A full-contact haunted house boasts a cash prize — only if you make it to the end
Reprieve — James Han Mattson
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This is the last October recommendation, focusing on all things creepy and scary! If you’re not into scary books, hang around and check out these recommendations until November: a timeless novel about first loves and first losses, a cautionary tale of a modern princess trapped in her castle, or a matriarch trying to organize her obituaries before her death.
Reprieve by James Han Mattson
Content warnings included in the footnote of this newsletter.1
What It’s About
One of the most under-the-radar horror books from the last few years, Reprieve, has constantly been on my list of books that need more readers. I first recommended it in August last year and am still singing its praises and am still thinking about that ending. It’s a combo of Haunting of Hill House and slasher fiction, plus a healthy dose of commentary on racial tension and societal expectations.
1997, Nebraska. The Quigley House is famous for its one-of-a-kind approach to the haunted house experience: it is full-contact, and makes entrants sign a waiver before stepping foot inside. It’s a complicated escape room, boasting a large cash prize if a team is able to make it all the way through each room. Only one team has ever completed it, but many have tried. And on this night, one of the contestants is killed while trying to complete the task, sending the house into further chaos.
Each character on the team had their own story leading up to this night, and how they came together as a team is a strange and long journey. They all unfold separately until they convene for the challenge, and each has their own baggage and background they’re bringing to the house, motivating them to keep going to win the cash prize.
Who Will Like It
This is a pretty gruesome book at times, but it’s easier to get through than a slasher film because of the way the story breaks and flashes back between scenes to give more background on each character.
And for a horror novel, I would argue its horror doesn’t lie in the activity and tragedy at the haunted house at all: it exists in the social interactions and everyday world the characters are interacting in, very much our own current society, even though the book takes place in the late 1990s.
If you read and enjoyed Rumaan Alam’s Leave the World Behind, I would encourage you to pick up this one next.
I celebrated a big newsletter moment this week: hitting 2,000 readers! Thank you to everyone who is here — your support means the world to me, and it also means I get to keep doing what I love: yelling about books with people!
Since so many of you are new here, as we head into regular reading (i.e., less blood and gore), what are some genres you’re interested in exploring? Vote in the polls and leave a comment letting me know areas of reading you’d like to get into but need recommendations for! I also love a very specific micro-genre, like dark academia infighting, or publishing narrative with a Normal Gossip twist, so let me know if you have very specific searches as well.
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Can’t get enough, or looking for a different recommendation? Browse the archives, or check out some popular past recommendations:
Ghosts haunt an isolated Oregon town where people keep disappearing
Read a thriller about a polygamist, his wives, and their secret pasts
An enchanting and beautiful island starts to turn against its visitors
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Content warnings include racial slurs and racism, homophobia and homophobic slurs, body horror, gore, violence, and sexual predatory behavior.
Congrats, Cassie!!!!! You’re a ⭐️⭐️!
Hip hip hooray for 2K! ✨
This book reminds me of that guy who runs an “extreme haunt” where people can go get tortured for a while, basically, for the price of one can of dog food. There’s a new documentary about it on Hulu and it gave me nightmares.