At one point during my journey with Brian McAuley's "Breathe In, Bleed Out," I found myself flashing back to 2024's inspired indie horror flick "In a Violent Nature" and a certain hilariously over-the-top yoga sequence.

It's not that the two are similar. They're really not. It's just that McAuley has written such an inventive and entertaining blood-soaked slasher flick that I found myself with a bit of slasher deja vu.

There's something special here, at least if you're one who leans into vividly realized horror-lit and scenes set up with such imagination that you'll be seeing it while you're reading it.

The story centers around Hannah, a not quite right young lady who's been less right since she emerged from a harrowing wilderness trip without her fiancé Ben. She arrived back in civilization with more questions than answers, a fact that also seems to surround her. When she gets an invite to join her friends at an exclusive restorative spiritual retreat deep in Joshua Tree, she reluctantly agrees.

Of course, one's demons can also make the trip to Joshua Tree and with Guru Pax giving off shady vibes and yoga, sound baths, and hot springs quickly spiraling into increasingly gruesome deaths, Hannah's retreat may turn into a homicidal repeat.

"Breathe In, Bleed Out" is that rare horror novel that packs in the style and the substance. The thrills, chills, and kills here are uncomfortably hilarious, awesome, and an absolute trip. And yet, McAuley does actually give us a story here that satisfies with characters, some of whom we know there's no way they're going to make it until book's end, who stick with you long after you've read the final pages. You can see "Breathe In, Bleed Out" as a movie. In fact, you want to see "Breathe In, Bleed Out" as a movie, though I'm honestly not sure a movie would be any more satisfying.

I laughed. I cringed. I cared. I really did. "Breathe In, Bleed Out" is the kind of book you'll read and then you'll likely want to read it again. With a story that kicks and characters who are beautifully brought to life, "Breathe In, Bleed Out" is destined to be one of 2025's best horror novels.

Written by Richard Propes
The Independent Critic