How to survive a horror movie by Scarlett Dunmore caught my eye a while back when I visited a local bookstore. I thought it would be gorier or horror-ish but its more of a Young Adult Horror, also fine. Liked the story nonetheless.

I kind of did expect who the killer was and I was right but not fully.

Going to a boarding school wasn’t something Charley ever thought about but with her father dying and the local schools not wanting her in attendance, she didn’t have much of a choice when her mom suggested this place. Harrogate is an elite all girls boarding school that’s located on an island, completely secluded from cities and only accessible by ferry or boat on the other side of the island is an all-boys boarding school called Eden.

Charley isn’t a popular girl in fact she only has one friend and that’s her roommate so, does that even count? Charley and Olive bonded over their love for horror movies having baptized Saturday evenings into Slasher Saturday. After a storm warning has been issued and students have to remain inside which didn’t bother the girls because it was Slasher Saturday, they didn’t have plans to go out. When Charley awakes somewhere during the night, she swears she sees a hooded figure in all black standing outside, looking straight at her.

The next morning the storm has cleared and Charley and Olive are going for a walk along the cliffs, clear their heads while other students attend mass. When they are close to the cliffs they sit down and enjoy the view until something catches their eye; the dead body of a sixth-year student is splayed out along the rocks. Her name was Hannah and was liked by a lot of the girls. While Olive is out cold after seeing a body – Charley retches up her breakfast. The headmistress tells everyone it was a suicide but Charley has her doubts about that. When a silent vigil is being held in the friary and it’s time for a minute of silence Charley keeps hearing something, looking around she seems to be the only one who notices. Pop crack pop crack.

When another body has been found by Charley and Olive it becomes clear that this isn’t some kind of suicide pact but there is something else going on – When the third body drops and Charley finally learns where all that noise, she’s been hearing comes from she can’t believe her luck *sarcasm*. She’s seeing the ghosts of the girls, while Hannah can’t talk due to the severity of her injuries and Stephanie because of a broken neck only Megan seems to be able to tell Charley that they didn’t commit suicide but were killed by someone wearing all black, black hoodie and a gold mask.

No one seems to believe Charley, even her best friend thinks it weird and the teachers and headmistress are still saying that all deaths were ruled a suicide even though the police haven’t been contacted to open an investigation. The killer has set her eyes on a new subject though and that person is none other than Charley. With a handful of attempts on her live Charley is determined to find out who this killer is with the help from the ghost girls that have been hovering around her.

Once she finds out the who and the why, she can’t believe it.

I’m giving this book a ⭐⭐⭐⭐ star rating, there is a sequel out there and I will be trying to read that one before the end of the year.