This is one family getaway they’ll never forget . . .
Leigh Somerset wants to spend some quality time with her kids before they grow up, and her husband has always fancied himself sort of a Clark Griswold figure. So the Somersets will be spending their family vacation on the road, driving from suburban Milwaukee to Orlando, Florida. Already off to a rocky start, they stumble upon an abandoned, half-burned down farmhouse in Indiana, and the Somersets inadvertently unleash an eerie history that will follow them the rest of their trip.
From creepy indoor waterparks to paranormally plagued Cracker Barrels, it’s one thing after another in the pursuit of the great American summer road trip. Will the Somersets be able to shake these bad vibes and get on with the family bonding? Or will the road less traveled quite literally become the highway to hell?
Nightmare of a Trip by Maureen Kilmer was released September 10, 2024 from G.P. Putnam"s Sons.
My Thoughts: Any long trip with your family can be a nightmare in and of itself. Then you have the added fun of being haunted by a family. If one doesn't drive you crazy, the other might. I enjoyed the book overall. There were National Lampoon's Vacation references, humor, and creepiness.I like my horror with humor, so this was a good fit for me.
"Every time you are able to find humor in a difficult situation, you win." For the bulk of the book, Leigh, Nick and the kids are able to find the humor when things go wrong. It gets harder and harder as the trip goes on. I felt that telling the story from Leigh's point of view was the best choice. As a parent, I could relate to how a threat to the family would freak her out. My minor complaint is that her husband believes everything she tells him the first time. I really expected some denial there.
The humor and the horror are both low key for the most part. It seems like everything that can go wrong will. It's one of those things where if it happened to you, you would find it funny eventually, but maybe not so much at the time. Still there were a lot of good humorous moments for us as readers. I thought that there would be a little more escalation of the horror as the story progressed. It was still good and creepy though.
Overall, I gave this book 4 out of 5 stars. It's a good story. It's well written. It kept my attention. And most importantly, there was humor to go with the horror. If you enjoyed her other books, you will enjoy this one as well. It's definitely worth a read.
I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley. This did not affect my review.
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