Bad Vibrations

By: Lucy Leitner, Blood Bound Books

Narrated by: Lucy Kay

What will you sacrifice to attain true health?

Valerie just arrived at Doctor’s hidden utopia for what was supposed to be a weekend of wellness.

A weekend of eating fruits straight from the farm. Of screaming hula hoop yoga and dynamic meditation to expel toxins Valerie knew were holding her back. A retreat where she’d attain the energy needed to return home and set new personal records at the gym. To land her dream job.

And of course, she’d finally have an appointment with Doctor, the naturopathic yogi guru who discovered the healing powers of drinking blood. He’d cured cancer. Leaky gut. Hashimoto’s thyroid and more.

But it turns out the blood-drinking wellness craze that swept the coasts isn’t too popular in rural Pennsylvania.

Get ready for sex, yoga, and blood.

Lots of Blood.

©2022 Lucy Leitner (P)2024 Blood Bound Books

Critic reviews

"Lucy Leitner is the go-to voice in satirical, thought-provoking horror fiction. In BAD VIBRATIONS, Leitner takes hot-button topics that are usually kept in the dark, and thrusts them into the light. She does this without remorse, exposing the filthy, wriggling underbelly of society." - Daniel J. Volpe, author of PLASTIC MONSTERS

Reminder: cults are bad!

This book is a great reminder about why we don’t join cults kids! A fast paced wild ride through one woman’s day long experience in a health cult, we follow our protagonist as she battles both mentally and physically to escape from what she believed was her salvation. There’s only one thing standing in her way- redneck anti-cultists. This book was quick and fun, easy to get into and packed with adventure. Thank you to Blood Bound Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

Worth a listen

I wasn't aware it was satire. It was challenging to get into, but once I was into it, it was easier to follow along. In the beginning,I was struggling with the presentation of the health conscious individuals from California as anti-vaxxers. It's usually the opposite, with the small town locals who are usually opposed to vaccines. May be that should've been my first hint it was satire. Regardless, I went into this story blind, and it wasn't what I was expecting. It was a fine story and premise,I just found the main character too annoying and whined too much. Most would find that funny, I'm sure, but it just drove me crazy. Anyway, it wasn't a bad story, it just didn't resonate with me. I do recommend that you give this book a read. it wasn't a bad story, I was just a little ambivalent about it overall.

Predictable slasher, but if that's your thing, you'll like it!

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I was really drawn to this book thanks to the blurb but was overall let down. I had hoped to explore more of the cult way of life and get attached to the characters, but the novel ended before that could be done. The most developed chatacters were the sheriff's side kicks as the comic relief. Everyone is awful and then they die.

If you like tropes of inhospitable small towns and slashers, you'll like this book more than I did.

While I overall enjoyed the narrator, I do think she was limited by her lower pitched impersonation. The deeper voiced characters came off as comedic, even when they weren't supposed to. She did a great job at voice the rest of the cast, though! I would give the story a 2 but the performance a 4.

Come for the cleanse. Stay for the collapse. ‍

What starts as a quest for self-optimization spirals into a violent unraveling of belief, identity, and survival.

Elpis didn’t join a cult. She joined a movement. One that promised strength, discipline, purpose. Blood was just a metaphor at first. Sex was part of the energy work. She wasn’t buying in, not really. Until her name was changed, her past stripped away, and her body drawn into rituals masked as healing.

It started with an influencer post, all soft filters and bold promises. What followed was a descent into curated chaos, where every pose, cleanse, and chant masked something predatory. Wellness language became a weapon. Followers became fuel. ‍

When locals turn hostile and bodies start falling, the masks come off. The cult’s devotion becomes a battlefield. The town’s defenders reveal themselves as something far worse. Elpis is forced to decide what she believes in, if anything, and what she’s willing to do to survive.

As the compound burns and the ideologies fracture, Elpis stands alone among the wreckage of predators in yoga pants and vigilantes with stolen badges. The body count climbs. Truth loses all meaning. There is no purity. No energy. Just blood. And what you choose to do with it.

A tense blend of psychological thriller, horror, and dark satire, exploring the seductive pull of wellness cults, exposing the intersections of control, exploitation, belief, and survival in a crumbling system of false promises.

Narrator Lucy Kay does a good job voicing the cast, with a voice that suits the character and tone of the story. Overall the narration is strong and easy to listen to. The audio quality is clear, with no issues.

Bad Vibrations

Country town vs. the health nut, blood drinking, social influencers, cult. A quick and fun read.