Effectively creepy tale of a man returning home when his old friend group begins to experience unexplainable happenings, seemingly linked to the death of a local boy decades prior.

If you enjoy Stephen King, Ronald Malfi should be on your radar. Malfi’s prose is artfully written, but accessible. His ability to seamlessly weave timelines makes for good pacing, as present dread is slowly revealed by past secrets.

This is for horror fans who like to sink into a story, becoming entranced by the people and places depicted. It’s a slow burn of a novel that’s made for a rainy day. Malfi’s work deserves more readers and I hope Small Town Horror accomplishes just that.

Andrew Larimer, a successful attorney in NYC, a soon to be dad, married to the love of his life, is called back home. A place he swore he'd never return to.

His childhood friend, Dale, has a wife that's gone missing and he's begging Andrew for his help. So Andrew lies to his wife and makes his way back to Kingsport. Here he is reunited with the rest of the gang. Dale, Eric - now police chief, Meech - a drug addict / alcoholic, and Tig - a single mom and owner of the local watering hole. Meech, believes that the group is cursed for a crime they committed back in their youth. They swore they'd never speak of the incident again but with building pressure to find Dale's missing wife it's possible that any one of them could crack under the pressure and spill they're long buried secret.

Let me begin this review with something that is very important for you all to know. I have grown absolutely exhausted with the trope of friend group does something terrible as teens, become estranged, and are all called back together 10, 15, 20 years later to try to cover up their secret. Snoozefest. I can't tell you how many books I've read with this plot. Too damn many. So when Ronald Malfi, one of my all-time favorite authors, had a new book pop up on NetGalley I immediately requested it without even reading the synopsis. I have never given one of the 10 books of his I've read less than 4 stars so I feel like I am always in safe hands with this talented author.

Then I started it and I was like NOOOOOOOOO!!!! Not this tired old plot again. Sure, this one is a bit different due to the horror elements, but even those I found lackluster. I didn't like any of the characters. The chapters were long and rambling and so often I just wanted it to get to the point without having to wade through all the minutia. This book just isn't of the same caliber as his other work has been. I feel awful to say that but it's MY truth. It seems others are really enjoying this though so I can only suspect that this is a *me* thing.

Again, I adore this author, and I am always excited when he has a new book being published, but sadly, this one just didn't hit the mark for me. Better luck next time! 2 stars!

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

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an ARC of Small Town Horror.

2024 IS THE YEAR OF HORROR!! I have read so many horror masterpieces publishing this year already and this book was absolutely one of them. Gritty, spooky, and totally unique. I saw the whole story playing out in my mind in a vintage-type filter (think The Black Phone movie) and I feel like this would make an amazing movie as well. Hurry and add this to your summer TBR!

5 well earned stars

How I loved this book! Super story and scary! If you have read some of his books then you know it's another great horror! I read it so fast that I will have to go back and read it again. It just seems like far and few great story tellers these days. Don't miss this one, it's a winner. Thanks!

I devoured this book!! Spooky vibes already from the first chapter and I was hooked from start to finish. There’s something about Malfi’s writing that gives me goosebumps again and again. The mystery plot was addictive, the characters captivating and relatable, and that jawdropping twist towards the end.. I would’ve never seen that one coming. Standing ovation!! Loved it and will now read Malfi’s entire backlist!

4.5 stars

You really can’t go wrong w Malfi. His prose is always amazing and on point. His plot is tight and characters well developed and dimensional. This book definitely hits all the right notes for me. I rate this among my top 3 favorites of his books.

After leaving Kingsport for college and vowing never to return, twenty years later Andrew Larimer, now a high flying Manhattan attorney, receives a troubling phone call from Dale, an old friend, saying he’s in trouble and Andrew has to help. Despite their first baby being due within weeks, Andrew leaves wife Rebecca to make the journey back home. Reluctantly meeting up with four friends from his youth, the memories start flooding back and the horrors of their sixteenth year return with a vengeance, reminding them all of what they stand to lose if their dreadful secret comes out.

First of all, if you have a TBR pile, move this one to the top, you won’t be disappointed.

I always expect the best from Malfi and this book exceeds even the highest expectations. A bit of a slow start, gently pulling one in with a little mystery and the inevitable supernatural element, then suddenly you are in the middle of a story that certainly gives chills and thrills in equal measure and the tension mounts. Terror on so many levels, the hits just keep coming. The descriptive narrative (OMG the Larimer house, how awful is that?) and characterisation are so good and well written. The ending is a masterclass of deception, you will need to read it twice!

I love a writer that doesn’t care if it’s not a happy ending, if the story calls for a catastrophe so be it.

Another 5* from a gifted and much loved author.

Thank you NetGalley and Titan Books.

Five childhood friends are forced to confront their own dark past as well as the curse placed upon them in this horror masterpiece from the bestselling author of Come with Me.

Maybe this is a ghost story...

Andrew Larimer thought he left the past behind. But when he receives a late-night phone call from an old friend, he finds he has no choice but to return home, and to confront the memories—and the horror—of a night, years ago, that changed everything.

For Andrew and his friends, the past is not dead, and the curse that has befallen them now threatens to destroy all that they've become.

One dark secret...

One small-town horror...

Another great book from a great horror author. This one had small town vibes that give me Stephen King vibes, if you like these kind of stories, then check this one out. One of his best so far for sure!

Ronald Malfi is one of my favorite writers.
Now, when I started this book, I was not excited. The writing was great, the people were interesting, there wasn't really an issue, I just wasn't interested to the point that I would stay up all night. THEN, I got to about halfway and the book took off like a Roman Candle! It's a firecracker of thrills, spookiness, uneasiness and horror. In true Malfi fashion, he has made me think twice about my best friends and I truly may never go in my basement again.

This is a story about 5 friends who ran into trouble when they were young. The friends jettisoned away from each other and never spoke about it again. 20 years later, however, there is an issue that forces them together to face what happened way back then... The characters are great, the set up is perfect. I won't tell you more except to say, while this story SEEMED like one you had read before, it is DECIDEDLY not.

Grab this up now and plan to stay up all night!
#titanbooks #ronaldmalfi #smalltownhorror

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of Small Town Horror.

I enjoy Mr. Malfi's books and thanks to NetGalley have been enjoying them for the past few years.

Small Town Horror is reminiscent of a more famous book called IT, where a group of close knit friends battle an unspeakable horror.

In Small Town Horror, five friends gather together on the anniversary of a crime only they know about. But you know what they say about secrets.

They always come back to haunt you.

Andrew Larimer is a successful attorney, husband, and soon to be dad, who is called back to his small seaside town of Kingsport, when an old friend, Dale, is suspected of murdering his wife.

As Andrew reconnects with his old friends, Eric is now the deputy sheriff; his first love Tig is a single mom, and Meach has descended further into booze and drugs to dull the guilt of their shared past, Andrew will realize their past is about to catch up with them, whether they like it or not.

The narrative isn't scary, but the vibe is unsettling, creepy, and downright gross, such as Andrew's childhood home and the state Meach is in.

The pacing is slow at first since readers need exposition; how are Andrew's friends dealing with their shared trauma, and how each is coping. Not very well.

As the tension increases among the friends and the anniversary of the terrible night that changed them all draws near, new revelations come to light, including a few twists, one which I guessed.

I liked the ending, though it's not happy, it was realistic and the only way it could have ended for the friends.

Andrew, Eric, Dale, Trig and Meach are five childhood friends who grew up in the coastal town of Kingsport, Maryland. Andrew is now a lawyer in New York and essentially never returns home, but he receives a late night call which sends him back to his hometown.

The friends have a secret and they have been keeping it for twenty years. Now it’s time to face the horrors of their past.

This was pretty good, better than I was expecting. A bit Stephen King-lite, with a lot of focus on how youth created the men (and woman, Tig is a woman) of today. Andrew’s father’s house may have been the most horrifying part…ick! A very nice reveal. So, recommended for horror fans.

Haunted by the past, five childhood friends will learn that actions have consequences. You can leave your past behind, but does it ever really leave you? Dark Secrets and curses come into play in this horrifically dark and brilliant tale set in a small town.


Andrew Larimer is a married man with a pregnant wife. He has worries about the pregnancy and the upcoming birth but finds there are other things he should be worried about as well. When he receives a phone call from a childhood friend, he knows he must return to his hometown. To his father's home that his wife doesn't know he still owns. To meet with childhood friends, to face the past, to face each other and the secret they share.

I loved the atmosphere in this book. From the small-town feel, the cliff overlooking the ocean, the flooded basement, etc. It provides a something-isn't-quite-right vibe to the book. I also loved the eerie and creepy vibe that flows throughout the book. Then there is the tension, dread, and mounting sense of danger. Small Town Horror played out like a movie in my mind. Small towns, you either know everyone or are related to them. How do you keep such a BIG secret? How do you deal with guilt? How does it haunt you?

This book is told via two timelines. The current day and the past. Through both, readers get a glimpse into the past and what the group of friends are dealing with in the present. I found this to be a very nice touch. Secrets and lies play a HUGE part of this book.

This book touched on many things - friendship, marriage, secrets, guilt, fear, growing up, love, and consequences.

Well written with twists, turns and several reveals. It was slow to start but once this book got going, there was no stopping it.

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

This novel takes a familiar premise, ratches the horrors up a couple of notches, adds some "wtf-just-happened" twists and delivers what is going to be one of the best horror books of the year.

This premise might sound like something you've read before: a group of five friends are involved in a fatal accident as teens and vow to never speak of it ever again. Twenty years later, as they all gather in their hometown near the anniversary of this tragic event, they must fight a supernatural curse if they want to survive.

Sounds like a common trope, right? Ha! This is Ronald Malfi we're talking about and I can assure you his writing is anything but common.

This novel is a maze of terror that leads us in a familiar comfortable direction until the course changes all of a sudden, leaving us in a dark unknown space trying to find our way home.

It's deliciously deceptive. Hitting all the beats of a small town horror book with some added gusto. But then...THEN...in the final part of the book, everything changes. Starting with a revelation that absolutely floored me. I knew then that what I thought I had read previously had just changed horrifically. There were going to be no happy ending and things just got a whole lot darker and twisted.

I was right but the hits just kept coming after that and had me glued to the pages as if a umbilical cord was attached to my eyes and the book.

This one is going to blow you away and I would dare say it's a game changer for what small town horror can be. I highly recommend it. Do not hesitate to read.