SCHRADER’S CHORD by Scott Leeds – Review

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.

Schrader's Chord by Scott Leeds
Published by Tor Nightfire on September 5 2023
Genres: Adult, Horror
Pages: 448
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Horror, music and nostalgia combine in surprising ways in this chilling debut.

“A sound unlike anything any of them had ever heard bloomed through the air like black ink on wet paper. It no longer came from the PA speakers; it came from everywhere. It came from the floor, the ceiling, from the air itself; a terrible sound—inhuman, ancient, and unholy.”

Schrader’s Chord is an ambitious debut novel, but Scott Leeds pulls it off surprisingly well. In addition to being a scary ghost story, Leeds’ tale is wonderfully nostalgic and brought back many memories from my pre-teen and teen years that revolved around music and the local record store. There’s also a nice dose of family drama, a touch of romance and plenty of feel good moments to offset all the horror, but this is first and foremost a horror story. Fans of Grady Hendrix’s We Sold Our Souls (another favorite music-centric horror story of mine) won’t want to miss this.

Charlie Remick works in A&R for Sony Records, the “man with the magical ear” as his associates call him, due to the fact that he’s a genius at spotting untapped talent and taking unknown bands and making them famous. But one day Charlie gets a text from his sister that changes everything. Their father Raymond is dead, apparently from suicide, and now Charlie must return to his hometown of Seattle in order to attend the funeral and deal with the fallout.

Returning is uncomfortable, though, since Charlie hasn’t seen any of his family for years, including his twin sister Ellie and his older sister Susan. Charlie and his dad weren’t on speaking terms either, so he’s shocked to find out Raymond has left Charlie two things: his beloved record store, the Cuckoo’s Nest, and a mysterious, battered black case. The last thing he wants is a musty old record store that reminds him of his father, but the case is another story. Attached to it is a cryptic note that says “I told you they were real,” and inside Charlie finds four old vinyl records, carefully protected with foam.

Charlie knows all too well what the records are: a tall tale spun by his father when Charlie was a kid, come to life. Schrader’s Chord was supposedly a combination of music notes that, when played together as a chord, could open the gates between the worlds of the living and the dead. Charlie decides to take the plunge and try them out, after all, the tale can’t be true, can it? With the help of Ellie, and Raymond’s two devoted Cuckoo’s Nest employees, Ana and Dale, Charlie rigs the records to play simultaneously, but what starts as a joke soon turns deadly. Schrader’s Chord is real, and now Charlie and his friends can suddenly see the dead. Even worse, they’re marked for death: Ivan Schrader himself is coming after them.

I loved the idea of an “evil chord” that can only be played under very special circumstances, and using vinyl 78s as the conduit was a brilliant idea. It reminded me of backmasking, adding hidden messages in records that can only be heard when you play the record backwards. Charlie’s decision to play Schrader’s Chord opens a floodgate of evil that seems nearly impossible to stop, and because they play the chord early on, most of the story focuses on Charlie, Ana, Ellie and Dale trying to figure out how to stop it. We learn more about the history of Ivan Schrader, who was a composer in the late nineteenth century, and why he created the records in the first place, and I thought Leeds did a great job of inserting Schrader’s backstory without losing momentum.

I really enjoyed the characters as well. Charlie loves his career in music, but there’s something from his past that he regrets that’s tied into the sour relationship with his father. Coming home brings all of it back, and when Raymond himself appears after the chord is played, Charlie has the perfect opportunity to ask his dad all sorts of questions. Their relationship was messy and believable and added a lot of emotion to the story. I also loved Ana, a young girl with an intense love of music who has made the Cuckoo’s Nest her second home. She’s terrified that Charlie is going to sell the shop, so she sets out to convince him not to. That is until all hell breaks lose and they are both running for their lives, of course.

You can tell the author loves music and has poured his heart and soul into Schrader’s Chord. From the scenes in the record store with Ana hand selling her customers the records she thinks they need, to the songs that pop up throughout the story—on the radio, on the jukebox in a diner, etc—to the descriptions of Raymond’s obsession with collecting rare vinyl, each adds to the soundtrack of the story, immersing the reader in a musical glow that evokes a certain time and place. The story is set in the present, but the sense of nostalgia is overwhelming. Leeds has also created an extensive playlist for his book, with many of the songs being mentioned in the story.

The last section is fast-paced and full of nail-biting chase scenes and some terrifying encounters with Ivan Schrader. I love a good road trip, and Schrader’s Chord has an excellent one. Parts of it reminded me of Final Destination, as the characters are getting picked off one by one (and I believe there’s even a tongue-in-cheek reference to the movie at one point). So far 2023 is turning out to be a bumper year for better than average horror debuts, and I’m very happy to list Schrader’s Chord as one of my favorites.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.