This was such a wild ride. I loved the world-building, the heart, the scares... I am always blown away by how much more is in a George A. Romero story - and a huge thanks to Daniel Kraus to bringing this story to life. He did it brilliantly. I'm not zombie-shuffling, I'm running to get the other collab between them.

I really enjoyed Pay the Piper. I enjoyed the book’s setting in the Louisiana Bayou, somewhere unfamiliar to me. The world building is well developed and the descriptive passages really immersed me in the world. The book could not take place anywhere else and the setting is integral to everything that happens. This is a proper horror novel featuring supernatural threats. So many modern horror novels are about human horrors so it was a nice change to read a book involving supernatural, eerie horror. This is well written, intense and entertaining. I’d recommend it.

I am a big fan of George A Romero, both films and books and I have read most of Daniel Kraus’ work, mostly due to him working with Romero and Del Toro so I was excited for Pay the Piper and I can say I was not at all disappointed.

The novel is close, almost claustrophobic in spaces, engaging, atmospheric and of course supernatural. I loved everything about Pay the Piper from the characters that are likeable if not loveable (some at least) and most of all believable to the setting which is truly brought to life through the writing and of course the plot.

The pace does start a bit slower, to me at least, but I liked that and how we are slowly introduced to ‘The Piper’ and what is happening. I did also like that the Cajun dialect was reflected but not overly so in a way that may have been seen disrespectful. It helped immerse me but not over face me. I also adored Pontiac partly for her name but partly for her complexity.

As always I won’t spoil the plot and I will say there is a lot of twists, turns and points of views all of which I liked but I know so may not. Needless to say if you like supernatural horror that has elements of a reimaging of The Pied Piper and a sprinkle of Candyman, you will love this. If you enjoy the works of both authors you are also sure to enjoy this one too.

As always thank you to Netgalley and Titan Books for the copy to review. My review is always honest and truthful.

An atmospheric supernatural horror with a great sense of place and interesting, loveable characters. I enjoyed the sense of claustrophobia from both the environment and the community. However, the book felt a bit disjointed for me and I struggled to get in to a flow with it. Unfortunately, I did DNF this book. The pieces just didn’t quite fit together for me. The story feels so strong and unique but I just didn’t get that sense of dread that I was waiting for and found it hard to follow at times. I definitely recommend picking it up for fans of the authors and the genre. I would love to go back to this book in the future and give it another go.

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.

(I received this book from the editor and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I was very curious about this novel that originates in some notes (300 pages, more or less, according to author Daniel Kraus), that belonged to the late George A. Romero, mostly because it did not deal with zombies but about what I thought was a cosmic being. Thankfully, Kraus himself explained that it dealt more with folk horror and so, even more intrigued, I jumped into the swampy waters of Louisiana Bayou and met Pontiac.
I was completely in love with her from the beginning, although sometimes it was hard for me to imagine a nine-year-old and made her older. Her way of speaking, of writing everything down, her conversations with papa… they were all amazing.
I really enjoyed the use of Cajun. My knowledge of the dialect was, until now, summarized to TV and movie characters, but I thought it was very pleasant first to read Kraus’ explanation about how he was going to put the accent on paper, and then discovering that his idea was just perfect and made the language flow even for readers like me, where English is not our mother tongue.
The rhythm of the story was the aspect I had more trouble with. It started amazing and with some very descriptive and spooky scenes, but kind of lost me for a minute once Pontiac and her father were not in town. Fortunately, it does not prolong much, and then the action gains momentum and does not stop almost until the end. And then there is this particular scene involving Pontiac and her teacher that I did not enjoy at all and I found completely out of place. It did not even explain anything necessary for the story or made it creepier! People who have read the novel will definitely know what I am talking about.
Last but not least, I would still debate whether this is more folk horror than cosmic horror or vice versa. Are we so influenced by giant tentacles that we think “cosmic” the moment we see them in a cover (that is what happened to me) or is this novel a mixture between folk and cosmic, curling the reader into an uneasy sense of impotence?

Uneasy read set in the Louisiana Bayou, good use of the Cajun dialect and great descriptive passages of the place helps to immerse you in this tale. You get the story told from different viewpoints and there is a threat looming within the narritive. Loved the character Pontiac a young girl who records everything she sees and comes across in her notebook. Solid horror read.

I read an eARC of this book on NetGalley so thank you to the author and publisher.

This was an entertaining horror novel that follows a community paying for the sins of their ancestors in the face of a supernatural horror. This is set in the Louisiana Bayou and I liked how integral this was to the story. It really felt like this couldn’t have been set anywhere else. The swamp and the water are so specifically described, so active in the story.

We have a number of characters, but it seems fair to say that Pontiac is the main character, a hound girl who has been tasked to record everything and who fills copious notebooks with her observations, allowing her to see things that others might miss. She is brave and clever and has to deal with the alcoholism of her father, who loves her but struggles with his addiction.

The horror in this was well described, appearing differently to different characters, preying on their thoughts and emotions. Although there are common themes and clues that the characters discover as they try to work out what is preying on the community. While I enjoyed most of the horror in this, there was one part that I found deeply uncomfortable to the point that it disturbed my enjoyment of the novel as it involved inappropriate dialogue with a child. It was very shocking but I would have preferred this to not be in the book.

Overall this was a tense, clever and entertaining horror novel with a broad cast of characters, looking at the consequences of the past and a brave few standing up against evil.

I love an isolated tale, a tale that seeped in atmosphere and a sense of place. Where you can almost feel it’s weather system – hot sticky heat to freezing temperatures. Pay the Piper was that story for me. Set in the Louisiana Bayou, I could imagine the sticky temperatures and wet marshlands.

As a horror setting that had everything to offer – dark, mysterious, wondering if something could harbor ill feelings below the surface. Colour me intruiged.

This is a bit of a genre beinding read, from cosmic horror to supernatural, there’s bound to be something in it for everyone. Characterisation was strong and accented english a calling card to the past. Difficult topics such parental death and cancer should remain in the forefront of your mind if these are subjects that are triggering. Each character is fleshed out-Pontaic being everything I would have loved reading about as a teenager. She’s spunky, independent and so far removed from everything girly that I found myself rooting for her.

The story reminded me a lot of IT with the unknown monster and a coming of age group of children. That’s where the comparision ends for me. It wasn’t as strong and I did feel that many parts of the story dragged on too DAMN long. There was one part where I considered DNF’ing but I’m glad I stuck with it as the ending left me with a better taste in my mouth.

I went into this expecting a modern take on The Pied Piper story, what I got was way, way more than that.
Set deep in the wetlands of Louisiana, this supernatural horror tosses and turns, playing with your mind from start to finish.
It's an absolute masterclass in horror writing, delving deep into the lives of a select group of swamp dwellers and then even further into their colonial past and a possible new future for all.
Don't not sleep on this cosmic delight!

Set in the swamps of Louisiana, Alligator Point is slowly crumbling. Many residents have left after accepting offers for their land from the "Oil Man," while businesses struggle and children vanish under mysterious circumstances.

"Pay the Piper" unfolds through the perspectives of several characters: Pontiac, a fiery 9-year-old girl; her father Gerard, the town drunk; Miss Ward, Pontiac’s reclusive teacher; and Pete, the town sheriff with a fondness for John Wayne movies.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

A quick but uneasy read with a reimagining of Pied the Piper crosses Candyman.
I found the opening gripping, and enjoyed many of the POVs, some of the pacing and the descriptive style, and most of the characters.
Had the pacing been more consistent, and the themes and tones more focused, this would have been a 5 star read for me.
Pontiac is an exceptionally interesting character.

A supernatural horror that transports you to Louisiana. I adored the character Pontiac, she stands out from everyone completely. Every character is rich and flawed. We follow a number of POV and this keeps the pace and sets out the plot amazingly.
I haven’t actually read a swamp horror before and it’s certainly an amazing setting for it, I was there at Alligator Point!
The dialogue is full of humour and it’s sharp. The signs of great writing.
The past and how it can still have a hold on the present is just brilliant.
I recommend for those looking for an atmospheric horror.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

4.5 stars!

Scary from the start but with the perfect amount of character building to make you actually care about the terrible things that were happening to them. Some characters were barely in the book and yet they felt so real. The multiple viewpoints was really effective and helped show the sense of community and scale in Alligator Point.

I got big IT vibes throughout which was great. In fact, the only issue I had with it was the setting - I just couldn't picture a lot of it in my mind, but that's definitely due to my lack of familiarity with the bayou rather than a problem with the writing.

I have seen other reviewers report this as dark and bleak and I would agree, nonetheless it’s a great read and I would absolutely recommend this book

George A. Romero, who has remained best known for popularising the modern concept of zombies with the Night Of The Living/Dawn/Day Of The Dead trilogy, has been overlooked for so much more—whether adapting King with The Dark Half and Creepshow or directing the wildly underrated vampire movie Martin. He also turned his hand to writing. When Daniel Kraus (best known for Whalefall and co-writing Oscar-winning The Shape Of Water) was granted access to Romero's archives, he discovered an unfinished novel likely from 1998 but potentially as late as 2004. The framework was there, the loose ends ready to tie, and it just needed somebody to bring it all together. The result is Pay The Piper.

Set in the Southern Louisiana bayous, the story focuses on Alligator Point—population 141—and its inhabitants. A fascinating and mysterious location for fiction, from the Cajun dialect used throughout to the slang used in the region to the myths and belief system, it feels almost otherworldly—self-governing and insular, the rot & decay of the town reflecting in the people who live there. We meet and get to know a wide cast of characters, with the protagonist being 9-year-old Pontiac (don't use her first name). It can be a risk regularly introducing new names, but it's handled with a deft touch here, with so many of the cast brought vividly to life. By the time the story pares down to a core group, each is fully fleshed out with backstories and believable motivation, and I found myself caring deeply about them all.

The horror here is wide-ranging. From the supernatural to cosmic, animal attack to human, to the ripple effects of the town's slave-trading ancestors, the story manages to evolve and keep the reader on their toes throughout. An argument could be made that the messages end up getting a little muddled, with 'sins of the father' and environmental issues occasionally jockeying for prominence, but I think Kraus ultimately brings it all together.

Pay The Piper is a dark, often bleak read—but light does shimmer through. As a modern take on the story of the Pied Piper implies, many characters won't make it to the end, and it can hurt. There's power, though, in writing down the mistakes others make and learning from them, making things right—regret and redemption go hand-in-hand, and sometimes an attempt at balancing the scales is enough.