Small Town Slasher

This cleverly meta if somewhat improbable offering from Rose (Hiding Lies) adds to the growing subgenre of horror stories in which slasher-film aficionados discover that they themselves have become targets. In this instance, the horror fan is Jenna Willcot, whose extreme anxiety has kept her housebound for the past five years but who impulsively books a short stay at a horror movie themed cabin in rural Marion, Mont. Upon arrival, she learns that, 25 years earlier, the town was terrorized by a serial killer, dubbed the Bitter Butcher—and lands in the sights of a new killer who is decimating the residents of Marion on the anniversary of the Butcher’s spree. Rose clearly knows her stuff, peppering her tale with abundant references to the slasher films and books that shape Jenna’s strategy to defend herself against the killer. Unfortunately, the characters, including Jenna, often act unbelievably and take frustrating risks, emulating the greatest clichés of the slasher cannon (a prime example being the townsfolk’s insistence on gathering for a memorial vigil honoring the original Butcher’s victims, even as the new killer picks them off one by one). Still, this is sure to appeal to readers who like their horror fiction to resemble horror films. (Mar.)