‘Fat Trapped’ Book Review
Written by R.T. Ewell | Format: Paperback, 114pp
I’m a big reader. I love a good book, and when it comes to genres I’m fairly open, but sci-fi, fantasy and horror tends to be a go-to when I’m not sure what I want to pick up. I read Fat Trapped back when it was initially released back in 2013 (it’s since seen a new cover and re-release on Amazon), and I enjoyed the hell out of it. After all, I’m a horror fan, and a slasher fan, so a book in this genre would be a big hit for me, if done right.
R.T. Ewell is a horror fan, and it shines through in this work. His obvious love for horror and specifically the slasher flicks of the 80s and 90s, is obvious when you read Fat Trapped. It’s a 114 page novella, and in that time he manages to build characters and create an atmosphere of old-school throwback suburban creepiness that I ate up.
The story itself, without spoiling anything or giving too much away, follows a girl named Danielle who, while out on a morning run, winds up kidnapped and tied up in the basement of the villains of the piece, the Blankenships. She won’t be the only person in the neighbourhood to be tied up in that basement alongside Danielle as she is joined by a guy named Carl, and three other victims. Stuck in this dark dingy basement, the five tied and gagged victims soon find themselves tortured by the sadistic Blankenship family who have taken them captive. Full of gore and terror, it features a cast of characters, all led by this creepy, sociopathic family.
It’s a cool premise, and right out of a horror movie. I loved the way Ewell refused to over-complicate the narrative and plot, instead opting for an easy-to-read and understand horror novella that got right to the point, rather than wandering around for a few hours first. It doesn’t mess around, it knows what it wants to be, and it does it in a very good way. Indie horror books can be hit and miss, the plots and ideas can be rip-offs or bad ideas, but this is an original concept that has nice elements of an homage going on, without taking too much from any existing work. I like that.
The book would be followed by a series of three short stories that would link together in a series called the “To Be A Killer” series, and Ewell also released a zombie novel called Zombie 5,000, which is a 5000 word zombie story, in 2018. Fat Trapped, though, is my favourite of his novel/novella thus far, bringing a disturbing suburban tale of brutality, inhumanity and psychosis to the table, and giving us a knife and fork to feast on it. A classical homage to gore flicks and slasher horror, if you dig a good horror story, then give this one a shot.
Fat Trapped is available now on Amazon.
