Once again (or twice, really, because this book is two novels in one), Stephen Graham Jones delivers on some really gripping, fun horror that spins some classic tropes into something unexpected. This double feature contains The Babysitter Lives and Killer on the Road, the first being a story about a night of babysitting gone horribly, supernaturally wrong on the eve of Halloween, and the latter a road trip from hell situation in which a hitchhiker-targeting serial killer sets his sights on a runaway teen and her friends. The Babysitter Lives was previously available as an audiobook exclusive, so fans may already be familiar with that one.
Killer on the Road hooks you immediately with its “Chapter 0” cold open, which pretty much gives you a sense of how things are going to be from then on out (brutal). It’s wonderful in the gory, stressful, horrifying-but-also-humorous way SGJ does so well. The Babysitter Lives is a brutal and chaotic time, too, and it managed to genuinely give me the creeps when I stayed up way too late reading it. Without giving too much away, something ain’t right about the house this babysitter shows up to work at. These were so fun to read.