Episode Thirteen

August 1, 2022

Told in appropriately jagged bits of correspondence, journal entries, and tapes, Bram Stoker--nominated DiLouie's story features a ghost-hunting reality TV crew heading to the tumbledown mansion housing the Paranormal Research Foundation. They hope to prove that it's haunted, but a lot more happens. With a 15,000-copy fist printing

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November 28, 2022
A classic horror plot—a team of ghostbusters investigates a house rumored to be haunted and finds more than they bargained for—is underserved by the tedious narrative style of this paranormal thriller from DiLouie (The Children of Red Peak). In 2016, Matt Kirklin, a paranormal investigator, and his scientist wife, Claire, create Fade to Black, a reality TV show in which they investigate purported haunted hot spots. For their season finale, the Kirklins and their crew travel to Denton, Va., to explore the Foundation House, where a team of psychic investigators mysteriously disappeared in 1972. At first the place seems a complete dud—until suddenly it isn’t, and the crew are terrorized by horrifying manifestations that prey on their individual insecurities. Unfortunately, DiLouie tells the story primarily through “found-footage” transcripts of the program, an effect which doesn’t quite translate from screen to page and saps the drama from even the most well-executed twists. Readers will be underwhelmed. Agent: David Fugate, Launchbooks Literary.

December 16, 2022
Matt, his wife, Claire, and their friends Kevin, Jake, and Jessica are paranormal investigators for TV's Fade to Black. For episode thirteen, they are investigating hauntings at Foundation House, but they find nothing that first night. However, the next day they discover that some trigger objects had been moved. That night, music suddenly starts playing in the house, and the spectral apparition of a tall woman with a jack-o'-lantern face appears. Terrified, the investigators flee the house. They return the next day and go to the basement, where Kevin discovers a well and a door that opens into a tunnel. At midnight, music starts playing again, and the apparition returns. The friends explore the tunnel, which is a labyrinth that leads to a maze. Haunted by the ghosts of their own pasts, they want to turn back but discover Claire has disappeared. The men search for Claire, while a horrified Jessica is left behind. With well-developed characters, a swiftly paced narrative, and mounting dread, this new twist on the ghost story will delight horror readers.

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Starred review from December 1, 2022

The newest from DiLouie (The Children of Red Peak) follows a found-footage narrative before veering into gloriously mind-bending terror. No one knows what really happened to Claire and Matt Kirklin's paranormal research team Fade to Black. They were filming episode 13 of their television series at the Paranormal Research Center, a building remembered for the bizarre experiments conducted there in the 1970s. Matt hoped this investigation would lead to evidence of the afterlife, especially after discovering what's in the Center's basement, but he and his team only ended up part of a greater mystery. Despite telling the story through journal excerpts, transcripts, and even text messages, DiLouie creates an easy-to-follow narrative leading up to the team's disappearance. This epistolary style also fleshes out each team member with backstories that explain their motivation to understand the unknown and gives what lurks in the basement plenty of ammunition to psychologically assault them. VERDICT In this subversion of the classic haunted-house/found-footage story, DiLouie demonstrates his ability to toy with and eventually upend readers' expectations. What could have been a story full of the typical tropes becomes an unsettling exploration into what lies beyond life, death, and reality itself.--James Gardner

Copyright 2022 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.