Multiple New York Times Bestselling author Richard Chizmar set a new standard for Meta-Fiction with his terror tale, Chasing the Boogeyman. This fall, the celebrated scribe teams up with his son, W.H. Chizmar, in an attempt to once again redefine another sub-genre. Found-Footage horror. Fitting that a couple of writers from Maryland tackle this hit or miss area of art, as the birth of found-footage was set in Burkittsville, Maryland for the groundbreaking film, The Blair Witch Project. While some found-footage horror has been outstanding, such as Paranormal Activity, many fans have found much of the sub-genre choppy and cheap. The writing duo make a brave choice using this format as they add to the legend of the Widow’s Point Lighthouse that first captured readers’ imaginations in 2017 as a short story before becoming a smash hit novella. Will this supernatural story usher in a new wave of fright fiction style, or does this format crash out like the many ships that have tumbled before the cursed structure?
Trent, a popular paranormal personality, has assembled a superstar team to tackle one of the world’s most haunted places. A renowned ghost hunter, a celebrated professor with a dark history tied to the town, along with Trent’s own ragtag team of terror travel to Harper’s Cove, Nova Scotia, to explore the supernatural phenomenon at Widow’s Point lighthouse. From a family butchered in cold blood to the most recent unexplained incident of an author simply vanishing from the beleaguered building, Widow’s Point has cast a dark shadow over the sleepy seaside town for over a century. Trent’s team is forewarned by the residents before setting up a state-of-the-art camp both outside and inside the lighthouse. The week-long project, adequately scheduled during the last days of October, starts out harmlessly enough. Laughs and lore are shared by the group until the eternal residents begin to awaken. Day after day the team slowly realizes that they are the leads in the next chapter of this legendary home of horror.
In the dark ocean of overly saturated paranormal media, Widow’s Point is a bright beacon that casts sinister shadows that will keep readers’ lights turned on through the night. The major concern when the format for this novel was announced was the pacing issues that have plagued found-footage art. Was Widow’s Point going to come across more choppy than the Northern Sea of the Atlantic? The answer is a resounding no! The father son duo keeps that narrative rolling with pulse pounding pages and a uniquely refreshing format that makes the read nearly impossible to put down. Too often, modern horror novels rely on age old troupes for their characters. Each personality that ventures into the lighthouse is written with thick subtext that evokes emotional responses to their journey. Just when fans think they have seen every ghost tale there is to tell, Widow’s Point births new children of darkness that is brilliantly written to span decades of diabolical incidents. Top marks to the authors for presenting a no holds barred book that is not afraid to attack each character’s psyche which leaves no one safe throughout the read. Widow’s Point will do for lighthouses what The Amityville Horror did for the quiet suburban home.
Scream Score: 9.2/10
