Since The Ruin Season was published in 2016 Kristopher Triana has released an impressive array of horror and mystery titles, including short stories, novellas and novels. I first read him a number of years ago with Shepherd of the Black Sheep (2018) and later They All Died Screaming (2020). However, he is undoubtedly best known for the stunning and Splatterpunk Award winning novella Gone to See the River Man, which was an absolute knockout and featured in my Horror DNA Top Ten Novellas of 2020. Once read this book is not easily forgotten.

Gone to See the River Man was nasty, lean and astonishingly mean and it is impossible not to judge Triana’s subsequent work against this very high benchmark. That Night in the Woods was a decent read, but its weakness was its length, 360-pages was ridiculously long for this type of story, doubled by the fact that for the most part was fairly predictable. It can be frustrating for a reader knowing exactly where a story was heading and then for it to take an age getting there. One can appreciate authors who normally write shorter stuff wanting to branch out into longer formats, Gone to See the River Man was a lean 180-pages with not an ounce of fat, and That Night in the Woods probably had enough plot to come in at a similar length rather than a cumbersome 360-pages.

The plot of That Night in the Woods is also built around a very familiar and probably overused trope; teenagers meeting up in the forties to revisit some terrifying incident from their past. We are all familiar with Stephen King’s IT, Ronald Malfi also used a very similar style in the excellent Black Mouth, with their being countless other examples. Even though this novel held my interest in regard to the secret the teenagers were hiding I could not help being disappointed and slightly underwhelmed by how things played out. This was not surprising as it was so obvious which of the six main characters was dodgy, with the way the story was framed making it tricky to pan out any other way.

The story kicks off with Jennifer, now in her mid-forties and lonely, receiving a message from Scott Dwyer after twenty odd years without contact, her first reaction is one of excitement as Scott was her first love. Now in her forties and in the middle of a divorce, nostalgia for her youth gets the better of her and she replies only to find out that Scott has also contacted all the other members of their old ‘gang’ to honour the memory of Stephen, another classmate from their clique, who recently passed away.

The reader quickly realises that Scott, Corey, Traci and Mark have not stayed in touch since high school for good reason as they were involved in a traumatic event which remains shrouded for most of the story but is revealed in extensive flashback sequences to when they were eighteen. Scott wants the group to face the horror from their past and revisit the
patch of forest encroaching his house, a place once known as Suicide Woods due to the high number of teenagers who inexplicably took their own lives there around the time they were teens themselves.

The story jumps from character to character, none of which are particularly likable, and have been ground down by life and failure. Mark tries and fails to maintain his tough-guy teen image, whilst Corey continues to be the outsider of the group (he read comics and was awkward with girls), was only included as he was a friend of Scott. Both women had shared history with Scott and after some awkward moments the group begin to ease up with each other. However, nobody knows anything about the death of Stephen, with Scott dropping hints as the evening moves on.

That Night in the Woods is set over a single night/day and things fall apart very quickly when, no nobody’s surprise, they venture into the woods again. There were some great scenes in the forest, particularly when the then and now sequences were contrasted with the excitement of teenagers doing dumb stuff morphed into terrified adults fighting for their lives. Although it had its moments That Night in the Woods lacked the bite of Khristopher Triana’s best work but if you are a sucker for forest horror and dumb decisions then it is worth a look.

This had a lot of promise, but I don't think it really amounted to much by the end. The premise was interesting, yet one that felt familiar: adults returning home to confront an emotional event from their teen years.

The book itself needed more trimming - pacing wasn't consistent and very heavy with exposition - especially toward the end.

The graphic descriptions felt wasted: it felt like there was more concern with shock value instead of a fully engaging narrative. This was also evident through the characters themselves because they didn't feel overly fleshed out and I just didn't care for them anywhere near as much as I should have.

It felt like there was going to be another level to the story, but it's pretty evident what's going to happen early on and it just trundles towards its inevitable conclusion.

As mentioned just now, the gore was fun, but really could've been pushed further! I read Triana’s ‘Gone to See the River Man’ and that has haunted me because of its level of depravity. This just felt like an attempt to explore some taboo content via a half-formed idea and connect the dots with quicksand-like exposition.

A classic trope of a group of friends coming together after decades apart to face an old horror. I quite enjoyed this read. Nothing particularly unique but a treasures old favorite. It was well-written with believable characters.

I love Triana’s work- Gone to see the river man is one of my all time favorites. So i think going into this, i thought i’d love it just as much but it just fell short for me. The writing was great, and the beginning really had me hooked but towards the end it lost me. The last couple pages really just spoiled it completely for me. Definitely didn’t like how it ended. I’m giving it 2.5-3 stars simply for the first half of the book.

Also, idk if it was just me but I could not stand Jenny. 😂

Complicated teenage friendships and relationships exacerbated by a frightful Halloween night decades ago because of what happened That Night In The Woods. Coming together to memorialize one that passed away too soon, a group of friends in their 40s face their inner demons and the complicated truth with bloody consequences. Loved the twists and turns and found the whole book to be delightfully spooky!

I absolutely loved this book — until the last 10 pages. If i were rating those last 10 pages alone, I’d go with 1 star.

The rest of the story is quite compelling. In fact, there’s only one exception. The character of Mark had heinous thoughts, yet everyone else decided he wasn’t bad, and was in fact a good guy. This part didn’t sit right with me. I could overlook it, though, if the book didn’t have the ending it does.

SPOILERS
.
.
.
.
.

Okay, so I was willing to buy that there was a cult doing messed up stuff. I was even willing to buy that they were Christians, as there are several smaller factions that do messed up stuff in “service” to their god. But why in the hell did Traci suddenly change her mind and decide that she was supposed to be part of their cult?

She went from struggling to deciding “eh, why not? At least he loves me” in like literally one paragraph. And, by the book’s last page, it became clear that they all thought they were doing the right thing. The book had no moral conscience whatsoever. This was as disappointing as it was unlikely.

I like it when the bad guys win, but this one felt cheap. It lowered my rating from 5 stars to 2.5 (rounded up to 3).

This book unfolded like a movie. I could easily imagine this on a theater screen. It has similar vibes to Stephen King's IT (middle-aged friends coming back to their home town after surviving a traumatic experience in their youth). But the story stands on its own despite the similarity.

The first half of the book switches between the past and present quiet a bit. But it's always relevant for the story and never seems forced or pointless. Each of the characters feel like fully-realized people. You do end up hoping for a happy ending for all of them even though that is impossible in a horror story. So when any deaths do come, they are shocking and cause you to feel empathy for those characters' deaths.

The story is paced well and never once feels like is dragging.

I was looking forward to this book because I really liked „Gone To See The River Man“ and maybe that’s why my expectations were a little ... biased? I wanted to be creeped out and lose myself in an absurdity that would give me goosebumps. Somehow, none of that happened. It was just like I was following a horror scenario I’ve seen / read many times before and that somehow took the thrill out of it. Of course Triana’s writing itself was wonderful again, but the story just couldn’t pull me in and didn’t build up any creep factor or so.

And then the thing happened that always takes the „fun“ out of many horror stories for me too - the ending. For me it was all very clichéd and also kind of predictable and the real ending (so the last 5 pages or so?) were probably a complete turn-off for me. I just don’t like these things and don’t know why this in particular always has to play such a role in the horror genre.

As I said, the writing was wonderful again, but I guess the story just wasn’t for me.

I’ve read two other stories from Triana—one I loved and the other was good but wasn’t a favorite. The writing in both were very good though!

This one, however, seemed a bit different . . . off? There was an incredible amount of time spent on the physical appearance/sexual want of the characters. The first 20% was essentially how all the characters used to be hot when they were younger but not so much now. Also couldn’t keep track of how many times Mark is described as staring at Traci as she walks up the stairs or bends over. Or, Jennifer, wanting to be alone with Scott any chance she can get. It just all seemed really weird and overly sexual.

The story itself was interesting but nothing to write home about.

I’m not sure what happened with this one, but for fans of Triana I’d say you could probably skip this one

I was very excited to discover another new author to add to my list.

The Girl At The Party, was a gripping psychological thriller that kept me hooked with its many twists and turns.

5 years after Stephanie's unsolved murder, Chris gets in touch with his old university friends. He is planning a podcast in an effort to find out who killed their friend Stephanie.

The story has two timelines, the present time and back to the night of the party where Stephanie leaves and does not return.

As more evidence is brought to light, we discover that each of the friends have their own secrets, that they are desperate to keep buried and will do anything to protect themselves.

I will definitely be looking out for more of Daniel Parker's books.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

A group of friends reunite after 25 years of going their separate ways to attend a memorial for one of them that passed away. They remember Halloween during their senior year where they camped out in “The Suicide Woods” and saw things they would never forget.

I feel like this story did an excellent job balancing the dual narratives of 1995 and present day. I appreciated the mounting dread and unease as the story unfolds.

The characters that we meet are essentially The Cabin in the Woods stereotypes, but these caricatures actually really fit the narrative of the story that is being told. I love a bit of subverted expectations about the people the characters are supposed to be.

The progression of the story and the buildup was excellent until the last quarter of the book. I did not love how it chose to end and was disappointed with how the twist fell flat. That being said, there were some spectacular gore elements that I have come to appreciate. The horror was super fun and unique!

If you like books that take place in endless woods, a mounting sense of dread, and monsters that may or may not be there, That Night in the Woods comes out this Halloween!

Part coming of age, part reunion is one of my favorite tropes. In this book a group of friends is reunited on the pretense that another member of their group has passed away.

This brings up many feelings about that night in the woods as teens and we the reader get to go on that ride along with them to the past and present which are intertwined expertly.

This would be the perfect dark and stormy October night read since it evokes that feeling.

Overall, That Night in the Woods is a very enjoyable read with some seriously creepy vibes.

I read this all in one sitting. This book was unbelievable and it blew my expectations away! The plot twists kept coming and I just had to finish the book as soon as possible! Part of this book reminded me of It by Stephen King (old childhood friends reuniting and recalling a shared supernatural experience)

When all was revealed I was on the edge of my seat the entire time from then till the end of the book, Triana did a wonderful job at keeping the atmosphere horrific and allowed me to understand the exact atmosphere and how the characters were all feeling in each of their POV sections.

I’d like to thank NetGalley for the ARC copy of the book so I could experience this masterpiece early!

3.5 stars
This hooked me in from the beginning - I’m a sucker for a story about a group of friends having to come back together after years of being apart. I thought this was well paced for the most part and I was eager to keep turning the pages to find out what happened when they were teenagers and what was going to happen now they were back together as adults. Great suspense and atmosphere along with some creepy moments. The story did lose a bit of its spark towards the end as we find out where it’s going and although I’m a fan of that trope it did feel predictable after a certain point. I’d still recommend it for an enjoyable pageturner and it would be perfect for October since parts of the story take place on Halloween.

As a fan of horror and splatterpunk, I was super stoked when I got my hands on an advance copy of "That Night in the Woods" by Kristopher Triana through NetGalley. But, it was a bit of a mixed bag for me.

First off, the positives - the atmospheric setting and the sense of haunting dread throughout the book were spot on. The book was a page turner with good pacing, genuinely creepy moments and a building of suspense.

Sadly, there were some negative as well - the story itself fell a bit short for me. While the overall tone and setting were executed well, the characters and their development left something to be desired. The dialog felt forced and unnatural and there was too much telling, not showing. There were a lot of cliches also that were tired and overused and pulled me out of the story.

The book just didn't do it for me overall and I kept hoping it would improve, but it never did. I guess getting to the end means there's enough there to warrant a read if you enjoy horror.

Thanks to the publisher, author and NetGalley for the ARC

I was very excited to find this book available in an ARC after preordering it from Cemetery Dance. Kristopher Triana is one of my favorite Horror/Splatterpunk authors and I couldn't wait until October to read it.

The overall tone of haunting dread and settings are well executed. The feeling of being a teenager on Halloween and wandering through a labyrinth of dark woods at night really shines in this book. Unfortunately, the story itself was messy and a bit lackluster. Which I can forgive if I really like or care about the characters, but I hate to say I didn't.

There was too much telling instead of showing and the character development suffered for it. As well as characters oftentimes speaking in ways that felt forced and unnatural.

The writing itself was less inspired than what I've grown accustomed to from Triana and was riddled with cliches. Anytime I read about a character running "like a gazelle" or someone/something having a "rictus grin" in a horror novel, I'm immediately reminded that I'm reading a book and taken out of the story. The expository revelations of dialogue given from characters near the end as to why things happened/needed to happen just added insult to injury.

I love the darkness, absurdity, humor and fun of Kristopher Triana's books. Unfortunately, this book wasn't humorous or fun and left me feeling like it was written during an early point in his career. Hopefully his next book leaves less to be desired.

Omg talk about a roller coaster read wow this book kept me on the edge of my seat through out I just couldn't put it down

sorry it wouldn't download for me! not author fault - my computer fault! cover and blurb look really good though :)

Thank you to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for an advance copy of this book.

That Night In The Woods follows five middle-age friends, who reunite in their hometown after the sixth person from their childhood friend group’s untimely death. During their childhood, the group experienced a hellish night in the woods that left them all scarred in some way. As the gang spends more time together, things start to get weird.

I definitely enjoyed this book, and read it in one sitting. The pacing of the book is great, being told mostly in the present, but with plenty of flashbacks to that night in the woods mixed in to heighten the feeling of suspense. Even after going through that night in the woods, Triana continues to up the ante and does not let that feeling of suspense die down in the slightest. This book also brings plenty of gore along with its intensity. The characters were also well written- I found myself going from not caring about them to really liking them as the story progressed.

I did find some elements of That Night In The Woods to be a bit predictable- mostly because it felt like there were clues pointing to the outcome in the story. That’s my only small gripe with this book, but I don’t think it’s anything that makes the other parts of the story less shocking.

That Night In The Woods comes out October 6th 2023, and I think it would make a great Halloween-time read!

So the story is about a guy who basically invites this woman over to his like the cabin whatever I took, it, reminds me of your reunion with his high school friends back in the day now they just got all older and Something Happens. Some other guy basically died recently one of their old high school classmates dies so he does like a reunion so they can see what happened to one of the classmates it was very scary and a good read but the book was so long. I couldn’t stop reading it.