The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi

TL;DR: A unique premise with an engaging and fun execution.
Source: Netgalley – Thank you so much to Tor Nightfire!

Plot: Deaths begin to stack up at the Autumn Springs Retirement and residents become suspicious.
Characters: I loved these characters, Philip Fracassi knocked this folks out of the park.
Setting: The grounds of the retirement home were well explained and I could see it visually in my mind. A great setting.
Horror: This is a traditional slasher and it really worked without being over the top.

Summary:

Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers cringing, laughing, and guessing until the very last page.
Rose DuBois is not your average final girl.
Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home.
When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn’t too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age!
Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can’t help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister?
Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there’s a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn’t careful, Rose may be their next victim.

Thoughts:

A slasher in a retirement home, even I couldn’t resist this one. I typically don’t care for slashers. They’re just over the line for me on gore and blood and over the top emotional manipulation but this one… it’s good. I gave it a shot because the premise of course, and also Boys in the Valley by this author was great for me. He continues to win because this was incredibly engaging and fast paced.

Rose and her friends in the Home all became such beloved friends for me. I was heartbroken when bad things happened and I cheered when the good guys had their small wins. The characters were written with true love, and Philip really captured a wide range of folks. It’s easy to assume ‘They’re in a home they’re all infirm’ but truly these folks were engaging, strong, and had rich personalities.

Because of our enclosed campus we had a great setting. There were a few buildings, so we had a good diversity within that setting but each was well established and distinct. Within that setting we also got quite a few creative deaths. I was impressed with the variety we got and the killer (who had a viewpoint at times that gave me chills).

This was a great one – I can’t recommend this enough for slasher or horror fans. If you’re looking for something for the Halloween season this a great one to pickup. I gave it 5 and it’s one of the few horror novels I think I could enjoy rereading. Give it a shot!