absolutely been a featured novella when those books were coming out and would’ve been a highlight of the series.
The final quarter of the story features a very unique ‘revelation’ that transforms some of the prologue into a more impactful aspect, as well as gives us an unexpected hero to battle the rat-beast. It was a very fun, engaging moment and allowed the epilogue to feel connected and not thrown on for word or page count filling.
What I didn’t like: The reality here, is that all the characters, even the main ones, are very light in terms of depth of development and in some cases, even description. It does lessen the impact of many of their deaths, but honestly, it didn’t both me, because I expected no survivors. The way Eddie framed this one, I figured it was a creature-slasher where this rat-beast would come in, lay waste to the attendee’s and return to the woods.
I will say, the part that will either work or not for people will absolutely be the transformative aspect to the story near the end. Readers are either going to pump their fists or shake their heads. In my case, I was stoked, but I can see why some may not respond to it.
Why you should buy this: While different in vein to Eddie’s monumental releases ‘Plantation Pan’ and ‘The Walking Son,’ this novella is a tight, action-packed story akin to his ‘Savage Beasts of the Arctic Circle’ – only more fun. It might be because of the setting, or that it just felt like Generous was having a blast writing this, but not matter, this one hummed along from start to finish and had me grinning like a mad man throughout. If you’re a huge fan of Hunter Shea’s style of creature-slashers, then this might be the perfect Generous novella to dive into, if you’ve never read him before. Otherwise long time fans of Eddie’s are in for a treat!
October 5, 2024
Lots of action, death, a vicious beastie, disposable characters and some weirdness means this is a good time. I almost guarantee that you won’t predict everything that happens. 4 gnarly stars.
March 31, 2025
Review to come.
January 20, 2025
In Terror at Back Woods Lodge, author Eddie Generous tells the story of a group of artists who attend a retreat in the woods to regain their creative spark and progress in their art. This wonderful, wholesome mission is interrupted by something in the woods. Since this is an Eddie Generous book, you can rest assured that the thing in the woods is giant, demented, and absolutely wonderful.
You can read Kat's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
You can read Kat's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.
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October 23, 2024Loads of fun. Classic creature feature throwback.
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October 28, 2024backwoods Rat Prophecy
Review at MonsterBookClub
Review at MonsterBookClub
May 22, 2025
“How could anyone live out here in all this uncertainty? Any one of those knot eyes she spotted—or rather, imagined spotting—could be a grizzly bear, a mountain lion, a goddamned hillbilly.”
I have no idea how this book has been sliding under the radar because it was really freaking good. Like needs to be spammed about and added to everyone’s TBR asap.
So a group of divorced artists go on a retreat at this camp that just reopened in the middle of nowhere…what could possibly go wrong?!
There’s a lot of characters but it’s done in a way that’s easy to keep up and not fall off course. There’s also an absolutely unhinged creature that’s wreaking havoc on the people / the police and anyone who stands in the way. Then the ending… the ending caught me off guard. And I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. So I’ve been sitting here for a couple days trying to come up with a review. And I realized that clearly… if days later… I’m STILL thinking about this story and all the details etc, that it could only mean one thing. It was a damn good one.
Run to Godless now and grab this hidden gem. Then shout it from the rooftops because I’d love to see this author and story get more love!!
I have no idea how this book has been sliding under the radar because it was really freaking good. Like needs to be spammed about and added to everyone’s TBR asap.
So a group of divorced artists go on a retreat at this camp that just reopened in the middle of nowhere…what could possibly go wrong?!
There’s a lot of characters but it’s done in a way that’s easy to keep up and not fall off course. There’s also an absolutely unhinged creature that’s wreaking havoc on the people / the police and anyone who stands in the way. Then the ending… the ending caught me off guard. And I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. So I’ve been sitting here for a couple days trying to come up with a review. And I realized that clearly… if days later… I’m STILL thinking about this story and all the details etc, that it could only mean one thing. It was a damn good one.
Run to Godless now and grab this hidden gem. Then shout it from the rooftops because I’d love to see this author and story get more love!!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews