Breathe in, Bleed out by Brian McAuley
- Crafty Goblin
- May 13
- 3 min read
Author : Brian McAuley
Publisher : Poisoned Pen Press
Released : September 2nd, 2025
Page count : 304
Format : e-ARC
Genre : Slasher horror
Content warnings : Injuries, blood, violence, swearing
Source : NetGalley
Representation : female lead, LGBTQIA+, Indigenous
Part of a Series : No
★★★★★ — A new favorite !
Quote from the book:
“Schizophrenia doesn't make people kill. Being an asshole does.”
Summary :
It's a Midsommar night's Scream in this blood-soaked thriller set at a remote healing retreat from horror author Brian McAuley.
Hannah has been running from her demons ever since she emerged from a harrowing wilderness trip without her fiancé. No one knows exactly what happened the day Ben died, and Hannah would like to keep it that way... even if his ghost still haunts her with vivid waking nightmares that are ruining her life. So when her friend group gets an exclusive invitation to a restorative spiritual retreat in Joshua Tree, Hannah reluctantly agrees in search of a fresh start.
Despite her skepticism of the strange Guru Pax and his belief in the supernatural world, Hannah soon finds healing through all the yoga, sound baths, and hot springs offered at the tech-free haven. But this peaceful journey of self-discovery quickly descends into a violent fight for self-preservation when a mysterious killer starts picking off retreat attendees in increasingly gruesome ways. As the body count rises and Hannah’s sanity frays, she’ll have to confront her dark past and uncover the true nature of a ruthless monster hellbent on killing her vibe for good.
My Thoughts on this Book :
I think I found a new author I'll put on auto order with this book ! I definitely put Brian's other books on my TBR.
I had so much fun with this witty, gory, dark and funny slasher story!
First of all, let's be honest, I initially requested this Arc on Netgalley for the cover. I barely read the summary but give me slasher vibes and a hot 80's style horror book cover and I'm all in.
I grew up with movies like black Christmas, Scream, I know what you did last summer or Psycho. This kind of horror is definitely my cup of tea and Brian McAuley's Breathe in, Bleed out lives up to it.
The character development is good, the female characters too (something I always find tricky to root for when written as a main character by a man).
And you definitely has this slasher "campus" vibes. The meetup between old school friends who grew up mostly out of the friendship over the years and do this retreat more for old time sake even if they kind of hate each other (did they really liked each other at some point or as all school friends dynamics, just stick with the first people coming around to fit in the crowd and don't be seen as outsider ?) is part of the horror trip for me 😅.
I like how the cultural appropriation is approached here and I thought at first that was it, I got the killer and the main plot line and then it bounced from one possibility to another but still keep everything wrapped up together thighly. I loved that !
It's really solid. Great plot, great development, excellent dynamics between the characters, it's well written, witty and unapologetically gross sometimes.
Anyway, I'm always rooting for unhinge female character in horror, witty and sarcastic, who tries to keep her own head out and ends up doing all the work. I loved Hannah really much and the trio of "final girls" vibes is a good bonus.
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