Advance reading copy courtesy of Little Island Books via NetGalley.

A group of lustful adolescents plan to spend a few days in an isolated house deep in the Irish countryside. Soon enough, the masked, ominous figure that has been stalking them for the past few weeks makes its presence known, threatening to kill the teens one by one. 

Do stop me if you’ve heard this one before. 

But author Cethan Leahy knows when to lean into the tropes and clichés that make this particular facet of the slasher genre so entertaining, and when to gleefully subvert them. While the pacing and overall writing can at times leave something to be desired (with a handful of chapters feeling entirely rushed and an ending that, while true to its genre roots with its blood-soaked suddenness, is nonetheless a bit anticlimactic), I can always appreciate when fun is had with the material, and Leahy was clearly having a blast here. It’s hard not to get swept up. 

Plus, the lush Irish woods and the country’s rich folklore are not elements often seen in this genre, giving this scary movie story a particularly interesting and refreshing angle.