“The Shattered Man with wild hair you better run avoid his stare. If you see him you are through. Cuz chances are? He already has seen YOU. “

Oh man this was creepy. In the beginning I was like, what the heck is going on? But I had to keep reading. And once I got halfway through the book, I was super invested in finding out what happened.
This is perfect for spooky season. It’s creepy, gory, gross, wild and quite honestly really weird. 😂
It’s a blend of horror, science fiction and even throws comedy in there. The author does a great job at vividly describing the scenes. Looking for a disturbing read? Check out Edenville!

EDENVILLE!!! This grounded, cosmic horror moves at the pace of an action movie. Non-stop, never boring, and self aware. Has quickly become my favorite horror novel this year.

The gummerfolk, the shattered man, blood curse, and a toxic relationship. Two people clearly not the best choice to save the world. Believable couple trapped in a relationship of convenience. Also, Jopp Yennigen is awesome.

Great pacing, Good writing. One hundred percent intense and fun. Would highly recommend.

Cam is so excited for his first novel, The Shattered Man, to come out, but it doesn’t receive the praise he is expecting. When he gets an offer to be a writer in residence at a college upstate, he thinks his luck has changed. However, things are not as they seem in Edenville.

I think this one had promise, but I didn’t really connect with the characters. I didn’t find myself invested in Cam or Quinn, which makes books with horror harder to enjoy. Others who do connect with them will probably enjoy it more!

I had higher hopes for this book but was drastically let down.
This book seemed very unfocused and was so hard for me to power through and finish, There is so much weirdness in this book and a lot of it is unexplained. Definitely wasn't my cup of tea

This was so not what I was expecting. This is a super creepy book with twist and turns I hadn’t anticipated.

Cam, author of a mediocrely received horror novel, The Shattered Man, is trying to find inspiration to write a second book. When he gets invited to come to Edenville College as a writer in residence, he jumps at the chance, even though Quinn, his girlfriend, has her doubts.

Making a decision to leave if things get weird, the two head to the picturesque town to start his work. The town, though, isn’t what it seems and the residents hold deep dark secrets.

This book didn’t fully grip me until halfway into it. It wasn’t a pacing issue, because the writing and the flow of the story are great. It was the vision I had for the events taking place… I was confused as to where it was going. Once it became clear, the rest of the book flew by at a nail biting pace. There is a bit of an unreliable narrator element to this that made the book for me! I didn’t know who to trust and what to expect.

All in all, this was a really cool horror novel that will make your stomach churn. Fantastic!

<b>Praise to the Mind!</b>

I went into this book not really knowing what to expect. Academic horror? Maybe a cult? I definitely wasn't expecting this mashup of multiple horror subgenres. Creatures, cults, cosmic, even some body horror, at least to me.

I had a hard time really getting hooked into this one. I'm not really sure why. It's well written, and the elements should be over the top and ridiculous, but the author makes it all work.

I really loved the way the characters approached everything happening, saying they weren't going to be like characters in a horror movie. Even if things play out differently in the end, the way a lot of their choices were framed was refreshing and smart.

I also loved that once everything started going off the rails, simple ideas and tropes were turned on their heads. I want to give an example, but I try to stay away from spoilers in my reviews, so you'll just have to message me if you want to talk about it!

I enjoyed this book. Maybe not as much as some others that I've read recently, but I definitely think that's more about me as a reader. It's well written with interesting ideas, and is definitely worth the read. Go check it out!

This was a unique and entertaining story! I highly recommend this book and author. I enjoyed the writing style and was thoroughly entertained throughout the whole book.

Please note that I did not finish this book. I won’t leave my review publicly, as I don’t want to mar its average rating when I failed to see it through. I will share some of my thoughts, based on what I did read:

I don’t think it’s fair to compare Edenville to the works of Paul Tremblay and Stephen Graham Jones, as the synopsis does. This suggested to me that Edenville would be more of a literary horror, with lyrical prose and thought provoking content. Admittedly, I’ve only read one SGJ book, but I know it was meaningful, and Tremblay always hits the right note for me. The comparison led me to expect something much different here. I did not feel this was a well-written piece and, while I can’t speak for how it ends, I was not under the impression that something profound would actually take place.

I was almost immediately turned off by Cam’s characterization. This is the second time this month that I’ve run into a story that presents a male as a jerk who is supposedly, at his core, really a good guy. I’m not a fan of that particular presentation. I mean, he was a jerk. Why couldn’t it just be left at that? I could have lived with the author knowingly presenting the character as a giant ass without suggesting he had redeeming qualities.

I know the synopsis has “body horror” in bold print so I’ve no right to complain about the gore level here. I just wish it had been balanced out with a better story. It’s easier to overlook elements that have every right to be there, even when I don’t care for them, when I’ve entered into something deeply immersive that almost makes me forget all of the grossness I’m digesting.

The story also did not offer the smoothest delivery. As I’ve already noted, I don’t think the writing itself was exceptional. Perhaps the author was trying to accomplish something that did hit a literary note with the book’s choppiness, but he was not successful.

From what I did read, I felt this was a rather original take on the traditional haunting story. Perhaps less particular readers will find all that they are looking for here.

I am immensely grateful to William Morrow and NetGalley for my copy. All opinions are my own.

This one sounded like it had so much promise, but it was a HARD nope for me. The writing and character work were not at all to my taste, and the weird gender issues were...a massive problem for me. (To me, this read as very dudebro writing, sexist and weird, as others have also noted.)

When I first read the synopsis of Edenville I immediately knew I would love it. I'm a sucker for mysterious small towns, and the residents of Edenville do not disappoint. There's no lack of unease, whether it's the odd faculty at the college, or the weird old ladies running all the businesses in town.

I do have to admit that the first few pages almost made me quit the book, but that's only because the mere mention of bodily fluids grosses me out beyond measure. There's a lot I can stomach, but apparently "eye jizz" isn't it. But I did soldier on, and I loved the story in the end.

None of the characters were overly likable, but that isn't always needed for a successful horror book. In return, the world-building and fine details of Edenville kept me happy until the end. There's nothing better than a good "blood curse".

The cover is what drew me to read Edenville. 🌻

I loved the synopsis - it seemed like a good premise for a horror story, but maybe there were too many parts to keep up with? It got a bit weird.

Cam's book isn't doing well, and yet he's invited to become a university's Writer in Residence. His gf, Quinn doesn't want to return, but the town doesn't let you stay gone. The bits between Cam and Quinn were alright aside from Quinn seems like a tough girl from the get-go, so why the hell does she go? She should have "Icahbod" herself out before she even left.

The parts about the faculty were alright, too. Syd and her arm. Madeline and her "feelings."

Where it gets weird is the tapestry, the wood, Jopp Yennigan, the old ladies.The bleeder idea was pretty cool.

The very end was my favorite! (No spoilers, but heck, yes!)

I will definitely keep an eye out for this author in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the early read!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to preview this manuscript, which is set for publication on October 3rd. However, I DNF'd at 30%, and my rating is based on that portion. This line was the final straw - er, eye-roll: “She tried four more flavors before buying a cup of Birthday Cake. She sat by the bay window and looked out at the clouds. She felt like she wanted to put a gun in her mouth, she was so fuckin content.”
Anyways, the style is trying to be camp slasher (I think?) but is too ponderous and plodding. Rebelein over-explains the tedious actions of our protagonists, who are frankly too dull to care about. The writing is clunky and Rebelein over-uses made up adjectives like “splinterous.” I agree with other reviewers who detect (how to put this generously...) *clumsy* treatment of women's internal experiences and motives in the book. Take this morsel: "She didn't particularly like old ladies. The ones in Leaden Hollow tended to leer at her through their car windows as they drove by. They picked at her hair and told her they wanted to bo bottle her youth, drink it all up. They told her she'd have nice babies. They treated her like an object, which Quinn understood - they'd been treated like objects themselves. But still." Rebelein simply does not have the skill to grapple with these topics, as amply illustrated by other excerpts posted by readers.

…in short, a trial to read and I was relieved to put it aside!

"Edenville" by Sam Rebelein is a deliciously chilling debut that seamlessly blends horror, humor, and an uncanny sense of unease. Campbell P. Marion, a struggling writer, seizes the opportunity of a writer-in-residence position at Edenville College, hoping it'll rejuvenate his career. As he and his girlfriend Quinn step into the seemingly idyllic town, they're quickly enveloped by a sense of impending dread. Rebelein masterfully constructs a narrative that subverts expectations, expertly weaving urban legends, cosmic horror, and the murky underbelly of academia into a tale that's both unnerving and captivating. With sharp wit and evocative prose, "Edenville" explores the shadows that lie beneath picturesque facades, delivering an unsettling yet irresistible experience for horror aficionados.

Thank you to NetGalley and William Morrow for the opportunity to read rage and review this arc which is tentatively scheduled to release Oct 3, 2023.

Yeahhhhh no. This was full of weird misogynistic things and was clunky. Extremely slow paced. The blurb doesn’t even describe the book accurately. And again the way make authors describe women? It’s a hard pass for me. I throughly did not enjoy a moment. It was a struggle and I do not feel like I should have even wasted my time.

Please have a woman re-edit this book do the icky misogynist stuff can be removed.

Starts off promising but falls apart a bit for me. This is still an amazing debut and I'd be very interested at seeing where Rebelein goes from here in future novels.

Thanks to William Morrow and NetGalley for supplying Sam Rebelein's 'Edenville' for review.

The blurb refers to Stephen Graham Jones and I can see how that connection could easily be made with the Jade Daniels/The Indian Lake Trilogy where the whole meta living inside a slasher film thing is played out wonderfully clearly. It starts off as a key theme in 'Edenville' and is clever for a while but fades as the novel progresses and it becomes pure Lovecraftian cosmic horror.

A y0ung but not especially happy couple are lured from hipster Brooklyn to an upstate NY college town even though they know that all the tropes and signs that they've come to know through the movies they watch and the books they read (and write) are telling them not to.

They find themselves ensconced in eons-long interactions between characters and their acolytes and their attempts to extricate themselves and others from these cosmically horrific situations.

It's confusing at times and probably didn't need all of the cosmic background but the two main characters, especially Quinn are good and there's some good humor sprinkled throughout.

Go Crows!

This was a wild ride that took several months for me to read, the weirdness was on the wrong side of weird for me, and I did not vibe with the writing or the narrative voice. Not one of my favorites this year.

This is the longest it’s taken me to read a book this entire year. I have no idea what I just read… it was so hard to pick this up and keep going. I still feel very confused and the description of this book is not fully what it’s about, if this book was actually what the description was - I would have been more interested. The writing and story of this book was interesting which is the reason behind my rating but I wouldn’t recommend to anyone.

i didn't like this. at first, i thought it was mostly my fault (and my personal preferences) that made me dislike it, but i came to realize that it was about 40% my fault, 60% the book's fault. hence the 2 star rating.

starting with my personal reasons for not liking it: i'm not big on sci-fi or cosmic horror and i didn't realize from the book's summary that this would be those things.
i didn't vibe with the narrative voice, nor did i find it very funny.
and frankly, i don't usually love books written by men. pretty much the only male authors i like (besides john green) are horror authors, because men definitely have that covered, and that's why i gave this book a chance. but i think this is the most Written By a Man book i think i've ever read.

which leads me into the problems that ARE the book's fault. from the first chapter, i HATED the writing style. it felt like it was trying to emulate stephen graham jones' effortless conversational style, but it just felt corny. example:
<i><b>[The creatures were s]ome poorly made cross between a man, a leech, and one of those slippery snake tube-toys you find at, like, Rainforest Cafe.</i></b>
at first, i forgave it, because the set-up made it seem like that first chapter was supposed to be written by the main character, a failed novelist. so i was like, "oh haha, this is bad because it's meant to be bad, because the character cam is a bad writer." no, that's just the whole book.

as for the whole written-by-a-man thing, there's a part early on in the book where the female main character is anxious, and the author chose to describe it this way: <i><b>She felt pregnant or something. Dizzy.</i></b> HUH???????????????????
there's also a part later where a ten year old girl <i><b>blooms for me with pure, virginal energy.</i></b> to the powers that be: please take that out of the fucking book oh my god.

so yeah, i would say this is not a very good book, and it was made even less enjoyable because of.... see above. <spoiler>also was it ever explained why yennigen wanted to open the door so bad? i didn't really understand what motivated that, considering for most of the book he was like "fuck you guys i don't care about traveling around the spine, kill yourselves!" but whatever i don't really care</spoiler>

thank you to netgalley for an arc. the quotes in this review may not reflect the final published version (please please please god).

I nearly DNF'd this during the first 10% because it was weird in a way that did not appeal to me. But I kept at it and spent roughly two months on it. Though the weirdness never goes away -- in fact, there's a lot more of it -- it does get much better as it goes along. But the eye cum stuff is gross and I couldn't ever get on board with it. That being said, this story is wild and varied; it's like an onion you strip for several hundred pages. There are elements of science fiction and fantasy alongside the hardcore horror sequences. It is for these reasons EDENVILLE is worth keeping on instead of giving up in its early chapters. It's one I'm not entirely sure how to recommend other than "if you like weird horror blends, give this a chance." I can certainly see the appeal as it does have (again) many layers.

(A slightly longer review is available on our website)