Death Rituals

When Cherie Alvarez was a child, a moment of shocking violence shattered her world into a thousand bloody pieces. Plagued by nightmares and taunted by schoolyard bullies, the young girl spent years recovering from what law enforcement described as a "sickening and gruesome act of evil."

Now a college student, Cherie has found solace in film, theater, and all the beloved traditions of the Halloween season. But when she and her friends participate in an immersive, "extreme" haunted attraction, Cherie must once again break the chains of victimhood and face the open wounds of her past. After enduring one man's twisted vision of horror and perversion, Cherie finds herself challenged by a cult-like force determined to destroy her. What follows is a singular night of grueling terror, calculated revenge, and backwoods slaughter.

An epistolary thriller, DEATH RITUALS gathers the ephemera of a young woman's life--short stories, articles, scripts, photographs, televised reports, and more--to tell a story of chilling depravity and undaunted courage.

Josh Hancock is a teacher and author. His first novel, The Girls of October, was inspired by his love of all things horror--especially John Carpenter's Halloween, Tobe Hooper's The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and William Friedkin's The Exorcist. His second novel, The Devil and My Daughter, was equally inspired by horror films, including Amando de Ossorio's underground classic Demon Witch Child. For reviews, book trailers, and more, please visit www.foundfootagefiction.com.