Cover Image: Misfits

Misfits

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This book ended up being a bit too much of a horror book for me to enjoy during 2020. It was an unfortunate DNF and victim of my 2020 mental state.

-- This review is several years past the release date due to the many issues of 2020, but a huge thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of the book.

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If brutal horror with the local misfits redeeming themselves is your thing, then check this out. After the horrific rape of one of the gang of local misfits, they seek revenge on the perpetrator. Only their plan for revenge includes leaving the rapist to the mercy of the local urban myth - a savage bunch of monsters that prey on anyone who ventures into their territory. Of course, it doesn’t go to plan….

There was a rawness to Shea’s writing and plotting - it’s pretty much as it comes, and his characters are not sympathetic or redeemable - they’re misfits and delinquents. But as you delve deeper into their stories, you see they’re victims of abuse and neglect, and society has shunned them, but they’ve got each other’s backs.

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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53206640-misfits" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Misfits" src="https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1587306194l/53206640._SX98_.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53206640-misfits">Misfits</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5224760.Hunter_Shea">Hunter Shea</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/4204551124">5 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
It was a time of coming of age, a time of confusion and and learning. Rumors have been going on about the Melon Heads as long as they can remember. Don't go down Dracula Drive, the Melon Heads will get you. No one really believes it. When a group of close friends find that one of their own has been raped, its time to find out if the rumors are true or not. Harold Dunwoody is a piece of crap hanging out in a teen bar. He's gone too far this time and gets his just reward. He's taken down to the place where the Melon Heads are supposed to be. Will they show up? What happens if they do? Loved this book. The ending was unexpected but fit perfectly. Hunter Shea has a great imagination that makes his books one of a kind. I received this book from Net Galley and Flame Tree Press for a honest review and this is it. Would recommend this book to anyone who loves a great horror story.

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Sorry for the delay of putting this here. I read this MONTHS ago, and forgot.
Leave it to Hunter to set and place these visceral images of the Nightmare world of beings, creatures and just plain bad assed horror in my brain and mind and mess up my sleep patterns! As with all of his books when I started Misfits I did not know where this was going or what I was even in for. I placed this on a parallel with his book Creature for a solid and scary 4 🩸🩸🩸🩸 read! Once again Mr. Shea you scared me! Stay scared buddy.

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It’s the mid-90’s and a group of high-school stoner friends run-a-foul of the Melon-heads who reside deep in the woods in Millbury, Connecticut.

It all start’s when one of the group is brutally raped. When she tells her friends what happened, they decide that they will feed their rapist to the Melon-heads. But something goes wrong and now they are the hunted.

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There is a real legend of ‘Melon heads’ in Connecticut that are described as small humanoids with bulbous heads who occasionally emerge from the woods to attack people.

This book was graphic and full of blood and gore.

The relationships between the characters were interesting and each person in that group of friends had a unique and distinct personality that was well developed.

The atmosphere was dark and heavy throughout the entire book so if you are looking for a lighter read this is not it.

The writing was good and the story was easy to follow.

The plot was fast-paced and engaging. I found this book to be quite the page-turner and I was interested in seeing exactly how it would end. There were moments where it seemed like the gang had the upper hand and other times where it seemed like all hope was lost and I really didn’t know how things would play out.

I did enjoy this book, although I found the whole ‘Melon head’ angle rather distasteful and certain elements felt like they were there and in such detail for shock factor more than anything else.

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Hunter Shea hasn’t written a book I didn’t enjoy. From creature features to slashers to emotional books that make me sob, I know I’m in for a good experience. Misfits has some great 90s nostalgia, including a group of kids who don’t quite fit in. I loved them. As always, the ending to this book is great and paced wonderfully.

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First of all, I'm a huge Hunter Shea fan already. So I was excited to read this book. I do consider him to be one of the best modern horror writers around at the moment. And this review, quite rightly, is basically going to be me just raving about how much I love this book.

The story is an instant classic, 80s throwback cheese fest. And that's what makes it brilliant. Admittedly it's not the most original plot but hey, why mess with a tried and true formula? A group of teenaged friends, outcasts and losers of course, come up against the resident evil hiding in the woods. And of course they have to face it alone with no adult involvement. Their particular brand of ghoul are known as the Melonheads, little mutant menaces that have been feared in the town for generations. And I'm sure you can guess the rest.

As I said this is just pure classic horror. It's well written, sick, gory, scary, and perfect to read on your own in the dead of night. I actually really hope that someone picks this up to make a cheesy horror film out of it, because it would be perfect. I honestly can't recommend this enough if you're a horror fan.

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For a guy who claims he doesn't go in for creature features, Hunter Shea got me again. First time was with Creatures and this time with Misfits.
The creatures this time around are the Melon Heads. Folklore in Connecticut where I grew up has them appearing much the same way Shea paints them in Misfits, but his characterizations and the lore surrounding their origins make them much more terrifying and real than anything I heard as a child in Naugatuck.
But the main crux of the story is the Misfits--a group of semi-stoner teens who encounter and ultimately must face the Melon Heads due to things I can't tell you because they're spoilers.
What isn't a spoiler, though, is the supreme characterizations, the land-and-cityscapes, the personalities, and the sheer ferocity, brutality, and elegance of the language of the book. Descriptions are almost letter-perfect, dialog is spot-on, nothing ham-handed pulls you out of the novel, and it is most definitely a page-turner.
And the thing about this creature feature is that it's NOT REALLY a creature feature. It's a tale that bears some thinking: are the Melon Heads evil for the sake of being evil or are they just trying to get by in their culture? Are they actual creatures or are they little more than an isolated tribe like those in the Brazilian rainforests?
No... not really a creature feature at all. Just a damned good horror novel.

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Some urban myths are that - just myths. In Hunter Shea’s Misfits, this is a false assumption. The urban myth is not just a story parents tell their kids to behave - it is real as five teens are about to find out.

There is something about a cannibalistic, gory, creature-feature story that checks all the boxes. Not to mention the ‘90s feel. The Melon Heads are not something to mess around with and have no qualms about getting what they believe they deserve; revenge or otherwise. These creatures are not all the teens have to deal with. Other humans can be equally as monstrous. Definitely a book to check out, especially if you are building up a spooky reads TBR for Halloween.

Thanks to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press, and Hunter Shea for a copy of Misfits for an unbiased review!

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Hunter Shea’s Misfits is a brutal, wild ride about found family and belonging. It’s incredibly entertaining, packed with frenetic energy, and will remind you what it was like to be a teen fighting against the world with just your friends as allies. That said, Misfits is not for everyone. It’s aggressive and will leave you feeling like you’re covered in mud. But it asks the questions, what lengths would you go to, and what would you sacrifice, to protect your own found family when the world seems to be literally ripping each of you apart?

Mick, Vent, Chuck, Heidi, and Marnie are best friends, living in a small Connecticut town in the early 1990s. They’re the stoner grunge kids at their high school; more outcast than not. Most of them come from broken, abusive, or (at the very least) challenging homes. Most of them are neglected. But they have each other, and that’s what counts. When one of their own is brutally assaulted, they decide to take justice into their own hands. They take the attacker out to the woods and leave them for the Mellon Heads. The Mellon Heads are an old Connecticut folktale: deformed, violent, feral humans living out in the dark depths of the New England forests. Their plan backfires, however, and they find themselves in more trouble than they could have ever imagined.

The horror in this book stems from both fantastical folklore and the real world. Misfits deals a lot with the concept of belonging, as the name suggests. Our main characters and heroes feel themselves to be misfits and are certainly viewed that way by others. Their status as such make them easy targets for those looking to cause harm or take advantage. The villains of the story are also all misfits, some in a more conventional sense than others.

It’s not hard to feel sympathy for our main crew. We’ve all known kids like this or were kids like this. Shea builds that attachment between reader and heroes, and then exploits the fuck out of it. It’s made clear from the beginning that this is a group of kids who bad things happen to in life, regardless of whether it’s a monster delivering the blows or society at large. Despite knowing this, or perhaps because of it, you become invested in their journey. Just be prepared.

Shea’s writing had me on the edge of my seat throughout the entire book. Misfits starts with a crushing bang and increases in pace throughout. There are twists, insurmountable odds, extreme acts of love and heroism, and heart-wrenching losses. It was this characteristic of Misfits in particular that really hooked me and left me thirsting for more of Shea’s writing.

I recommend Misfits to people who enjoy The Hills Have Eyes, Mandy, Alice in Chains, and lots of blood and guts. It feels kind of like getting wasted on Smirnoff Ice in your friend of a friend’s cousin’s barn. It leaves you rattled and probably sick as hell, but there is a lot of heart there and a hell of a lot of entertainment.

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I’m always ready for another Hunter Shea book and this was another dive into horror and strangeness.

Meet the misfits. A group of five friends, all with a boat load of baggage. When one of them is beaten and raped, they band together to get revenge. But when things go horribly wrong, the instruments of their revenge want some of their own.

I remember hearing about Melon Heads, either through movies or books. Hunter unleashes these beings in the first chapter of the book and man, it is scary. What an opening for a book that keeps on scaring me. The whole time I read, I felt a bit uncomfortable, edgy. The group of friends and the melon heads got pretty ugly as they set about getting their pounds of flesh. Some scenes made me cringe. And the author doesn’t let up. The closer I got to the end, I couldn’t see how he would wrap it up. Eww, I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.

For fans of icy fingers up and down the spine, Hunter Shea delivers.

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Well, Misfits had me cringing a lot, there was no shortage of horror here, and I enjoyed this latest release by Hunter Shea. He’s on my list of go to authors I can count on to write a great story. I’d never heard of the Melon Heads, which happens a lot with the monsters and cryptids that Hunter Shea writes about. I’m always happily surprised when I find he has another creature waiting for me. This book wasn’t the usual cryptid story I was expecting, it was far darker, it was very brutal, and left me well shaken.
Misfits will give you a good scare and send chills down your spine. I quickly became attached to this group of stoners, essentially outsiders, and definitely not the ‘in crowd’. Hunter wastes no time in getting right to it with Marnie suffering from a sexual assault. She turns to her friends for comfort and support. All they want is some justice and revenge for Marnie. This sets a series of dominoes in motion that leads to one of the more horrible endings I can remember from Hunter Shea.
As our cast of misfits reach the point of no return in exacting their revenge, they realize it’s a choice they wish they hadn’t made. Hunter, as usual, created images that are burned in my brain while describing the Melon Heads, especially their leader. I’ll never think about ketchup and Play-Doh again, thanks for that! Misfits has a ton of suspense, horror, emotion and nasty double crosses that I didn’t see coming. I believe Misfits is one of the darkest horror stories I’ve read from Hunter Shea. If you’re brave, give it a go, and watch out for those sneaky Melon Heads.

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Thank you for allowing me to read this book.

I love this author and I love that he did a story about the melon heads. The descriptions of them are pretty creepy.

But... It was hard for me to fully enjoy this book because of a brutal rape of a teen and the constant physical damage it did to her. I’m not normally one to shy away from graphic content, but this was just a little beyond my comfort zone unfortunately.

If that is something you can handle, I’d recommend this book. The plot hook is a good one and it is suspenseful waiting to see the melon heads make their move!

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i always enjoy reading Mr. Shea's books, he alwasy has a spooky feel with interesting characters. I really enjoyed reading this book.

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Hunter Shea’s latest novel is a jarring read.
One-part hillbilly slasher, one-part rape/revenge drama it’s a book that embodies the spirit of the pulp horror paperback era of the 90s, with all the unflinching blood and gooey violence that comes with it.
The novel tells the story of a group of misfit teens, who after a brutal rape, decide to seek vengeance and sacrifice the rapist to a legendary race of creatures who live in the woods.
But when the offering goes wrong, they find themselves the target of these backwoods humanoids.
The mix of the monster slasher coupled with the examination of rape and trauma is a strange mash of tones that never really come together.
The rape story, including the ongoing trauma of the attack, is a sombre and serious storyline, yet it's set against an almost comical, fun “b” movie creature feature that sees it lurch from one to the other.
Shea shows off his ability to write fun, gory scenes but it comes with a feeling of trying too hard to shock for shock’s sake.
Many of the characters feel underdone and the dialogue at times, lazy and forced.
Shea has carved a corner out of animal and creature-based horror. And when he’s on point is a storyteller to be reckoned with.
Unfortunately, this isn’t one of those times.
Skip this one and track down a copy of Shea’s excellent Creature instead.

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I have alway heard of the legend of the Melon Heads and so I was excited when my favorite horror author decided to write a horror about them! Though I will admit I am still not sure what to think about the ending for the most part I really enjoyed it.

It's set in the 90's and after a friend is raped a group decides to take out their own revenge on the guy by grabbing him and taking him out to the woods on Dracula Drive. Most of the friends think that the Melon Heads are just a story they talked about and spooked each other when they were kids.

Only two of them actually know there is something really out there though they have never really seen them up close. Mick knows a guy that lives out in the woods on Dracula Drive who knows about the Melon Heads and he gets him to talk them along with the guy to a section of the woods. It was here where things go downhill because there are rules to dealing with the Melon Heads and they break one.

Because of what they did they pretty much bring the Melon Heads down on them and others as well because normally they stay in the woods but they can come out when they want too!

Okay so this wasn't anything to different than your basic crazy deformed cannibal eating horror book but I still liked it...lol. It kind of reminds me a bit of Wrong Turn or The Hills Have Eyes...and I wasn't a huge fan of all of the characters but at the same time I was still rooting for them to survive in the end.

This was just a lot of fun and I almost always have a lot of fun with Hunter Shea books. I think it was the ending that kept this from being 5 stars as it was just to weird even for me...lol. If you like horror then give it a try!

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4 Stars!

I have been reading as many books by Hunter Shea as I can this year. Misfits, however, is not one of his books that I missed. This is a whole new novel by the master of modern monster fiction for his fans to enjoy and I was happy to jump right in for an all new thriller.



Everyone knew not to go to Dracula Drive. Everyone knew about the Melon Heads. Everyone knew the legends but no one believed they were true. Most believed that they were just stories made up to keep wayward children in check. Only a few knew the true secrets of the Melon Heads but they were not talking. There was a code for the Melon Heads, however, and that code was not to be broken. Marnie and her friends were desperate, however, and drastic times call for desperate measures. What started with a horrific crime turned to a revenge scheme that woke the Melon Heads and brought them to war against the humans of the sleepy town.



Marnie and her friends crossed the line when they took one of the Melon Heads own. They had sought revenge on the man who had assaulted Marnie and instead sparked an all-out war with the Melon Heads. The freakish clan had avoided humans for the most part but when Marnie and her small band of misfits killed one of their own, there would be no more peace. The Melon Heads were on the warpath and only the misfits stood in their way. Now the band of misfits must dig into the history of the Melon Heads to discover their weakness. When they learn what is needed to form a truce with the mutants, however, they may find that the price is more than they can bear.



Hunter Shea is in fine form in Misfits. The book my not deal with monsters, per se, but it is still a horrific tale with many of the same elements of a monster novel. The Melon Heads are the perfect foil to the humans: barbaric, simple, and violent with seemingly little reason to their way of life. Their society is seemingly built upon violence and death which makes them the perfect evil for this story. She builds upon their violence throughout the story and they become more horrific by the page. Just when the reader begins to get comfortable with the direction of the story, Shea turns the tables again and the story takes a twist. The story will leave the reader reeling and wondering who the real monsters in the book really are: the Melon Heads or humanity itself.



Misfits is quite simply another fun novel from Hunter Shea. The title is a little ambiguous as the reader makes his way into the story and realizes that the Melon Heads are not the real misfits in this story. This is a monster story, and a very good one at that, but there is also a bit of a heart and social commentary underlying the blood and violence. This is a story of an ancient race of mutants who live in a quiet rural town but it is much more. The reader can revel in the violence of the story and get lost in the action. If you peal back the top layer of the story, however, you will find the second layer of a tale of misfits who my just save the world and this second layer is what makes this book shine.



I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. Misfits is available now.

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Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC of this book. This was a fun "creature feature" style book. The tension builds well and keeps you turning the page. The monsters are well crafted and the human characters are well explored. I would recommend this to any horror fans

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A story that takes you back in time to the 90’s, to an era of grunge and metal music. To drop outs and dead beats filling their time getting high and dropping out of school. In the words of Nirvana’ it smells like Teen Spirit ‘. The author has taken the innocuous name of Melon Heads and turned it into a tribe creature so fearsome and evil that no one believes or wants to believe they exist. Like the monster under the bed , or the bogeyman they haunt the streets and woods, out of sight not out of mind. A book that would translate to the big screen where all the tension and gore can be played out in technicolour. A chilling tale that will send shivers up your spine. With enough gore to please the most gory of horror fans it will please and entice all who read it.

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I’m more a fan of old school horror. Think The Shining, Dracula, and Candyman. It takes a hell of a lot for a modern horror to grab me. That’s why I’m always a bit sceptical to take on a horror review. But Misfits blew me away.

From the very first page, Misfits gave me IT vibes: a brother being killed and a group of friends fighting for their lives against the horror that lurks in the turn. I would even go as far as saying that Misfits is written equally as chilling, and with the same amount of creepy and gruesome scenes. The word gruesome sometimes puts people off. Rest assured that this is no pointless slasher story; it has a really grabbing storyline.

The characters are also really great. I have to admit that at the beginning, I also treated the kids like outcasts. They weren’t like me and I couldn’t understand them (even if I loved the 90s grunge setting). But I grew to like them and their strong brand – especially Mike who starts out as a lost cause. The one thing I didn’t really like was the whole “the men are here to save the day’ aspect. Although, it did redeem itself with Marnie who, in my opinion, had more strength than them all.

I’m excited to see that Hunter Shea has many other books. I’m going on a horror binge!

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