Disclosure:
I received a copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for an honest review. They give me no money, nor do they in any way influence my thoughts – those are 100% my own for better or worse.
Edition:
Kindle e-book (Net Galley)
Synopsis:
As children, Heather Cole and her friends formed what they called the Dead Girls Club. The purpose of the club was to allow them to discuss serial killers, and tell scary stories. It’s all in good fun.
Until, that is, Heather’s best friend Becca begins telling the club the story of the Red Lady – a witch named Sarah who was brutally tortured before being buried alive, and returned to seek vengeance on those who wronged her.
Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face…
As the story continues at meeting after meeting, it becomes apparent that Becca truly believes that the Red Lady is real, and that she can help her escape her unhappy life. A belief that soon results in her unfortunate death.
Heather never told another soul what happened the night of Becca’s death. She’s tried to put it all behind her, but she’s never been able to outrun her own belief that the Red Lady was real – and it’s her fault Becca is dead. That Heather killed her.
But when items belonging to Becca, items that were left at the scene of her death begin to arrive, Heather begins to fear that someone knows exactly what happened that night, and what role Heather played in Becca’s death, and they want to make her pay for it
My Thoughts:
I enjoyed this book a lot. The story is well crafted, and well written. The characters are believable, and the story arc makes sense. You don’t need to make constant leaps of logic to follow along (although still some, admittedly).
And the cover – I love it…but I also kind of hate it. I feel like it was probably a publisher-chosen cover, since it honestly has zero connection to the story (which makes me like it less), but still… it’s wonderful. It’s dark and mysterious, but also beautiful. But I hate that it has, as I mentioned, nothing to do with the story, which is silly. If you’re going to go to the trouble to have a graphic on the cover, at least let it have some peripheral connection to what the book is about. Otherwise, why bother? Just put the name in some fancy font or something… I would have gone with one of Becca’s drawings, or a red ribbon, maybe some candles. Something, anything that ties to the contents of the book.
But I digress. Back to the story:
I really felt for the children – the adults, a little less so, but still… Being a kid is hard – telling reality from fantasy when you’re a child in a crazy situation can be hard. Children’s minds are complex and bendable, and for that reason I feel that this story has legs – it could have been something we see on the news. In fact, it has been. Just remember a few years back there was the so-called Slenderman Stabbings which thankfully didn’t result in anyone dying, but very easily could have.
Because I believe that the story’s past scenario could have played out in reality, I think I was more forgiving of the modern-day-stalker storyline that played out alongside it. Because honestly, that all felt a little bit too tidily wrapped up for my tastes. There were a lot of completely separate pieces in motion to have acted out such a neat choreography, in my opinion. But, again, based on the linchpin for the whole story being so believable, and Walters’ bang-up job of tension building, I didn’t let it bother me too much.
Damien Angelica Walters has written a few other books before The Dead Girls Club. Cry Your Way Home, Paper Tigers, and Sing Me Your Scars (which won This is Horror’s Short Story Collection of the Year). I have not read any of them, but after reading this one, I wouldn’t turn them away if ever I came across them. She has proven herself to be a deft storyteller with an eye for the macabre, which I go for in a big way. According to her website, her short fiction has been nominated twice for Bram Stoker Awards, has appeared in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror and The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, and has been published in several anthologies and magazines.
Rating:
It was a pretty damn good story. Once it got going, I was loathe to put it down until I found out who the “bad guy” was. Walters has a real knack for tension building, and a strong sense of the myriad ways that kids can get involved in situations that quickly spiral out of their control.
The Dead Girls Club Damien Angelica Walters Crooked Lane Books Horror, Thriller, Mystery ISBN: 9781643851631 Expected Publication: December 10, 2019
