The Sussex Fretsaw Massacre

Pagham-on-Sea #3.5

by C.M. Rosens

It's Halloween night and anxious, inexperienced Olly Wilson has been hired to drive five obnoxious people to a political party conference, but is hopelessly lost.


Meanwhile, in a nearby manor house in the middle of nowhere, human-passing eldritch horror Ricky Porter wants to see his own future, but the ritual involves human sacrifice. The omens tell him five unfortunate souls are doomed to die before midnight - but his living, sentient house (and queerplatonic partner) just wants a quiet night watching films and bans him from taking their deaths into his own hands.


When Olly and his five passengers show up on the doorstep unexpectedly after some car trouble, bodies are already doomed to hit the floor - and Olly's life is about to change forever.

81 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 29, 2022

About the author

C. M. Rosens is an author of dark, genre-bending speculative fiction, particularly Gothic horror with tentacles and eldritch family drama, with body horror as a recurring theme. She is mainly to be found travelling between the hills of Wales and the plains of England, but loves visiting friends and family all over the world when she can. She has a PhD in a niche area of Medieval British Studies, and these days mostly applies her research skills in fiction rather than academia, which she enjoyed but doesn't miss. Her work is heavily influenced by the histories, mythologies and folklore of places she grew up in and lived as an adult.

Reviews

[Sam Hirst · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a short little read featuring favourites Carrie and Ricky from C M Rosens 'The Crows' and 'Thirteenth'. You don't need to have read them enjoy this but you'll love it all the more if you have.

For a novel featuring the grisly death of 5 people it is ... hilarious. It also includes some surprisingly touching scenes between Ricky and Carrie (a queer platonic relationship). Love the new character Olly! Oh and... after the scene in the kitchen, I don't think anyone is going to be sad about the fate of our five!

Also, for the sake of Ricky's good name, I should note he doesn't do any of the killing. Which is its own layer of hilarity.

[caro_cactus · Rating 5 out of 5]

I know that adjective choice is gonna be weird given the genre and plot of this book but : this was lovely. I love Ricky, I love Carrie, and now I love Olly too *black heart emoji*

[L.B. Shimaira · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so much fun. Gory, hilarious, but also surprisingly sweet and 🥰
The title says it all and this short story delivers what it promises.
But, fuck, it was so much fun. Rosens really knows how to set the stage and pushes a nice range of characters onto it. Now it's up to you to guess who gets offed first 😏 Bonus points if you can guess where, how, and who gets the honours 😈

[Taylor · Rating 5 out of 5]

A quick and easy little read, perfect for a spooky night in. Gotta love to see rich assholes get theirs.

[Stephanie · Rating 5 out of 5]

C.M. Rosens has once again managed to make me fall even more in love with Ricky and Carrie. This short story is so, so good. I adore the Pagham-On-Sea series and can't wait for more.

[E · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tucker & Dale vs Evil comes to Pagham! I really got a kick out of this.

[aspeccharactersoftheday]

Ricky Porter from The Crows is asexual!

https://aspeccharactersoftheday.tumbl...

[Vicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

All of the villains are paper thin, but it was a fun, quick read.

[Erich Krull · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really need to write a review but to be honest, I need to write more of my own stories, understand life and writing better, go further with trauma therapy to even begin to explain how much this whole series meant and means to me...

...is what I wrote on social media. So I think I'll just copy paste that as rewiews for all books in the series. Only adding how gracious the author was when I wrote her an email to express how much the series, especially book 1, meant to me.