Slashtag by Jon Cohn

Title: Slashtag

Author: Jon Cohn

Year Published: 2023

Link to Buy: Amazon

Genre: Fiction, Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Haunted House, Supernatural, Ghosts, Twist Ending, Ensemble, LGBTQ+

Summary:

Welcome to Slashtag, the most immersive horror reality competition series in history! Tag along as seven of America's favorite celebrities step into the infamous Propitius Hotel, home to one of the most prolific serial killers in history - Arthur Wilson.

Arthur built and operated the Propitius Hotel from 1905 until 1928 when dozens of bodies were found in his hotel, along with countless hidden torture rooms throughout the hotel. Arthur disappeared, seemingly never to be caught. He then returned - nearly 40 years later - under the guise of a priest leading a congregation of 100 people back to his hotel, where he once again committed mass murder.

Enter Tawny Howlett-- a top-tier lifestyle influencer who is in the midst of the crappiest week of her life. Her brand new health drink turned out to be tainted, and now thousands of her followers want nothing more than to see her social media empire crumble. In order to rehabilitate her image, she's agreed to take part in "Slashtag: The Ultimate Horror Experience".

At first it's all fun and games, until the team of seven celebs discover that the ghost is very real, and out for blood. In order to survive the three-day live-streamed event, Tawny and her fellow contestants must band together to try and send the spirit of Arthur Wilson straight to hell.

"I suddenly wish that I were just crazy. A hallucination would mean my brain is broken, which is something I’ve spent my entire adult life attempting to accept. If we’re both seeing this, it means the world is broken in a way my brain is not prepared to confront."

While Tawny has her hands full trying to survive a weekend at the Propitius Hotel, it's up to her younger sister April to work from the outside to try and find a way to save her sister, and uncover the dark truth behind the TV network that continues to air the deaths of some of America's top talent.

Together these seven doomed souls must solve the puzzles hidden within the hotel in order to vanquish the spirit of Arthur Wilson.

Ten(ish)-Sentence Review:

When I start reading a book without knowing much about the story, it takes me a while to relax into the narrative and start enjoying myself—Slashtag was no different, although when the action started moving rapidly, so did my reading speed! 

I love the unique and dynamic characters in this book. Todd is a realistic caricature of someone raised so desensitized to violence and the supernatural that he’s grown apathetic toward both, which is something we don’t often see in members of a high-powered and evil ruling class. April is a total badass defined by her wit, cleverness, and fortitude rather than her disability, and she is definitely the Jiminy Cricket I’d want on my shoulder if I got dropped into a real-life horror movie. D-Wreck/Derek’s character growth is out of this world, going from perpetual class clown to almost-Final-Boy in the most genuine, lovable way possible, and winning Tawny’s respect in the process. I found Tawny a little generic, even after all her trauma-dumping and strength-finding, but that could have been an intentional writing move since many Final Girls tend to be a little more mainstream than the rest of the ensemble. 

And then, of course, we must discuss Shawn, the sweet, sensitive, strong, smart, gay, black man who stole the third act and my heart. His friendship with Tawny and gentle nature are apparent from the beginning and his tragic backstory clues us into his personality’s many layers, but I am so happy this book kills the “black guy always dies first” trope AND the “bury your gays” trope with one single, heavy, and perfectly lobbed stone (although “bury your gays” is more mainstream and not specific to horror). In a book that stresses the importance of following every horror movie rule, these are a couple that I’m overjoyed the author chose to ignore. 

It would be a crime not to mention the amazing craftsmanship that went into this plot; the About the Author section tells us Jon Cohn is also a game designer, and as soon as I read that everything about the in-book game made sense. From the twisty-turny obstacles the characters face, to the meta horror movie references that feel like a warm blanket of nostalgia a la the Scream franchise, this book is begging to be adapted into a video or board game. 

Speaking of horror movie references, I think the best and most poignant one was Tawny’s explanation of Cannibal Holocaust, The War of the Worlds, and other mass hysteria pop culture events that turned out to be fictional. Introducing the idea of hyper-realistic horror content that scares the public but ends up being fake, then the majority of the book taking place inside one of those events that the public is ambivalent or excited about but that ends up being real, is a genius writing move. This pairs perfectly with the realistically modern cast of characters and predictably evil board of directors to create the perfect storm of no one being able to say for sure what’s real and what’s not. 

Without giving away too much of the ending, I want to mention two important parts of it. First, wandering through the tunnels looking for board members was reminiscent of the equally meta end of Cabin in the Woods, in keeping with the nods to other horror content. Second, the jaw dropping exposure of “His” multi-layered identity was artful, cathartic justice. I had started getting a little annoyed at how little Tawny and April reveal about their encounter with Him that seemed to define their entire lives, but after they told the full story I understood and wouldn’t have rewritten a single word of that scene. 

Since the violence and gore are satisfying but not overwhelming, I would recommend this book for anyone down to teens, and even some tweens if they’ve tried adult horror before. I absolutely loved this immersive journey through an intentionally haunted hotel. 

5/5