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Even though we’re only halfway through the year, I feel relatively confident that THE LIVING DEAD by George A. Romero and Daniel Kraus will stay at the top of the list of my favorite horror reads of the year.

I feel equally confident that Philip Fracassi’s THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE will be an extremely close second. Oof, I fucking ADORED this book & I think it’s going to be the horror novel of the fall (this one releases in late September).

Prior to this I had read Fracassi’s A CHILD ALONE WITH STRANGERS, and I was a little so-so on it. I didn’t even get around to writing a review for it. I can’t begin to stress what a massive leap forward THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE is, in every possible way. 

I haven’t read THE THURSDAY MURDER CLUB, though I’d like to. But I can’t help but wonder if Fracassi might not have been inspired by that one, or perhaps by similar mystery novels set in retirement homes? Maybe not, but either way it’s certainly a very memorable setting for a slasher novel & actually gives the book a slightly quaint/cozy feel. Like, is this the first cozy slasher?

Am I gonna get in trouble for saying that? 

The plot here is quite simple. There’s a killer on the loose in a retirement community. It’s up to the residents to crack the case. So yeah, there really does feel like there’s some overlap between a slasher & a cozy mystery with this one, and I fucking loved the blend!

Rose DuBois is our main character, and as the tagline on the back of the book informs us, she is “not your average final girl.” Rose is in her late 70’s, a retired school teacher with one daughter & a grandson she cherishes. 

There’s a restlessness to Rose, and a faint sense of loneliness as well. But we learn over the course of the book that her husband was abusive towards her, and so although she is free of his abuse at this stage of her life, the trauma of course lingers. 

She has a best friend at Autumn Springs, and his name is Miller. He’s kind, thoughtful, bookish, and sweet. They hang out, watch crime shows, take walks, and try to enjoy what Autumn Springs has to offer. Miller is also not-so-secretly kind of in love with Rose, and she knows it but kind of pretends she doesn’t. Rose has built up some walls around her, no doubt. Particularly where romance is concerned, a thing she’s convinced herself she has no need of at this stage in her life. 

It’s a good life, all in all. I think Fracassi captures in incredible detail the uniqueness of this environment. The benefits of having this strange yet vibrant community. The advantages of being practically next door to around-the-clock medical care, if needed. The complicated feelings of being almost…left behind by family. Forgotten, in some instances. It all feels so brutally human & I think it was all handled so thoughtfully.  

But then. Well, it’s a slasher novel here, don’t forget. And soon, the bodies start to pile up. 

The catch is that from the outset? The deaths are staged to look quite natural (if upsetting). It’s a retirement home, after all. People are going to die there.

But soon the body count becomes simply too high to ignore, and so Rose & Miller and various other folks have to put on their sleuthing hats to try to get to the bottom of things. Because someone is killing the residents of Autumn Springs, and they show no signs of stopping.

I just loved this book with my whole entire heart. I’ve said it so many times in so many reviews, but to me, horror novels live or die by their characters & how much you care about them. It’s generally true for all genres, but feels even more imperative with horror. And I think this diverse assortment of characters that Fracassi assembled here is one of the most memorable I’ve read. 

And then to quote Randy from the almighty Scream, “EVERYBODY’S A SUSPECT!!”

Fracassi does great work ratcheting up the tension & increasing the suspicion between characters, and crafting a seemingly unsolvable mystery. 

THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE is an absolute gem of a horror novel, a book that I could not wait to get lost in every night. The chapters are short & the pace is brisk, but this was one of those books I almost tried to slow down and savor. Yeah, this one just hit me in a lot of different ways & became something really special to me. One of my favorite books of the year & I sincerely hope this book absolutely blows up when it’s released. 

Endless thanks to Nightfire for sending the ARC my way! THE AUTUMN SPRINGS RETIREMENT HOME MASSACRE releases September 30th!