Tabitha's Reviews > Episode Thirteen

Thanks NetGalley and Redhook Books for a copy of the book.

Whenever I talk about my favorite types of horror I always mention: deep winter, outer space, and underwater. But I also really, really like found footage. I like the immediacy and intimacy of the action you see on screen. So when I read the blurb for Craig DiLouie's Episode Thirteen, I was very intrigued, especially by how would the author write a found footage horror novel?

If you've read Dracula by Bram Stoker or World War Z: An Oral History of the Zombie War by Max Brooks, then you have an idea. Episode Thirteen is kind of an epistolary novel. I say kind of, because interspersed with each character's individual blog write-ups, magazine articles, text chains, and emails, are sections written as screenplays depicting what the camera footage covers. I have to say I really enjoyed the way DiLouie presented his story - the various ways of covering Fade to Black's ghost hunting tv show adventure keeps the reader engaged and presents the various character voices, setting, and action in an almost interactive way. It really felt like I'd gone down an internet wormhole on some mystery, reading Wikipedia articles and watching YouTube videos or something. It felt self-guided in a way that's similar to playing a video game (though an on-the-rails one - it is a novel after all, so there's only one path and one outcome - "the journey is the destination.").

I also have to say that I appreciate the story goes in an unpredictable direction. I really hope none of the other reviews spoil it because I was surprised and I hope if you read this, you're also surprised! It was a unique take on your typical ghost story, but I can see it upsetting/annoying some people... overall, though, I really appreciated the uniqueness of how the story was both presented and how it ended.

A well-earned five stars from this horror lover!