Thank you, Netgalley, and Redhook for the eArc in return for an honest.

Reality TV show Fade to Black consists of married couple and ghost hunters Matt and Claire along with Kevin, an ex cop, Jessica, an actress, and their camera man Jeff.

They are filming at The Foundation House in hopes of discovering paranormal activity for their upcoming episode Thirteen.
The house is famous for the weird experiments that took place there in the 1970s.
They are hoping to get a second season, and the research done this place could guarantee that. But what this crew discovers is so much more than they could have ever dreamed of.

I enjoyed the book. It's told in journal entries, texts,email,pictures, and transcripts from camera footage. I love the mixed media aspect of the books. I flew through this almost 500-page book in two days. It reminds me of a condensed version of House of Leaves.

I love the found footage/mixed media narrative of telling this story. It gave me House of Leaves vibes. I was looking forward to a good paranormal horror book and that’s what the first half delivered. I couldn’t put it down. Then it started going very science heavy in direction. It almost felt like sci-fi in some parts. I just couldn’t get into the 2nd half. The ending wasn’t my favorite. I think people who enjoy science horror would really like this.

I absolutely loved this book. I love all things ghosts, paranormal and haunted houses. Craig DiLouie knocked it out of the park with this one.

The paranormal investigative team from Fade to Black needs to finish their season strong starting with episode thirteen. They've been given an opportunity to investigate a location no one has investigated before and what was once the site of some nefarious human experiments. What the team encounters you'll need to read to find out! Each member of the team will ultimately confront their own demons during the investigation, which just adds another layer to the story.

Thank you to @netgalley and @redhookbooks for this ARC. I truly enjoyed reading it and recommend to horror lovers everywhere.

As a lover of horror, supernatural, and mystery books, Episode Thirteen really appealed to me. The concept was fantastic and the overall storyline was great. However, the beginning took forever to build up and the ending was not as great as it was leading to be. I will also admit that I am not a fan of the writing style. This was the first book I've read that was broken up like it was and it just completely threw me off. I wanted to love this book. I truly did. But the middle of the book is what got the book most of it's rating from me.

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for the chance to read and review this title in exchange for the ARC.

This was definitely an eerie read! I love the original idea of storytelling here. It was a great ghostly mystery. I enjoyed it!!

I enjoyed this one but not as much as I thought I was going to. Yes it is an entertaining and fun paranormal romp that soon become something else and more of a character study with commentary on science rather than the possible existence of ghosts. Don't get me wrong it is a page Turner and I bet a lot of people would enjoy it. For me though I guess my expectations kind of affected my view of it somewhat and it was a good but just short of great read for me. Full Review to come on the blog.

Holy fuck. What did I just read??

Structure wise? I don't know if it is because I listened to the audiobook or not, but it is somewhere between the anatomy of Desire and the appeal.

Using diary journals, texts, emails, true full-cast interactions, and a narrator telling their story by sorting through it all; Episode 13 is terrifying and devastating. The destruction of a group of Podcasters that was falling apart even before the house sends them into delusions, and misdirections that play on their greatest desires (weaknesses).

Altogether, DiLouie weaves a pulse-pounding, epic nightmare.

If you're looking to get your spook on then you've come to the right place! 👻

"Welcome to Foundation House."

In this story we follow a ghost hunting reality TV crew enter into what could be the most haunted house in America. This is being filmed as Episode Thirteen of their series Fade to Black.

Back in the '70's The Paranormal Research Foundation conducted experiments on willing folks that ultimately drove them all mad or worse. The scientists conducting these experiments vanished into thin air never to be seen again. Foundation House has been abandoned since then and our current investigators are searching to find answers to the mystery of what happened all those years ago.

"Where there's smoke, there's fire."

What they discover I will leave for you, future reader, to discover on you're own. If you dare. 💀

"Again I can't describe it. Empty, panic, corrupt. The words for it haven't been invented yet."

I've read DiLouie in the past with more hits than misses so I was eager to get a copy of this. When I was a teenager I went gaga for these ghost hunting shows even though nothing ever really happens in them but jump scares. Still, this one called to my horror loving heart and I am so happy to say that ultimately it was a success. It starts a little slow to set the scene but I assure you once things start to go bump in the night you'll be eagerly reading and hungry for all the horror DiLouie rains down on you. I definitely felt a nod to House of Leaves and can only assume DiLouie drew inspiration from that.

If I have any complaints it would be that at times the science talk got to be a little too much for my pea brain. Also, this book was longer than it needed to be. A little more editing here or there wouldn't have hurt the story at all. Though the mixed media format in its telling does help with the pacing.

The ending - Bravo! Loved it! 👏

If you like horror, ghost stories, haunted houses, found footage, and mixed media style writing then this is sure to be a winner for you. 4 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Redhook Books for my complimentary copy.

Every new book from Craig DiLouie is a surprise because - as far as my experience with his works goes - he never treads twice on the same ground, never sticks to any given theme or genre. With Episode Thirteen he chose to explore the world of professional ghost hunters, and while this is a ghost story, it does not develop in any predictable way, which adds to its appeal - and to its mystery.

Fade to Black is a moderately successful ghost hunting show which follows the scheme of similar reality programs by investigating allegedly haunted houses and seeking confirmation (or debunking) through the application of various scientific tools; lead investigators, and married couple, Matt and Claire Kirklin represent the two sides of the research: he’s the believer in the existence of paranormal phenomena, mostly because of his childhood experience with an imaginary friend who turned out to be anything but, while his wife is the skeptic, looking for scientific explanation of the weird occurrences encountered in their line of work. The team also includes Kevin Linscott, tech manager and former police officer, who’s convinced to have been in the presence of a ghost in the course of one tour of duty; Jessica Valenza, an actress looking for visibility and affirmation while trying to raise a son on her own; and Jake Wolfson, the cameraman who is more focused on filming good takes rather than catching glimpses of ghosts.

After a great start, Fade to Black is experiencing some downturn in ratings that place a second season of the show on the line, so that Matt wants to craft a spectacular Episode 13 (the one before the series’ final segment) to insure that they will be able to go on. The location for this episode is Foundation House, a crumbling manor where outlandish pseudo-scientific experiments were conducted in the ‘70s, involving the use of psychotropic drugs among other bizarre techniques: the mystery surrounding Foundation House, whose staff disappeared without a trace, is enough to insure some spectacular footage. The team approaches the location with a mixture of anticipation and dread for the future of the show, a feeling that is slowly intruding in their interpersonal and working relationships. What they will find goes way beyond their wildest expectations and adds more mysteries to those already plaguing the spooky house…

Episode Thirteen is written with a style resembling that of found-footage movies, chronicling the fateful exploration of Foundation House through videos and transcripts, interviews, personal diaries and e-mails, building a picture of the characters with cinematic quality, revealing their inner workings without need for info-dumps: while the story starts with a deceptively leisurely pace, it slowly grows into an ominous tale and a compelling, compulsive read in which we get to know the characters just as the momentous events unfold. If it’s easy to indulgently scoff at actual tv shows like Fade to Black, here the feeling of being faced with something which is as real as it is elusive is quite strong, and the suspension of disbelief does not require any effort at all.

What’s interesting about the characters is that they are not exactly likable, and yet they remain deeply intriguing from beginning to end, and it’s easy to identify with them as they witness the eerie, scary phenomena that plague the old manor and they deal with reactions that go from the classic “fight or flight” to the difficult battle between scientific curiosity and self-preservation. As the story progresses and the team faces a true descent into Hell (both in the figurative and in the actual sense), their core personalities are revealed in stark relief, all the trappings people use to cover their true self coming undone in a very dramatic way.

It would be impossible for me to write more about the story without falling into spoiler territory, and this is a novel that must be approached with no prior knowledge whatsoever, so that it can deliver all its powerful impact in the most effective way: there is no body horror here, no splattered blood or any other physical manifestation typical of the genre, the dread is more psychological than anything else, mixed as it is with our innate fear of the unknown.

One warning only: once you pick up Episode Thirteen set aside some “quality time” to read it, and be aware that once you start the book it will be next to impossible to put it down for more than the few moments you will need to catch your breath - because you will need to remember to breathe, trust me…

If you are looking for a ghost story with a bit of an esoteric twist or if you really enjoy the ghost hunting shows, you should give Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie a read.

I don’t watch ghost hunter shows because I just don’t find them that exciting… but I would go on a ghost hunting expedition in a heartbeat. When I read the synopsis for Episode Thirteen I was a bit intrigued, but I was also concerned I would get bored, but the way that DiLouie wrote the story with journal entries, text messages, emails, and video journals/camera footage recaps made for a very entertaining book that kept me engaged and wanting to see where the story would lead.

While the creepy old house does play a character in the book, the human and ghost characters are very well developed and each adds a perfect layer to the story. You have the true believer, the skeptic, the one who’s there for the money, etc… but I feel each one was needed to give the haunted house trope the emotions for it to really connect with the reader.

I read a lot of horror and watch even more, and while few actually leave me unsettled (and I don’t remember the last one that scared me), towards the end of Episode Thirteen when they delve into the basement realm did have me feeling unsettled at times and left me with some questions about the ghost world that I didn’t even know I had. For me that makes for an excellent read.

"From the macabre mind of a Bram Stoker Award-nominated author, this heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined.

Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts.

Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen - and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong."

Oh yes, ghost hunting TV shows, of the fictional variety, are my jam. Too scared to watch the real thing.

I was not a big fan of the writing in this book. The writing style felt very juvenile. It felt more like a high school students writing than a published author.

I did not like how it was articles from the paranormal team's website, blog and other articles. It made the reading feel very bland and impersonal. It felt like I was reading articles instead of a book. I hated the transcript chapters.

This did not feel like this was a well thought out and edited book.

Thank you so much for this advanced readers copy. This book absolutely blew my mind! I couldn’t put it down, nor could I stop thinking about it. I love the way that it’s written, as written “found footage”. Excellently done!

It’s hard for me to decide if this was 3 or 4 stars. I liked all the haunted aspects but there was just too much mumbo jumbo for me. I really enjoyed how the book is written in multiple different formats (texts, diary entries, screenplay/video footage descriptions). Not only was the format very unique but also the plot. The characters weren’t very likeable and sometimes there was so much going on that it was hard to tell what was happening. I’m not quite sure how I feel about the ending but I do wish there was a little more on the last chapter because I was left wondering what happened to a certain character. I’ve never read a book like this and for that I think I will give it 4 stars. I recommend giving this one a try if you’re a fan of horror or psychological suspense.

Thank you to Netgalley, Redhook Books and Craig DiLouie for this ARC ebook in exchange for an honest review. Episode Thirteen will be published January 24, 2023.

I was so excited when I opened the Orbit promotional emailer and saw that Craig DiLouie had another book out. I really, really need to read more of his work. The first one I read was called One of Us and it blew me away. If you haven’t read One of Us, do yourself a favor and pick it up — but be fairly warned, it’s tragic. I almost never physically read anymore, and so I don’t often get to these early releases. I made an exception for this author.

I had really no idea what I was getting into since I didn’t read the synopsis, or any promotional stuff, or read any reviews. I went in cold.

It’s a ghost story!

You could probably argue there are two main POVs and several side POVs that rounded out a pretty wide cast of characters. This follows Matt and his wife Claire, who are a paranormal investigators who co-host a reality show called Fade to Black. Way back in Matt’s childhood he remembered having an overly-vivid “imaginary friend” who his mom took him to see psychiatrists about since he was so convinced she was real. Fast forward to real life and he’s convinced ghosts are real and he wants to expose them to the world genuinely. He has a deep passion for this topic and he’s completely genuine on his show, he’s not a scam artist and that’s refreshing. His wife does NOT believe in this shit, lol. She’s a science minded person who wants to debunk ghosts and provide evidence behind supposedly supernatural phenomena.

Well, Episode Thirteen of the show is supposed to take place at Foundation House. Matt feels very confident that this will be the episode that changes their lives. He really has a strong gut feeling that this will be the place they finally find evidence of an afterlife. He has kicked himself hard for not asking his imaginary friend more about the afterlife, and hasn’t had a chance since then.

So, this kinda starts off slow, setting up an atmosphere and really trying to get the reader invested in the characters. One of the reasons that One of Us has stuck with me for years, and years, after many hundreds of books is the characters and the raw emotion that book sparked from me. This book did not quite hit those marks for me, unfortunately. This is not to say they are bad, I thought they were well developed and well done characters. One of Us was just such an impactful book for me that it’s hard to reach there again. However, it did set up really great and complex relationships between this cast on the paranormal show. It’s not just him and his wife, there’s the camera guy, the hot girl actor for show ratings, and an ex cop who’s there to kinda beat his chest a bit — but he too genuinely believes in ghosts and demons. Each of these characters gets a POV with varying levels of page time.

The way this book is written is also very different. It’s possible people who read crime thrillers, or horror books may encounter this more often, but this is like a book version of a documentary film show. Like, it reads as if it’s a movie script at times, and there are blog entries, and journal entries, and text message exchanges between characters that make up entire chapters. I had not ever seen it done like this in a SFF book and it took me a long while to adjust. I didn’t really become accustomed to it until like 35% through the book. I have to say honestly, that the author’s name is what kept me going for the first 10-15%, I may have set it down because it was kind of disorienting and I felt like I couldn’t get a good handle on what was going on. That said I did adjust and once I did, I was able to speed through the rest of this book. I read this whole thing in just one evening.

I found Claire to be the most interesting off the bat. This is probably partly bias liking a science minded woman who doesn’t believe in ghosts, but also because she has genuine internal conflict from the start, do I be horrible to myself and continue in a career I don’t want, or do I be “horrible” to my husband and the other cast for quitting? She knows she’s half the show and why they have the ratings because of the chemistry of her and her husband and it would jeopardize the show to quit. but those are her choices, stay miserable or quit. I just like that conundrum because it’s very every day, and yet this is about ghosts and horror. My least favorite character was Kevin. I didn’t give a single shit about Kevin start to finish. He just irritated me the whole time. He’s an abrasive ex Philly cop and just hits a lot of stereotypes.

Overall, the payoff took a while to come, but I was satisfied when it did. I would definitely recommend this to people who want to try something different, and I’d encourage people to keep with it if they’re feeling a little lost at first. It comes together and it really works by the end.

Ratings:
Plot: 12/15
Characters: 12/15
World Building: 11/15
Writing: 13/15
Pacing: 12/15
Originality: 13/15
Enjoyment: 8/10
Final Score: 81/100

The story is about an episode of ‘Fade to Black’, a popular ghost hunting reality TV show that turns into something quite unexpected. The show is hosted by a husband-and-wife team that are given permission to visit the Foundation House, the former headquarters of the Paranormal Research Foundation. It was documented in the 70’s that scientists had performed bizarre human experiments in the house before everyone suddenly disappeared without a trace. The house has been empty ever since, making it perfect for their upcoming episode. The house is set to be demolished and they are given 72 hours to find answers to what really happened. The story is told through multiple formats (emails, diary blog entries, text messages, articles) and various characters which was very unique… as is the storyline. I found it to be an entertaining read, but it does take some time to get into. I went into this one thinking it was more of a typical ghost story, but it turns into something completely different. Some of the scenes were incredibly creepy which I loved. I wasn’t completely satisfied with the ending, but it was unique. Overall, it was an entertaining, creepy read to delve into. 3.5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

A 4.5
A team of paranormal investigators decide to go to a spooky house with a weird past hoping to communicate with a few spirits. Each one has different reasons for going in and those reasons may just be their undoing. The spirits of the house don't want to talk - they want to play.

The energy of the dark universe is the fire that old Prometheus stole. Its darkness will be our light. Properly harnessed, it will make us like the gods he took it from.

I really, thoroughly enjoyed this. Holy Shit. I wouldn’t really say it was scary per se. It had its slow-build and spooky moments and absolutely beautiful writing, which I loved. If you want to go into this expecting something terrifying, this might be a disappointment. It was more just kind of unsettling. I haven’t read Suffer the Children yet, nor any of their other works, so I can’t compare it to those and say if it holds up to the already established and published work. That being said, I absolutely devoured this. It took some time to get into; I wasn’t actively invested until about 17% into it. But when it hooked me, I was done for. I read from 17% to 89% in one sitting and finished it immediately the next morning.

The way we get to see each character kind of just slowly lose their shit was phenomenal. It did get really weird and I can see why people wouldn’t necessarily like that. Some, or all, of the characters make very questionable and very dumb choices that had me nearly yelling at my kindle screen. But, it also kind of made sense with who the characters were ad who they had been set up to be. The ending seems to be a bit split as well, with some loving it and some detesting it. I didn’t mind it. It wasn’t exactly satisfying but I also couldn’t explain what would have been more satisfying if that makes sense, so I didn’t mind that either. Stunning.

I have mixed feelings about this book, but I'm not sure if it's because I had certain expectations going into it based on the novel's description, or if I just wasn't a huge fan of the execution in the end.

The story develops at a good pace and it held my attention so I finished it in about two days. While found footage format usually takes something away from connecting with characters and their motivations, the author's use of journal entries helped in understanding characters POV. The story definitely doesn't follow the typical haunted house plot and takes a bit of a left turn with about a third of the book to go. Near the end, it reminded me of House of Leaves in some ways. Episode Thirteen similarly uses the labyrinth/Minotaur metaphor to show how one's obsession in finding the answer to life's existential questions can descend into confusion and madness.

I think if you go into this story wanting a classic haunted house tale, you will be surprised.

Found footage horror movies are my absolute favorite so I was excited to give this a try. I really enjoyed the set up of emails, journals, and "video" footage. The first half was great set up. The ending lost me a little bit, but overall the story was well executed and wrapped up in a fun way.

DiLouie sets the stage for a creepy found footage horror story via the use of alternative formats. Through the use of transcripts, journals of main characters, and other mediums, the reader is able to grow a full mental picture of the decline of relationships and inform the plot. The plot aligned with found footage tropes, and the ending was satisfying and eery. I found the switching of mediums extending my reading time vs normally formatted prose, but the different structures will appeal to readers of House of Leaves.

Grateful for the opportunity to read this ARC.