This Wretched Valley
Books | Fiction / Horror
3.7
Jenny Kiefer
2024 Bram Stoker Award®️ Nominee for Superior Achievement in a First Novel “A hallucinatory nightmare of a novel that blends adventure, horror and historical fiction, and isn’t shy about violence or strangeness.”—New York Times“If you love wilderness horror, This Wretched Valley is a must-read.”—Alma Katsu, author of The Hunger and The FervorTake only pictures. Leave only bones.This trip is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her geologist friend Clay has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, Dylan is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing.Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed. But Dylan is still missing—and no trace of her, dead or alive, has been discovered.Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force? This dread-inducing debut builds to a bloodcurdling climax, and will leave you shocked by the final twist.
AD
Buy now:
More Details:
Author
Jenny Kiefer
Pages
304
Publisher
Quirk Books
Published Date
2024-01-16
ISBN
168369368X 9781683693680
Community ReviewsSee all
"This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer is a gripping survival horror novel that immerses readers in the eerie Kentucky wilderness. Drawing inspiration from the Dyatlov Pass incident, the story follows four friends who encounter inexplicable and terrifying events during their expedition. Kiefer’s vivid descriptions and escalating tension make this a chilling read for fans of supernatural and body horror. "
"Absolutely loved this book! It's definitely the kind of book I'll think of and get creeped out over every time I go camping."
J
Jackie
"For those that are interested in the curious cases that have an endless amount of conspiracy theories and/or love outdoor sports this book is for you.<br/><br/>Four people go on a climbing expedition, all go missing, and then 3 are found dead. The 3 bodies that are found are in such condition that medical professionals and investigators are both baffled. After years there is still no explanation and the fourth person has not been found. These four people are unaware of their fate as they excitedly hike into the woods in the spring of 2019. Clay is a geology student who is working on his PhD. When he finds a cliff in the Kentucky woods that is untouched he knows it’s the perfect location for his thesis. He gets together a fellow student, Sylvia, to be his research assistant, Dylan, an old friend that just got signed with a professional climbing company, and Luke, Dylan’s boyfriend and belayer (which is basically the person that holds the rope at the bottom of the cliff for the climber for those like me that don’t know climbing lingo). The trip starts out with everyone excited and eager and soon turns into a nightmare. <br/><br/>This was inspired by the Dyatlov Pass incident which is endlessly fascinating to me. Unlike the Dyatlov Pass incident while the professionals and the public in the book never learn what happened to these four people us as the readers get the full, terrifying account. I loved Jenny Kiefer’s writing. I am not an outdoorsy sportsman person and have never been climbing indoors or outdoors so I’m completely unaware of any aspect of the sport. But I ended up not only knowing so much more about climbing that I did before starting the book I felt like I actually climbed a mountain. The descriptions are amazing that you can tell the author has climbing experience. While it was amazing (and a bit scary) reading about the climbing excursion this also meant that the other more sinister events of the book are very detailed as well. It was easy to feel like I was losing my mind while reading. <br/><br/>By the end of the book I felt like some parts were a little bit overdone in the sense they felt like they dragged on for too long. However, overall, it is a great story and a great read. Highly recommend."