This new novel may interest readers of smart horror by Riley Sager, Stephen Graham Jones and Grady Hendrix as well as for lovers of Yellow Jackets, Nine Perfect Strangers, and September House. Heads Will Roll puts a slasher spin on cancel culture. Delivering fast-paced thrills and chills, this is a story about shame, guilt, and our current age of “social media justice,” in which a single mistake can ruin your life.
Oh, and there’s an axe murderer on the loose, too…
Willow’s worst nightmare was being canceled. But the shadows in the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.
After sitcom star Willow tweets herself into infamy and stumbles blind-drunk into a swimming pool, her agent ships her off to Camp Castaway. Nestled deep in upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults who are desperate to leave their mistakes behind. No real names, no phones . . . no way to call for help.
Willow’s fellow campers seem okay. Her own favorite actress is even here, making a s’more. And did that jaded writer, Dani, just wink at her? But the peaceful vibe is shattered when one of the campers vanishes and Willow finds a mutilated doll in her room with a threatening message rolled up inside its mouth. Terror grips the group, campers begin to lose their heads—literally—and disturbing past deeds come to light.
No real names, no phones . . . no way to call for help.
Gory, eerie and queer-positive, Heads Will Roll takes the summer-camp horror trope and turns it on its head. Like Winning’s Burn the Negative, this is a female-led horror story with a cast of complex characters—there’s the mysterious Hollywood icon Juniper Brown, ruthless “Camp Mom” Bebe and bisexual “final girl” Willow whose love of horror movies makes her the perfect person to fight a slasher killer.
The inspiration behind the book came from the queer-identifying author’s own experience.
“As a journalist, one of my first ever assignments was to spend a week at a spiritual retreat in the middle of nowhere (aka Wales). It was an eye-opener of an experience. We had group therapy, drew auras, ate vegan food, communed with our “spirit guides,” wrote ourselves letters that we burned in a fire pit ceremony, and slept very, very well. It didn’t transform me into a believer, but it opened my eyes to a world that I hadn’t previously encountered. I knew that one day, this setting would birth a novel,” they said in a press release.
The author also noted one classic horror movie that has stuck in their mind.
“Friday the 13th was also one of the first horror movies I ever saw, on video, rented from the store, and it birthed a lifelong love of summer camp horror. There are a lot of references to that movie in Heads Will Roll including cable-knit sweaters, dilapidated cabins, and the prophet of doom,” the author mentioned.
Heads Will Roll is published by Penguin Group Putnam and out July 30.
—From staff reports