Slashtag

By: Jon Cohn

Narrated by: Lauren Ezzo

Length: 12 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

"Welcome to Slashtag, the most immersive horror reality competition series in history! Tag along as seven of America's favorite celebrities step into the infamous Propitius Hotel, home to one of the most prolific serial killers in history" (Arthur Wilson).

Arthur built and operated the Propitius Hotel from 1905 until 1928, until dozens of bodies were found in his hotel, along with countless hidden torture rooms throughout the hotel. Arthur disappeared, seemingly never to be caught. He then returned—nearly 40 years later—under the guise of a priest leading a congregation of 100 people back to his hotel, where he once again committed mass murder.

Enter Tawny Howlett—a top-tier lifestyle influencer who is in the midst of the worst week of her life. Her brand new health drink turned out to be tainted, so thousands of her followers want nothing more than to see her social media empire crumble. In order to rehabilitate her image, she's agreed to take part in "Slashtag: The Ultimate Horror Experience".

At first, it's all fun and games, until the team of seven celebs discover that the ghost is very real, and out for blood. In order to survive the three-day live-streamed event, Tawny and her fellow contestants must band together to try and send the spirit of Arthur Wilson straight to hell.

While Tawny has her hands full trying to survive a weekend at the Propitius Hotel, it's up to her younger sister April to work from the outside to try and find a way to save her sister while uncovering the dark truth behind the TV network that continues to air the deaths of some of America's top talent.

Together, these seven doomed souls must solve the puzzles hidden within the hotel in order to vanquish the spirit of Arthur Wilson.

©2023 Jon Cohn (P)2023 Jon Cohn

Fun multimedia experience

Slashtag was a fun multimedia experience. I listened to the audiobook while following along in my physical copy. I also visited the website and read background on the characters, and listened to the podcast episodes. The story is fast-paced and fun, with humor sprinkled in, along with some gruesome murder scenes. The narrator did a good job with the character voices and conveying emotion. Overall, it was a fun listening experience.
I received a promotional credit in exchange for an honest review.

SO MUCH FUN!!

I absolutely LOVED this story/performance. The story line, the character development, relationships, twists. I couldn’t get enough! Slasher vibes, escape rooms, reality tv drama, ghosts, etc. Do yourself a favor and pick this one up!

I saw the whole thing as a movie in my head!

First of all, I LOVE the book title - I think it's really clever and I wish I'd thought of it. As for the rest of the book, it was an entertaining, properly twisty, anxiety-inducing jaunt with some truly cringe-worthy gore that I'd be watching through my fingers if it were a movie - in fact, I can easily see this as a movie!

Slashtag is a Big Brother inspired televised immersive horror reality competition following seven celebrities as they set up camp at the infamous Propitius Hotel, built by notorious and prolific serial killer Arthur Wilson. The hotel is a character itself, slightly reminiscent of H.H.H. Holmes' Murder Castle, with booby trapped rooms, haunted lore, and way too many dark corners for nasty surprises to hide in. There are also cameras EVERYWHERE and they are televising ALL OF IT for the audience at home.

The celebrities were brought on board by special invitation, and secrets and mysterious motivations go deep: the participants have them, the producers have them, the sponsors have them, the ghosts might have them too, if they turn out to be real. And if the ghosts are real, does that mean the screaming and the impressive bloody mayhem is real too?

The participants' intriguing backstories and reasons for accepting the invitation to Slashtag are collected in bits and pieces as we go, so we have to do a bit of puzzle work to put it all together alongside them as they work out the puzzles in the game, trying to find their way out of the hotel with their dignity intact if this really is all a game, and all their limbs intact if it isn't. The characters were well drawn. They aren't always likable, but they aren't supposed to be. They learned better as they went and built alliances and friendships that gave them more dimension, and I did find myself rooting for them to make it. I was definitely rooting for certain people to get their comeuppance.

All told, this was both fun and disturbing, and thoroughly entertaining. I will be keeping Jon Cohn on my TBR list.