The Con Season by Adam Cesare is a thrilling and gruesome twist on the convention scene. A group of washed-up actors travels to the woods of Kentucky for an immersive fan convention, hoping for one more paycheck. But what awaits them is anything but the typical comic con experience.
Horror movie starlet Clarissa Lee is beautiful, internationally known, and…completely broke. To cap off years of questionable financial and personal decisions, Clarissa accepts an invitation to participate in a “fully immersive” fan convention. She arrives at an off-season summer camp and finds what was supposed to be a quick buck has become a real-life slasher movie. Deep in the woods of Kentucky with a supporting cast of B-level celebrities, Clarissa must fight to survive the deadly game that the con’s organizers have rigged against her.
While the idea of washed-up actors starring in a horror story isn’t entirely new, Cesare takes this premise in an unexpected direction that is extremely fun and entertaining. The notion of once-famous celebrities forced into taking any gig just to get by is unsettling as it is, but placing them in an immersive convention deep in the Kentucky woods, where the stakes turn deadly, makes for an even more terrifying read. This is a story far from the cushy seat behind the table at San Diego Comic-Con, or even your local convention.
The most terrifying part of The Con Season is how real the premise could be. It’s easy to imagine a deranged convention organizer turning an immersive experience into a twisted reality tv show, blurring the line between entertainment and real-life slasher. This makes The Con Season an even more unsettling and horrific read.
The Con Season features no shortage of blood, guts, or body count in this novella-length story. Despite the abbreviated page count, Cesare manages to pack in plenty of gruesome, over-the-top ills and brutal bloody scenes, nothing like the special effects these actors are used to on the set of a feature film.
The Con Season by Adam Cesare is a fun campy horror story that takes the stereotypical pop culture convention and tosses it straight to the wolves. Filled with bloody kills and terrifying moments, this short read was an extremely fun, fast-paced, and unique experience. Once again, Cesare continues to craft thrilling horror stories that entertain.
The Con Season is available at bookstores everywhere.
