Well, he’s done it again!
Following on from loving his short story collection, Off the Beaten Path, I was desperate to get stuck into Wofford Lee Jones’s recent novella. Creepy haunted asylum, slasher throwbacks, a brilliant final girl, and an unexpected (and chilling) antagonist – this book has it all. Oh, and gore. Loads of lovely gore.
Hell Night in Hopewell is a tight, well-paced read that can easily be digested in one or two sittings. Wofford has a way of writing that both keeps the pace of the story up, but also paints a vivid picture of the world into which we’re stepping. Luckily, this is a story that pays tribute to many loved horror tropes, and so there’s plenty of hallmarks of the genre for a veteran of the macabre such as myself on which to get his bearings. But don’t be fooled: this is an entirely original story, and you can be expect to be yanked out of your comfort zone with some force.
So don’t be a scaredy-cat; spend an evening in Hopewell Sanatorium and allow Wofford to give you the guided tour of your life. It ain’t gonna be an easy ride, and you may not come out in one piece, but I promise it’ll be a hell of a lot of fun.