I’m sure every reader of horror books and watcher of horror films has been asked the same question that I have… “Why do you like horror?” as though it’s viewed as some kind of bizarre compulsion that only afflicts certain people, which of course it is. I believe that the answer lies in many places. Why do people go on a rollercoaster not once, but many times, or perhaps more appropriately, a ghost train? It’s to experience and re-experience a cathartic, giddy thrill. But with horror there’s more. It uses extremes, it uses storytelling, as a way of showing the true core of humanity. It allows us to safely explore the darker side of what it means to be human, often in the face of something unimaginable.
I was pondering this while I was reading Janelle Schiecke’s short novel DEATH CULT. I mean, what attracts someone like me to a book called DEATH CULT, when the more squeamish reader would no doubt run a mile? Well, let me tell you, when you see the entrance to the ghost train, or the scare maze, or the escape room, you go ahead anyway, because you get to experience something that’s going to get your heart and mind racing. And doing that safely is just… well, fun!
Having previously read Schiecke’s brilliant later work THE CLATTER MAN, I was under no illusion about the kind of thrills DEATH CULT was going to deliver, and deliver it did. This author does not hold back when it comes to spilling blood in grizzly and gnarly ways. She delivers a strong dose of 80s style horror, with knowing homages to the Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Wrong Turn, and many other works from that era where the young stars venture off the beaten track and fail to heed the warnings that have us readers literally shouting at the page or screen. And I say screen because, like THE CLATTER MAN, this feels like one of those movies from back in the day.
And I was struck by something this time. In all these tales there is a moment when you think the protagonists are going to be ok, that they’ve found a way out of their dread-filled situation. But then, as a horror fan you check yourself and say, no, of course not, we’re only a third of the way through! Schiecke has so much fun with this and her sheer love of the genre shines through. Honestly, I had a blast reading this. This review isn’t so much about what DEATH CULT is about. It’s more about how it made me feel, and I hope that comes through in this review. Janelle Schiecke leans into her niche and I’m totally here for it.