The Literary Six by Vince A. Liaguno

Title: The Literary Six
Author: Vince A. Liaguno
Genre: Horror/Dark Fiction, GLBT Fiction
URL: Amazon
Price: US$24.95


Summary (from the publisher): For the faculty, students, and alumni of Bendleton University, The Literary Six was the scourge of its collective existence for four long years. Notorious across the campus for its snobby witticisms and scathing critiques of the university, its faculty, its students, and its founders, this elite group of college literati fashioned itself in the likeness of Dorothy Parker and the Algonquin Round Table – an irreverent group of playwrights, theatre critics, and novelists who regularly lunched at the historic Algonquin Hotel in the 1920s. Indeed, graduation day for the members of The Literary Six brought a sigh of relief for many on the receiving end of the group’s caustic pen. As members of The Literary Six disbanded after graduation and went on to pursue careers as successful novelists, journalists, publishers, editors, and academics, they made a pact to reunite and celebrate the glory days of their scandalous collegiate association. This year, the six members of the infamous literary club are making their way to Shelter Rock Island, to the home of fellow member and bestselling authoress Taylor Miller and her television producer husband for a New Year’s Eve weekend of rekindled friendships, reminiscing, and unrequited love. But this year’s annual reunion will be like no other; a face from their collective past will be joining them. And as the island is cut off from the mainland in a winter storm that blankets the New England coastline, the members of The Literary Six will face retribution for the sins committed through their literary transgressions at the hands of a malevolence none of them could have conjured in the deepest recesses of their creative minds. And as the snow falls in silence around them, The Literary Six will begin to fall one by one and a desperate struggle for survival will unfold.

My Review: I’m late to the party with this novel (released in 2006) and boy am I sorry it took me so long to stumble upon it. Take a slasher flick, mix in a dash of Agatha Christie and a pinch of Ghost Story while folding in really interesting, rich characters, and the result is a novel you can enjoy while curled up in bed on a cold winter night  or on a beach somewhere as you tan away your summer vacation.

From beginning to end this novel is fun, giving those of us raised on  80s slasher films a nostalgic feeling in our chests while adding a dimensionality one didn’t usually get in those same films.  In short, Liaguno (who would go on to win a coveted Stoker Award as co-editor of Unspeakable Horror: From the Shadows of the Closet) has given us something to love without having a reason to be embarrassed for loving it.