Scott Thomas’ Kill Creek

Every haunted house has a story. A malignant owner. A heinous act. A terrible tragedy. Something that makes the people who see it shiver even on the hottest days. They rush past these places, sometimes running, until whatever lurks within those walls can no longer see or hurt them.

In Kansas, this house is on Kill Creek Road. Its very foundation is built on a terrible and heinous tragedy: the man who built the house, and his black girlfriend, were both violently murdered by the locals. Years after this crime, the Finch Sisters buy the house and become little more than evil witches to the townspeople. When one of them dies of disease and the other hangs herself from the same tree as the previously murdered lover, the story of Kill Creek only grows.

This house serves as an inspiration, as several horror writers (representing the provocateur, the ingenue, the christian, and the established, prolific veteran) are invited to the most infamous house in Kansas to film a live stream. While the house serves up a couple scares during the stream, most of what occurs there is unremarkable. A few cold winds, sounds, and a mysteriously bricked-up stairwell make up most of the mystery for these writers seeking inspiration.

It’s what happens after that inspires and strikes terror in the hearts of those same writers, as some dark force causes them to check out of their normal lives and throw themselves headlong into writing a story; despite using their unique styles, this story is remarkably similar for each of them. This sudden obsession, and the consequences they face when they try to stop writing, force them back to the house on Kill Creek, where shenanigans ensue. And holy shit, are their shenanigans.

It’s a straightforward read about the power of belief and how it interacts with spiritual forces. If you want a haunted house book where the house is haunted, but not where the typical ghosts are going to get everyone way, this is a good deviation from the mean. It has a similar feel to “The House Next Door” (Siddons), without all of the waxing sweetly about Southern life in between the house demon issues.

Would I Read it Again?: No. Everything in the book was pretty clear cut and once you read the ending, there’s not a lot that makes you go “So, that’s what happened.”

Rating: 3.5. It’s a solid horror novel, but that’s really it. There are some loose ends that get lost in the twist. Like another recent read, Last Days, it’s a little unsatisfying.