Camp Kaatskill near the small New York town of Wildham was once an idyllic spot for summer and fall getaways. Surrounded by a wild thicket of black walnut, aspen, and evergreen, reflected by the reservoir and overshadowed by its dam. Camp Kaatskill seemed like the perfect destination for young Rachel Starck to spend her summer interning and experiencing the world beyond England.
But this Catskill hamlet harbors a dark secret, a sordid past, and an ancient curse that demands a blood toll each summer. Unbeknownst to Rachel, her own familial history is intricately entwined with that of Wildham, and her arrival will spark a conflagration of murder and mayhem unlike any the town has seen before.
Told in verse and prose poetry, Mason Gorey: A Haunting Catskill Elegy is an epic serial killer yarn; a tragedy; an exercise in monstrosity and brutality that culminates in an achingly human story.
Dark bleatings, my poetic tribe! The first thing I thought when I finished reading this book was, “Well, that was unique.” The second thought I had was a burning desire to know what Rachel Oates would think of it (Rachel, for those who don’t know, is a YouTuber who is most well-known for analysing fiction, particularly poetry).
I love horror fiction but I’m not a poet and have never really been interested in poetry, so this review is going to be short because I’m really not equipped or qualified to discuss the poetry aspect of it (which is basically the entire story telling mode here). That said, I really liked it.
This book is very weird (meant as a compliment) in the sense that it’s one narrative told through many individual poems and pieces of prose. Those who’ve ever written a short story collection and tried to connect or link the individual stories will know that’s an enormous challenge and much more difficult than people think it is, so this book was mind blowing to me because of how well executed its conception was. The poems work to tell pieces of the overall story but are also self-contained and can be enjoyed on their own without wider context.
I loved that there was variety in the book’s form and structure, and variety in the form, length, and structure of the poems. I noticed that the creative structure shifted as the story progressed, which felt like a reflection of the tone and building tension of the story.
The story is about a cursed summer camp which feels part supernatural witch story and part slasher, a true amalgamation of what are typically opposing factions of horror fiction. Look forward to death…lots of death! I had to put my thinking cap on and pay attention while reading, because obviously with the unconventional mode of story telling, you need to be engaged. It’s a wonderful exercise in reading comprehension, which is incredibly fun on account of what the story is. I think it would make a brilliant addition to a school English Lit/Lang syllabus, actually.
I’ve never read anything like this and am confidently declaring that if you’re looking for something not just different, but one of a kind, this is it. If you’d like to check out the book or the authors, I’ve popped some links below for you:
MASON GOREY: A HAUNTING CATSKILL ELEGY
Bleeeat!
Happy Goat Horror 
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