I acquired a overview copy from the writer. This doesn’t have an effect on the contents of my overview and all opinions are my very own.

The Autumn Springs Retirement Dwelling Bloodbath by Philip Fracassi

Mogsy’s Ranking: 3.5 of 5 stars 

Style: Horror

Sequence: Stand Alone

Writer: Tor Nightfire (September 30, 2025)

Size: 416 pages

Creator Data: Web site

Slashers aren’t typically my go-to on the subject of scary films, as I are inclined to desire environment over gore. However on the subject of books, all horror genres are honest recreation! I’m additionally no stranger to Philip Fracassi, whose Boys within the Valley nailed precisely the form of vibes I’m all the time on the lookout for. So after I heard his subsequent novel can be a bloody thriller a few serial killer free in a retirement neighborhood, I used to be curious to see how he’d deal with the style.

On the floor, The Autumn Springs Retirement Dwelling Bloodbath shares many traits with the basic slasher. However right here, our unlikely remaining woman is seventy-something-year-old senior neighborhood resident Rose Dubois who spends her days gossiping with pals, taking part in social occasions, and making an attempt to maintain the well being issues of growing old at bay—all of the whereas wishing her daughter would come round extra usually together with her grandson. However when mysterious deaths start taking place at Autumn Springs, Rose begins to suspect a killer stalking its halls. Alongside together with her pal and would-be suitor Miller, she units out to see if her suspicions may need any reality to them.

What they uncover seems to be way more sinister than both of them bargained for. Because the physique rely retains climbing, even probably the most dismissive workers can not maintain brushing them off as dangerous falls, pure causes, or the inevitabilities of previous age. When the police are lastly introduced in and extra residents start to comprehend that one thing is very incorrect, it’s solely a matter of time at the beginning explodes as concern and suspicions unfold by way of Autumn Springs like wildfire.

Unconventional protagonists—particularly unconventional remaining ladies—are my catnip, so it’s no shock that I felt the best power of this novel was its solid of characters. The residents of Autumn Springs are an attention-grabbing, memorable bunch, every carrying a mixture of highlights, tragedies, and quirks that include lengthy, full lives. I’ll not have remembered each identify, however I by no means forgot their personalities or backstories. The retirement house setting labored simply as fantastically, presenting a tightknit and virtually claustrophobic setting the place everybody is aware of one another and deaths are sadly an all-too-common prevalence. For some residents, that is additionally the one place they will name house, and when hazard hits, there’s nowhere else they will go.

However the place the novel stumbles is its dealing with of the horror and suspense parts. At occasions, The Autumn Springs Retirement Dwelling Bloodbath reads like a psychological thriller, full with loopy twists and artistic kills and moments that genuinely make you increase your eyebrows and assume “WTF?” But at occasions the guide additionally slingshots again onerous the opposite means, lingering on the trivialities of retirement neighborhood life and slowing the momentum down. The tempo is both crawling or cranked up to this point that it flies into over-the-top absurdity.

I used to be additionally left with burning questions in regards to the obscure hints of the supernatural teased all through the story, particularly with the presence of a few of Autumn Springs’ extra eccentric, “witchy” residents. I saved ready for one thing to occur there, however I can’t say for positive if something actually materialized, leaving that facet hanging and unsolved. And at last, there was the underwhelming reveal of the killer. Given the path the plot was trending, I anticipated much more. Heck, even an over-the-top, unrealistic ending would have been welcome, as an alternative of the flat and unclimactic conclusion that we bought.

With all that mentioned, the experience itself was genuinely entertaining, making for an general fast and interesting learn. The Autumn Springs Retirement Dwelling Bloodbath not solely flips the script on the same old style expectations, however centering on aged characters additionally provides a side that’s not often explored in horror. In the end although, the novel in all probability works higher as a character-driven, darkly enjoyable idea than as a completely satisfying slasher. It’s violent and witty, but nonetheless misses a few of its marks. Nonetheless, it’s value testing if the story’s premise piques your curiosity.