The Carpathian Mountains, 1897.
An impassable storm forces a group of travellers to disembark from their steam train and take shelter in a remote castle for the night. Their enigmatic host invites them to take part in some after-dinner entertainment. But as they each explore the castle’s rooms and passageways, they discover they have become part of a deadly game. Only one guest may leave in the morning and it is up to each of them to use their wits, and weapons, to survive the night.
For the others, Damnation awaits.
Dark bleatings, my adventurous tribe! Today I’m looking at a novel with a bit of a difference, in that it’s based on a tabletop RPG. I love that! I’ve read a couple of novelisations but never one of a tabletop game before, so the background context of that makes this novel even more fun.
We follow a group of strangers when they’re derailed and end up in a spooky castle with a spooky host, quickly realising that they are, in fact, trapped in there. The rule set for them (separately, so none of them actually know what the others have been told) is that only one can leave, meaning all the rest must die. So this mysterious, gothic adventure is sort of set up like a “whodunnit” but it’s actually more like a “who’s gonna do it?”
This story and how it’s written is an absolute blast. There’s an English chap called Grayson and I couldn’t really tell you why but everything he says makes me giggle. It’s his turn of phrase, I suppose. Something else I really admired about the writing is that we’re in several third person viewpoints, and the prose somehow always subtly shifts to match the tone and personality of the character we’re following at the time. I’ve read other works by Frazer Lee so I know that his normal writing style isn’t that of a late 19th century dandy, or elitist rich lady, or peculiar castle host. I was really impressed with how he told this story and how perfectly he characterised everyone in it.
I love an author capable of mixing in all this humour without damaging the tension and the stakes – humour and horror/suspense is an extremely thin line to tread and I think the author really pulled it off here. It’s an absolute hoot!
The plot unfolds beautifully. We’ve got a little infusion of past traumas folded into the present that keeps certain characters on their toes – quite hysterically at times. The set up and pay-off is extremely satisfying.
I’d recommend this to fans who enjoy gothic horror and horror comedy blends. If you’d like to get a copy or check out the author, there are some links below for you:
Bleeeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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