Why hello there, book nerds!

I’m back at it again! Lately I’ve been hooked on reading the Killer VHS series with my book bestie Iseult Murphy, so it probably isn’t surprising that today I’m reviewing Candy Cain Kills Again: The Second Slaying (Killer VHS #5) by Brian McAuley.

Iseult and I LOVED the first Candy Cain Kills book (check out our buddy read and rant here), and we agreed that we had to know what happens next before giving other books in this series a try.

If this one is anything like the first, it’s gonna be one hell of a ride. Let’s see how it went!

Series Review Links

Book Review: Melon Head Mayhem (Killer VHS #1)

Book Review: Candy Cain Kills (Killer VHS #2)

Blurb

A slasher sequel that picks up immediately where the first book left off with the festive killer coming to town on Christmas morning to punish a parish full of sinners.

Praise for Candy Cain Kills:

“A perfect book for gorehounds to devour on a cold Christmas night.” —Library Journal

“A masterclass in slasher fiction.” —FanFiAddict

“Sublimely drawn characters fuel a slasher romp that delivers the goods.” —Kirkus Reviews

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

I loved this thrilling conclusion to Candy Cain’s reign of terror!

After their cataclysmic run in with Candy Cain, Austin, Mateo, and Fiona think the horrors are over. However, when they visit the Nodland church to give them a piece of their mind for their part in the original Candy Cain killings, they soon discover that not only is Candy Cain not dead, but that the roots of her trauma span further than they could ever imagine.

It’s rare that a sequel is comparable to the original, but this was so well done. This novella has a distinct theme of religion and abuse, and that helped see the conflict from a different angle. I really liked the change of scenery, and it helped keep the horror element fresh with the killing methods.

And the opening poem? Brilliant!

Austin, Mateo, and Fiona were great MCs like last time. They want this all to be over, but their decisions keep pulling them deeper into the fray. I will say that a few of their choices didn’t make quite enough sense to me, but overall it was so satisfying. There are a bunch of new POVs this time, one of them being Candy Cain herself. At first I wasn’t sure about that choice, but it let me understand Candy Cain on a deeper level and why she’s doing all of this.

The pace on this one is a lot faster, with little time between shocking developments, but since we’ve already had such a great buildup from the first novella, it made sense that the story should keep moving along. It also had little slow down moments here and there that kept a nice balance.

In the end, this was a wonderful conclusion to a Christmas Horror tale I won’t soon forget. Highly highly recommend!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. Like what you see? Leave a tip!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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