Heads Will Roll is a dark and addictive slasher horror from The Shadow Glass author Josh Winning. The story follows Willow who signs up to attend Camp Castaway following her cancellation on social media. The camp is a digital detox with no phones or technology of any kind. When Willow arrives she soon learns the story of Knock Knock Nancy – a local legend about a witch who was killed where the camp now sits. Willow doesn’t believe the story, but when campers begin vanishing Willow must uncover the truth behind the tale if she has any hope of getting out alive.

I absolutely loved The Shadow Glass and Burn the Negative by this author so I was extremely excited to pick this one up. It was dark, gruesome and incredibly compelling and I ended up reading this one in just a few sittings. I loved the way it was a nod to slasher films and all things horror. The story is well paced and Winning does a magnificent job of building atmosphere and a deep sense of unease. There were a few scenes that were pretty scary – Heads Will Roll is definitely a book that will have you on the edge of your seat.

If you’re a horror fan Heads Will Roll is a book you will not want to miss. The story has some really fascinating characters and I thought the theme of cancel culture was a really interesting one. Willow is a great protagonist and I really liked the way you’re never quite sure which of the campers she can trust. I had a brilliant time reading this one so if you’re looking for a dark and bloody slasher story then definitely check out Heads Will Roll!

This is the story of Rebecca, who loves horror movies and books, but now finds herself knee-deep in her own horror story.

Rebecca was a successful actress and the star of the show We Love Willow, but one irresponsible tweet that was meant as a joke cost her everything: her job, her fiancé, her fans, and her friends. She was canceled. (Cancel culture is a cultural phenomenon where people are shunned, boycotted, or ostracized for speaking or acting in an unacceptable way and they go from hero to zero in the blink of an eye)

She also started receiving death threats after "tweetageddon," which is why she finds herself on her way to a secluded retreat called Camp Castaway—a place with hardly any online footprint. It's a place where she can take a digital time-out and try to get her life back on track.

There are only six more people at the camp, all struggling with their own problems, but somewhere there is a fraud....someone is pretending, and soon heads will roll.....literally!

Beware of Knock-Knock Nancy.....

This was a very enjoyable read that brought to mind certain slasher films!

Heads Will Roll follows an actress we know only as her sitcom character, Willow, on the wake of being cancelled for an ill thought tweet. Plagued by abuse and personal threats as a result, she runs off to Camp Castaway, joining a group of fellow campers, each with secrets that brought them there. As campers vanish and heads literally roll, Willow races to save them and herself from permanent cancellation.

Willow is a deeply relatable character for me, with a clear history of mental illness, a mouth that "has never been [her] friend", and an expert love for horror. This book is littered with pop culture and horror movie references, and it was a fun game to spot them all, though I did lose count in the end. The tension was built well, and I was immediately suspicious of everyone, particularly the camp itself - a place you "won't want to leave" or can't? We're introduced to our cast fairly quickly, though many of them continued to have their archetype description referenced in the same way whenever they're mentioned, which did get a little stale - I get it, Kat's a flannel wearing stoner and Dani has a rockstar smile. Whilst some could be overwhelmed with meeting so many people in quick succession, as Willow herself notes, very few of them really added anything to the plot, serving at most as red herrings, love interests, or victims. Side note: every time Bebe was mentioned, I heard Moira Rose saying it. Those that had greater impact were decent, though stereotypical in parts or victim to common book tropes. I would've liked to see more initial bonding to make me care about those on the chopping board.

Another thing the book is littered with is similes and metaphors, which would make a great drinking game. So many of these were poetic, but when you’re treated to multiple even on the same page, they lose their charm. Some eloquently describe how mental illness feels, and were so evocative that I had to highlight them to read again later. Others just felt like one too many, not really adding anything but tainting the ones that do. I noticed that some of the prose felt like they fell out of a wattpad fan fiction, with unnecessary descriptions like "shoulder length auburn hair" or repeating metaphors, whilst other prose was so beautifully written, with tension crafted expertly, laden with foreshadowing and mystery. Though not all of these seeds sprout.

I have to mention again how incredibly relatable Willow was for me. Half of my highlights are because of this, and her thoughts reminded me of my own. She hides behind her character, armoured in humour. I would love to follow Willow in another story. I appreciated all of the queer characters, though some do die, it doesn’t cater to the bury your gays trope.

Unfortunately, there were a few negative things to note. There are a few people of colour included, however, they are the only characters to have the colour of their skin mentioned, as though white is the default and only those that differ will have that described. There were some inconsistencies (like forgetting how many people were there, or still alive) or incorrect terms used (a hire car is not the same as a taxi), that were overall minor but happened frequently enough to be annoying. I also had to wonder if there was some product placement or sponsorship of some kind (no idea if that's a thing within books ngl) with the specific brands mentioned. Things were repeated without need or adding emphasis, conversations reoccurring a page later with slightly different info, and constant references to tweetagedon without telling us WHAT she said. When we finally find out, it fell flat and was not nearly bad enough to warrant multiple death threats and doxing. *Spoilers: I thought Knock Knock Nancy was a joke at first, and the song was reminiscent of "one, two, Freddie's coming for you" but not as good, so the one campfire ghost story they tell being the entire plot was disappointing.* There was some predictability but overall, it was a good story that I enjoyed 'watching' play out. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC.

This was an interesting read that drip feeds you the information slowly and this worked in its favour. The writing was fun and kept it interesting and i like how the characters had good development and progression. The action was written well and i was hooked all the way through. The only small complaints i had was there were a couple of places that didn't work entirely for me but they made sense for the most part and didn't detract too much from the overall story.

I absolutely loved Heads Will Roll!
It was such an amazing read that had me hooked from the very first page!
Also, why was I not told this book was queer!
It was such a lovely surprise that just made the book so much better as I haven't really read any slashers yet with a queer main character.
The characters were all amazing, and I even teared up near the end as I had really loved some of them, but I won't say more because of spoilers.
Willow was an awesome main character that I was rooting for throughout the book!

This book also deals with cancel culture, and I thought it was done really well.
Finally, the best part of the book was definitely the ending as it was phenomenal! There were so many twists that I didn't guess and ended up surprising me, and the action was just so good!
All in all, Heads Will Roll is an amazing book that I highly recommend everyone read! Especially if you are a lover of slashers like me!
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

5 stars

I loved this book, reading it in one sitting.

The book follows the theme of cancel culture, where a bunch of adults who need to escape their past get away to this retreat camp called Camp Castaway. Our main character, a sitcom star named Willow, has been cancelled and had been advised to take a break away from it all. Camp Castaway calls for a complete reset, leaving behind social media and their technology in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere with other cancelled strangers. However things are not as they seem as camp goers start to go missing...

This is a great slasher with all the traditional elements. Not overly gory, potentially could have been more. The chapters were short and easy to consume and the plot felt fast-paced. I loved all the characters and there was some great representation throughout. If you are looking for a cheesy slasher this is a great choice.

I am really looking forward to reading more of Josh Winning's books.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A super fun slasher to kick off a month of spooky, thrilling reads. I love an isolated camp setting and the story kept me guessing throughout at who I could trust. Some interesting commentary on cancel culture too.

Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning is a campy, slasher-horror novel that tackles cancel culture in a fresh, meta way. It follows Willow, a ‘fallen-from-grace’ actress who retreats to Camp Castaway after being "cancelled" online. The isolated, tech-free camp becomes an eerie backdrop for a series of murders tied to the bloody local legend, Knock Knock Nancy.

The novel is a love letter to classic slashers, blending atmospheric tension with gruesome kills and pop culture references. While the pacing starts a little slow, it builds to a fast-paced, gory & action-packed second half. The exploration of social media and public scrutiny adds a modern twist which is a breath of fresh air in a saturated genre.

Characters feel fleshed out, particularly Willow, and you do get a sense that this novel would make for a great slasher movie. It's not without flaws, but Heads Will Roll offers a fun, bloody ride for horror fans seeking an eerie slasher with modern themes.

I was excited about this one after seeing the cover, and simply reading the title. This one was definitely going to be horror, and not another drama or thriller marketed as horror. And I was pleasantly correct,

It started off a bit new and different. Maybe I had seen movies touching on social media and technology but I haven’t read anything really related to it in the horror genre. Also, it mentioned a summer camp, so I was loving the atmosphere.

I have to admit I hit a little slump, and having so many characters with fake names, I was having a hard time learning them and keeping each one straight.

But once I really got into the book, it was a quick read.

I have to say that one of the “final girls” was a bit of a disappointment because you don’t really get to know much about her on a deeper level for the entire book and then you have to care about her fighting the baddie. I just didn’t.

But otherwise, I was pretty invested in the characters, which you kinda need for a slasher.

I had fun overall

This is the perfect autumn/winter thriller and I thoroughly enjoyed it.

It’s a summer camp / horror / thriller with a riveting social media storyline and great characters. Willow was the lead in a popular sitcom, she’s then cancelled and we don’t know why. To escape life she books into a summer camp that’s marketed as an escape from life and a chance to reset.

When Willow meets her fellow camp mates she finds them in turn; interesting, unusual, intriguing and strange and what follows is a great horror story.

I’m very grateful to NetGalley and Penguin Random House who gifted me the opportunity to preview and I wish Josh Winning deserved success.

One to curl up with, but, keep the lights on and should you hear ‘knock….knock…knock’ don’t answer!

HEADS WILL ROLL is a slasher of a book that slowly builds up to the gory finale.

The book begins by leaning into the setting in an almost gothic way for the first half. There's a camp in the woods with staff who are hiding something. There's a local legend of a wronged woman. It's very isolated with a lake and lots of woods. As someone who likes gothic fiction, this set up was a lot of fun.

But, fear not readers of slasher horror! There is a murder pretty early on (and then another) to tide you over until the book transitions from atmospheric gothic to slasher. It's a fun tempo change once 90% of the historic mystery has been solved and it all goes into survival mode with axes and knives and some very messed up villains.

The thing I like most about horror is how the overt violence can be used to explore more insidious horror in daily life. This book touches on religious bigotry leading to abuse and how historic abuse impacts people years afterwards. It was also fun to see this book tackle cancel culture head on with lots of references to cancel culture within the book world.

In all, it was a very good, very gory read (and I'm very glad I read it in daylight!)

I've not read many slasher books so this was a fun and gory read for me!

Willow finds herself at camp castaway needing some time away from social media and real life after being “cancelled” online for a tweet. Around the campfire the legend of Knock Knock Nancy is told, the ghost of a woman who was decapitated and now wants your head. Later that night Willow hears a knocking on her cabin door.

This book was interesting and intriguing. There were a few surprises and red herrings, I really had no clue what was going on and who was behind it all! I found it felt slow in places and then there was a mad, fast paced gory ending.

I liked Willow and some of the other characters and enjoyed the commentary on cancel culture.

I'm not sure slashers are my favourite horror sub genre (I'm a haunted house girl at heart) but it was a fun read!

Thank you Netgalley for the advance copy. I really loved the book and its characters. I can see that the author spent a long time on worldbuilding and forming 3 dimensional characters. This was already on my wish-list for the year, and I couldn’t wait to get my hands on a copy. I loved the read and can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next!

I keep searching for a slasher horror that will replicate the feeling of watching Scream for the first time, with all the jump scares, gore and shock reveals. This came pretty close but can't quite take the crown from "Clown in a Cornfield" for me. I was looking forward to this being aimed more towards adults compared to some of my more recent horror reads but it still came across as slightly YA despite the older characters. The idea of a wilderness retreat and a lack of technology worked well but I didn't get a chance to connect to any of the characters and found Willow mildly annoying. However, overall I did enjoy it and as the pace picked up I couldn't put it down.

Thank you Netgalley and Michael Joseph, Penguin Random House for providing me with a free digital copy in exchange for an honest review.

I struggled to get into this one. I didn't find it enjoyable and a lot of the characters didn't particularly grab me and the retreat setting was just too reminiscent of too many other horror thrillers.

When a post on social media gets taken the wrong way and goes viral, Willow finds herself cancelled. As she deals with abuse and harassment, online and in person, her personal life falls to pieces. With nowhere else to go, she learns about Camp Castaway, an adults-only retreat that doesn’t allow electronic devices. A bonus is that it’s located in the middle of nowhere. No one can find her while she takes time to work things out for herself.

That’s the plan, anyway. But we all know what they say about best-laid plans. As she settles in at Camp Castaway and learns more about her fellow campers, Willow realises all of them are running from something. When campers start to go missing, she isn’t sure if it’s because of something from their past or if the local urban legend is real. Someone is playing into the urban legend; Willow has heard knocking outside her door.

The more she learns about the camp and her fellow campers, the murkier things get. What’s clear is that Camp Castaway is no longer a safe place…

Heads Will Roll is the third novel I’ve read by Josh Winning. Once again, it was a creative horror novel influenced by Winning’s passion for TV shows and his experience working in the entertainment industry. In Heads Will Roll, he explores online interactions and cancel culture. At the novel’s start, we don’t know what Willow has done to be cancelled; is she the villain or the victim of circumstance?

Winning writes complex characters, and the more I got to know Willow, the more I liked her, which conflicted with the knowledge that she did something to be cancelled. What I particularly like about Winning’s books is that all his characters are fully developed, and he doesn’t treat his secondary characters as lesser. Every camper at Camp Castaway gets their chance to shine, rather than just being fodder for Willow to bounce off of.

But like Willow, there’s that lingering question over their real identities, and as the story unfolds, the separation between the characters’ camp facades and their lives before the camp begins to blur. Through his characters’ backstories, Winning shows an awareness of current issues and events relevant to readers’ interests.

Considering the subject of the cancel culture, there is much reflection from characters’ on their actions and past. This includes addiction, illness, mental health, grief, trauma and other sensitive topics that Winning writes with care. Heads Will Roll also features LGBTQIA+ and BIPOC representation.

Heads Will Roll is a whodunnit mixed with a good old-fashioned urban legend horror story, and what I like about Winning’s style is that he can spin alternate theories with equal believability right up until the big reveal. With additional resources and pop culture references galore, this is a horror novel with a difference.

I enjoyed this book, well, I enjoyed about 97.5%.

First off, I loved the premise, I loved the snippets of extra info between chapters. I love the characters, Willow's developments and insecurities made her so vulnerable, I loved her little gang with Dani and Kurt.

The writing was perfect and there were some points where I was genuinely scared while reading alone and I may have yelped when during a particularly tense scene my cat jumped on me in a silent attack! The kills are well written and descriptive I love how they're done. And I was definitely pointing fingers throughout until the reveal.

It was such a great story and I would 100% recommend.

But to address the 2.5% I didn't enjoy as much, I felt at the very end one twist was a little bit clunky and I'm still not sure how it would've happened and worked, and it seemed a bit out of nowhere.

Now we’re talking! September rolls around and I get antsy for #SpookySeason. This means I start my horror reading early. So when I saw this camp slasher for adults (a lot of these books are aimed at a YA audience, which I’m cool with but 40 year olds need creepy drama too 😅) I gravitated straight towards it.

Welcome to Camp Castaway, you’ll find it in the middle of nowhere in upstate New York. People go there to get away from the mistakes they’ve made in their lives; addiction, betraying loved ones, criminal activity, and eh, being cancelled online for saying stupid things. Rule number one is no contact with the outside world; you hand your devices over on arrival. Now, what could possibly go wrong with that idea 🤔😅

Tv-star Willow’s worst nightmare was being cancelled, so at first she embraces the anonymity of Camp Castaway, but soon people start going missing, and the vibes turn much more Friday the 13th than anyone could have anticipated. Can Willow survive and protect her new friends or is she about to be cancelled…for good?!

This is 100% my cup of tea. Lots of pop culture references, plenty of gore, some seriously creepy scenes, and a good dollop of action to get the heart pumping faster. Oh and, my new favourite character; Juniper Brown; a washed up Hollywood actor and camp member who is basically a female Samuel L Jackson and just as cool.

This would work great on screen; often slashers are less effective in book form because it’s hard to convey the jump scares well on paper. That’s also true here but it’s still one of the better examples of the genre that I’ve read.

I enjoyed this; a fun, scary read, perfect for this time of year.

With many thanks to @netgalley @penguinrandomhouse @michaeljbooks for my early copy. Heads Will Roll is available to buy now. All opinions are my own, as always.

The plot is all over the place, and I had a hard time getting into this one. The dialogue was bogged down by endless horror references. It redeems itself towards the end with a few good twists but the ending seems unresolved.

Overall, there’s plenty of action, it’s fun and if you like slasher movies it does capture that vibe.

I really enjoyed this! It gave me all the nostalgic '80s/'90s slasher vibes! I could really picture the setting, and the writing created such an eerie atmosphere 👌 Will be recommending as some spooky season reading!