It’s secure to say on this level in his writing profession, Craig DiLouie is one in every of Canada’s high horror writers*… he publishes a couple of novel per yr, they do nicely throughout the style – followers and critics alike. Followers who’re accustomed to his writing and of the horror style are in for a deal with as a result of we get two Dilouie novels this yr, a duology the primary of which is Summer season Camp Bloodbath.
SUMMER 1983. A blood-soaked summer season camp counselor is discovered staggering down a rustic highway. The only survivor of a horrific bloodbath, Mary tells a nightmare of a masked maniac wielding an previous skinning knife. Arriving too late to assist, her boyfriend Tom Bailey is tormented by guilt.
SUMMER 1992. The camp reopens as Camp Summer season Enjoyable. Now a sheriff’s deputy, Tom doubts this can be a good concept, however the camp has been refurbished, the advisors employed, and the little campers are on the way in which. Responding to reviews of a blood-curdling howl close to the camp, he once more arrives too late to save lots of anybody besides a single brutalized teen. The killer nowhere to be discovered.
Hoping to catch the killer and eventually proper his errors, Tom reconnects with Mary. She’s satisfied that the killer isn’t human however as a substitute a rural legend generally known as the Hungry Hare.
The sheriff desires the case closed, however refuses to imagine in folklore. Mary desires of revenge for her pals. And Tom hunts for any traces of the actual or fictional. However the assassin may very well be nearer to residence than anybody expects.
The Hare is coming and is so, so hungry…
In 1983, (the tail finish of the golden age of horror/slasher films) a lone younger lady named Mary lived to inform the story of the killings at a summer season camp in Ledger, Texas. She paints an image of a knife wielding maniac known as Hungry Hare, however over time she builds up an excessive amount of resentment in regards to the police chief who by no means solved the case. She drifted other than her boyfriend Tom and has grow to be a little bit of a recluse. Quick ahead simply over a decade later and Camp Summer season Enjoyable (renamed with the concept of wiping away the previous) and the Hungry Hare seemingly strikes once more. This time, Tom is a deputy on the town, however he’s unable to save lots of the advisors or youngsters and finds the blood-soaked Laura as the one survivor.
A lot of the novel is from Tom’s viewpoint and right here’s the DiLouie twist – most of the time, slasher films and novels focus extra on the victims / survivors. With Summer season Camp Bloodbath, we see the person whose identification is that of protector and he’s in the end failed which provides the novel/story a little bit of a police procedural really feel…and it really works extremely nicely.
DiLouie does an exquisite job of placing us in Tom’s head as he struggles together with his incapacity to save lots of anyone except for Laura and his obsession with in search of the reality not solely in regards to the 1992 slayings, however what actually occurred in 1983 together with his former girlfriend, the victims type that earlier bloodbath, their connection to one another and perhaps past.
Tom isn’t precisely favored by his friends, he’s frequently advised to not go digging into the previous, to not look an excessive amount of into what actually occurred. Particularly Tom’s boss Sheriff Buddy Jackson who simply occurs to be up for re-election so Buddy desires the case solved cleanly so he can get reelected. Drawback is our blood-soaked survivor speaks of one thing inhuman because the assassin and the deeper Tom digs, he’s discovering that this “Hungry Hare” is one thing of an area/people legend. Nonetheless, at each flip, Tom’s efforts hit some sort of pace bump or roadblock. Seeing this frustration by means of Tom’s eyes added much more rigidity to an already tense story.
In Tom, DiLouie has crafted a particularly empathetic character. Why? Tom is the man who desires to get to the foundation of the issue, the trigger for these murders which have been repeated not less than twice so far as the bigger world is aware of. Possibly… simply perhaps if he is ready to determine all of it out, it gained’t occur once more and perhaps Tom can discover redemption for not saving Laura’s pals and friends. On high of that, he’s bought emotional ties to Mary, which helps to propel the story much more
I loved this novel for every thing it was, for DiLouie’s incredible characterization, his skill to drive a brisk plot, and the sensible twisting of tropes. If there was one factor I’d have favored to see only a bit extra of it was the Hungry Hare or it’s nature. Then once more, a number of the best monsters have little or no “display screen” or web page time. Freddy Kreuger for instance has solely 7 minutes of display screen time within the unique A Nightmare on Elm Road (the movie is 91 minutes and my favourite Nineteen Eighties horror film) and “Bruce” the shark in Jaws is on display screen for 4 minutes of the two hours and 10 minutes of total movie time.
In different phrases, Craig DiLouie very a lot is aware of what he’s doing as a result of Summer season Camp Bloodbath was a incredible thrill journey of a novel that brings one thing creative, sensible, and refreshing to the slasher style.
Extremely advisable.
© 2026 Rob H. Bedford
*I lately realized/realized that Mr. DiLouie was born in New Jersey, the place I’ve lived my total life so I really feel a good stronger connection to his work!
Commerce Paperback | Run for It (Orbit/Hachette’s Horror Imprint)
Slasher Season, E book 1
June 2026 | 304 Pages
Excerpt: https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/orbit-books/excerpt-the-summer-fun-massacre-by-craig-dilouie/
https://craigdilouie.com/
Overview copy courtesy of the writer
Leave a Reply