Roubique’s voice is fun and easy to follow.

And we are rewarded with some brutal kill scenes awash with gore. As we explore the park with the teens, the tension builds for us, the reader. Entering this kind of environment when it’s entirely vacant – no workers, no guests, no one – would be off-putting and unsettling, to say the least. When somewhere that should be bustling with people is quiet, it holds a spooky atmosphere even with members of staff trolling about. If you have ever been in a theme park before the hordes arrive, it’s pretty odd. I could even argue that Kill River is more unsettling as you alone are left to envision the eerie and dread-Inducing moments that are hand-delivered to us on camera. Would Roubique be able to transfer this to paper? Thankfully clever, detailed descriptions, sharp prose, and consistent discourse enabled this written work to hold its own and be just as chilling as its on-screen equivalents. You may have no personal connection to the 80’s, yet we were all teens once and those emotions will come flooding back.Īs I mentioned before, one of the things I was concerned about was just how those imperative visuals would be portrayed, as slasher films tend to rely more on the jump scares and kill scenes than clever dialogue.

There is a bond between these kids that is akin to all the best books about friendship. In between moments of perpetual dread, we experience the awkwardness of crushes, the all-time highs of first kisses, and the thrill of new friendships and how you would do anything for your buddies, even break out of camp and sail away into the unknown. Since the story revolves around a bunch of 13 and 14-year-olds, we get that sense of innocence and discovery. We were able to do that all by ourselves. It was a different world no technology, internet or social media to corrupt minds.

Being a child of the 80’s myself, I particularly loved the nostalgia and all the references, from music to fashion to just the ambience. Slasher fans rejoice, old-school horror is back,” and on these points, the book does not fail to deliver. As the cover blurb states: “ Kill River is a wild, water park ride, filled with blood, gore and 80’s nostalgia.

Cameron roubique