For regular readers of Bloody Flicks, you will know that I’ve become a big fan of Ronald Malfi.
While not many are in line to take on the mantle of premier horror writer once Stephen King leaves this world, Malfi should definitely be in the conversation.
Small Town Horror, Malfi’s latest output feels like a natural successor to the incredible Black Mouth; which similar to IT finds people going back home to uncover or destroy a prior evil.
What Malfi does here is lay the breadcrumbs that everything is not what it seems from the outset, while driving the story forward in deep and, at times tragic ways.
For groups of friends who haven’t been in contact for years, you will always have a particular memory of someone, but what happens if they have lived a life of misery since you last saw them?
We follow Andrew, who returns home following a late-night phone call from one of his old crew, and scars of his past start to rear themselves in twisted and occasionally supernatural ways.
Again Malfi’s strength is in character, as he does the leg work to give us fleshed-out characters that feel real and then plunks them into horrific scenarios. It may sound simple, but when its done right it makes the story a real page-turner.
Small Town Horror is another home run for a fast-becoming prolific horror writer.
Small Town Horror by Ronald Malfi is released on various book formats on 4 June 2024 by Titan Books.
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