Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review!

The atmosphere in this book was perfectly matched to the title and there were several parts that creeped me out - to the point that I got goosebumps.

This book is a good portrayal of guilt and how it can eat at you and permeate almost every part of your life after.

There was a good twist to this book that I was not expecting.

Highly recommend this for fans of Malfi, it hits all his usual marks.

Wow. Another creepy horror tale of a seemingly normal family….so well done, slow burn style! Love this author, and his ability to make realistic characters & situations of horror that can casually befall someone so normal! Very ominous & filled with strange while anxiously reading the last third of the book! Loved it!

The story involves five friends who share a secretive past that they try to forget, but the past is not that far away and will creep back up and find you…

I found the atmosphere of this book to be so haunting. The way Ronald Malfi describes the scenes you feel like you are really there. I could smell the smells he described and the slimy texture of things. Some parts of the book had my heart racing because I was nervous to see what was going to happen next.

All the characters of this book were all flawed and you didn’t really root for anyone, but you didn’t want to see anything bad happen to anyone. Each character was distinguishable and you felt something for them whether that was good or bad feelings, that’s up to you.

If you are looking for a creepy horror this is the book for you. I personally really liked this book and would recommend it if you are in the mood for a small town, fast paced horror that involves secrets, lies, and guilt then this is the book for you.

Thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

You know what the best compliment a horror book can receive? "That creeped me the fuck out." And boy, this book sure did.

From the very start there's a shudder down my spine.

"He dug his fingernails into his arms again, scritch-scritch- scritch, then focused his bleary eyes across a moon-wan night toward a stand of trees. Something shimmered in the dark. The boughs of the trees were wet and droopy from a recent summer rain, and if he listened carefully enough, he could hear the raindrops plinking from leaf to leaf, plunking in puddles cupped by black soil. Was that the sound he'd heard upon waking? Plink-plunk, plink-plunk."

The premise of the book is one known to you - a group of kids did something unspeakable and covered it up. They got away with it, but now as adults, it haunts them all. There was a lot of suspense because it was coming from two different angles. Firstly, you have the rapidly deteriorating mental state of a couple of the group of friends - who's going to break first? Who's going to turn on who? But you also don't know what the hell is going on with what it is that's haunting them. Specters in the night, suicidal birds, the feeling of drowning when you're surrounded by air, nauseating smells coming from unsuspecting places... The atmosphere Malfi sets is addicting to be in for any horror lover. I know this is a long quote but it just goes to show Malfi knows how to use structure as a writing tool to create suspense.

"The more I heard these footsteps, the more laborious it became to breathe, because my lungs were filling up with seawater, drowning me, and I was suddenly certain that I could smell the sharp, sulfuric reek of exploded fireworks, and I held my drowning breath, and my eyes twitched in the direction of the partially open bedroom door, that stark black sliver of space leading out into the hall, my lungs going hssst-hssst, a gargle, really, and I waited, waited, petrified as a small child, for whatever might ease that door open a bit more and come shambling into the room, a single, shining white orb of an eye, and smoke trailing from a ragged, empty socket, hssst-hssst, while at that very moment-"

Like 🤌🤌🤌 this is what I read horror for. Overall, really loved it, 4/5.

The book was maybe a bit long, but it didn't necessarily feel like that when I was reading. The anticipation never stopped. I did roll my eyes at a couple of passages though about women, for example he says a written note has "feminine handwriting." I wasn't aware handwriting had a gender. If you mean full of loops and swirls, just say that? But generally I really enjoyed this read and looking forward to more from Ronald Malfi.

First of all, a big thankyou to Titan Books for my Arc!

Not least because of the obvious parallels between the synopsis of this book and Stephen King’s IT, the title of Ronald Malfi’s latest novel, Small Town Horror, leaves you with certain expectations for the story. Horror novels set in small towns are characterised by desperately dark secrets hidden away from the rest of the world, by rebellious and ambitious teenagers who aspire to ‘escape’ the town, and by an Us vs Them mentality from the town’s inhabitants, with the Them being othered and ostracised. The small town of Kingsport holds these characteristics within, and more, but where Malfi’s novel differs and excels is through the unique gaze he adopts over the town of Kingsport.

The novel follows Andrew Larimer, a soon to be husband who is dragged back to Kingsport after an ominous message from an old friend. In returning to Kingsport and reuniting with his group of childhood friends, Andrew and his cohort are forced to reckon with their dark past. Whereas novels set in small towns tend to follow the outsider or someone of morality, integrity, and ambition to escape the town, Malfi subverts this trope. Although unclear at first exactly what, it is obvious pretty quickly that Andrew and his friends Eric, Dale, Tig and Meath harbour ghosts in their past rooted not in personal trauma inflicted upon them, but in guilt and injustice. The group has done wrong, and just as small towns do, it has been covered up and swept away. Andrew and co are the benefactors of the negligence and indifference that can exist in tight-knit communities, and it was fascinating to both view the story from this perspective and to see the consequences of it.

Reading the story through the lens of the perpetrators rather than the victim allows guilt to thrive in the story. The story reeks of the ire of injustice; the sense that a reckoning is coming looms over the story like the specter that is Andrew’s past, and this creates increasing panic and disorder as the story progresses and unravels. Small Town Horror craves accountability and it will not relent until it gets what it wants.

‘Secrets, much like the things that lurk far below the surface of the bay, can stay buried for a very, very long time. But in the end, everyone pays.’

Rot permeates throughout the town of Kingsport and leaks into every page of this story (if you are a fan of birds then maybe give this one a miss!). Small Town Horror puts childhood friendship under the microscope and examines just how firm and resilient these long lasting bonds can truly be. As the foundations of their friendships begin to crumble, so to do the characters. The town, stained by its past, its prejudices and its indifference, is potent ground for this decay and deterioration.

Small Town Horror is a book rooted in traditional small town and gothic tropes that still manages to conjure something original and terrifying. Malfi is an author whose writing exudes confidence and comfort in his own abilities, and Small Town Horror is the horrid manifestation of his mastery of the craft and genre.

Find Small Town Horror in your local bookstore from June 4th

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for this eARC.

“Small Town Horrors” by Ronald Malfi: A Chilling Reckoning with the past

In the hauntingly evocative “Small Town Horrors,” Ronald Malfi masterfully crafts a narrative that delves deep into the heart of guilt and the specter of unresolved pasts. Set against the backdrop of Kingsport, a town as enigmatic as its inhabitants, Malfi’s novel is a riveting exploration of the long-lasting bonds of childhood friendship and the weight of collective secrets.

The story centers around Andrew Larimer, whose seemingly settled life is upended by a distressing call from an old friend, beckoning him back to the town he thought he had left behind. As Andrew reunites with his childhood companions, it becomes clear that the group harbors a dark history, one shrouded not in victimhood but in culpability. Malfi’s choice to narrate from the perspective of the perpetrators rather than the victims lends a unique and unsettling dimension to the tale, as the characters grapple with the consequences of their actions.

Malfi’s prose is both lyrical and tense, weaving a tale that is as much about the horror of the unknown as it is about the terror of the known. The novel’s atmosphere is thick with dread, a testament to Malfi’s skill in creating a setting that is both familiar and foreboding. The small town of Kingsport, with its prejudices and hidden transgressions, serves as the perfect stage for the unraveling of the characters’ facades.

“Small Town Horrors” is a compelling examination of the fragility of friendship and the inexorable pull of the past. Malfi’s narrative is a slow burn, building to a crescendo of panic and disorder as the characters’ secrets begin to surface. The novel demands accountability, and it does not relent until it has extracted its due.

With nuanced characterizations and a genuinely surprising reveal, Malfi refreshes a familiar horror trope—the surfacing of a long-hidden secret—with a new level of sophistication. Fans of Christopher Golden will find much to admire here, and those who appreciate the psychological depth of Edgar Allan Poe’s works will be drawn to the story’s introspective darkness.

“Small Town Horrors” is a standout addition to the horror genre, showcasing Ronald Malfi’s talent for creating a deeply atmospheric and thought-provoking tale. It is a book that craves and achieves a haunting resonance, ensuring that the reader, much like the characters within its pages, cannot easily escape the shadows of Kingsport.

𝚁𝚊𝚝𝚒𝚗𝚐: 4⭐️
𝙶𝚎𝚗𝚛𝚎: thriller/ mystery📚

𝙼𝚢 𝚃𝚑𝚘𝚞𝚐𝚑𝚝𝚜:
I enjoyed this one but it did feel a little too long at times

𝚁𝚎𝚊𝚍 𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎:
It vibes
Dark secrets
Childhood friends
Small town setting
Spooky atmosphere
Character development
Suspenseful thrillers
Supernatural aspects
Lots of twists

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚕𝚒𝚔𝚎𝚍:
I loved the creepiness of the book

𝚃𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚐𝚜 𝙸 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗’𝚝 𝚌𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚏𝚘𝚛:
Pacing was too slow for me at times

Small town horror is the first book I’ve read by Ronald Malfi - and it won’t be the last. Eerie. Atmospheric. Creepy. All that you want in a horror thriller. I read this novel in one sitting and would highly recommend

This was an enjoyable mysterious story about five friends reuniting as adults to confront the dark tragedy in their past. Told in multiple POVs and two timelines, Malfi weaves the pieces together fluidly to a satisfying ending. The characters were unique and captivating. The eerie environmental hauntings were gripping. The ending was very unique. The emotional depth that is instilled throughout fuses with its environment, further pulling you under its spell.

The only reason this isn’t a 5 star, like many of my favourite Malfi stories - is that the hints may have been too obvious to me, and the nature of the haunting seemed to run fairly repetitively. As such, I missed the absolute Malfi mystery that I crave. But I imagine to others maybe these hints aren’t as loud.

Thank you to Netgalley, Titan Books and Ronald Malfi for this advanced readers copy.

While Small Town Horror from Ronald Malfi falls into the 'trendy' trope of "group of friends who did something in their past" - I still enjoyed this immensely. Ronald Malfi has becoming one of my favorites in this last year, so I knew that he would add his own magic to these five friends.

A childhood friend's wife goes missing. A group of rag-tag friends join together to confront the past and try and find the wife before it's too late. I don't want to spoil anything so that's where I'm going to leave this.

The horror element is ...*chef's kiss*. It's what Malfi does best. I hope he continues to do this forever.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.

Lawyer, Andrew Larimer is rising through the ranks in New York and his beautiful wife is pregnant with their first child. All is well but he can’t stop this anxious feeling of dread that keeps his mind stirring.

A late night call from his old friend back in his hometown means he has to take an unwanted trip back home.

To say any more would spoil the experience. I blasted through this book and loved the twists and reveals, although it gave me nightmares. The imagery is just so unsettling. I’m not easily spooked but this managed to get under my skin big time.

I’ve read all of Ronald Malfi’s books and I have enjoyed them all. This one is on par with (in my opinion) his best book, December Park.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for allowing me to read this advanced reading copy.

First off, I'd like to extend my thanks to Titan Books, the NetGalley team and to Ronald Malfi for the advanced copy of Small Town Horror!

This being my first exposure to Ronald Malfi, I was totally blown away and entranced by his narrative style. I found the narrative voice to be completely enveloping and a fantastic guide through the small town of Kingsport. While we've seen this trope before, buried secrets, sins coming back to haunt the character; Mr. Malfi presents a truly fresh take on the concept. I must say, I never saw the end coming, much as I tried to predict it, and thought it was a truly satisfying conclusion.

This book exemplifies how an author can take elements of the dark. and twisted, and present them to a reader in a way that is simultaneously revolting and transfixing. I couldn't put this book down and found the experience to be truly thrilling. Sins never truly stay buried, and there's something transfixing in the way that they can destroy a person.

I'll definitely be reading more from Ronald Malfi, and hope that you do the same! 5/5!

Small Town Horror
by Ronald Malfi

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for an advance copy of this book to review!

You cannot go wrong when reading a novel by Mr. Malfi. He is a leader in the genre of horror, mystery and suspense. As with his other novels (yes, I have read them all !) Small Town Horror is an engrossing & frightening adult coming of age tale.

Five friends took part in what became a tragic accident when they were teenagers. Since then the once inseparable group broke apart and made new friends, followed different paths and tried to forget that fateful night 20 years ago..

Now in the present (twenty years later) all five lives beginning to slowly unravel .Some of the group realize what is happening is too strange to be coincidental and that perhaps the time has come to pay for their past sins. The five reunite in their old home town unknowing that soon their lives will forever be altered.

Filled with chills, twists and nail biting moments, Small Town Horror is a great read and I would strongly recommended it to all horror fans. I would go as far to recommend it to non horror fans because this may just be the book to convince you to join us in all things scary .

5 Stars!

In some ways this is a story we’ve all heard before. A group of teenage friends growing up in a small town do something bad, cover it up hoping to get away with it and twenty years later something happened and the secret starts to fall apart. But add in a vengeful ghost, his mother and some dark and gruesome events and this becomes a horror story, especially when written by Ronald Malfi.

Andrew Larimer, one of the group of friends escaped to New York where he has a high flying career in law, a wife and a baby on the way. Except for his father’s funeral he has never gone back to his small Maryland hometown, but now he has received a phone call saying he needs to come back now as their carefully kept secret is in danger of being exposed. Strange happenings and sightings of a ghostly figure put them all on edge, especially Andrew whose baby is due any day.

This has a slow build initially as the story unfolds in two time lines, then and now, creating a chilling and eerie atmosphere. Everyone has their own secrets they are keeping from the group, including Andrew and its revelation was one of those Aha! moments that explained his reticence about being completely open with his old friends. There are some good twists in the tail and a very creepy and chilling ending.

Ronald Malfi does it again! An intriguing storyteller, who gives you little bits of horror to remind you what kind of story you’re reading. Much like the author’s erie story Black Mouth, our main protagonist Andrew returns home to a childhood friend to find his wife has gone missing. With Andrew being a lawyer and his old friend Dale now being a person of interest, they will finally have to come to terms with an accident from their past and the possible ghosts of it starting to haunt them now.

One thing the author does, is really develop an individual personality of each character, gives each a different and unique story that keeps you engrossed but never leaves you feeling like you’re wondering who is whom.

Also, what a couple of great twists right before the end; one definitely blew my mind. If you haven’t tried Ronald Malfi yet but are a horror reader who enjoys a detailed story, this could be a great start

I absolutely love horror novels set in small towns so I had high expectations going into this book and it did not disappoint! We have a group of adult friends getting back together after a dark secret from their past begins infecting their present.

The story had a creepy atmosphere, a supernatural slant (or are the spooky things that are happening simply stress and guilt induced?), and the edge of a thriller. I also loved the commentary on life in small towns. If anything, I just wanted more of the story, which is a testament to how much I enjoyed it. I would have loved for Kingsport and its townsfolk to have been even further fleshed out.

But overall, this was such a great read. And as most of it is set around the Fourth of July, it’s also perfect for summer!

Small Town Horror, written by Ronald Malfi, tells the story of five childhood friends as they are summoned back to their small, coastal Maryland home town and forced to confront past mistakes that have sent their lives in wildly different directions. Small Town Horror reads as part mystery, part haunting as what happened twenty years ago is connected to the characters' present turmoil. We are left wondering if and how each character will atone for what happened and every lie told since that fateful moment.

While the premise of Small Town Horror wasn't original (I think we can all recall a thriller written about a group of friends who reunite for reckoning of past sin), I appreciated the quality of Malfi's writing. Malfi's books are popular for a reason - he does an excellent job of setting the scene and creating characters. However, the story felt long winded with a rushed ending. The finale could have been better set up for success, which was surprising given the attention to detail paid to other elements throughout the story.

This was my first Malfi book and what an atmospheric read! The dread was eerily present and I constantly found myself just waiting for something bad to happen. You could feel the impending doom throughout the entirety of the book.

The pacing was a bit slow for me. I found the characters to be very unlikable as well. There were some twists that I did not see coming and I also thought the ending was great.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for gifting me this ARC and making a new fan of Ronald Malfi. I absolutely loved this book. It has IT and Stand By Me vibes while also remaining true to itself. It dives deep into childhood secrets and friendships and makes you question just how far is too far. I highly recommend this book to horror fans!

It’s a tale as old as time- you try to leave behind small town USA but that small town won’t let you go.
The only member of a friendship group who “got away” is forced back when his friend’s wife goes missing. Andrew is starting to see weird shadows and smell strange smells even before he returns so the approach of the 20 year anniversary of their secret doesn’t bode well.

As always this author’s story is well written, well paced, and I read it in a day- as all Malfi’s books should be read. However I didn’t love it as much as some of his other works. Whether this is because the characters were all so flawed I didn’t mind what happened to them I’m not sure. The horror worked on the unknown- was Robert’s mam actually a witch? Was it all just guilt? All very well done. And I really liked the ending and how it explained the flow of the book.
No I’ve changed my mind 5 stars not 4!