Rachel Schommer Reviews: 5.12.25
- Rachel Schommer
- 4 days ago
- 2 min read
This week's review takes me back to high school and Fall nights after football games doing apparently questionable activities with my friends. I'm just grateful my story didn't end how this one did...
THE POPE LICK MASSACRE by Eric Butler
1. Imagine, if you will, it’s 10pm on a Friday night in early October, 2002. A car filled with teenagers is driving slowly down the rural backroads of a small Wi town looking for a dirt path that will take them into the woods on their hunt for Goat-Man. The three couples in the car feel invincible, they’re all athletes in their physical prime, and while they don’t have any weapons, Goat-Man isn’t dangerous, right? RIGHT???!!! One of the females in that car was me and had I known this version of the Goat-Man legend prior to hopping into my friend’s station wagon that night, I would absolutely not have gone.
2. This book is so relatable in that every town has some sort of legend or lore that the local kids “hunt” for. Typically scaring themselves and taking harmless dares. But what if it isn’t just a legend and the creature you’re hunting for is far more dangerous than anyone would ever guess? I loved how the tension built in this story and how there were a few different plotlines happening at the same time – not just focused on Goat-Man. It really kept things fresh and kept me guessing.
3. Butler wrote characters you want to root for…well, except one. There is a creep, because there’s always a creep, but even he didn’t deserve the fate that befalls those who stumble into Goat-Man’s lair…
4. Oh, and be prepared to have your heart ripped out.
A fun and nostalgic read; I recommend, especially if you’ve ever gone out in the cover of darkness to search for your town’s legendary creature.
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