Raven's Review: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre
- Sirens Podcast
- May 29
- 2 min read
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — A Gory, Glorious Slasher With Heart, Humor, and a Retirement Home Full of Suspects.
The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi is a wickedly entertaining blend of slasher horror, dark comedy, and whodunit mystery—all set in the most unlikely of battlegrounds: a retirement home.
Rose DuBois is not your average final girl. She's in her late 70s, quick with a comeback, and sharper than most people half her age. When fellow residents at Autumn Springs start dropping dead, Rose and her best friend Miller dig into the mystery with all the grit and sass of seasoned sleuths.
This book felt like Scream met Murder, She Wrote, but set in a retirement home where nearly every character is over 65—and it works so well. The kills are creative, the pacing is tight, and the banter is genuinely funny. I did eventually guess who the killer was, but it took me a lot longer than usual—which speaks to how well the tension and misdirection were handled.
I haven’t found a book to get me out of a reading slump since reading The September House, but this one did the trick. I’m finding that I genuinely love stories with unconventional lead characters, and this book lives up to that expectation. Every character felt fully fleshed out, and I even found myself mentally casting them. (Sam Elliott would make a perfect Miller.) This book has entered the list of my all-time faves.
What really stands out, though, is the heart. Amid all the carnage, Fracassi delivers poignant moments of friendship, aging, and resilience. Rose and Miller’s dynamic is the beating heart of the story, and by the end, I was cheering for Rose as if she were family.
If you're a fan of slasher films, cozy mysteries with a sharp edge, or want something wildly original, this one's for you. Rose DuBois deserves to be a horror icon.
ISBN 9781250879066
This book will release on my birthday, Sept 30th, 2025! What a birthday gift! Pre-Order today anywhere you get your books or on Amazon at https://amzn.to/43SguRW
