CONTENT WARNINGS: baCWN MqZpa, lDC9ZW MqZpa, 49BWCqN MJRU lARkq, Z fCp 0u P0Jq

I like creature features. I like spider-themed horror [giant or otherwise]. I like retro-clone horror. I like Appalachian horror.

I should have liked this. I did not.

The book is full of odd breaks against its own logic and the broader logic of horror tales. Murray and Wearmouth repeatedly pull various well-known tools out of the horror tool-box only to barely use them and nearly never properly.

There’s build up about a certain location with strange goings on. It makes no sense why this particular church group would be going there (only one person seems even interested in the mystery). Doesn’t matter, because this book also involves the “wrong turn” genre. One or the other would make sense. Both is balderdash.

One character, Ricky, has a secret. It does not actually impact the novel. It just adds some minor tension and set up some arguments. It gets talked about a lot over the course of the novel but it eventually gets revealed and then never used again. There is a Chekov’s Gun but it’s a much worse solution.

Ricky is given no reason for the reader to give him the benefit of the doubt but the writers write him in a way you can taste the redemption coming. By contrast, Megan (the more proper main character), has undergone a life-altering, literally scarring tragedy and she is treated as less redeemable in the presented text. There had better be a good reason to put in such backstory and “woman needs to sacrifice herself harder” is an awful one.

Multiple characters are obviously just there to be creature-fodder but Murray and Wearmouth keep the number too small to build up any clever deaths and they are too quickly pared down. Only maybe two characters get anything like a interesting death.

Then you get stuff like the creature’s weakness. Click to show the spoiler (and my complaint): F3p 9UpRO1Up TN EpRA RrE kjTrE. eO OUR9bN Lrj0 k0 wTkUROTLrN. F3pUp RUp BpkN Rjj LwpU O3RO RjjLBN O3p NMTEpU OL OUR9b k0 wTkUROTLr. xrj0 O3TN QpRrN O3pUp RUp BpkN Ggg xPzo FXz 8xozIF. ILQp3LB O3pNp BpkN RUp NL O3Tr RN OL kp 1rrLOT9pE 1rOTj R 9UTOT9Rj N9prp jROpU k1O 3LB QRr0 MpLMjp 3Rwp 0L1 QpO Tr 0L1U prOTUp jTAp B3L 9Rr BRjb O3UL1S3 R NMTEpU Bpk RO Rjj BTO3L1O UpR9OTrS?

Don’t worry, they won’t actually use this in any clever, active way. They will just stand very still and slow down the plot a few times to pad the page count.

It gets worse, though. Because later in the novel, QEoXo Xpko “Bee BEb5 Be aoBo0B Yu Bem0E eI ouo-XbTEB” coYX pIo Xmaao5hu tho5Bu YbT o5emTE Be XtIopa p dbIo deI kbhoX? Good lord.

Sure, the visual of this weakness is impressive. Just like the visual of being surrounded by tall trees would track really well on screen. Not on page, though. Is it a clearing or is it covered in trees? What’s a canyon? What’s a spider, even? The authors act like these words have no meaning through most of the text.

It’s just madness which continuously unmoors the reader from the written facets of horror.

Not really recommended. Maybe the movie is better.