by Janelle Schiecke
Summary:
It’s the summer before senior year of college, and Abby’s boyfriend has just booked a weekend away with friends at a rustic lakeside cabin. Located in northern Pennsylvania, the dwelling is tucked away and boasts a breathtaking view.
As drinks are flowing on a moonlit evening, paranormal stories begin to be told—and when talk of the Clatter Man comes up, his grisly tale draws attention. He’s an urban legend with a grim lore, notorious for the ways his victims are slain.
Tensions rise when these friends realize their dark curiosity about the Clatter Man may have gone too far, and what began as a relaxing getaway turns into a battle for survival.
Review:
Well, that was insanely f’d up!
And I mean that in the best way possible, by the way. If I’m saying it; it’s probably pretty brutal. And it certainly was in this case, as The Clatter Man came rip-roaring (and slashing, and stabbing, and throwing, and beating) onto the scene, in one of the more fun horror stories I’ve come across.
To be completely up front; I am a giant man-baby when it comes to horror. I LOVE it; I grew up on Stephen King and my dad showed me Terminator 2 with the liquid metal man to give me nightmares when I was like 4 years old, but I really love horror and the feeling of being scared, or tense, which this book gave me reason to be in spades.
It starts off as a relatively typical vacation in the summer, where a group of early 20 year old’s go to relax. Of course, relaxation is the point of most vacations, but then again most vacations don’t instantly devolve into talking about the scariest urban legends that the people can think of. And almost ALL vacations don’t turn into an absolute bloodbath when the urban legend turns out to be true!
I thought that Schiecke did a great job with the original character (Clatter Man) himself. In a world full of Friday the 13th Part 82, or Freddy vs Godzilla vs Sharknado: The Final Encounter (note: not real movies, but should be), it’s easy for a villain of supernatural origin to slip into the “been there, seen that” category, but that wasn’t the case here. As the story goes on, we find more and more out about him, and the reasons he’s become such a horrifying figure in this world. I really enjoyed getting the information along with the characters, and it helped keep me sucked in.
One of the other things I enjoyed reading about (which really says a lot to my mental state I’m sure) was the absolutely BRUTAL ways in which the characters died. I know, I know; Pete see a shrink. I’ll say it again…..no. I have to tip my hat to Janelle, for keeping us on the edge of our chairs and coming up with some of the craziest death scenes I’ve read about. It was really awesome and there were a couple of times I audibly groaned picturing the end result between one of the characters and CM’s brutality.
Overall, this is a must-read for anyone who wants to escape into a world of horror and violence, without encountering any of the danger themselves. I think the only thing that could have been changed for the better, in my opinion, was a relationship between two characters; again for plot points, I speak very vaguely but there was one duo especially where it came off a bit forced and with everything going on in their lives, I highly doubt it would have ended up as cleanly as it did in real life which threw me off a bit. But hey, this ISN’T real life and if that’s my only complaint, consider this to be another amazing book by a fast rising horror star!
Find out more about The Clatter Man!
Pete Barnable
Pete loves all things sci-fi and fantasy; whether it’s epic, dystopian, or grimdark, he’ll devour them all. Especially grimdark; pretty sure after a lifetime of being a die-hard New York Jets fan, he’s pretty well conditioned for anything a story may throw his way. At least those aren’t real and can’t hurt him.
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