Book Review: Blood Lake Monster by Renee Miller
This is write-up number ten for a book in Unnerving’s Rewind or Die series, and my excitement to pick one of these little ditties up has not diminished in the slightest. Kudos to Eddie Generous for, among other things, rounding up such a vast array of tropes in the process of introducing horror readers to so many new and wonderful authors. I realize now that Renee Miller has multiple books out, but this is the first I’ve had the pleasure of picking up. Blood Lake Monster follows up the aquatic horror in The Kelping, by Jan Stinchcomb, with a dose of swampy, land-locked lake creature.
Some of the titles in this series deliver exactly what they advertise - a VHS B-movie, popcorn munching good time. Some go a bit deeper, and this is arguably one of those. Maribel Daniel is treated not-so-nice by a lot of the locals, boys especially, mainly for being different - not acting like a giddy, flirtatious high school student. Not to mention having no fear of verbally cutting them down to size. Luke and his friends take this as a personal affront and when the boys try and teach her a lesson (how absolutely dare she!) things go awry.
Blood Lake Monster actually puts the focus more on Anya, Maribel’s younger sister, ten years after the inciting incident. Thirteen years old when everything happens, and having had lots of time alone with her thoughts to process the events, she returns to the trailer park where she spent her formative years, intent on proving her sister’s death was a murder and that Luke was behind it. The story deals heavily with revenge, and although you get gross-out half-fish swamp monster with razor sharp claws, blood, guts, and gore, the tale is accompanied by ethical dilemmas and discussion a plenty.
Unnerving continues the tradition of putting out phenomenal women authors who all have original stories to tell. Miller’s book stands up alongside Hailey Piper, V Castro, Jessica Guess, Jessica Quigley, and more in a series that celebrates marginalized voices and has, not remotely as a coincidence, put some of the best fun, horror fiction of 2020.
Review by Brennan LaFaro
Blog: brennanlafaro.wordpress.com
Twitter: @whathappensnex5
I received a digital copy from the author for review consideration.
