Episode Thirteen

By: Craig DiLouie

Narrated by: Gregory D. Barnett, Sam Slade, Kimberly Bonny, Louis B. Jack, James Lewis, Jay Aaseng

Length: 9 hrs and 47 mins

Publisher's summary

From the macabre mind of a Bram Stoker Award-nominated author, this heart-pounding novel of horror and psychological suspense takes a ghost hunting reality TV crew into a world they could never have imagined.

Fade to Black is the newest hit ghost hunting reality TV show. Led by husband and wife team Matt and Claire Kirklin, it delivers weekly hauntings investigated by a dedicated team of ghost hunting experts.

Episode Thirteen takes them to every ghost hunter's holy grail: the Paranormal Research Foundation. This brooding, derelict mansion holds secrets and clues about bizarre experiments that took place there in the 1970s. It's also famously haunted, and the team hopes their scientific techniques and high tech gear will prove it. But as the house begins to reveal itself to them, proof of an afterlife might not be everything Matt dreamed of. A story told in broken pieces, in tapes, journals, and correspondence, this is the story of Episode Thirteen—and how everything went terribly, horribly wrong.

"An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one."—Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award winning author of Kin

“A beautiful Russian doll of a story… Episode Thirteen hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you. It’s House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, in all the best possible ways.”—Peter Clines, NYT bestselling author of The Broken Room

For more from Craig DiLouie, check out:

The Children of Red Peak

Our War

One of Us

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Craig DiLouie (P)2023 Redhook

Critic reviews

“A beautiful Russian doll of a story… Episode Thirteen hooks you, creeps you out, and then it overwhelms you. It’s House of Leaves meets Haunting of Hill House, in all the best possible ways.”—Peter Clines, NYT Bestselling Author of The Broken Room

“Episode Thirteen does not go where you think it will…instead it offers bizarre twists, devious reveals, and unexpected shocks. Deeply satisfying and a hell of a lot of weird fun!”—Jonathan Maberry—New York Times Bestselling Author of Patient Zero

"An epistolary descent into a living nightmare . . . well-written and genuinely unsettling. Fans of paranormal documentaries, ghost-hunting shows, and found-footage horror will lose their minds over this one."—Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Kin

When a TV show becomes a book

Captivating story, interesting characters (albeit underdeveloped) and mysterious ending. Entertaining. I recommend it during a car ride.

Not quite there

It started off good but really petered out. Once we got to the actual paranormal parts, it went down hill.

it started out good

The story started out good but then went into another direction. I completed 90% of it.

Grave Encounters meets House of Leaves.

A great found footage foray into the world of the paranormal and cosmic horror. If the title of the review intrigued you, then you are more than likely going to enjoy this book.

Fun listen!

Enjoyable found footage style horror in novel form. I wasn't sure if it would work, but it comes together nicely.

Not quite what I expected

Contains a mild spoiler. This book is not really a haunted house story. It begins that way but soon diverges into a complex mix of science fiction/fantasy/horror myth. The first time I read it I was disappointed because (as I said) it isn't really a haunted house story, the second time I was able to appreciate it for the original story it is.

I enjoyed the eclectic mix of journal entry, raw footage, and newspaper reportage that advances the story. The audio performance was excellent. All in all a worthwhile listen just leave your expectations at the door.

Ghost Hunting Turned On Its Head

I’ve been interested in this novel for some time, as I found the premise interesting. In today’s climate of reality TV, who hasn’t peeped at a ghost or paranormal show where they follow the actors (ghost hunters) as they investigate creepy locations worldwide.

However, there is one thing that rings true. You either believe it or you don’t, as most people have decided that there is no such thing. I do believe in ghosts or a presence…absolutely, but that’s neither here nor there when it comes to this work of fiction. I know some of this book is based on actual shows because of the details given.

Since I listened to the audiobook, my perspective may differ from others. I found some of the voices annoying, absolutely over the top, but this made it interesting for me. The story is about four investigators and one actor looking into the story behind (The Paranormal Research Foundation). In the 70s, some strange experiments happened in the house regarding the paranormal, and mysteriously, all the staff and doctors disappeared.

The fictional show is called Fade to Black: Episode Thirteen, which is led by a husband and wife team, Matt and Claire Kirkland. This particular investigation takes place at the Paranormal Research Foundation, which is in a dilapidated mansion in Virginia. We know it's an active site due to other investigations and has been since the 70s.

Of the team, there is also Jake, the cameraman; Kevin, a former police officer; and Jessica the actor. Claire is a scientist, but she's tired of just debunking the hauntings and wants to focus on her original field of work.

This is Matt’s greatest discovery, and he’s curious about what happens when you die. Is there a here-after, do you move on to another life, (etc.) Maybe he got a little more than what he bargained for. The house seemed dead in the beginning, but after an argument with the team about tampering with the props, everything would be turned on its head and go terribly wrong.

Through found footage and journals, we learned what happened to the team and how they all disappeared, or so we think.

As a lover of horror novels, I didn't think this book was bad. You can love or hate the characters, but you get a sense of what happens when humans poke the bear and mess with the unknown. How much is really real vs what is made for entertainment?

Not a bad found footage novel

I was a little hesitant to buy this because I usually dislike multi-cast narration but this was pretty good! Also, the sample is only music so I had no idea what I was getting. The story worked fairly well in novel form - was super easy to visualize as it went on. Wasn’t my favorite ending, so probably the last 30 minutes were not my favorite, but all in all, it was worth the listen and the price.

Its an audio comic, not a book.

I loved the writing, loved the story. But i wanted an audiobook. Not a audio version of a tv show. A comic. Sound effects, clattering, banging, creaks that drown out the -actual narration-. Drowning out the book. Music, people acting out the words, replacing my imagination. I can imagine hysterical laughter, I dont need an actress screaming into my ears with actual laughter. Can people just make the book, let us , the readers, decide how we want it to be?

Great Performance, Okay Story

I really wanted to love this audio and up until the ending I was pretty hooked. 6 narrators perform this audio doing multiple roles and they all do a great job (even when you can hear one voice actor doing a second role). Sound effects are also included and this helps the audio (hence I give performance 5 stars). Overall I would say maybe that makes this 4 stars but I went with 3 because I think (and based on other reviews) you’re either going to love this book or think it’s ok. The ghost hunting theme is great and making this book episodic (like the novel Dracula) was nicely done. I think the story let down comes simply from personal preference. I love the “haunted house” novels but with these types of novels the endings are hard to pull off. I like a really cool ghost story with scary and creepy happenings but in the end a cool twist happens or an ages long mystery is solved. I kinda saw how this ending was gonna play out and the fact that the solution is more scientific than supernatural is probably why I wasn’t as happy with the ending. Don’t get me wrong, it fits and I understand the idea behind it and why a certain character was the one to get it, but I’d rather have a more clearly supernatural this is the spirit behind it all type ending. It’s a good book well written fast paced and characters you can understand and root far but just not my cup of tea. So be warned you’ll either love it or be meh about it but I don’t think anyone will hate it.