Episode Thirteen

Welcome friend! Episode Thirteen by Craig DiLouie is my latest adventure in the horror realm! It has House of Leaves vibes and it was scary at some points. Take a guess from the synopsis:

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Episode Thirteen Review

I loved Episode Thirteen for so many reasons! It warrants a reading criteria-by-criteria analysis. Let’s get started!

Cover

The cover of Episode Thirteen has a scary vibe to it. Focusing on the window of an old villa with intricate carvings, the light in this lone window with the shadow of hands instantly makes me think of a haunting. There is something in the room that is depicted here. I can imagine what Paranormal Research Foundation looks like and as I read more about the stories and myths surrounding the place, the research facility definitely promised to provide a blockbuster of an episode.

The old cassette tape type marking along the edges was a nice touch!

The Format

Episode Thirteen is fun to read because of its epistolary style! With diary entries, data readings, emails, descriptions of video recording, transcription of audios, I enjoyed piecing together the storyline. There are also instant text message conversations that help create a voice for the different characters.

Characters

The team of Fade to Black TV show is composed of five people. Mark and Claire Kirklin are the husband-wife duo. While Mark has always believed in life after death due to his experiences as a child, it has been a great opportunity for him to turn his interests into a living. 

A physicist, Claire is the practical one of the duo. She applies the scientific method to all hauntings that the crew investigates and is generally there to debunk the haunting. Clarie is the reason this book stands out for me. Episode Thirteen is a story about a driven, intelligent woman finding love in the mystical. 

Jessica is the only actress on the show, hired on by the producers to give some diversity to the cast. She is new and trying to make a name for herself. She is a single mom who feels guilty about spending time away from her kid but she doesn’t have much of a choice. She relies on her sister heavily to get through the tough parts of her job.

Kevin is an ex-cop who had his accidental encounter with a spirit. He is the tech manager of the group and takes care of all the equipment. He takes ghost hunting seriously and finds Claire’s stance on it often offensive. He wants to be the star of the show and would go to any extent to make it a success.

Jake likes to describe himself as the fly on the man. The cameraman who witnesses everything through a lens, he has had a hard go in life. His backstory is brutal and I loved how he came out of it and how it affected his ideas around ghost hunting.

The characters are all well done! Through their diary entries and conversations, I learned a lot about each of them, their motivations to be where they are, the experiences that have made them who they are and why or why they do not believe in ghosts. But in spite of all of that, as a team, they keep charging forward, until the point comes when they must separate and face their individual demons. 

I love when I can still recall the characters in such detail, days after reading the book. 

What I found most surprising – the researchers at Paranormal Research Foundation play such a huge role in the story! They creeped me out as well as the crew.

World Building, Plot & Emotions

As I have grown older and enjoyed a lot more horror in recent years (remember the horror a month challenge with Ariel?), I understand why certain things play out the way they do in horror stories. I personally believe that to truly enjoy horror, we have to dispense some of our common sense and be ok with the things that happen. We have to take the characters’ word for what they are seeing and feeling and be with them to experience their fear and their elevation. 

Immersion & Horror Elements

Lately, I have been noticing the quotes that publishers put on covers. Peter Clines, the author of The Fold, a science fiction novel about inter-dimensional travel, is one of my favorite authors (though I have a love-hate relationship with that book). He is quoted as saying “Hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you,” describing my reading experience very well. Episode Thirteen did hook me in. I remember being a few sections in and not exactly sure if this would be a book I would binge but I decided to read one more section and next time I realize, it’s a few hours later and I am halfway through the book. Talk about losing track of time.

There were certainly parts of the book when I did not want to read it alone in the house. I always had Clinton around as I read. A bit of a spoiler but some files that Claire found in the storage really freaked me out. It baffled the rest of the crew too and I could see the cracks appearing in their self image.

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Themes in Episode Thirteen

Passion vs Money

Episode Thirteen is not just a book about the episode being shot for Fade to Black. It dives deep into the psyche of the characters as well as the political and emotional challenges of working on a show. The demands of the producers to create content that hooks the viewers, the drive to get another season for the show and continue to make a living by following their passion… There is a lot happening. Mike is the main point of contact with the producers and through their email exchanges, I got an idea of the pressure he was under and how the direction of the show was changing.

As the events unfold, each of the characters ponders if the show is really worth it. Who have they become since pursuing this show as a means of living? Some start to realize how it has taken them away from their true passions while others want to step further into the ghost hunting realm.

Explaining with Science

Claire was hands down my favourite of the group and I loved how she developed. The crisis of discovering something that goes completely against her common sense and education breaks her and the way she combats that is beautiful writing.

Facing our demons

Each of the characters come with their baggage. They aren’t always ghosts or demons. Sometimes, they are expectations that society has of them. Jessica, in particular, has a tug of war between her career and her motherhood. She doesn’t realize how strong she is until she faces what is at Paranormal Research Foundation.

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For all these reasons, I enjoyed Episode Thirteen! I am excited to bring you an interview with the author next week! If you are interested to read it, add it to your Goodreads shelf.

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A good horror book is one that I am scared to read. The scariest I have found is House of Leaves with its 700+ pages of craziness. It’s obviously one I haven’t finished. Still. I attempted a solid 100 pages in 2020 but it ended there. xD Have you read it?

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If you want to try out a mystery novel set in an institute similar to the Paranormal Research Foundation, check out Jennifer McMohan’s The Children on the Hill. My review is posted here.

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Many thanks to the publisher for providing me with a complimentary physical copy of the book for an honest review.