While Logan-Ashley Kisner’s knowledge and nerdiness of horror movies is prevalent in the pages of Old Wounds, it doesn’t show in references or spoofs: rather, it shows in the atmosphere cultivated in the first half, developed characters with angst that radiates from the pages, and a somewhat unpredictable monster that’s given some truly horrifying imagery—even if that’s mostly because of the cover art. (I haven’t seen a truly creepy cover in a while, and I expect nothing less from the cover artist for Camp Damascus! I’ll have to check out more of Zoë van Djik’s stuff.) There was also a good mix of social and monster horror that had me on edge as I was reading, although the social horror was definitely scarier.

I kind of want to know how the original screenplay format/idea of this book would’ve turned out! I could picture so many of the scenes vividly, the imagery throughout was delicious and definitely a big part of why I liked the atmosphere so much. And…it would be awesome to have a badass transgender final girl like Erin on the silver screen. (I didn’t hate Max, unlike the other reviewers—I actually liked him: even through some of his decisions, I understood his dysphoria and his resentment deep in my soul, and I appreciated him becoming less selfish as the book went on. But Erin was still my favorite.) 

I also liked that while

there was a hopeful ending

, there were still enough unanswered questions about the town and the Beast to keep it menacing. In trademark horror movie fashion, lol. (Also, that the characters were still dealing with the aftermath. Because of course they were, that kind of night would fuck anyone up.)

The second half was satisfying and violent, but I wish there was more of a balance between the interpersonal and physical conflicts. That’s one of the things that kept my star rating below a five, besides the tension and stakes losing their steam around the 3/4ths mark

(idc that it was established that anyone could be killed, it absolutely didn’t read that way)

, and some of the 80’s references that, while typical for horror media, can’t really be picked up on as easily by the teenage demographic…? (But that’s not as big of an issue imo because all the references have some thematic importance.)

An absolute banger of a debut! I’ll keep a lookout on what Logan-Ashley Kisner writes next.