You'd think this would be so generic based on the title. That it would be like al the other small town horror books. But its actually really good. I personally enjoyed this book a lot. Thank you netgalley/

It is important to note that most of the themes explored in this book deal with sensitive subject matters. My review, therefore, touches on these topics as well. Many people might find the book's subject matters & those detailed in my review overwhelming. I suggest you steer clear of both if this is the case. Please note that from this point forward I will be writing about matters that contain reflections on violent crime, the death of an animal, grief, the death of a loved one, body mutilation, substance abuse, & others.

Oh, the rumble of the familiar road. Some form of resemblance to the life once known, a twinge of the dimple engraved in the hollowed false smile, lies the dawn of reparation; the final layer of the beast that is regret. Who is to judge that which causes harm to the wishing & washing of casual daydreams? Sometimes, the ghoul itself will raise its head in a pulsating threat, staring down the reflection it finds in the mirror.

Seldom is more terrifying than that which is comprehensible, attainable, & proximate to the reader. I have stated before that the scariest story is one that reminds the reader of themselves & I remain convinced of this fact after finishing Malfi’s most recent novel.

It is certainly the fangs of reality, those able to pierce the security one pretends to have in this life, that creep & crawl through the mind long after the immortal bat has taken flight. You will find that I repeat myself & that is only to reinforce my point. Readers familiar with my reviews will have heard me praise Malfi before. What you shall read in this review will be nothing new though, my experience with this story adopted new edges & saw me invested without shedding my annoyance, only to leave me surprised that I had come to the conclusion I accepted at the start.

In essence, this is a story about regret. Andrew, the main character, is thirty-five & is living a life he is proud to have achieved. The borderline trite nature of his experiences in Manhattan is cooling to the touch; the lawyer, his wife—the editor, their soon-to-be-born first child, the life of luxury all stemming from the humble beginnings in a town whose name no one knows but which is familiar to readers like a collector’s coin they’ve hidden in the attic.

Andrew returns to his hometown to meet his four friends. Though they have not kept in contact & though it has been, cumulatively twenty years since they engaged in any friendly activity, Andrew returns to engage in his trade in keeping one of his friends out of jail. The rest, as they say, is history.

When I was young, I was quite certain that Horror was not the genre for me, therefore, I distanced myself from the garish covers & tomes lining the shelves of the libraries I frequented. I had enough to deal with, I did not need a reminder of the threat I knew by name. As the years passed, something like comfort grew in me as I poured over books that spoke to me through the pages; the experiences I sheltered, secretly pleading to disappear, transcribed gently via the time-stamped ink of a total stranger, allowed me reprieve. The transition between these two realities was rather more seamless than I am detailing. It never ceases to astound me that the wide world with all its rivers, oceans, mountains, molehills, & prairies, can be so very small as to fit compactly within the binds of a book.

I highlight this personal experience because this story brought me back to the feelings I had towards those early novels. I often wondered why the truth was never spoken or why a character’s guilt allowed them to evade the claws of self-decomposing despair. The convenient ending felt too quaint & I pondered the nature of concluding a story that covets reality with the magical dreamland bonbons of forgiveness & tender healing.

You may think me a pessimist & you may not be entirely wrong. However, this question persisted. It was through many years of life & a gargantuan pile of books that I concluded that the age-old adage was indeed accurate; the sun does, in fact, shine bright & clearest on the unperturbed landscape. Where does that leave the veteran reader?

When coming upon this book, my immediate sentiment was, thrill. After reading “Black Mouth” (2022) by Malfi, I was a fan for life, regardless of whether his books ever impacted me so deeply, ever again. Readers will find in the repertoire of stories that the author crafts the ease of a storyteller’s gift. Certainly, there are plots that pivot the gaze of marvel & in some others, the Leviathan itself seethes through the veins of a foul tale. It is a gift to tell a story; it is a delicate talent to transmit it to others. I would not say that the main character of this story had such talent though, he had little choice but to share or hold his peace, forever.

This is an interesting story & one that devoted readers will clock as the ode to the Titan’s great work, “Ghost Story” (1979) by Peter Straub. Should a reader not have had the opportunity to read about the jaundiced demons intent on revenge, this story will still offer them a sliver of flavour to masticate on, unique in its succulence.

The witching aspect of this story gave me pause. Following everything I’ve said, one would be right to assume that I had a complicated relationship with this story. The opening chapters reminded me so deeply of Straub’s work that I forgave them for the meandering dialogue. I wasn’t necessarily reading because I was invested in Andrew’s personal life or because he may prove to be insightful. Rather, I read this book because I love the sentiment of fear—the most intimate of emotions. The weaving nature of the terror that loomed behind the everyday grief—consequences of a series of horrible decisions—was not something I welcomed.

The Graves family & their history was interesting. I was not seeking a story that would include earnest witchcraft, spells, or ghoulish old women on a murder rampage but, that is what the author has written. My insecurity towards my feelings began to develop early in my reading. At times, I grew hopeful that the plot would be the double-entendre; the morbid nature of a mind that does not rest & the fabulously mystical Grimm Brother’s antagonist in her cottage. Certainly, readers who do not mind one or the other, or even both, will delight. I, on the other hand, found myself conflicted.

Though I appreciated the nature of a real-life villain, one that was always around & one that felt rather quaintly placed in reality, one asks oneself in actually, who it is that is rioting against the cause for colonialism & gentrification? Who can be rooted for? My personal sentiments about the mystique of the old Graves woman did not leave me with unease but, a sulking frown.

Do not mistake me, Malfi paced his story well & the villain was ripe with reason, she was a vigilante whose goal was to murder those who violently killed her child twenty years ago. I understand her plight. While reading about their torment of Robert Graves I too found my sympathy waning. The group of friends vandalized the Graves house, nearly setting it on fire, then shot a firework through Robert Graves' eye socket, leaving him to drown after shooting off the side of a cliff. Is a reader meant to root for these characters?

In some sense, I believe that Malfi played on my secret desire to read a story that did not offer a calming ending. The characters did not experience reprieve & rather, their tar tore each other apart, leaving one after the other for the vultures to devour.

Will readers believe that each character was treated with the consequence, torment, guilt, & terror that they deserved? I cannot say that I feel that each member of the group received what they merited. In the original situation, wherein Robert Graves was murdered by negligence, assault & battery, not every member of the group acted in an equal fashion.

Here the reader may need to call upon their mature experiences to deconstruct the setting. An innocent life was taken because a group of teenagers were spoilt, deeply ignorant of how closely death walks in step with each of us, & they held a deep inability to gauge the legal consequences of manslaughter.

Tig did not pay for the death of Robert Graves. She grovelled for forgiveness & was set free whereas Andrew was left in a coma following a car crash. Meach was murdered by Eric, & Dale was murdered by Eric; can these be considered as penance paid or, the easy way out?

What was it that the Graves Witch wished to inflict? If one is pondering her motive to act twenty years after Robert’s death it may be as simple as her knowing that her time is nearing a close or, perhaps she has seen how well the lives of those responsible have become & felt it her calling to act now, though, this is not altogether true since Tig is experiencing very serious financial insecurity & Meach is suffering from physical illness & addiction. Neither of these characters acted as violently as Eric & Dale—who, in my opinion, are the true antagonists. Though I would not state that Andrew is innocent, I am not sure whether he deserved to be in the cellar of his mind’s horror for the rest of time.

The cowardice that took place across the pages, as was exhibited by each character left me to wonder how this same situation may play out for anyone in real life. The answers one looks for, those that may set us free from the guilt we hold for our actions, are rarely found in this lifetime. Andrew became a shadow of his potential because the people he was close with were responsible for the death of another teenager. Does this make him the evil mastermind? Should he have told Rebecca that he knew what happened to her brother? What is altered by telling the truth?

I found Andrew to be a compelling narrator only because he was so simple. His goal was to escape, no matter the consequences or the toll it took, yet at every turn he made the most ignorantly banal decisions. I found myself curious only because he was so silly. Readers observe Andrew deciding to live in a house that is infested with flies; a house that has a possible sewer leak; a house that is without basic amenities for reasons he never makes clear. What would have led him to be comfortable with living with all of these things, let alone one? It would not have been unusual for him to choose to sleep in his car rather than lay in a bed that was swarming with flies.

Andrew’s senseless behaviour persisted throughout the story. He engaged with Eric who was surely culpable of the First Degree; he sat with Dale as he lied straight to his face; he went back to his hometown knowing how little gumption he held in his person. Why did he do this?

When analyzing the behaviour exhibited by Andrew one may wonder at his reasoning. I suppose it might be as straightforward as to state that he is not a complex person, nor he is very smart, or well-rounded; he’s a man who went to law school & married the sister of a boy he left for dead. The rest is background noise.

Reading about the absurd decisions that Andrew was intent on making left me frustrated. I kept hoping that something more would happen that would leave him shocked & electrocuted to the world around him like a strike from the sky. In some ways, I felt that there was something he was not communicating to the reader, something that left this story wanting altogether. What was the point in all of this? Why did Tig murder Cynthia? Why did she attack her with an ashtray? Tig has worked in a bar her whole life, she would have known, or even seen, the repercussions of an ashtray thrown in anger. Why did Tig lean on Dale & his unspoken love of her to get her off Scott-free while Dale died?

In an ideal world, readers may consume this story & judge the characters for their actions. Readers may wonder why none of the characters made different choices Why did none of the characters go to the police & why did they not tell the truth? Based solely on the cold written word of the law, Dale is to blame for Robert’s death & the others may be tried as accessories to the fact. Had they called for help immediately Robert may have been blind, but it is not a certainty that he would have died due to his injury caused by the firework. Leaving him for dead secured their fate, each character is responsible for his death. Would calling a first responder have prevented any of the events that took place?

Had Eric’s father not been a police officer or the sheriff, I may be inclined to believe that real life would swoop into the story & the group of friends be made to suffer the consequences of a wishy-washy justice system. One could ponder the probabilities all day, my point is that no consideration was given & in their adulthood the characters believed it their right to take justice into their own hands, leaving each other for dead.

My favourite part of this book was the scene in the Motel. By this point in the book, I knew who the cold-blooded killer was & I knew who relied on their self-secured ignorance to wade the tides of criminal activity. I was sure that Rebecca was Robert’s sister & I was sure that the parents of the group, had done what was in their abilities to safeguard their children from the law. What I wanted from this story was for it to spell out how morbid the lives of these characters were. I wanted the narrator to make clear to the reader all of the terrible things that happened leading up to the horror the reader encountered but, it did not offer any of this.

Instead, the Motel allowed readers to ponder the nature of the story they were reading. Is time linear or, did Andrew act as a voice to young Meach? Was Meach’s psychosis as entrenched as his friends believed or was, he suffering the repercussions of untreated addiction? Why was Bonnie sleepwalking? Why did the Graves Witch include Bonnie as a vessel for the torment? How were Bonnie & Cynthia beckoned in sleep to wander the town? Did Eric’s father remain physically abusive or did his behaviour extend into other forms? Why did Eric’s father commit suicide?

Ultimately, I think what made this story enjoyable was the ending. There was no resolution, no happiness, no final hurrah to forgive & live a life worthy of existence. The characters, each in their own way, suffered a fate that they created for themselves.

It is unkind to say that Meach deserved his addiction & it is cruel to say that the innocent life of Robert Graves merited a torturous end. Neither of these individuals were granted freedom for what befell them. I will not sit & write out how much better Meach is now that he is free because I do not know that his soul could rest, floating around a room carved out of the flesh of lies, terror, & sorrow.

The familiarity of this plot spoke softly to the reader, the shadowed carcass of the deceased, the vultures, the shadow man, & burning figure of desecration in the drywall; the paralysis, the nightmares, the loved ones lost, the group's secret, the small town, the stories, the lies. It is up to the reader, depending on the day & the hour, whether they feel that these glimmering notes of an ode sung to the departed whisper a tune worthy of the Serpent himself.

In dreams, the nightmare fuel of walking through rays of sunlight is made clear, cruel, & staunchly vivid, to the suffering soul who has thrown away the key to their salvation. Meriting a second’s glance is the accessory; the sorcerer whose spell is in the living creatures who suffer the magic cast with intent to harm. May the souls of the birds whose necks were snapped & whose bellies sliced open, be free in skies unincumbered by torrential rain & human horror.

Thank you to NetGalley, Titan Books, & Ronald Malfi for the free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

5⭐️ I am a new Ronald Malfi fan!! This is my second one by him. I liked this even more than “Come With Me”

This gives I know what you did last summer vibes, but with a supernatural and witchy twist! Also has similar vibes to IT, without the scary clown! Something happened as teenagers, and they all gather back in the small town when things start happening

I love small town horror stories! I was actually decently creeped out by this one at times too. It definitely messes with your mind and see the hidden clues

I can’t wait to read more of his books!

This comes out June 4! Thank you to netgalley for the early copy

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.