thank you to netgalley for this arc!

this was a fun short story! it was spooky, and had the vibes of a campfire story. it seems like it would be an easy read for younger readers or those who struggle with reading!

my only problem with it is that it felt rushed a lot. i wish we could’ve found out more about the characters, and the ending wasn’t as good as i hoped.

however, i still recommend this to ya readers!

Welcome to Camp Fear is a great read for younger readers, it reminds me of the Point Horror series I used to read when I was a young teen. It was full of action and mystery and I really enjoyed it.

Thank you to NetGalley and Barrington Stoke for my ARC.

3.5/5
Disclaimer: netgalley gifted me an advanced readers copy of this book and in exchange I'm leaving an honest review. All opinions are my own.
If you like Friday the 13th and you're looking for something similar, but more like YA, you may enjoy this. It was cute. Short, at 128 pages. So it's more like a novella I guess?
This was a fun read and perfect for the start of spooky season.

This book was a fantastic young adult horror/ slasher book. I feel it is aimed and would appeal to similar age range as the Goosebumps series has.

It was fast paced, the characters were well established for the length of the book.

There were a few surprises and did find myself wondering who was responsible for the events that unfold in the book.

It left on a cliffhanger which I love and worked so well for this story.

Well I won’t be signing up to be a camp counsellor after this tense and scary read! All the Friday 13th vibes but for middle grade… I can already think of a few people to recommend it to! Some bits were more suspenseful than an adult horror film and liked the added supernatural element.

A cute fun quick horror story that would be fun to read at a summer camp. Emphasis on a short story

This was a short and fun slasher perfect for summer.

We are in Camp Miller. Chad, the owner, has years of experience in summer camps in the US and decides to bring that same concept to the UK.

With a new camp, 8 counselors and 32 kids, the camp is ready to open its doors.

On the first night, the counselors tell each other ghost stories by the firepit. One of those stories is related to the history of this very same camp.

Pranks turn deadly and someone or something is out to kill them all.

I had a lot of fun with this novella and it includes many of the horror tropes we all love but done right.

Of course I wish it would have been longer because we did not get the chance to see much character development and the ending/reveal did feel a bit abrupt and rushed.

But I love Cynthia’s writing and this was a quick fun read I would definitely recommend to fans of slashers.

Aimed especially at reluctant readers, Welcome to Camp Killer is a fast paced thriller that has action almost from the first page. It’s the perfect kind of book that upper middle grade and lower young adult kids should be encouraged to pick up.

With her signature style, flair, and somewhat disturbed mind, the author takes us on a journey through terrifying events at a summer camp, seemingly with no way to get to the bottom of everything…. especially when the lights go out. The “whodunit” was sufficiently surprising to bring a smile to my face, and the characters were engaging to the point that you were keeping fingers crossed that they would make it out alive… You never know with a Cynthia Murphy book!

The text and plot was carefully balanced between being gripping for hesitant readers, yet still having the content and prose to be pleasing for anyone who happened to pick it up. This is an impressive achievement, and I really do applaud the author on striking it. It’s a book that a whole class could read with nobody being left behind.

As always with this author, I was reminded gratefully that I am, in fact, an adult, and don’t have to be exposed to teenage risks, which apparently now include summer camps as well. Oh dear.

Good read for young teens, I can see how this would appeal to a younger audience. Good introduction to horror. Very easy, quick read but found, as an adult, I might have wanted more depth and answers.

This book is giving Goosebumps and read a little more middle grade than YA. It was fast-paced and easy to read but overall is not a memorable read that I will likely recommend often.

When an American style camp opens in a stately home in the North East of England the camp counsellors are looking forward to a fun filled summer. But from the beginning things don't feel right and legend states there's a ghost on the grounds. It doesn't take long for the incidents to begin a near drowning and a Fatal cliff fall. Will any of them make it out alive?

This was a very fast paced, thrilling short story. Kept me gripped and turning the pages and I didn't expect the ending. I only wish it had been a bit longer so we could get more attached to the characters but other than that it was very enjoyable.

An easy read being that it is a short story. It was a little creepy, especially with the tie ins with the ghost stories. I feel as if the character development could have been more. However, it was an easy read and really keeps you captivated.

This is a fun, pseudo-creepy short story with an emphasis on short. I was kind of surprised how quickly it was moving and I think it would have been a little better if the characters had gotten to be a little fleshed out and the story was a little bit longer. I didn’t think the big reveal of the killer’s reasoning was super great. Overall I found the story to be fun and loved how the ghost stories tied in. This book felt more middle grade than young adult to me and reminded me quite a bit of the Goosebumps books I loved as a kid. Chad loved his experience working in summer camps in America with his other friends from England so he decided to open up an American style summer camp in England and invited the children of his friends to be counselors. The night before the kids come the counselors tell ghost stories and when things from the story appear too be happening none of them know what kind of a nightmare they have walked into.

I did not immediately realize it was aimed at YA, but I still thoroughly enjoyed this book! It's a very fast-paced, short read, that would get any young adult into thrillers and serial killers themed literature.

A summer camp in the UK called Camp Miller. There is a legend about a house that used to stand on that spot. When a accident occurs everyone starts to worry. What is happening at Camp Miller? Full of surprises hard to predict what is next.

A perfect mixture of horror and crime thriller, making it a brilliant page turner. I didn't work it out- purely because I was thinking it would stay a paranormal style and not be a crime thriller.

I felt like the second half of the book was rushed a bit as it was more like a haunted house with a new murder in each room. I want a time differential but I like the whole "try to survive the night" trope.

I loved the ending, a slight cliff-hanger. Perfect if there is a sequel which kills off the survivors, if the killer didn't die.

I received a complimentary copy of this book from #netgalley , thank you. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

This book is for anyone who’s ever shared ghost stories around the fire. A quick, captivating read - my only complaint is I wish it was more than a short story! I would love to read a full novel version with the suspense even more drawn out. Reading this story had chills running down my spine in anticipation, and I did not see the big reveal coming. Highly recommend if you need a quick, spooky read.

THIS was so much fun. The story follows Holly and other camp counsellors at the new American styled residential camp in the UK. As soon as camp opens and welcomes its guests, things take a dark turn. Is the place really haunted or is someone out to murder the counsellors one by one?

This was such a fun short novella. I really enjoyed the pacing with short enough chapters to keep me intrigued. Despite being a shorter book I found myself liking Holly the main character and not getting confused with who was who. I wish we had more of an introductory into her and the other characters before the knitty gritty things started happening but this didn’t affect my rating.

I didn’t guess who was behind everything and thought it was a fun twist at the end! I just wish the book was slightly longer but for a middle grace/young adult story I can’t complain.

Welcome to Camp Killer originally caught my attention because I, myself, spent many summers as a camper and counselor at an American summer camp, much like the one Camp Miller was based on. This book was a super quick and easy read. It definitely creeped me out more than once. When I thought I had the mystery figured out, something would happen and I would find myself back at square one. Definitely recommend!

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.