Book Review: Night Shoot by David Sodergren

Desperate student filmmakers break into Crawford Manor for an unauthorised night shoot.

“He realised how trivial onscreen deaths were. They never got it right, couldn’t replicate the true gut-churning horror of real life.”

The best damn horror book I’ve read in a while! I devoured it in 24 hours and even stayed up until 2am cos I just. couldn’t. stop. And I never do that!!

This is only Sodergren’s second novel and yet his writing reads like that of an esteemed author. He just hits all the right notes and the pace is consistent, yet exciting (until the last 50 pages when I just couldn’t put it down!) I adore how he so effortlessly combines humour with horror, I had to restrain myself from laughing out loud in a coffee shop!

A creepy manor screams out for all the cliches we have experienced so many times, yet this novel felt so FRESH and unique. The kills are incredibly original and inventive and had me grimacing on more than one occasion. AND Sodergren now has a track record of writing spunky female characters in his novels, which I am HERE FOR and there’s also great LGBTQ+ inclusion!

Honestly, if you’re a fan of slasher movies from the 1980s, you NEED this one on your tbr! It’s the perfect homage. I can not recommend it enough, I loved it even more than Sodergren’s debut The Forgotten Island.

5 stars.

Johann
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