EPISODE THIRTEEN by Craig DiLouie

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

EPISODE THIRTEEN by Craig DiLouieEpisode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie
Published by Redhook on January 24 2023
Genres: Adult, ghost story, Horror
Pages: 464
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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four-half-stars

The nitty-gritty: A clever twist on the haunted house trope, Episode Thirteen is both weird and terrifying.

Craig DiLouie is one of those authors who never writes the same book twice, and Episode Thirteen is a great example of that. What starts out as your typical haunted house story—creepy old house, strange noises and lights, and random objects moving around—soon takes a bizarre turn and becomes something else entirely. The format is also unusual, as the story is told through a variety of media like emails, texts, raw video footage, interviews, blog posts, journal entries and more. Add in a group of interesting, complex characters and you have a weird, mind-bending tale with plenty of scary moments.

Matt Kirklin is the lead investigator on the reality TV show Fade to Black, a documentary style ghost hunting show. Accompanied by his wife Claire, cameraman Jake Wolfson, tech director Kevin Linscott, and actress Jessica Valenza, the Fade to Black team has just scored an amazing opportunity for their thirteenth episode. They’ve been granted access to the infamous Foundation House in Denton Virginia, where back in 1972 five scientists from the Paranormal Research Foundation vanished and were never heard from again. Over the years, strange sightings and odd noises have been reported coming from the house, and Matt knows this is his chance to capture some real ghostly activity on camera, which could finally give his show the fame it deserves.

Once the team arrives at the house, they begin taping the show, hoping the purported ghosts make an appearance. After all, they are nearing the end of their first season, and the network won’t renew the show unless they can end with a bang. So when clear evidence of an otherworldly entity shows up on camera, the team is both shocked and thrilled. Then Claire finds old files from the research team that disappeared and everything changes. The scientists were conducting weird experiments in the basement of the house, using unconventional methods to unlock psychic and paranormal abilities in their test subjects.

I’m not going to spoil the surprise for you, but what Matt and his team find in the basement of Foundation House will challenge the perceptions of even the most seasoned ghost hunter. DiLouie lulls his readers in the beginning with familiar haunted house tropes and themes, but later twists those tropes into something horrific and hallucinatory. I loved the mystery of the missing scientists and what they were up to, and incorporating their journal entries and old 8mm film footage from the original experiments was such a great way to add creepiness to the story. Once the team starts exploring the basement—and beyond—reality almost becomes distorted, and it’s hard to tell what’s real and what isn’t.

Of course, all the creepy atmosphere in the world won’t work without flesh and blood characters to add dimension, and that’s exactly what DiLouie gives his readers. We learn the reason behind Matt’s obsession with proving ghosts exist—he had a ghost friend named Tammy (!) as a child. Matt is a believer, and he wants everyone else to believe too. On the flip side is his wife Claire, a scientist and the show’s resident skeptic. Claire is part of the team simply to debunk any evidence Matt and the others pick up on their cameras and other ghost hunting electrical devices. And Claire hasn’t had any trouble proving them wrong—until now. I found Claire’s character to be the most complex. At the beginning of the story, she’s secretly decided to leave the show, but she hasn’t told anyone yet. She’s tired of the team’s “pseudoscience” and wants to return to her roots in real science. But something snaps when she’s confronted with irrefutable evidence of ghosts, and her whole life’s purpose changes in an instant.

Then there’s Kevin, who used to be a cop in Philly. Kevin swears he “met the devil” one night on patrol, and he thinks it’s been following him ever since. Jake has skeletons in his closet as well. He was abused as a child and carries that trauma around with him. I also loved Jessica’s character. Jessica’s real name is Rashida Brewer, and text messages between her and her sister Tameeka are scattered throughout the book. Tameeka doesn’t approve of Jessica “hunting ghosts with crazy white people,” and their text exchanges showed what a close relationship they have and also added a little comic relief to the story. There’s plenty of tension among the five main characters, especially when Claire’s big secret gets out and the whole dynamic of the group suddenly changes.

I found the entertainment industry aspect to be spot on. I loved Matt’s daily “hot sheets” to the producers, as he tries to put a positive spin on the day’s events to impress them. They’re all holding their breath and hoping to get a second season, but of course it’s all dependent on the ratings. There are several layers of tension in the story, and Matt’s passion for the show made me root for Fade to Black’s future, even as I could see everything was starting to fall apart.

Little by little, the characters’ relationships start to crack, and it was just as unsettling to watch them veer off their paths as it was to witness the increasingly weird events happening underneath Foundation House. Don’t even try to guess where the story is going, because you’ll probably be wrong. DiLouie masterfully subverts everything you expect a haunted house story to be, and I loved every minute of it.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

Posted January 5, 2023 by Tammy in 4 1/2 stars, Reviews / 23 Comments

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23 responses to “EPISODE THIRTEEN by Craig DiLouie”

  2. Verushka

    Oh WOW. You have piqued my interest so much with this book and your review! I am ready for an author who subverts expectation so exceptionally well as DiLouie does in this one!

    Reply
    • Tammy

      He did such a great job with “subverting the trope.” I highly recommend it, especially if you like haunted house stories:-)

      Reply
  3. Maddalena@spaceandsorcery

    Great review! I can see that this novel resonated with you just as it did with me, placing once again DiLouie among those authors whose books I know I can pick up sight unseen and always have an amazing time.
    Thanks for sharing! 🙂
    Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…MY 2022 IN BOOKSMy Profile

    Reply
  4. todd

    Don’t tell me, after all these years Matt finds his ghost friend Tammy living in the basement! 🙂 Glad to hear this appears to do justice to the cover. It’s one I’d like to check out. And it sounds like something that might make a good movie.

    Reply
    • Tammy

      LOL gotta love seeing your name in a favorite author’s book, even if it wasn’t personal:-) And yes, I think this would be a cool movie!

      Reply
  11. Mogsy @ BiblioSanctum

    Looks like we both loved this! I enjoyed the epistolary style so much and I love found footage horror so this was totally up my alley!

    Reply
  12. Lisa @ Bookshelf Fantasies

    Fab review! I held off on reading it until I finished the book and wrote my own review — but we’re very much in sync! I loved so much about this — but then again, I’ve yet to be let down by this author. And that ending!! What a great, creepy, strange story.

    Reply

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