Episode Thirteen had a good start and kept a decent momentum all the way through the first encounter with paranormal activity. From that point onward, the characters reverted to poor stereotypes and chapters were repetitive. While its effort to bring science into the realm of supernatural was commendable, the book as a while did not satisfy.
Kudos to the cast of the audiobook, however. The full cast was the right direction for this format.

This was a little hard to get into, but once things started happening it was much easier to read. I think I would have preferred a different ending that was less confusing and a little more hopeful with the possibility of a second book. The character development was helpful and helped me to understand the characters better. I enjoyed the personal journal entries.

Well this was different. Starts off creepy and fairly scary, then gets weird as it goes on… Overall a good, engaging read.
Some of my typical complaints about ‘found’ journals are here; like why someone would stop to write down a scary event when they are still trapped, or waste battery power for light to write. Things like that which always irk me a bit. However majority of the story is ‘footage’ found on video cameras so it works.

Would have loved more of the ‘analysis’ at the end to hear theories about what happened, or how it could have, or how it fits into quantum mechanics or other scientific theories. Although maybe the average reader of horror isn’t as geeky as me and doesn’t care once the scary jumps are done. Lol!

Overall this is a weird little book. The ending is reminiscent of Stephen King (just so odd you couldn’t ever have guessed it from the beginning). I appreciated the archetypes of characters used here. A couple characters could have been more fleshed out for me; but it wasn’t critical in the end. I’d really love to see this made into a limited series where each character could have some good screen time (and the ending could be over a 2-hour, 2-part episode).

Will be passing this onto my horror buff husband with fairly good certainty that he will enjoy the first 3/4, and likely go with the way the ending plays out. I did get a print copy of this one for us as it just seemed too good to pass up a book that we would both be interested in. I’m glad to see it on our horror shelf (most of which I haven’t read). Highly recommend this one for anyone looking for something spooky!

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest opinion. Review has been posted on Amazon.

First, if you like found footage movies, this book is for you! I actually started out reading this in physical format but then switched to audiobook when my library hold became available and I preferred the audio. With it being in journal format and such, listening to the different character voices worked really well.

That said, I did enjoy the story that unfolded. I also like the writing. I'm still thinking about how I feel about the ending. I still recommend checking this one out as this is just my thoughts (vaguely - I'm afraid to spoil) and I'm sure not everyone will feel the same as me. Even if I wasn't crazy over the end, I recommend checking this one out for yourself.

I love the idea of a mixed media horror novel! this one had mixed results for me - I was sucked into the first half but at about that point i really started to feel its length and the last half was much weaker

For a person that doesn't believe in the paranormal, this started out simply and straightforward enough. A TV team is on the hunt for unusual activity in an old house. What can go wrong? Turns out, just about everything. The more the book progressed, the further and further from reality this seemed to go. I don't have too many nice things to say about the last 1/3.

*Thank you so much to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the chance to review an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.*

Episode Thirteen was a captivating and fun read! From the first contact with the entity I found myself eating up the story up. Unfortunately, after I finished it left me feeling just disappointed. I had gotten so excited and the ending.... didn't live up to me.
Excluding my problems with the book, the writing is gripping and perfectly captures the feeling of other found footage works. The story is told through the media footprint that the Fade To Black team left behind after vanishing. It was fun a different than anything else I've read for a while. It got me in a spooky mood. If this kind of spooky time then you have fun.
-------SPOILERS-----
My main issue was that too much was concluded. I always loved found footage media because it leaves me guessing when the ghoul is just off-screen the whole time. because your imagination will find the worst possible thing. When I left Episode Thirteen I had too much information. That being said it did not take away from how much fun I had while reading the other sections.
Thank you, NetGalley and the publisher for a copy in exchange for an honest review

Now I personally thought this book was just okay but I will never tell you not to read a book because no 2 people read the same book so I will always try to recommend it and for you to give it a try yourself. I highly recommend this book to those of you who like paranormal investigative shows like ghost adventures, ghost hunters, though I love those shows myself, The author takes that a creates a fictional story about the 13th episode of a ghost hunting show called fade to black. We follow 5 ghost hunters who get the opportunity to investigate this exciting location that was the site of some occult where everyone went missing in the 1970s, I actually heard that the audiobook to this is great because it’s told in a structure that would benefit a lot from hearing an actual cast.
Full review on YouTube

Started this book a few times before switching over to audio. Once doing that, I was able to quickly fly through the book.

It's much more enjoyable via audio. The characters were fleshed out and stood apart on their own. I developed a love/hate relationship with the characters. Angry with some choices, cheering them on in others.

The narration was fantastic. I was deeply involved for the most part. The beginning kinda was slow, but that was expected setting up the characters and the environment. The story was a few chapters too long and I'm not sure how I feel about the ending.

It's an enjoyable read and I would recommend if anyone would read, go with the audio.

(3.5 stars rounded up to 4)

Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie is a horror thriller with paranormal elements. I listened to the audiobook, which is narrated by a full cast, while following along in the physical book.

A team of five ghost hunters for the tv series Fade to Black investigate the Paranormal Research Foundation, a brooding and derelict mansion where bizarre experiments took place in the 1970s.

This is an epistolary novel, made up of text exchanges, emails, video transcripts, journal entries, and field notes. The book opens with an introduction that is unsigned, so I'm left curious as to who put all of it together.

As someone who's watched ghost hunting reality tv, and played the video game Phasmophobia, this was a fun read. I'd highly recommend a blended read for this one since the audiobook has a high production value. In addition to it being read by a full cast, there's music and creepy sound effects as well.

I recommend a physical copy as well because even though I received a PDF with some visual references with my audiobook purchase, there were a lot more things in the book that I appreciated viewing with my eyeballs.

I don't want to say much more about it because I think it's an ~*~experience~*~, so check this one out if you like "found footage" horror or ghost hunting in general. And go into it as blind as possible.

CW: body horror, firearms, violence

🏚☠️Book Review:
Title: Episode Thirteen
Author: Craig DiLouie
Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 stars

Holy moly, this is what I'm talking about! This is a horror book that will stick with me! It's gives me the creeps just thinking about it! Now, I'd say they should definitely make it into a movie, but I'm thinking something similar has already been made. I won't say what the movie is, but #iykyk.

Ghost hunters, Matt and Claire Kirklin, have created a brand new reality TV show, Fade to Black. For episode thirteen, this husband and wife team, along with the rest of their crew, head to the infamous Foundation House, which is reputed to be extremely haunted. I'm telling you, this place is terrifying! I was seriously having anxiety reading about this group going down into the tunnels under the house. It's too hard to describe how truly horrifying this book is, so you're going to have to read it for sure! Great horror book!

Published: January 24th, 2023

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, Redhook Books from and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.



Well-written and hauntingly chilling, you’ll be on the edge of your seat until the bitter end. Just when you think you have it figured out the story pivots. Settle in for a wild, albeit somewhat entertaining and scary ride.

Found footage movies have been both beloved and derided by horror fans ever since The Blair Witch Project broke out from the Sundance Film Festival in the late ’90s. But it’s not the only stylistic approach movies have taken to create a real-life “you are there” vibe for the audience. Mockumentaries have been around for ages, “screenlife” films replicate post-COVID online anxieties, while YouTube and other online platforms have brought us so-called alternate reality games (ARGs) and “unfiction,” fictional stories that suspend disbelief by presenting themselves as cinema verité realism.

But can this approach work for prose fiction? Not only can it, the whole schtick originated there, with epistolary novels going all the way back to Bram Stoker and beyond, giving readers the sense they’re living the events of the story in real time with the characters. Later stories like Robert Bloch’s “Notebook Found in a Deserted House” and Simon Kurt Unsworth’s terrifying “The Pennine Tower Restaurant” (available in Ellen Datlow’s Tachyon anthology Hauntings) are among many chilling tales keeping the tradition alive. And now we have Craig DiLouie’s Episode Thirteen, about a hapless group of ghost hunters who get way more than they bargained for.

[For the full text of this review, see the attached link.]

This was definitely one of a kind. I could not put this down! This author did a great job at creating a found footage book, a feat that I would of thought to be nearly impossible to do. The setting was eerie in itself and while I disliked each of the characters, they worked well in the story. Some parts I found a little dull and almost too scientific which may have worked better in a movie setting. The creepy parts were there and hit you when least expected.

Thank you Netgalley and Redhook Books for this ARC.

The audiobook production of this was amazing.
I think I would have enjoyed it less if I was physically reading it.
The story was interesting but I definitely feel like it went firm 0 to 100 and was a little out there.

I keep thinking this would be cooler and better executed as a movie. It was an interesting read, and I enjoyed it, but I feel the opportunity to utilise mixed media and the fact that ghost actually exists, in the end, ended up being a little wasted.

This was weird and creepy, which I knew it would be. It didn’t leave me fully satisfied with the ending though, which was a bummer. Love to watch it as a movie though!

I've tried reading this book twice, and both times I've lost interest halfway through. The characters were not interesting and if there was any action in the book it must have been in the back end.