gilda_elise

1983: Three students from a small college embark on a week-long road trip to film a documentary on roadside memorials for their American Studies class. The project starts out as a fun adventure with long stretches of empty road and nightly campfires where they begin to open up with one another.

But as they venture deeper into the Appalachian backwoods, the atmosphere begins to darken. They notice more and more of the memorials feature a strange, unsettling symbol hinting at a sinister secret. Paranoia sets in when it appears they are being followed. Their vehicle is tampered with overnight and some of the locals appear to be anything but welcoming. Before long, the students can’t help but wonder if these roadside deaths were really random accidents…or is something terrifying at work here?

I really do have to remember to stay away from horror books whose protagonists are teenagers. Because, no matter if the book is noted as a YA or not, chances are the plot is going to be moved forward by those characters doing some really dumb things. And, boy, do they ever.

Would an adult have heeded the warnings given? I’m inclined to think so. I know I would have. And that’s what often made this book hard to read. It’s not that I didn’t like the characters, because I did. But too often I found myself wanting to shake them and yell, “What the hell is wrong with you?!!” But I knew what was wrong with them. Or at least I assume that’s what the author wanted us to think. That they were doing what they were doing because they didn’t know any better.

All that is a shame because I thought the basic plot of the book had potential. I have read horror books where the teenage protagonists aren’t all, well, dumb, so I know it can be done. I just wish it had been done here.

Another problem with the book is that I don’t like endings that aren’t endings. Either bring things to a conclusion, or note that there’s a sequel. Using a “there’s more to this story but I’m not going to write about it,” just seems lazy.