Book Review: Episode Thirteen (2023)
Hachette Book Group
(this review contains minor spoilers about early elements of the novel.)
It’s quite a feat, taking two widely derided horror property staples and reimagining them as something that mutes the popular criticisms of its components. Episode Thirteen does just that: it tells the story of a network television ghost hunting program that takes its plot outline and setpieces directly from found footage horror films, then presents the result as an engaging and decidedly original horror novel. Frankly, I’m surprised to find that more writers haven’t made a tilt at this particular windmill, as it now feels like a very promising course after seeing what DiLouie has done here.
For me, the premise is two-edged; I find ghost hunting shows to be crushingly formulaic and frequently obnoxious, while found footage is a genre where I’m typically willing to sign up no matter how poor the effort, and this latter element may have played a role in my decision to pick up this title. Something about when found footage pays off takes my appreciation to a higher level, and the capacity for dread anticipation they can achieve is pure dopamine to my receptors. Put that in a novel, my preferred format for all things scary, and I’m in.
With this overlong preamble out of the way, let’s get into the story itself.
Cast & Crew
The moniker Episode Thirteen references a particular installment of the newly-minted ghost hunting show, Fade to Black, whose group was picked up from the YouTube world after achieving enough popular success to attract the attention of one of those cable networks whose intellectual resonance is the dietary equivalent of eating popcorn for lunch. Now nearing the end of its first season in the big leagues, Fade to Black is under substantial pressure to improve their plateauing ratings, and producers at the network are making soft threats to coax the ghost hunters in a more personal, melodramatic direction if their spirit sleuthing adventures can’t garner greater viewer attention. Lest we forget in this world where art and creativity are dependent on eyes or clicks, everything must be entertaining above all else if we’re going to fund it.
At the head of the group is Matt Kirklin, the upbeat leader and true believer of the team who started down this path after an acute ghostly encounter in his youth. Playing foil to his good-natured optimism and spirit of adventure is his wife, Claire, a spunky, whip-smart physicist who originally signed up with the ghost hunting gig as an act of challenge to her admittedly inflexible nature. As things like this often go, she now secretly wishes to depart the show and fulfill the promise of her academic aptitude. Rounding out the group is Kevin, an ex-cop from Philadelphia who quit the force after encountering a murderer he believes to have been possessed by a demon; Jake, a tattooed, muscle-bound cameraman running from some very real monsters in his past; and Jessica Valenza, AKA Rashida Brewer, an actress and single-mother struggling to balance her professional aspirations with her familial obligations. She also carries the challenge of being a person of color in a vein of popular culture where there aren’t many.
It’s an exceptional cast of characters, with each individual feeling strong enough to take the reins for a chapter or two as needed. This element is a big part of what makes the novel successful, as I found each member of Fade to Black to be believable, layered, and dynamic in playing off of one another. Even Kevin, easily the most stereotyped entry in the group manages to bring an appreciable level of depth to the ex-cop archetype. DiLouie really nailed his character identities from the start in this novel, and it keeps the energy strong throughout.
Beyond the Veil
As with any haunted house story, there’s also the location itself, which is as much a character as the people who explore it. Foundation House, a Civil War-era plantation that was later turned into a flower power-tinged parapsychology institute called the Paranormal Research Foundation, is the setting for the investigation. Up until Fade to Black opens its doors early in the novel, no paranormal research team has been permitted to explore the site, and I think this is a key detail that helps wash off some of the tackier association that comes with the plot, as it’s hard to think a house is haunted if Zac Baggins or The Ghost Brothers have already been there acting silly. If you’ve watched ghost hunting shows regularly, you know that there are a couple dozen properties in each geographic region that tend to attract these types of shows, and most of the mystery is beaten out of these locations pretty early on.
And much like an actual ghost show, Fade to Black doesn’t find anything too obvious at first. DiLouie gives his characters just enough page space to be interesting before letting the shadows grow long and the bumps in the night become footsteps. When it’s finally time for the ghosts of Foundation House to make an appearance, they do so in a way that is so overt and game-changing that the plot of the novel is shifted into a wholly new arc, as DiLouie finally takes the ghost investigation formula and forces it to confront the ever-elusive scenario where something actually, undeniably, happens.
If you haven’t read the novel, I want you to pause and think about that for a moment: what would actually happen if any of these television investigators brushed up against something paranormal and intelligent? How many of them would head for the hills, or cry off what they’ve been doing for potentially hundreds of episodes? What if the haunting plainly posed a threat to them? Episode Thirteen actually explores these things, and masterfully in my assessment.
It’s a brilliantly original challenge to face, and the developments of the novel feel almost incongruent with the genre as we know it. Paranormal television programming is typically a mess of subtitle-dependent EVPs (electronic voice phenomena) interspersed with a handful of D-tier actors pretending to be scared inside an abandoned structure. For being shows about investigation and discovery, they fall into a formula pretty quickly, and that’s why I think it’s so interesting when that formula is abruptly undermined. As one might hope of actual ghost hunters, the shock and fear the characters experience after their supernatural inciting incident is soon replaced with enthusiasm at the chance to be on the cutting edge of the first documentable supernatural discovery, they soon gather their courage and return to Foundation House intent on getting to the bottom of the mystery.
What is Your Name?
One small problem I had with the development is that the figures of the Paranormal Research Foundation almost seem to drop into the story without adequate introduction. At one point, I actually went back to see if I had somehow missed a segment explaining in greater detail about who these names were, as each had only been mentioned briefly beforehand. This could be a fault of mine, a product of editing, or the fact that the author simply couldn’t spend any more page space developing the backstory of these long-dead figures who, while decidedly relevant to the story, didn’t have an active role in moving the plot forward in the early acts. That aside, this didn’t really impeded my sustained enjoyment of the book.
What follows is a multi-layered and fantastical sojourn to the heart of the mystery, unraveling the last days of the Paranormal Research Foundation and going even further into the history of Foundation House. Of course, I’m not going to spoil anything, but I’ll say DiLouie aims to keep the latter half of the novel as intricate and interesting as the first, and, shooting for the moon, at least manages to knock a few stars from the sky. As a reader, I did want slightly more substance out of a few of the concluding elements, but still found the ending both satisfactory and true to the expert work that went into constructing the early narrative.
Calling a novel or story ‘fun’ is sometimes viewed as a polite perjorative, but ‘fun’ is the first word think of when it comes to Episode Thirteen. I am a pretty slow reader (something I once felt shame admitting, until the great Chris Buehlman did the same) and I burned through this book in about four days alongside my multitudinous adult responsibilities. In many ways, Episode Thirteen took me away from a lot of the seriousness I attribute to reading horror these days, and for at least a few hours I was able to share Matt Kirklin’s enthusiasm about what was developing in Foundation House. It reminded me of what it was like to burn away a summer afternoon as I did in my teens and twenties, and in many ways fulfilled a promise of fiction I had almost forgotten to expect.
This was a book that really hit with me, both as a reader and fan of horror. If the premise appeals, I hope you’ll pick up a copy and give this excellent author some of your time.
Verdict: 8.8/10
Strengths
Well-developed, well-articulated characters
Ambitious story that maintains its high level of quality throughout
Smart, clean, accessible prose
Chronological construction makes the story more immersive
Weaknesses
Some readers may struggle to separate this novel from the stigma carried by its influences
Key elements of the backstory could have been more gradually and attentively introduced
Ending doesn’t quite stick the landing, though it is still quite good
You can purchase Episode Thirteen on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, or, preferably, an independent bookstore in your community.
You may also like: Grave Encounters, Phasmophobia, Session 9, Under a Watchful Eye, Hellier
