Small Town Horror

By: Ronald Malfi

Narrated by: Joe Hempel

Maybe this is a ghost story . . .

Andrew Larimer has left his past behind. Rising up the ranks in a New York law firm, and with a heavily pregnant wife, he is settling into a new life far from Kingsport, the town in which he grew up. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he has no choice but to return home.

Coming home means returning to his late father's house, which has seen better days. It means lying to his wife. But it also means reuniting with his friends: Eric, now the town's sheriff; Dale, a real-estate mogul living in the shadow of a failed career; his childhood sweetheart Tig who never could escape town; and poor Meach, whose ravings about a curse upon the group have driven him to drugs and alcohol.

Together, the five friends will have to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything for them.

Because Andrew and his friends have a secret. A thing they have kept to themselves for twenty years. Something no one else should know. But the past is not dead, and Kingsport is a town with secrets of its own.

One dark secret . . .

One small-town horror . . .

©2024 Ronald Malfi (P)2024 Tantor

Good writing, decent story.

The story was well written and had some decent twists. A bit cliche with some of the scares (birds smashing into houses, the quintessential outcast woman everyone sees as a witch, scary kid) but those weren't enough to ruin the story. Some of the plot lines didn't really go anywhere, but again, those weren't enough to make this a bad story.

Nauseating

The descriptions were so revolting and nauseating I just couldn’t. I couldn’t care less for as my of these characters. The character development was weak, like card board cutouts. It just didn’t make any sense of was just unbelievable. It was just a bunch of dumb people doing dumb stuff and continued until the end. I really don’t know if I will ever read anything else from this author.

I didn’t expect that…

I love Malfi’s writing. I love the atmosphere he creates. The setting becomes a character in the book. I have to admit that he got me with this one. I didn’t expect it to have so many twists. It was so good.

Slow Build up, Amazing story

Small Town Horror starts off with a slow build up, and then the tension builds and builds, the town gets more eerie and the characters' stress ramps up... all accumulating to a giant build up. At first I didn't think this would be a 5 star read for me, but as the story went on, the suspense builds- more and more and MORE. It's actually a fantastic novel, Malfi is a very talented writer. This is what you would call a smart horror story. Narrator does a fabulous job. There is even a little Easter Egg of a mention to one of Malfi's other books: Black Mouth. TEE HEE. So much fun, was this book. 5 stars.

Well written and narrated

I liked this, it kept me listening. Personally not a fan of the ending, but it was still really good.

Unexpected twist

This has some tropes that have been mentioned in the reviews already. Old friends coming back together after 20 years, death of a father leading to inheriting a home in a town he tried to escape from. But there was a twist that I didn’t see. Didn’t even think about it and I’m normally pretty good about that stuff. It didn’t hit me until seconds before it was revealed. Sneaky sneaky, well done

Not bad 3.5 out of 5

I didn’t expect it to be this good or to keep my attention. Seems so hard to find good horror books these days outside of the King.
There were some parts that had me scratching my head but overall I’d recommend. Hell I have a couple more of his books that I’m going to give listen to as soon as soon I’m done here.

LOVED it!!

Really good story with an ending I could live with. Joe Hempel does a great job narrating. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

Suspenseful

A few good twists and turns. Loved the narrator. Great job. Very suspenseful. Going to see if there is anything else from this author.

BORING

I honestly had a hard time finishing this book. It was so boring. Its unfortunate this is my first book by this author because I dont really want to waste time or money on another one.