Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason's Those Who Follow REVIEWED

Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason, rightfully known as The Sisters of Slaughter in the horror community, have brought us Those Who Follow, their sophomore offering and follow-up to Mayan Blue, one of my favorites of last year.

Since I heard this was coming out, I knew it was priority reading, as their aforementioned first novel was pitch perfect, earned rave reviews and even got them nominated for a Stoker award. Not to mention it was a fun as hell blood bath, with countless demonic creatures doing the butchering in a beautifully written hell.

Those Who Follow is a short novel, published by Bloodshot Books, who are putting out tons of fantastic reads. One of my favorite parts of opening up a Bloodshot Book is the aesthetic...the small publisher makes their books look fantastic. If you haven't read something they've released, you've just gotta.

So it's got the aesthetic going, but how does the story stack up?

I am having a very difficult time summarizing the story, as a whole lot happens here, but essentially we have two women who seem to be telepathically connected. One's in a mental hospital, one's being held captive by one of the most despicable villains I've read in a long time, at a shambled church. One's gotta rescue the other. Both have to avoid the evil priest, in addition to snarling guard dogs, desert sun and the unknown creatures that come at night, hungry for flesh and blood.

The Sisters have an uncanny ability to turn the settings of their story into a character. You can feel the blistering desert sun that offers such an oppressive, claustrophobic quality to the story. This is a skill they have illustrated previously and I think it's a hallmark tenet of their writing. Big, mean atmosphere written in a way you can feel it.

And holy hell...the main villain. He is written with such unrelenting evil and commits despicable acts that you cannot wait for his demise. As the reader, you're right there with the protagonists, feeling the hopelessness of how they're ever going to get out of the heinous situation they're in. Which leads me to another great part of the sisters writing: despair.
They write hopelessness and despair like few can. It's an unmistakable talent to be able to make a reader feel so doomed. Boy, do they have it.

Added bonus, the gross out factor is here in spades, with plenty of yucky moments to get the gorehounds applauding.

A few criticisms remain, however. There's a whole lot going on here, jumping between timelines, universes, and character POVs very, very often. It's very easy to get lost in the constant jumping around. Since the novel is on the shorter side, all these different narratives are often shoved into just a few pages. I found myself having to go back and re-read to double-check where I was in the story, several times.

In hindsight, this disorienting quality works well for the book at times, but could have been seen to maximum potential by just fleshing things out a bit more.

Regardless of this, it's still a very worthwhile read. Garza and Lason have an incredible gift to put the reader square in the center of the story through building atmosphere like few can. It's a beautiful looking book that offers relentless action from a publisher who is starting to put out some of the best new horror fiction out there.

I recommend it.

3.8/5. I haven't quite figured out this rating scale thing yet. I should probably do that...