Review: Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
What: Dead Girls Walking by Sami Ellis
Who: Harry N. Abrams
When: March 26 2024
How: A copy of this novel was provided by Harry N. Abrams for review.
A shocking, spine-chilling YA horror slasher about a girl searching for her dead mother’s body at the summer camp that was once her serial killer father’s home—perfect for fans of Friday the 13th and White Smoke.
Temple Baker knows that evil runs in her blood. Her father is the North Point Killer, an infamous serial killer known for how he marked each of his victims with a brand. He was convicted for murdering 20 people and was the talk of countless true crime blogs for years. Some say he was possessed by a demon. Some say that they never found all his victims. Some say that even though he’s now behind bars, people are still dying in the woods. Despite everything though, Temple never believed that her dad killed her mom. But when he confesses to that crime while on death row, she has no choice but to return to his old hunting grounds to try see if she can find a body and prove it.
Turns out, the farm that was once her father’s hunting grounds and her home has been turned into an overnight camp for queer, horror-obsessed girls. So Temple poses as a camp counselor to go digging in the woods. While she’s not used to hanging out with girls her own age and feels ambivalent at best about these true crime enthusiasts, she tries her best to fit in and keep her true identity hidden.
But when a girl turns up dead in the woods, she fears that one of her father’s “fans” might be mimicking his crimes. As Temple tries to uncover the truth and keep the campers safe, she comes to realize that there may be something stranger and more sinister at work—and that her father may not have been the only monster in these woods.
Dead Girls Walking is a YA horror about a girl returning to her childhood home, which was also the hunting grounds of her serial killer father, and is now a horror camp for Black, queer teen girls. Temple, the MC, signs up to be a counsellor for the camp, all so that she can go back home and try and find her mother’s body – because her dad just admitted he killed her.
There were things in Dead Girls Walking that I sincerely did not understand. Why was Temple a counsellor when she was the same age as the rest of the campers? What was with the insertion of some fictional book with a cult following? Why were there random blog posts and other “media” type things scattered throughout the book? How was Temple so close to her childhood home that she could attend camp there, but no one knew who she was?
I think the book I expected Dead Girls Walking to be was just too different to what it actually turned out like. From the blurb I was expecting classic Friday the 13th type slasher horror, with the slow build up and tension. Unfortunately there was none of this. It was much more of a paranormal horror than a traditional slasher, it went from 0 to 100 in terms of the horror, and there was no tension to be seen.
I do think I would have benefitted from rereading the synopsis before starting because it really gives a lot of context that isn’t included in the book. As it was, I didn’t, and therefore had no idea what on earth was even happening.
The overall vibes (because that’s all I could get through my confusion) were great, and I did love the parts where the girls came together and realised how much stronger they were for it. This aspect would have been even more elevated if the secondary characters had more development.
Overall, I can’t say I enjoyed Dead Girls Walking but there were elements that were good so I say if you’re in the mood for a paranormal horror, you read the synopsis to understand the premise, and you’re okay with some things that will go over your head then it might be worth it.
© 2024, Chiara @ Books for a Delicate Eternity. All rights reserved.
trigger warning Provided by the author: body fluids (blood and vomit), bones, branding, emotional and physical child abuse, death, fire, gore, hallucinations, murder, profanity, PTSD flashbacks of abuse and horrific situations, skeletons, violence, abuse in the name of religion, ableist language, bullying, cannibalism, recreational marijuana use, gun violence, the occult, police brutality, suicidal ideation, supernatural interpretation of terminal illness, transphobia
