Book Review | Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi

Andrew Larimer has left his small town behind and now works as an attorney in New York. But when he receives a cryptic phone call, he has no choice but to return home. It means reuniting with his childhood friends: Eric, now a deputy sheriff; Dale, facing a troubled marriage; single mom Tig; and Meach, who’s caught up in drugs. They have to confront the memories of a night 20 years ago that changed everything for them.

Maybe this is a ghost story.

If it is, then I am both the haunter and the haunted. Do I still hear the echo of that night, repeated forever, until it bursts across the firmament of space?

I’m a huge fan of the author and Small Town Horror has all the hallmarks of a classic mystery-horror. Suffocating and atmospheric with immersive writing that plunged me deep into the story, this is a slow burn that escalates into a nightmare. Five teens did a terrible thing, and they’ve been trying to move on in the years since. But when Dale’s wife goes missing and he calls Andrew for help, things begin to unravel. Eric is trying to control the situation, Tig is worried about her child, and Meach keeps raving about curses. He believes the town witch, Ruth Graves, is after them. But why would she?

Perhaps I’ve read similar stories but I found the characters extremely predictable, in the sense that their behaviour foreshadows what would happen. Andrew is a passive protagonist in denial, which unfortunately makes for a pretty dull narration. The other characters veer between antagonism and desperation, haunted by troubling visions. Small towns can cover up their dark histories, yet the horrors can live on. You could argue that they deserved what was coming to them. But some subplots could have been illuminated, and some things could have been made clearer. I wish the book had dived deeper into why certain fates await these souls. The ending is appropriately bleak, but it wasn’t as affecting as it could have been for me.

Small Town Horror takes a dark path down the road of retribution. For readers who love their scares with a dose of justice!

I received a copy from the publisher for review purposes.

About the author: Ronald Malfi

Photo by Jane Palash