The Death List by Thomas R Clark
Ronnie Dark is having a bad day. Facing rock bottom after losing his job, losing his wife, and being served eviction papers, he hatches a dark and desperate plan for revenge on his ex-wife.
Meanwhile, the home's former inhabitant, Patrick Dermotty, the infamous Balloon Boy Killer, has escaped from the institution holding him. Patrick has one goal: to return to his home and finish what he started thirty-five years ago—the resurrection of an ancient, dark deity.
Ronnie Dark’s bad day is going to get worse before it gets any better.
United StatesEddie Van Halen vs Freddy Krueger
This book rocks! Ronnie Dark, a down on his luck hair metal guitarist, finds himself facing off against the notorious murderer and gameshow host impersonator the Balloon Boy. Clarke himself described it best in the book when he said it was, "Freddy Krueger vs Eddie Van Halen."
United StatesAn Innovative and Original Slasher Novella
In The Death List, Thomas R. Clark takes the baton carried by John Skipp and Craig Spector through the 1980s and runs with it as if he's being pursued by some entity from one of their novels. Rock 'n' roll and exquisitely perverse horror come together with Clark's guidance and wry humor to produce a thrilling experience from the shocking beginning through the blood-soaked conclusion. Ronnie Dark had it all, but those years were behind him, and it was beginning to look like he was about to lose everything. Bitter and driven by cruel impulses, Ronnie sets his mind on a path he's sure will display all of his spite and condemnation of those he perceives as having wronged him. Unfortunately, Ronnie's plans didn't factor in the previous resident of his mansion making his way back home. Patrick Dermotty, nurtured on a diet of television game shows and influenced by the dark goddess who inspired the graphic and horrifying murders that earned him the title of the Balloon Boy Killer, has escaped from the institution where he's been all but catatonic for the previous three decades. Dermotty's bloody, violent rampage is far from over, and he's on a collision course with Ronnie Dark, a man with nothing left to lose. The Death List is heavy metal Halloween, with one of the eeriest and most unsettling killers ever described on page or screen. The narration provided by Cheryl May is spectacular, especially her delivery of Dermotty's unnerving dialogue following his escape from the asylum. She captures the creep factor of Clark's novella and brings it to an awful but entertaining life.