We have a group of friends, teenagers, who are film students making their own slasher film for class. But among all the blood and violence is a wonderful friend group that will do anything in their power to save their town. This is now right up there with Brian Keene's Ghoul when it comes to my favorite coming-of-age horror book. Not to say there isn’t a lot of collateral damage throughout, but it really did work to finish the story off.

As far as characterization goes, it was interesting to see the group of friends be jealous of different aspects of each other’s lives. When friends Howie, Ryan, Todd, and Cory stumble across a grave while they are out filming for their school film class is when everything goes south as they uncover a grave that has some kind of ritual stones over the top of it. The format of this book has two of my all time favorite things with horror stories; one, an opening that dives right into a terrifying scene before we jump to a different scene to slow things down before they ramp up again, and two, an ending that made me jump up and say, “WAIT, WHAT? Seems like in all the movies, the kids try and handle everything themselves (and pay for it with their lives) and never talk to someone who might could actually help them.

Durgin does a great job of creating a band of kids you want to root for, even when they fight and bicker, you want to see them patch things up. By completing your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and authorise Audible to charge your designated card or any other card on file. The book started strong with a couple of friends being fond of shooting horror films themselves within a film class. Howie Burke would have loved to admire the vibrant autumn forest, perhaps lying on his back, staring up at the leaves while they danced to an unheard beat. When a group of teenage boys stumble across a grave hidden in the woods, little did they realize that their horror movie would soon turn into a horrible truth.

We follow Howie and his small group of friends, Cory, Todd, and Ryan through each of their perspectives all book long.

The basic plot is that some Stranger Things-esque kids accidentally unearth an ancient evil to the detriment of their quaint town. If you bought Among Us through Epic Games, open file explorer, navigate to Program Files, find Among Us.

All the townspeople have to do is stay out of the woods where the bodies were abandoned-their chests ripped open, and their hearts torn out. One night, Howie and his friends venture deep into the woods to film and stumble upon the grave of someone.

What a sad and sweet group of kids who just want to make their very own horror movie and wind up living in one instead! Loved the 90s nostalgia feel, the unique, twisted spin on the coming-of-age-versus-old-evil trope, and the craftmanship of Durgin's prose. We mainly follow Howie, but we do jump around to each of his friends as well as the occasional short lived random character. I don't want to give too much detail about the storyline, but if you're looking for a good coming-of-age horror story brimming with nostalgia, this should be your next read. I switched from audio to written once I realized it would enrich my experience tenfold, which is exactly what happened.