Intense read. Had me uncomfortable at times. Terrifying. Would recommend to all my horror fan friends.

I love haunted house books. This one takes the usual house with a tragic past and makes things a lot more interesting by bringing four horror writers together within its supposedly haunted walls. I've read an awful lot of horror novels over the years and loved seeing how each character interpreted the house's tricks, influenced by the style of horror they write. There are a few genuinely chilling moments and the whole thing is a fun read.

This was a very suiting book to be reading in November. The dark evenings, the rain and the wind making noises outside my window. And Kill Creek sending chills down my spine. Truly recommend it!

I enjoy so much this reading. It's being a long time since I want a good horror story. You did this. thank you for that.

This is the only book I've ever read that gave me chills. Very well written. Messes with ones mind. I'd say if Stephen Kings books "It" and "The Shining" had a baby, it would be "Kill Creek". It was very reminiscent of both books. I give it a 4 star only because the end got quite ridiculous. A little to over the top for me. It's a good book.

This was really disappointing. Considering how long the book was spent with the characters, they were had very flat characterizations. The horror was a little overkill. But that could be because I like my horror with subtlety and others might like the horror events as subtle as a brick hammer. And then the book ended on a sequel hook which I found really annoying.
My star rating is based on that I found this a very entertaining book even though the horror and characters weren't compelling to me.

This book was about an old house with a tragic past that ends up being the setting for an impromptu meeting/interview for a bunch of horror writers.
Chills and thrills follow with a brutal pathway to the history of the house and what it seemingly wants.
I found this book a bit slow to start with but I'm glad I persevered even if the ending wasn't as satisfactory as I would've liked.
Blood and gore abound, supernatural terror and a decent storyline made for an entertaining plot and fairly interesting characters.
Worth a read

This is a fun book.

The house is extremely eerie. While any habitual horror reader will figure out exactly what the house is doing pretty early and easily, the book is creepy enough that you can't help but stay with it to see what happens.

But don't get me wrong, there are surprises in the book. Each of our characters deals with their own personal horrors as well, adding depth to the story.

While much of the book relies on good old fashioned suspense (and very well done suspense, at that), be prepared for some gruesome slice and dice later in the book.

A very well done tale and I want to read the author again!

*ARC Provided via Net Galley

Once-in-a-while you stumble upon a book which defies all expectations and hits the nail slap bang in the centre of the head, “Kill Creek” by Scott Thomas did exactly that for me. Ironically there is nothing at all original about this highly entertaining debut novel which does borrow many ideas from other books. However, it messes around the horror clichés so cleverly the result is an intoxicating read which I sped through in a few nights.

I only picked up the book in the first place because I saw Shane Keene’s name recommending it: "A slow-burn, skin-crawling haunted house novel that had me on the edge of my seat until the last page. This debut establishes Scott Thomas as a force to be reckoned with on the horror scene. "Few know horror as well as this dude and I am more than happy to follow his lead.

The publisher Inkshares operates with a crowdfunding model instead of agents and acquisition editors in deciding what to publish. Their community of readers can pre-order a book project on Inkshares.com, and if the project hits its funding limit, Inkshares brings the book to life by providing editorial services, design, production, national distribution, and marketing. If “Kill Creek” is a good example the quality of novel that comes out of Inkshares then I will be paying a very close interest to their future releases. Shane Keene also recommends this publisher highly, who also recently released “A God in the Shed” by J-F Dubeau which has picked up a lot of praise in the horror world, including Shane.

What of the “Kill Creek” plot then? Like I said, nothing new, but cleverly manipulated into a very clever haunted house novel. The prologue tells us this is a house with a dark past, and when two spinster sisters Rachel and Rebecca Finch purchased it in 1975 it already had developed a dark reputation stretching back to the days of slavery. Some years later Rachel invites Dr Adubel, a well-known paranormal expert to spend time in the house, he writes a book about his experiences and “Phantoms of the Prairie” becomes a bestseller. The house then shoots right to the top of the most haunted places in America lists.

Flip forward some years to the main part of the story, a popular internet supernatural TV host invites four very well-known horror writers to spend a night in the house. In some ways this is the oldest cliché in the horror book; spending a night in a haunted house! However, the author really spices it up, as what is to follow is a slow burner which builds wonderfully over the duration of the novel. In actual-fact, very little of the novel takes place in the house, but it casts a long and dangerous shadow.

Many of the most entertaining sequences derived from spotting traits, or at least guessing, which authors Scott Thomas might have based his four bestselling authors on? Maybe it was nobody at all, but I have a feeling it was bits and pieces from real authors ranging from Stephen King to RL Stine. All four were very well-defined characters with Sam McGarver probably the main character who suffers from writer’s block and currently teaches literature at college. We also have Sebastian Cole, seen as the grandfather of modern horror fiction, a very cool female author TC Moore who writes violent and sexually explicit fiction and Daniel Slaughter a prolific teen writer whose novels usually have a strong Christian message. Sam and TC are the biggest characters, but the plot is revealed from all four points of view.

Although “Kill Creek” does borrow from classics such as “The Haunting of Hill House” I really liked the way the author avoided stereotypical haunted stuff, there are no creaking staircases or branches clicking against tree windows, instead you have a paranoid and complex haunting story which is highly recommended. You’ll be rooting for Sam and TC in no time at all, right up to the terrific ending. Scott Thomas is a horror writer to watch out for.

An abandoned house where its last occupants were the Finch sisters. For years it has stood empty, waiting. Finally, four famous Horror writers agree to spend a night in the house as a publicity stunt. The house does not live up to its 'haunting' expectations, but what the house has in store for them, is not realised until after they leave the house.

This book was really hard for me to get into. It started OK, but then dragged on for far too long before much excitement happened. I found myself struggling to read it at times. There were words that made reading difficult and interrupted the flow. Thank goodness for having a kindle as it has a dictionary. Many times I had to find a definition as some of the words used I had never heard of before. This is not necessarily a fault on behalf of the author. For example, the word 'septuagenarian' (which means a 70-80 year old). Hey at least I am learning things and will lock that word in for next time I play scrabble. How many points is that?

Sometimes things were explained that I think is self explanatory. e.g.. about a characters toiletry kit; 'The toiletries - toothbrush, travel-size Crest toothpaste tube, bar of soap, metal Combe and a small vial of aspirin.' I thought that this again was an example of the author writing in too much detail and boring details. Nothing was left for the imagination.

About 48% of the way through the book, they had already left the house and not much happened the night they were there. It is sometime after that, that the story really does pick up and became interesting. I really enjoyed the last half of the book more than the first part. However, even the ending was dragged out more than it possibly needed to be.

The last 20% or so of the book is pretty gory, like a good horror book should be. It was detailed well, (where the book does enjoy details) and easy to create a picture in my mind. I could see this book being a horror movie, as it really played out like one.

All in all the book was OK. I struggled to get into it and really struggled in the middle of it to keep going as I found myself getting bored of it. However, it was an interesting concept for a story and it did keep me asking why and wondering what would happen. Like the house would draw in people, I found myself drawn to the book, even when I was getting tired of it. I needed to know what happened, and glad I stuck it out. A good read for any horror fan.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, thanks to NetGalley.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Kill Creek by Scott Thomas.
There is a house that has been known for years to be haunted - Two older sisters inhabited it, died there, and no one has bothered to buy it. What if four famous authors stay in this house for 2 days and everone can watch live and see if this house is really haunted.
These authors are famous for their books - horror novels and a strange man invites them to do just that.
This is a fast read and is really scary. Recommend for those who like a good haunted house story and believe that the dead may not rest quietly.

This is your typical night in a haunted house horror, but DEFINITELY not your typical writing for it. In very vivid prose we get a story of 4 very different horror writer brought to a supposed 'haunted house' to be interviewed for a horror fan blog called Wrightwire.
The Mainstream Hack Sam McGarver- "He had started this new novel at least a hundred times. He had exhausted more first sentences than he could remember. They were single lines on one-page documents, saved on his hard drive in a folder named, appropriately, “Crap.”
And perhaps Sam’s most inspired first sentence:Sam, you suck as a writer and will never write anything that anyone cares about because you are a fraud and your books are shit."

The decrepit Old Has-Been Sebastian Cole-"the golden days of Beaver Cleaver and Good Humor Bars and ‘There’s nothing to fear but fear itself’ are over . They’ve been raped and tortured and left for dead. The only thing to fear these days is everything."

The Christian Bullshit Artist, Daniel Slaughter- "Do evil, and you will be punished. Only the characters that are pure of heart triumph in the end. Evil never wins in my books. Good does, because it’s from God.”

And the Uforgivable Brutal T.C Moore- “Horror no longer goes bump in the night. Horror stuffs the bodies of dead hookers in his crawl space and then pulls a twelve-hour nursing shift taking care of your sick mother. Horror sits in his cubicle and fantasizes about sucking the toes of the high school cheerleader he plans to strangle after work. Horror stays awake at night dreaming up ways to hurt you and your family and your pets and everything you hold dear. Horror is perversion.”

Very different views of what horror means to them...Until that horror starts to prey on them in very REAL ways..

I think that Sam expresses it best when he says "In horror, there’s no such thing as ‘out of sight, out of mind.’ That thing will be back, and it will take over your life. That’s the root of all fear: the loss of control. Not being able to stop the evil.”

Also, everyone who reads or has read this book HAS to tell me I'm not crazy and that if this is ever made into a movie Wainwright HAS to be played by Matt Smith... Right?? Skinny pants, wavy brown hair, U.K accent (ok, so they say Irish.. We can work with it) and a wierd smooth clay face?? COME ON!!

Trigger warnings include domestic violence, self harm and suicide.

Kill Creek is best read when the weather is on your side. While I travelled to the Finch House there was torrential rain, thunder that rattled the windows, hail that pounded on the roof, 30,000 lightning strikes one night in the local area (or so they reported on the news) and wind that howled through the trees. One windy night around 3am as I crept through the dark house trying to be quiet so I didn’t wake anyone up I walked through a cobweb. Reading at night with the only light coming from my Kindle I could almost imagine something that used to be human reaching for me in the darkness of the room just beyond what I could see. It was creepy and it was perfect. I highly recommend reading Kill Creek under similar circumstances.

If ever a book was written with a cinematic quality where you could practically watch the movie as you’re reading the book, this is the one. An hour or so before walking through my cobweb I’d read a part in the book with spiders (so many spiders! 🕷) and sitting there in the dark I convinced myself I could feel something crawling along my arm. Now that’s the kind of creepy I love, when the book reaches out from the pages (or screen) and convinces you that what’s happening in the book and what’s happening around you as you read it are related, like the book knows and is somehow causing these ‘coincidences’. After reading his book, Scott Thomas almost had me convinced the house at Kill Creek had the power to reach into my life, and that is the type of creepy fun I haven’t experienced in a book in a long time.

Kill Creek takes us to Finch House, a gorgeous and meticulously crafted house with over 150 years of tragedy living within its walls. Wainwright of WrightWire (an internet “destination for horror events”) and his photographer Kate plan to interview four of the world’s most famous horror writers at Finch House for WrightWire’s annual Halloween stunt.

Our (lambs to the slaughter) authors are Sam, a lecturer at the University of Kansas and best-selling author who’s struggling to write his next novel, Sebastian who’s basically horror writer royalty, Daniel who I imagined as a Christian version of R.L. Stine and Moore, who writes what I can only describe as torture porn. Horror means something different to each author and each has their own reason for agreeing to take part in this interview. What they experience may reveal that the ghosts of the past that haunt your mind can be some of the most terrifying ghosts of all.

And the house? The house enjoys entertaining visitors. I remember one of my English teachers talking about how locations can become characters in stories and in my adolescent omniscience I sat there rolling my eyes thinking, ‘Yeah, whatever’. So, anonymous English teacher, I get it now! The house in Kill Creek is my favourite character!

Told in third person from multiple points of view, you are granted access to each character’s thoughts, desires and greatest fears. At times the writing was so poetic I almost forgot I was reading a horror novel. Then there’d be a description of seeping wounds, crunching bones or goo oozing out of eyeballs, and I’d remember, sometimes almost cringing from the detailed descriptions of agony and torment. With some humour, action sequences, egos battling egos and mystery thrown in along with some good old fashioned murder, Kill Creek is pure entertainment.

Should you ever star in your own horror novel, there are some basics that Kill Creek teaches that you should probably keep in mind.

Horror Novel 101
1. If there’s a creepy basement with a rickety staircase, stay the hell out.
2. No matter what, stay together as a group.
3. If a house has a reputation for being evil, don’t think it’ll let you leave unscathed, if it lets you leave at all.
4. If there’s a creepy third floor room whose entrance has been bricked over, take note. There’s probably a reason and you probably don’t want to know what’s in there.
5. If someone who you know is dead is standing before you asking you to do something really weird, it’s probably not them and you probably shouldn’t do that really weird thing.

I did find that there was a section around the middle of the book that I felt was a bit long-winded and slowed the pace down at a time when I was eager to just get back to the house and get some answers. I found the themes of Moore’s novels kinda out there but in terms of relating those to her backstory I did understand where she was coming from. I found something to like about all but one of the characters (Adudel). I really had a fun time reading this book and will most certainly be on the lookout for future novels by this author.

Biggest disappointment: Looking up Last One Out Kills the Lights on Goodreads because Sam makes it sound like my kind of horror short story book, only to find it doesn't exist. Just to make sure I looked up the author's name and found they do exist! Except they're a romance novelist. ☹️

Favourite sentence: “That may be the most perverse thing of all: ignoring the horror, even as it happens around you.”

I received a copy of this book from NetGalley (thank you so much to NetGalley and Inkshares for the opportunity) in exchange for honest feedback. This is the second book I've read by this publisher and both were home runs.

Thank You to NetGalley/InkShares for the opportunity to review this book..

Creepy, engaging, a bit gory, and an all around edge of your seat ghost story..I have never read anything by this author before so I was a little unsure but I enjoyed his writing style.. The book kept me interested and I wanted to keep reading far after I put it down.. Constantly thinking to myself what is going to happen next and being pleasantly surprised when some turn of events changed all my thoughts.. There was bits in there that you were like ok we get it but in the end it all kind of tied itself into a neat little bow as to why it was being mentioned.. I think the book left off in a way to suggest there could be more about this story.. I will keep an eye out because I will be sure to read it.. Recommend? Absolutely..

5 stars

The house on Kill Creek was built in 1859 near Lawrence, Kansas. Following the murder of the owner of the house and his mistress, several people tried to call the house their own, but moved out most often within a year. The house had become a bad place. In 1975 a pair of elderly twin women named Finch, one of whom was in a wheelchair, bought the place from the county. It had last been abandoned since 1961.

In 1982, Rachel Finch invited parapsychologist Dr. Malcolm Adudel to the house. His book was a best seller and the house was officially declared “haunted.” In 1998, following Rachel’s mysterious death, the property became once more owned by the county.

Sam McGarver horror writer and teacher at the University of Kansas receives an invitation. T.C. Moore also gets an invitation, as do Sebastien Cole and Daniel Slaughter. When they arrive at the library meeting place and suffer through an audacious demonstration, they are escorted to a 1975 VW bus to drive to the Kill Creek house. Four famous horror writers, Justin Wainwright and his videographer Kate are the six people who will spend two days in the house. Sam is highly suspicious of Wainwright’s motives. He doesn’t trust him at all.

Individually, and while they are alone, each of the people in the house have “experiences.” People that aren’t there – or are they? Vines that clutch at the feet. Pictures that change. Brick walls that are there – or are they? Hallucinations? Misperceptions? To a person, they believe they had imagined the strange events.

Over a plate of cold cuts in the kitchen, the group begins to share their experiences. When the lights go out, Wainwright, Sebastian and TC go down to the basement to look at the generator. TC and Sebastian see the Finch sisters. Are they really seeing them, or is it a yarn they are spinning? More strange experiences occur. As they go to bed that night, they individually begin to experience visitations from people in their past. And then it’s over; it’s time to leave the house on Kill Creek. As they get ready to leave, two sheriff’s officers show up to give Daniel devastating news.

When Sam gets home, a story literally pours out of him; he has 1,000 pages almost before he knows it. He is obsessed, ignoring all else in his life. He has strange experiences. He is ignoring all else in his life, including showering and sleeping. He receives a visit from his editor. It seems TC is writing the same – or similar book as him. No one has heard from her in a long time. At her home in Los Angeles, TC is also having “hallucinations” from her past, as is Sam. Together they go to Chicago to visit Daniel. They learn they were all writing the same book. From there the three travel to New York to visit Dr. Adudel. After some dancing around, they find Sebastian there. Along the way they pick up Wainwright.

They decide to travel back to Kill Creek to knock down the brick wall to the third floor. From there things go badly weird. Apparitions are seen, voices are heard and murders are committed. It’s a fast-paced ride to thrilling action and dare I say it – it’s fun.

This novel was both well written and plotted. The suspense began immediately and continued throughout the book reaching a peak when they return to the old house. The book is so well paced that the reader is almost lulled into reading a sedate story when all of the sudden things turn serious – very serious. I liked the characters. Wainwright and TC were a little off-putting at first, but they quickly grew on me. There was enough background information given about the major characters to flesh them out but not so much that it intruded on the story in any way. I don’t give horror stories a five star rating very often, but I had to give this one the rating. I loved it! I strongly recommend this novel for any aficionado of the horror genre or thrillers. This is my first Scott Thomas novel, but it won’t be my last. I immediately went to Amazon to look for other books of his.

I want to thank NetGalley and Inkshares for forwarding to me a copy of this remarkable book to read and enjoy.

Very good suspense book. One man brings 4 horror authors together to a hunted house for a interview to be broadcasted via the internet. This books builds as it goes along. It will keep you glued to the pages because you want to know what is the secret of these authors, the house and the person who brings them all together. Very good book with a haunted house for extra measure. If you are a horror fan, this is a must read. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book in return for my honest review.

Kill Creek by Scott Thomas was received direct from the publisher. This is an author I had never read before but the book topic sounded very interesting to me. Haunted house books are generally either good or overall tediuos. A good haunted house book is hard to beat, where in a tediuos one is torturous to the reader. This one, moves along but about halfway through it is not really a book about a haunted house. I will not go into the plot except to say “writers will write.” With that being said, this one is not a classic but it was not tedious either, so my initial statement is not 100% accurate by my own account. if you like haunted house stories, or stories and writers and the craft, give this one a try.

Haunted house stories are my favorite, so this book was the perfect read for Halloween. There are some genuinely scary moments in the second half, though it does deform a bit into a gory scenes sewn together without only a vague thread of plot. That’s a shame, really, since most of the novel is intriguing and disquieting, especially the middle section, where we see how the main characters’ lives have unraveled.

The reveal of how the house came to be is a bit forced. The whole Adudel story-line is forced, actually. I understand that *SPOILERS* he is necessary to spread the rumor of the house, but even that plot point doesn’t quite satisfy. It is more like the author was searching for a new take on the haunted house story and decided to run with the whole house-draws-strength-from-people-talking-about-it thing. It doesn’t really convince the reader and it is not nearly as frightening as it should be.

It was a fun, quick read, though, so if you are looking for a new take on the haunted house idea, albeit not the best new take, this is one to consider.

Four horror writers receive an invitation to participate in a 2 day interview in an old abandoned house at Halloween which will be posted on the internet. They are promised it will go viral, and they could all use the publicity.
Each writer has their own particular style, each has their own particular secrets.What could possibly go wrong? It's just a house right? This started as a slow burning subtle kind of horror. The type that gradually pulls you in deeper and never lets go. I love haunted house stories and I highly recommend this one if you do too! 5 out of 5 stars from me.

I'm a wee bit hard to please when it comes to ghost or haunted house stories, so I'll admit that I didn't have much hope when I started this book. Happily, it hit all the right spots for me. I really liked the idea of how this house became haunted. Also that freaking ending was killer! I kinda hated/loved it. Yeah, this is definitely a book I'd recommend and I look forward to reading much more from this author. I'm kind of curious if he had certain authors in mind when he was writing about his characters. My thanks to Inkshares publishing and Netgalley for letting me read and review.