Laughlin Hills by Caitlin Marceau

Horror and Comedy are two sides of the same severed tongue. Both of these genres are all about creating a visceral reaction in the audience. In Horror, the creator is trying to scare, creep out, or disgust the consumer. In Comedy, they’re trying to make you spit milk through your nose. These are both extremely common and popular genres, and arguably, two of the toughest genres to do well. And the hybrid child of these genres, the Horror-Comedy, is perhaps the hardest to create effectively. How many Horror-Comedies are out there, versus how many Horror-Comedies are effective? There are even fewer examples of written work in the Horror-Comedy sphere which really work. The only example that comes to mind is The Perfectly Fine House by Stephen Kozeniewski and Wile E. Young. Luckily, this month we’re looking at a new example of effective Horror-Comedy in print, Caitlin Marceau’s Laughlin Hills Community Magazine.

Laughlin Hills Community Magazine is setup like a standard community magazine. The attention to detail and formatting on Marceau’s part is phenomenal. Everything in the magazine looks like a real magazine, and so the suspension of disbelief is very easy on the part of the reader. There are fake condo advertisements which promise the lead paint stops ghosts from crossing through walls, articles about unionizing monsters, and concert reviews of the sounds of cryptids. 

While occasionally the tropes become a little ridiculous (in a good way), Marceau mostly uses a subtle brand of spooky comedy throughout the magazine, which had me laughing out loud at parts. If you’re looking for a light-hearted read as we approach spooky-season, I highly recommend Laughlin Hills by Caitlin Marceau. 

3.5 sacrificial community pyres out of 5. 

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Review by Ian A. Bain

I received a digital copy from the publisher for review consideration