• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
FanFiAddict

FanFiAddict

A gaggle of nerds talking about Fantasy, Science Fiction, and everything in-between. They also occasionally write reviews about said books. 2x Stabby Award-Nominated and home to the Stabby Award-Winning TBRCon.

  • Home
  • About
    • Reviewers
    • Review Policy
    • Stance on AI
    • Contact
    • Friends of FFA
  • Blog
    • Reviews
      • Children’s / Middle Grade Books
      • Comics / Graphic Novels
      • Fantasy
        • Alt History
        • Epic Fantasy
        • Fairy Tales
        • Grimdark
        • Heroic Fantasy
        • LitRPG
        • Paranormal Fantasy
        • Romantic Fantasy
        • Steampunk
        • Superheroes
        • Sword and Sorcery
        • Urban Fantasy
      • Fear For All
        • Demons
        • Ghosts
        • Gothic
        • Lovecraftian
        • Monsters
        • Occult
        • Psychological
        • Slasher
        • Vampires
        • Werewolves
        • Witches
        • Zombies
      • Fiction
      • Science Fiction
        • Aliens
        • Artificial Intelligence
        • Alt History
        • Cyberpunk
        • Dystopian
        • Hard SciFi
        • Mechs/Robots
        • Military SF
        • Space Opera
        • Steampunk
        • Time Travel
      • Thriller
    • Neurodivergence in Fiction
    • Interviews
      • Book Tube
      • Authorly Writing Advice
  • SFF Addicts
    • SFF Addicts Clips
    • SFF Addicts (Episode Archive)
  • TBRCon
    • TBRCon2025
    • TBRCon2024
    • TBRCon2023
    • TBRCon2022
  • FFA Book Club
  • FFA TBR Toppers
    • Advertise Your Book on FFA!
  • Writer Resources
    • Artists
    • Cartographers
    • Editing/Formatting/Proofing

Review: Heads Will Roll by Josh Winning

August 2, 2024 by Charlie Battison Leave a Comment

Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

Willow’s worst nightmare was being canceled. But the shadows in the woods of Camp Castaway might destroy more than her reputation.

After sitcom star Willow tweeted herself into infamy and stumbled blind-drunk into a swimming pool, her agent shipped her off to Camp Castaway. Tucked away in upstate New York, Castaway is a summer camp for adults who are desperate to leave their mistakes behind. No real names, no phones . . . no way to call for help.

Willow’s fellow campers seem okay. Her own favourite actress is even here, making a s’more. And did that jaded writer, Dani, just wink at her? But the peaceful vibe is shattered when one of the campers vanishes and Willow finds a mutilated doll in her room with a threatening message rolled up inside its mouth. Terror grips the group, campers begin to lose their heads—literally—and disturbing past deeds come to light.

Is Willow about to get cancelled all over again, this time for good?

Review:

Many thanks to Michael Joseph for sending me a copy of this one!

A book that undoubtedly delivers on its promises, ‘Heads Will Roll’ is a thoroughly entertaining slasher novel that fully embraces the blood and guts that it eagerly coats itself in. Summer camp has always offered fertile grounds for bloodshed, gleefully soaking up all the secrets, drama and of course, blood, that is spilled at the hands of the vengeful killer. ‘Heads Will Roll’ is not a novel to re-invent the genre and make you completely reconsider what a slasher should be, instead Winning’s novel excels in the roots that it unapologetically sticks to.

The story primarily follows our main character Willow, a ‘cancelled’ sitcom star who runs away to Camp Castaway in the upstate New York woods in order to escape the limelight. The power of the internet and its impact on us is a crucial aspect of Winning’s novel, delving into fandom, cancel culture and online versus real life identities throughout the story. So relevant to our world today, these aspects definitely felt relatable, and if not then at the very least realistic. Winning goes to great lengths to emphasise the damaging impacts being chronically online can have on someone’s mental health, while skilfully masking the potentially life saving positives of the internet – connectivity to the outside world.

For a book of relatively short length, I thought that Winning did a stellar job at building up unique and memorable characters. No camp members got lost in the shuffle for me, I knew who every character was and how Willow perceived them with no issues at all, which really is also a testament to Willow and her crafted personality. The story does occasionally flip from Willow’s perspective to her other camp mates, but this did not take away from the story at all for me. These chapters very much felt like when a film switches to a character that has not had much of any spotlight so far, and in fitting with the genre, you know exactly what is coming next for this character, you just don’t know when or how…

It is clear reading ‘Heads Will Roll’ that Josh Winning is a huge fan of the genre, and for me this is the story’s strongest trait. Winning’s knowledge of slashers does not gatekeep the story or make it inaccessible, instead he uses his passion and expertise to create a story that I believe any fan of horror can enjoy. More than anything else this story is fun, and fun has no boundaries. Whether you are a seasoned horror reader or someone looking to tentatively dip your toes into the genre, I would strongly urge you to consider adding this story to your summer tbr!

Filed Under: Fear For All, Reviews, Serial Killers, Slasher Tagged With: Heads Will Roll, josh winning

About Charlie Battison

I have an MA in English Literature at the University of Sheffield. When I am not reading all things horror I am working as a library assistant, watching football, or petting my dog Lucas. Sometimes I write book reviews on my Instagram page at @Barebonesreviews

Other Reviews You Might Like

Review: Killer On The Road by Stephen Graham Jones

Review: Outer Universe (Inner Universe #2) by Natalie Kelda

Review: King of Ashes by S.A. Cosby

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Sponsored By

Use Discount Code FANFI For 5% Off!

FFA Newsletter!

Sign up for updates and get FREE stories from Michael R. Fletcher and Richard Ford!

What Would You Like To See?(Required)
Please select the type of content you want to receive from FanFi Addict. You can even mix and match if you want!

FFA Author Hub

Read A.J. Calvin
Read Andy Peloquin
Read C.J. Daily
Read C.M. Caplan
Read D.A. Smith
Read DB Rook
Read Francisca Liliana
Read Frasier Armitage
Read Josh Hanson
Read Krystle Matar
Read M.J. Kuhn

Recent Reviews

Recent Comments

  1. Mark Matthews on COVER REVEAL: To Those Willing to Drown by Mark MatthewsJanuary 7, 2025
  2. Basra Myeba on Worth reading Jack Reacher books by Lee Child?January 5, 2025
  3. Ali on Review: Sleeping Worlds Have No Memory by Yaroslav BarsukovJanuary 5, 2025
  4. Carter on So you want to start reading Warhammer 40,000? Here’s where to start!January 4, 2025
  5. M. Zaugg on Bender’s Best LitRPG reads of 2024January 3, 2025

Archive

Copyright © 2025 · Powered by ModFarm Sites · Log In