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Pay the Piper is a close, engaging, atmospheric novel of eldritch horror, rural community, and the infinite strength and perseverance of little girls.

Set in a rural bayou community in Louisiana, this novel follows a cast of characters, some victims, some unexpected heroes, all held in place by the stubborn, precocious, and curious Pontiac – a young girl whose fierce independence is outweighed only by her desire for knowledge. Each of the members of this community are beautifully and intensely realised, fleshed out to the fullest extent, given hopes, dreams, fears, and family. The place in which they live is an intense, realised character of its own, with moods and thoughts.

Romero, who began writing this, and Kraus, who finished writing it, are indistinguishable from each other, the story flows from one pen to the next with no noticeable break. This is a story which exists at the nexus of anti-colonialism, horror, drama, American Gothic, and mystery, pulling together elements of each genre and leaving us with a narrative as expected as it is unexpected, as familiar as it is startlingly unique, and as ruthless as it is grounded in heart. Utterly compelling from start to finish, Pay the Piper is more than a horror novel, it is a literary tour de force.

I would liken this to Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things if only for the lush descriptions, and the way character portraits are penned. In both plot and tone, Pay the Piper bears little resemblance to the 1997 Book Prize winner, but I wouldn’t say that’s a bad thing! Having read both, I far preferred this, although there is undoubtedly some similarity in the way the settings of both works read as humid, colourful, dangerous, and claustrophobic as you imagine them to be in real life. Another text of comparison, I thought, was Kei Miller’s Augustown, equally skilful with building setting, Miller’s real talent is imbuing each page, each interaction, each description, with a sense of suspense, even foreboding, as the events of the novel build towards an “autoclaps.” As Pay the Piper builds towards its own autoclaps, or calamity, there is a similar ratcheting up of the stakes, our emotional involvement, and suspense, culminating in a stirring narrative crescendo.

It has been a long time since I read something this successful. I have had a good few 5 star reads this year, but few felt as deeply considered as Pay the Piper. I hope this book gets all the love it deserves. 5 very deserved stars.

Thank you to Faber, Daniel Kraus, and the Estate of George A. Romero, (and NetGalley) for both creating such an exceptional book, and letting me read it in exchange for an honest review.