A review by motherhorror
The Devil's City by Matt Corley, Sara Tantlinger
4.0
Thank you to Matthew Corely & Sara Tantlinger for sharing ARCs of their novella, THE DEVIL'S CITY with the Night Worms Review Team for review consideration.
"I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est"
I don't know about all horror readers but this horror reader is fascinated with the lives of natural-born serial killers like the infamous, H. H. Holmes.
Several years ago, I read the historical fiction book, DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Erik Larson and enjoyed learning about The World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and the madman (Holmes) who stalked and killed during the chaos surrounding that event.
Last year, I read the Bram Stoker winning collection of poems inspired by H. H. Holmes written by Sara Tantlinger and it blew my mind--opening my eyes to the way that fiction can tap into the psyche of a madman.
Her poems imagined the encounters Holmes' victims must have had with him, giving them a voice so that we could share in their frightening last moments.
For The Devil's City, Tantlinger is co-authoring this novella with Corley who is a pharmacist (as was Holmes). Their combined levels of expertise, knowledge, and storytelling voices make for a compulsive and disturbing read.
Chapter headings are titled with an individual's name just above a diary entry from H. H. Holmes.
From there, a personal account unfolds leading to an encounter with a serial killer.
Peppered throughout are gorgeous illustrations to enhance the reading experience.
Towards the end, Tantlinger and Corley take a deep dive into what actually happened to the victims in the laboratory of Holmes' Murder Castle. Pretty grisly and gruesome.
This novella is a companion piece to a much larger project involving an RPG tabletop game. If that sounds of interest to you, there's a Kickstarter explaining everything:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/37222410/the-devils-city-for-5e
But this review is just for the novella as a standalone story and I enjoyed it.
"I can't seem to face up to the facts
I'm tense and nervous and I can't relax
I can't sleep 'cause my bed's on fire
Don't touch me I'm a real live wire
Psycho Killer
Qu'est-ce que c'est"
I don't know about all horror readers but this horror reader is fascinated with the lives of natural-born serial killers like the infamous, H. H. Holmes.
Several years ago, I read the historical fiction book, DEVIL IN THE WHITE CITY by Erik Larson and enjoyed learning about The World's Fair in Chicago in 1893 and the madman (Holmes) who stalked and killed during the chaos surrounding that event.
Last year, I read the Bram Stoker winning collection of poems inspired by H. H. Holmes written by Sara Tantlinger and it blew my mind--opening my eyes to the way that fiction can tap into the psyche of a madman.
Her poems imagined the encounters Holmes' victims must have had with him, giving them a voice so that we could share in their frightening last moments.
For The Devil's City, Tantlinger is co-authoring this novella with Corley who is a pharmacist (as was Holmes). Their combined levels of expertise, knowledge, and storytelling voices make for a compulsive and disturbing read.
Chapter headings are titled with an individual's name just above a diary entry from H. H. Holmes.
From there, a personal account unfolds leading to an encounter with a serial killer.
Peppered throughout are gorgeous illustrations to enhance the reading experience.
Towards the end, Tantlinger and Corley take a deep dive into what actually happened to the victims in the laboratory of Holmes' Murder Castle. Pretty grisly and gruesome.
This novella is a companion piece to a much larger project involving an RPG tabletop game. If that sounds of interest to you, there's a Kickstarter explaining everything:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/37222410/the-devils-city-for-5e
But this review is just for the novella as a standalone story and I enjoyed it.