An Augmented Fourth

In this monster thriller, McMillan gleefully takes the heavy metal aesthetic to its most gruesome logical end. Codger Burton is in crisis, trying to kick all his vices at one shot, when he gets snowed in with a few other rock show stragglers—and without his manager. Codger must endure both the weakness of kicking cocaine and the shock of being exposed to the sources of his own musical inspiration. Dread and body horror amp up as he’s threatened by supernatural beasts with a taste for musicians. Every effort to survive is twisted to take Codger one step closer to an uncertain but surely dreadful fate. McMillan uses the limited scope of the venue to his advantage, transforming a luxury hotel into an inescapable prison. Steeped in musical lore, the violence echoes the terrors of fame and excess. Though the resolution is intentionally vague, this is a rare work in which lack of clarity supports the terror rather than undermining it. (July)