Review: The October Film Haunt by Michael Wehunt

The October Film Haunt

by Michael Wehunt

Release Date: September 30, 2025

2025 St. Martin's Press

Ebook ARC; 336 Pages

ISBN: 978-1250333698

ASIN: B0DPV1BJKY

Audiobook: B0DRPSCY2C

Genre: Fiction / Horror

Source: Review copy from publisher

 

2 / 5 Stars

 

Summary

Ten years ago, Jorie Stroud was the rising star of the October Film Haunt – a trio of horror enthusiasts who camped out at the filming locations of their favorite scary movies, sharing their love through their popular blog. 

Now, Jorie has built an isolated life with her young son in Vermont. In the devastating wake of her viral, truth-stretching Proof of Demons blog entry — hysteria, internet backlash, and the death of a young woman — Jorie has put it all, along with her intense love for the horror genre, behind her.

Until a videotape arrives in the mail. Jorie fears someone might be filming her. And the “Rickies” – Enriquez obsessives who would do anything for the reclusive director – begin to cross lines in shocking ways. It seems Hélène Enriquez is making a new kind of sequel…and Jorie is her final girl.

My Thoughts

The October Film Haunt definitely has an intriguing premise, and I am all for found footage-type horror, especially one where the MC receives this type of information in the mail and has to figure out the who, what, where, why, and when of it all.  Unfortunately, the writing style was clunky making this a really difficult book to keep my attention and focus, and even though it is a relatively short book, it felt sooooooo long to read. 

 

So let's talk about what was really interesting about this book. First of all, the atmosphere is certainly there as you have a woman living in an isolated cabin when she receives a videotape that shows clips of a horror movie to which she was attached over ten years ago. However, as she watches the video, more and more details are revealed which makes it really disturbing and this is where I think the author did a good job, at creating this unsettling atmosphere of dread as Jorie slowly unravels what she is seeing. There is quite a good blend of the psychological with the paranormal and even as the MC starts questioning her sanity, as a reader, I was wondering what was really going on.  And as other people start receiving videotapes of their own, or emails, or whatever they received, the dread slowly rises as people try to figure out what is actually going on.  

 

It's really unfortunate that the author wasn't able to keep this level of dread and tension going through the book however, as the chunky plot devices and convoluted writing style finally got to me.  I can read pretty much anything as I have a Master's degree in English Lit, but the lack of execution made me frustrated to the point where I had to put this book down and give it a rest, often for a week. And I was reluctant to pick it back up. I really enjoy books that feature found footage, emails, newspaper clippings, etc... and these were the parts that I enjoyed quite a bit.  There was a really good story within these pages, but even if the author intended this to be clunky and convoluted, making you feel unsettled as if you were watching a movie, I don't think it quite worked. The simply fact is, you can't get backstory and good character development through a story the same way you can watching a movie, and if it's missing, it leaves you feeling like you missed part of the story.  And this is exactly how I felt while reading this book.  Like I was missing these things.  

 

Verdict

The October Film Haunt had a really good premise, but it didn't deliver.  I spent some time after finishing the book wondering if the author actually tended it to be this way or if it just happened, and I can't decide which one it is.  Either way, it didn't quite work for me if that was the intention.  I thought I was reading a much longer book, and I came really close to DNF this.  Will I try another book by this author? Yes, because I do think there is potential and I am curious to see what the author will write in the future as the story was unsettling and creepy. However, the execution of this one fell flat for me and I just couldn't connect with the characters the way it was written. And I didn't even mention that ending until now. Grr.