A fun and spooky romp through a campground...as long as you follow the rules. This book was a fantastic read that will hit readers where it hurts in the Summer and Fall when camping hits it's height. Monsters and lore galore, this campground takes cues from Welcome to Nightvale and brings to life a r/NoSleep story that brings a little bit of something for everyone.

With each chapter almost feeling like a "Monster of the Week" show until about the midway point, this book offers looks at all of the supernatural and unsightly residents of the campground, and is constantly weaving in lore and background not only for our monsters, but for our campground manager Kate, who lends herself beautifully to a no-nonsense style of dealing with anything and everything that goes "bump" in the night. Quinn's writing style is so easy to read and flows beautifully, giving us fantastic descriptions of physical monsters and the thoughts that plague our campground manager.

⛺️🔥

There are rules. They are simple, easy. But will you listen? Will you follow? They ARE serious, you know. Don't make me add the new ones.

Amazing, dark, and not without humor view into the life of Goat Valley old land. We follow the campground events through the seasons watching its changes and trobles in a very unique writing style, presentung the plot as a collection of bonfire stories.

We don't get familiar with most people personally - we don't know the main narrator's appearance, there is Old Sheriff and New Sheriff, some workers have names and some psycological portraits, but not much of a backstory or us being close with them. It adds that unique vibe to the style, indeed creating a group of creepy tales told by a bonfire, a list of rules in stories, a legend of a land.

I was fully immersed into the campground vibes, felt the creepiness and adrenaline of meeting the inhuman. A number of great twists made the story deep and memorable. I've been looking for a worldbuilding like this for a long time and here I found a perfect folklore representation for my taste.

The book started quite fast and then went much slowlier, not in the events, but in the speed with which I went through it. Somehow I've read very little in the same time. Still enjoy it no less.

Absolutely looking forward to reading all the other books in the series, already know I'll have a great time, because I fell in love with this one from the first page! Can't believe we have to wait so long.

- - -
Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for providing me with this free eARC in exchange for my honest review!

This book is desperate for trigger warnings at the beginning. I was not expecting the amount of gore, and body horror in it. The writing itself was good, and I enjoyed the concept, but hot damn, there's a lot going on in this book. It was nearly too much for me a few times, not in terms of the fear, but the descriptions of the body horror in it. There are also a few noticeable typos. Overall, I can't see myself re-reading it, but if you are ok with body horror, gore, etc. in your horror, this is not a bad one to try.

First of all, thank you to Saga Press, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, for the free e-copy of How to Survive Camping: The Man With No Shadow by Bonnie Quinn for review. I absolutely loved reading this novel, whose description of being similar to Welcome to Night Vale could not be more fitting. How to Survive Camping deftly blends the dark absurdity of Welcome to Night Vale with the fast-paced structure of a thriller, which kept me totally engaged and reading at a brisk pace. I loved Kate as the main protagonist and was invested in seeing her prevail against the paranormal specter wanting to take everything from her.

Great read! I'm surprised by how fast I was invested in this book.
It's a solid story with good writing. I got vibes of Tales of the Gas Station, but more coherent, and first season of Supernatural with all the monsters, gritty fights, and the refusal of the main character to surrender.
I wished the secondary characters were more developed, but I loved the lire and the humour.

Thank you Saga Press for this ARC!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this amazing book early.

I originally heard about Goat Valley Campgrounds on the NoSleep podcast and fell in love with it. So when I saw it was being turned into a book (I wasn't aware it has been published prior and was being reprinted) I was beyond excited to read it.

Kate is a tough as nails camp manager who knows how to deal with campers and supernatural beings. She also knows how to deal with campers who don't read and follow the rules of the campground. But in this book she's dealing with an entity that she isn't familiar with.

The Man With No Shadow has been around for quite some time in the campground, but he's been mostly harmless. Or so Kate thought. And as if that weren't enough to deal with, some other new 'monsters' show up to wreak havoc on the town and camp.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and I seriously am in love with The Man With The Skull Cup even though he could kill me easily. I look forward to the next installment in this series.

I don't know why but I had a blast reading this. This was originally a story on r/nosleep but I hadn't seen anything about it prior to reading this. Reminded me a lot of SCP but set in a campground. Very reminiscent of older horror stories from around the internet.

It was surreal, funny, and campy (pun intended). A perfect horror palate cleanser with a lot of cool creature designs inspired by folk legends and a mystery that's interesting and engaging. This really feels like a labor of love, and it's evident through each character and each creature that we encounter.

My only major complaint is that some of the chapters dragged on for too long. I definitely think some of the human characters could've been cut for brevity's sake, as well as some of the shorter stories that didn't really matter in the long run.

3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I enjoyed this book, but I think in some sections it dragged on. I think this originally came from r/nosleep, which isn't a bad thing in itself, but I think turning the nosleeps to longer chapters with an underlying plot can sometimes fall flat. I liked most of the chapters though, even if I didn't really like a lot of the characters.

Thank you to Bonnie Quinn, Saga Press, and NetGalley for the ARC.

3.75 stars!

It's kind of weird to say about a horror novel, but this was absolutely delightful! Just a fun time and a throwback to my internet horror days even if I think it fell a little flat in some areas.

Kate does her best to keep visitors to the Goat Valley Campground safe, and it's really not her fault that they won't follow the simple rules she gives them. Still, creatures loom in every shadow and behind every door at the campground, and as one of the few members of her family left alive, Kate must do her best to keep people safe, whether they're grateful for it or not. This book fulfilled the desire I've always had for a slice-of-life take on the everyday operations of the SCP foundation and made me want to relisten to Welcome to Nightvale. I understand why this originally got traction online and I had a lot of fun with it. Without getting too much into it, I'll say that I think if this book had either been more funny or more scary it would have been a lot better. Without much of either it just feels a little flat, and I had trouble following who all of the characters were since there were quite a few for a book so short, most of whom were rarely mentioned.

I needed something easy to digest and have a fun time with and The Man With No Shadow provided that. I'm not sure I'll read the rest of the series but I definitely think this one is worth your time!

Thank you to Bonnie Quinn and Saga Press for this ARC in exchange for my full, honest review!

Happy reading!

I loved every moment of this surreal, funny, but also very scary book. I had no prior knowledge of this series of stories about the scariest campground in the world. I love the surreal and absurd and this starts with some seriously fantastic humor but by the end it is deadly serious and I was incredibly invested in Kate and her duties as head of the campground. This book contains some of the most original and bizarre creatures I’ve ever encountered and I will follow this campground any and everywhere it goes next!

Interesting premise, pedestrian writing. No sense of suspense or character, it’s almost like the author just went down a list. I do not recommend.

In this fun horror novel, we follow Kate, the campground manager of Goat Valley Campground, a place plagued by folklore and horror. We watch Kate struggle to protect her campers and the neighboring town from the malevolent entities that dwell within the campgrounds that have been in her family for generations.

When I saw this book become available on NetGalley, I knew it had to be my next read. This story gained a lot of popularity on the NoSleep subreddit, which used to be my go-to source for my creepy horror story cravings when I was younger. To see someone get published from that thread is amazing and I had to share my support! Also, I instantly fell in love with the cover of this book!

This story was so much fun, and I would classify it as ‘cozy horror.’ It’s a funny, whimsical folk-horror story, and each chapter is a little adventure that ties back to the main rules of staying alive on the campground, which I absolutely loved. It was enjoyable to see how casual the chaos was in this book.

My only real struggle is that the main character was super unlikable, which I think is meant to be part of her appeal. I struggled to care about her throughout her adventure as she continued to make questionable decisions. The pacing felt a bit off as the book continued as well, and I know this was adapted from Reddit posts, but I was hoping the flow would have been smoother.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book and will be continuing the series when the next books are released. I recommend this book to those looking for a non-serious horror story that will scratch that horror-comedy itch. Try to suspend your belief when jumping in and enjoy the ride!

A special thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for the approval of this eARC in exchange for my honest review!