This is a pretty decent read. Having read this authors extremely scary novel They All Died Screaming last year, I think I expected more horror action. This is more of a slow burn thriller. The character development was my favourite aspect. Often having a large cast can get confusing but this flowed smoothly. The alternate timeline was also well done. The ending felt a little dull after the long build up but it was definitely spooky and felt unique.
3.5 stars rounded up

Scott invites his old love Jennifer back to Redford. He also invites the rest of the crew, Traci, Mark, and Corey. Back in 1995 bad, creepy things happened in Suicide Forest Halloween night.
Scott talks them into going into the haunted woods again and laying the past to rest. Murder and mayhem abound. I loved this scary story and stayed up late into the night reading. Thanks NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for this ARC that will be released October 7, 2023!

Although not my favorite by this author, it was still a good story. If you're a fan of Triana, definitely check this one out!

The beginning was slow for me, but it was interesting, so I kept going. Childhood friends reunited to face their fears. -creepy but predictable. I still enjoyed it and would recommend for spooky season.

This book would make a perfect October read - it's set on Halloween, kids are playing pranks, there's a creepy forest which may house monsters and worse...it's got it all.

With that said the book was about 50 pages too long and the ending was...not great.

I was so into this book for 90 percent of it and I loved the whole group of kids being re-united in their 40s in honor of one of their friend's death.

Middle age is so hard. Very hard. The characters in THAT NIGHT IN THE WOODS were thinking about their regrets, mistakes, the what-ifs throughout the entire story. And that was very relatable and interesting.

But...the ending. sigh.

Thank you NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for an e-copy of THAT NIGHT IN THE WOODS to review.

I really wanted to give this one four stars, but I'm going to go with three instead.

This was a very slow read for me. I couldn't really get into it, which might be because it didn't have me hooked from the beginning. And I was EXCITED. So I really wanted to love this one more than I did.

I liked when something actually happened, but there's just so little action. The only thing that kept me sort of hooked were the diaries..
Overall still not a bad one, but it just felt a bit off for me personally.

First of all, I’d like to thank Cemetery Dance Publications, Kristopher Triana and Netgalley for providing me with a e-arc to review!

That Night in the Woods is an intense slasher horror with supernatural elements that very much feels like a mix of Stephen King’s It and the movie The Ritual. The story starts with five adults in their forties being called back to their small hometown to the memorial of a beloved childhood friend. The group haven’t spoken in years- not after one fateful Halloween night where seven of them camped in the Suicide Woods and only six came out. The group reminiscing about their past soon turns into an uncomfortable discussion to put the pieces of that traumatic night together and finally face the demons from their pasts- and the present.

This book was an incredibly enjoyable read- it was filled with suspense, mystery and gore and had me on the edge the whole time. I loved the atmosphere that Triana created and it fit the vibe of the story perfectly. There was a lot of mystery surrounding the Halloween night in the woods and a perfect amount of suspense and mystery was created. I think the jumps between the past and present were really good and it really showed how much each of the characters had changed over the years. I also loved the different POV’s from the characters- I found, unlike most horror books and movies, that the characters and their backstories were quite interesting and I was truly terrified for them and rooting for them all. Now, this book isn’t for the faint of heart because it is filled with horror sand gore. This worked really well for me because I thought it was well written but please be mindful if you are sensitive to this kind of thing! The one thing that knocks a star off for me is that I found the ending a bit abrupt and there was a complete 180 in one of the characters that didn’t really make sense to me. While the ending could have been fleshed out a bit more, its only really the last chapter and the rest of the book was amazing and I’d 100% recommend it!

Oh wow, look at that creepy cover. Isn't it amazing? 😍

Well, let me tell you that the cover is the best part of this entire book. 😒

The basic gist is that five friends that are now in their forties, all unhappy with their lives, decide to reunite when one of their friends from childhood dies. They had all gone their separate ways after a tragedy befell them in the woods on Halloween night in 1995.

Now they are all back together to rehash what happened all those years ago.

Oh my goodness was this terrible. I'll admit that my curiosity was piqued in the beginning and I read the first 75 or so pages at breakneck speed until we actually got to the woods and what should have been the spooky part. This was way too cheesy to be considered scary. This book read more like a young adult horror novel. Even the sections when they're actual adults still read young. Probably because these adults are all acting like horny teenagers. Are you seriously going to tell me that these people all get together after years apart and the death of a friend and all they want to do is bang one another? Please just make it stop. 🤦‍♀️🛑

Then we find out what is actually happening in the woods and it made my head want to explode. Not in the "I was so shocked my mind was blown!" kind of way. Oh no, this was more like my head seriously wants to explode after ingesting so much lunacy. I honestly wish I could be transported back in time to the good ole days when I never read this book. One last thing, I am not a religious person but if you are of the Christian faith you will most certainly find this offensive. 1 star!

Thank you to NetGalley and Cemetery Dance Publications for my complimentary copy.

I wanted to like this more. I'll agree with other reviewers that this gave me similar vibes to Stephen King with the problem being that the story didn't hold up for me that well. I'm a big mystery fan but this one had sort of "pulp" inclusions along with pacing problems. I'd like to read more by this author since this is my first book from him but this one just wasn't a favorite.

Thank you to NetGalley and Cemetary Dance Publications for this ARC.

Enjoyed this one. Love splatter horror books and can’t wait to read his other works especially Gone to see the River man and it’s sequL

Gh am you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC to review

3.5 stars!

As others have most likely said I got an early Stephen King vibe from this and loved it. Yes the start is slow and my interest was all over the shop at times but I enjoyed it. The ending took a turn that I wasn't exactly expecting but wasn't THAT mad about it. Just felt a little different to what I was expecting

This book has major It vibes based on the fact that it follows a common theme. Childhood friends reconnect as adults to face their adolescent fear. I really enjoyed this read overall even with my disliking of the ending.

It starts slow giving backgrounds on each main character in the book and I couldn’t quite connect with any of them. The only one I liked out of the group was Corey. But I could be more partial to his character type. In the book a minor-ish character Robin, tells him something that Corey keeps bringing up on his dialogue. The big reveal on it defiantly stuck with me to the end and is something I’ll remember looking back about the book.

I loved the childhood friendships and the spooky tones of the book. It had a great creepy atmosphere and was gruesome.

I’m still conflicted on the ending because I don’t enjoy how we got character development that seemed to disappear. I also would have loved more information on the forest itself and the congregation.

But it was a good read and was exactly what I was hoping for in the spooky genre. It was gruesome, unsettling and disturbing. Would be a perfect Halloween read to set you on edge.

thank you @netgalley and @cemeterydancepub for the arc! received in exchange for an honest review.

a group of friends partied in a place known as “suicide woods” back on halloween in 1995. more than a few teenagers had ventured into the woods and completed suicide, which is how it got its name. something terrible happened that night and the group grew apart. in present day, one of them has passed away. scott, one of the guys from the group, decides to get everyone back in town for a memorial. the secret they all share from that night in 1995 has troubled them ever since, as no one actually knows how it happened.

i was ✨terrified✨ reading this book!! i was listening to it as i was home alone and it was honestly so scary. i love books that can actually put you into the story and make you as scared as the characters are! kristopher triana is for sure one of my new auto-buy authors.

this is a perfect book for getting into spooky szn mode. recommend to anyone who loves thrillers and horror novels.

4.5/5 stars!

I received an ARC copy of That Night in the Woods by Kristopher Triana from netgalley!

This was such a fun read! I enjoyed the journey seeing where this book took us! There was a perfect amount of creepiness in the woods mixed with mystery, friendship, love, and the horror of human nature. How would their lives have been different had they not spent that night in the woods!

I had a lot of fun reading this one. Felt very much like a 90s slasher movie. Would recommend to any horror fan or someone wanting to dip their toes into "extreme horror".
I didn't particularly love any of the characters, but are you really supposed to in horror? Nah - it's more fun to be entertained and I certainly was while reading this book.
Will definitely be able to hand-sell this one.

Siiiiigh so this kills me. Actually kills me. If you know me you know Kristopher Triana is my favorite author. And there’s nothing I hate more than giving a favorite author such a low rating. Anyways hear me out:

This is the story of a group of friends in their 40s that are reunited after learning a member of their friend group from when they were teens has passed. We begin learning that something sinister happened to them when they were younger that lead them to all go their separate ways and never speak of what happened again.

This book started off very slow. And I mean VERY SLOW. You are basically getting chapters and chapters of each character and what they’re doing with their lives and I just did not care about any of them. Once the book starts picking up and you start learning about what happened in their past I was more invested….. however, it was short lived. Once something interesting happened we then got a page about one of the characters and who they had a crush on and what they hated about themselves etc etc. These characters just sucked the life out of me lol. Also this is a general horror book and the type of horror really just want not my thing.
Once again…this is my favorite author so this kills me lol. I think people will definitely enjoy this one if they’re looking for this type of horror but being someone who is used to his extreme horror it was sadly a miss for me.

Thanks to NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This is an excellent book for the approaching Halloween season. It starts a spooky but unfortunately close to the end loses the vibe. It’s still a great book. It has the nice small town atmosphere with the typical innocent party leading to a fight for survival. It would make a really good movie.

This book was intense, but predictable. The first 3/4 of the book was amazing - I was so engaged, I didn't want to put the book down! But the ending felt rushed and out of place, and sort of spoiled me on the book as a whole.

That night in the woods has Stephen king's vibes. Few friends receive a message from their friend in hometown that one of their dearest friend has died and they should come to honour his wishes. The friends are reunited and reminiscence on the old days. They all are hiding a dirty secret that they all are afraid to face. But everyone had to face their demons, right? What unfolds is bizzare, creepy and haunting tale of suicide woods.

This started off great. I was quite engaged in the story that I finished it by staying up till 5 AM but the ending made me go -" Nope". It wasn't bad but was just too elaborative for my tastes. The ending could have been easily reduced by about 50 pages coz once the twist was revealed it didn't really make sense in describing how people were killed in the most Grotesque ways possible.

Thank you Netgalley and cemetary dance publications for the ARC.

Not my favorite from this author but still pretty solid read. I really enjoyed the writing and the horror although Triana could've been a bit more grotesque but glad I read it.