Dead Mall

here we have: Five teenagers break into a long-abandoned mall at night, hoping to drink stolen beers and maybe hook up, but alas... the mall is very, very haunted. The demon god controlling the spirit (and various monsters) of the mall is tickled pink to wreck havoc on the unsuspecting teens by artfully using their innermost desires and anxieties to pull them apart, turn them against each other, and ultimately convince them to devour themselves.

A fun and fast read with cheekily annoying protagonists and surprisingly scary monster designs. If you enjoy a cheesy horror flick, you'll enjoy this exploration of a dead mall as a haunted space that feeds off the desires of shoppers / its prey. The narration of the entity orchestrating the teens' torture is a bit of meta commentary on the recognizable beats of haunting stories and got some solid chuckles out of me. The surprising ends awaiting the teens were enjoyably gruesome. Reminded me of hanging out at my friend's parents' jewelry store at the local mall.