Below by Laurel Hightower
Below by Laurel Hightower was published on March 29, 2022. It was published by Ghoulish Books, a horror imprint of Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing.
I snatched this book up after reading Laurel’s short story “Distress Call” in Terror in the Trench: An Anthology of Aquatic Horror (Dead Seas Volume I). Her writing held me captive in that story, giving me that visceral sensation I love in a horror story. I had also read her story “This is Home” in Places We Fear to Tread, which I also really enjoyed. When I reviewed both of those books, I listed her stories in my favorites categories on each. When I saw Below being promoted, I had to grab a copy. I knew I needed to read a longer version of her work.
First of all, I am in love with the cover of this book. It was designed by Trevor Henderson. It immediately gives me an idea of the story I’m about to read, and I hope I get a good experience with that creature!
This story is about Addy, a divorced woman who is on a two-fold journey. She is headed to a horror convention to meet some friends, and she is also on a journey of self discovery after feeling helpless and controlled in her marriage. The road to independence is rocky, unnerving, and downright terrifying for her.
There is so much packed into this novella. You get a horror story complete with creatures, gore, and suspense. You also get an underlying story of a woman finding her voice. I enjoyed travelling with her as she experienced a wide variety of horrifying scenarios. Every time you think it might get better, Hightower does a great job of throwing on another layer of despair for Addy to navigate. There are enough realistic and fantastical elements combined to keep this story fresh and exciting.
The surface story is fantastic! You have a creature that is creating chaos, a location that causes cell service to be iffy at best, strange and dangerous characters, and gory moments that will leave you on the edge of your seat. Then you discover what is lurking quietly just below the surface, which is the change that takes place in Addy. Hightower does a wonderful job creating a character who has struggled with the mental confines of what some men, and even parts of society, think a woman should be.
The take away I got from Addy’s personal character journey is that sometimes the only way to survive is to trust your own instincts, avoid falling back into bad habits, and just keep going no matter what. Addy faces all of her fears, both internally and externally, and is stronger for it. I felt a real connection to her and was cheering her on throughout the story.
I can’t wait to read more of Laurel Hightower’s work!
You can find more of Laurel Hightower’s work below:
Get to know Laurel Hightower
Laurel Hightower grew up in Kentucky, attending college in California and Tennessee before returning home to horse country, where she lives with her husband, son and two rescue animals. She loves discovering new favorite authors, and supporting the writing and reading community. Laurel works as a paralegal in a mid-size firm, wrangling litigators by day and writing at night. A bourbon and beer girl, she's a fan of horror movies and true life ghost stories.
***Taken from Laurel’s website
Get to know Ghoulish Books
Ghoulish Books is the horror imprint of Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing, which was created in the summer of 2012 by Lori Michelle and Max Booth III. In 2022, they decided all of their horror titles would be released under a new imprint called Ghoulish Books.
PMMP will remain the umbrella company of everything, and continue to release non-horror titles, but Ghoulish Books will be the face of their spooky stuff. You will still find Ghoulish Books titles in the PMMP webstore.
