#coaltown

[abalonetea]

Because I firmly believe we need more YA horror. Let teams read scary shit!!!!

[ettawritesnstudies]

ARC Review: 4/5 🌟

@abalonetea gave me a copy of this book as an ARC and this is my voluntary honest review.

I'll stop reading Katie's work when she stops coming up with new horrifying ways to make werewolves into fucked up monstrosities that make you fear for your life at 10:18am on a bright Thursday morning. The depths of her imagination for these creatures is as deep as the mineshafts in this book, and she always surprises me with clever ways to explore the genre. My other favorite part of this book was the found footage letter records they found in the Foreman's cabin. The implication of horror and mystery left unsolved and covered up is a compelling one. If nothing else, read it for the atmosphere alone. It's worth it.

Coaltown follows Andrew and his gang of friends as they take a vacation trip to a cabin to get footage for his senior thesis film. The group is introduced in rapid succession at the beginning and I had trouble differentiating who was who at first, but about 1/3 of the way into the story, Andrew does interviews with them which helps solidify their personalities and goals. I really liked that format and it was fun to see their banter and interactions, especially towards the end as they each step up to help escape. I think my favorite was the grouchy nurse chick who liked poking at the weird skull and took care of keeping the others alive. Andrew himself is a pathetic coward at times but this book sets up a character arc for him to grow in the rest of the series and I'm looking forward to watching his development. It's clear that despite their bickering, they all care about each other and can put their problem solving skills together to (mostly) survive.

Overall I highly recommend this for anyone who's looking for a fast paced monster story to give you the chills this winter! Also, you should help out a local writeblr! It just released yesterday and so if you buy a copy and leave a review, now is a crucial time to tell Amazon it's worth promoting. Support Indie authors!

[greekceltic]

Jacky and Dog exploring a mine in an abandoned coaltown. I continue to forget to mention that Gale has a dog named Dog.

[abalonetea]

It’s a sight both on camera and in the waking world; Austin goes skidding down the incline, feet kicking up a cloud of dust and snow, arms thrown out to the side to keep himself balanced. He staggers when he hits the ground and nearly goes down, only to catch himself on one foot and spin around to look up at Andrew, his face split into a crooked grin. “Ta-dah!” Austin folds his arms behind the back of his head and rocks onto his heels. Andrew laughs. “And the crowd goes wild! It’s a standing ovation!”

That's Austin. As far as Andrew's concerned, he's the coolest guy around.

Want to know about him?

Check out Coaltown.

[abalonetea]

Andrew scratches his name onto the inside of the bathroom door with a black Sharpie marker; ANDREW KEENE, in big blocky letters. As soon as the last E is put down, he caps the marker and shoves it into his back pocket. “Perfect mark,” says Andrew, with a crooked grin. It’s just one more name in a slew of scribbled marks. Danny Traveto. Days AND Days AND Days. ILU Jay Brown. And now, his name is added into the mix.

This is how the story starts. With a fun trip planned and a name scrawled on a bathroom door. It ends with blood, and fear, and monsters.

[abalonetea]

Austin grabs a branch off the ground and swings it with all his might, hitting the gorehound upside the head with so much force that the branch snaps in half. Something else cracks, too—the wet sound of bones crunching. The gorehound goes down—for all of a handful of seconds, and then it’s pulling itself back up onto hands and feet, spine arching up towards the moon, broken neck snapping and crackling as it pulls back into place.

Gorehounds aren't so easy to kill.

[abalonetea]

Coaltown - Release Day !

Do you know what's out today? Coaltown!

It’s supposed to be the week of a life time: seven days spent in the heart of Alaska, at an old trapper cabin owned by Austin Fielder’s uncle. Austin, his best friend Andrew, and the rest of their motley crew are going to drink, play games, catch up, and film the whole thing! But two days in, they find the opening to an old, old gold mine and they decide that the only thing that could make their week better is exploring inside. No one’s expecting to find anything living within the tunnels, let alone demons with claws like knives and the ability to mimic anything they hear. But then, they aren’t expecting a lot of things that happen on their trip. As their Best Week Ever spirals out into a nightmare straight from the depths of Hell, they find themselves forced to confront the worst, and best, parts of themselves. Even if they make it out alive, they might all still be hell bound. The first entry into this Alaskan Horror trilogy is action packed from start to end, and filled with more mysteries, intrigue, and danger than anyone could expect. Join Andrew and Austin as they confront the worst that the world has to offer. Will they all make it back alive?

Which means you can check it out on Amazon... Right here!

And even if you don't check it out, maybe you can give this post a little boost and spread it around? I would love people to get a chance to check out Coaltown!

The more you know about it, the more fun you'll have hearing about the editing process for Gorehound later this year!

[abalonetea]

Ignore how condensed this is due to Tumblr shenanigans and celebrate the fact that Coaltown's paperback and eBook (available for preorder now) go live on the 15th of this month!