STARRED Book Review: Blood On the Trailhead

Reviewed by Joelene Pynnonen

This small-town horror-laden mystery is an atmospheric fever-dream of a reading experience.

When a young boy is mauled to death in the woods, the small town of Lost Grove is shaken. On the surface, it looks like an animal attack. For those who have seen the eldritch underbelly of the town, it brings up too many disturbing questions.

New Police Chief, Seth Wolfe, is especially concerned, as the attack mirrors a recent one that his girlfriend’s best friend may have been involved in. Despite churning up memories that he’d hoped to leave behind, Seth knows that he must do whatever it takes to prevent more deaths.

At the same time, eerie glyphs are appearing on trees in the Cursed Woods. Glyphs that seem to pulse and mesmerize anyone who looks at them. Glyphs that are incredibly similar to the ones an academic researcher was documenting two years ago before she vanished. Worried about the effect these markings are having on people, local witch and librarian, Story Palmer, is drawn into finding out more about them.

But something dark is stirring in the treacherous woods, and by the time Seth and Story discover what the Cursed Woods are hiding, it may be too late for the residents of Lost Grove.

Blood on the Trailhead is the third book in the Lost Grove Mystery series. It’s billed as a small-town mystery, but there are heavy elements of horror in the mix. The story follows a few different groups: the police department, a group of local teens, and the town librarian and her friend. Because of how heavily the previous novels in the series weigh on this one, reading them in order is crucial.

The writing in Blood on the Trailhead creates an unearthly atmosphere. It’s tense, reflective, and nightmarish in equal parts. The feeling of a small town, connected deeply, but plagued by the very land it’s built on is incredibly powerful, and at no point does the story lose any of its intensity. The pressure is on from the start and builds with a slow but steady rhythm until the final pages. The lush, slowly developing description creates a sense of impending catastrophe. Even when the deaths aren’t graphically described, the feeling of being in a nightmare landscape persists. It’s a world that is deeply familiar with enough dark corners that you never quite feel safe.

There are a plethora of characters here. So many that it’s difficult to keep them straight. Some will be introduced before disappearing for a massive chunk of time only to turn up again to play some pivotal role. Emotional beats may not always hit as intended because we haven’t had enough page time to connect with the person being affected.

There are plenty of moving parts in Blood on the Trailhead, ensuring it is never dull. The story rolls multiple of elements together, combining native folklore, mythology, nightmare-fueled creature horror, and science experiments gone crazy with quaint small-town vibes. The combination harmonizes perfectly. Stranger Things fans will find a lot to love here, and while many elements might be similar on paper, Blood on the Trailhead is very much its own captivating story.

Thank you for reading Joelene Pynnonen’s book review of Blood on the Trailhead by Charlotte Zang and Alex J. Knudsen! If you liked what you read, please spend some more time with us at the links below.

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