Author: Laurel Hightower
Genre: Novella / Horror
Format: Paperback
Pages: 124
In this house we love Mothman. So pre-ordering Below was a no-brainer. The cover was awesome, the back of the books sounded even better, and I've read good things about Laurel Highower's other books Crossroads.
I really enjoyed it! Below starts off with a bang that immediately catches your attention. A few pages later my I was already starting to like our main character, Addy. On the surface, she wasn't anything spectacular, but she was digging herself out of a bad marriage. She was going out on her own, trying to find herself again, and I liked her inner monologue throughout the whole book. I really liked watching her find her voice, and her strength and I'm glad she was the Final Girl. But, she starts off just a normal woman going to a horror convention.
A bonded with Addy quickly as our narrator.
The pacing of the book was another great thing about Below. Hightower moves everything along at a quick tempo. Something happens and before either Addy or myself get to grasp it, another thing happened, then another, then just as everything starts to come together, another thing. The chapters are short which kept me from lingering too long on any one problem as it arose. A lot of them end with a cliffhanger so couldn't help but turn the page and keep going. There was plenty of 'what the hell' and 'absolutely not' moments.
So many moments of me sitting on my couch muttering to myself as one more thing happened. Of me making faces as out gross and visceral it got at one point. Because of course, I was eating when I got to the part. Why would I not be eating?
Below has both the ick factor and some great jump-scare moments. Both were wins for me. But, it also left me with so many questions at the end. Not the bad plot hole kind, just the 'are we really not going to find out about the bodies in the trailer?' kind of questions. Because I tell you what, I a hundred percent don't need to know what those things in the cave were.
The less I know about them, the better I'll sleep. Just the description from Hightower was a hard freaking pass. No, no thank you.
Lastly, I love the use of Mothman in this book. I thought it was great, and really that part of the USA just freaks me out in general. So many weird things happen out there, and it's the last place I'd like to be stranded in the dark and alone. All around a great read. Definitely going to have to pick up other books by Laurel Hightower in the near future!
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