Recently, I came across a shorter work by one of my favorite small press/indie authors Robert Herold. I have read and reviewed The Eidola Project and Moonlight Becomes You. Both are excellent tales of horror set in 19th-century America. So I was curious if I would enjoy Herold's contemporary tale of horror.
The twists and turns come fast and furious in this witchy tale of modern horror.
To date, I've enjoyed every tale I've read by Mr. Herold, and Witch Every Way You Go is no exception. In length, I believe the yarn falls into the novella category. This made me mildly leery when I first considered reading it. I prefer to read novels, and I'm often not crazy about the shorter works from authors whose books I've enjoyed. So I was pleasantly surprised with how good I found this short horror yarn.
It takes place in Seattle, a city I'm familiar with. Reading a story and recognizing many of the locations mentioned is always a treat. Indeed Herold's descriptions of the city rang true for me.
The harrowing plot line follows the misadventures of a graduate student who receives an unexpected invitation to party on, you guessed it, Friday the 13th. What could go wrong? Everything. I don't want to give too much away, but what follows is a horrifying sequence of unfortunate events. As in his novels, Herold expertly drops breadcrumbs that lead the reader to the next reveal just before it happens. Herold is a master of doing this, and as a reader, it is fun to have a pretty darn good idea what will happen just before it does.
My one minor criticism is the ending does feel a bit dues ex machina. Still, this was a quick, fun read and reminds me why Herold's third novel, The Totem of Terror, is on my TBR.