I usually shy away from comparing one author to another but what is most on my mind is that this has some similarities to a few Edward Lee books I've read, except that Misfits is 100 times more terrifying and 100 times less nauseating than those. It also has realistic characters that I actually cared about. I mean seriously I want these people to be OK! I loved everything about this book, from the time period, to the deep and abiding friendships among these 5 high school age kids who would literally lay down their lives for each other if necessary. I suppose that is exactly why they find themselves on a ghastly collision course with horror on Dracula Drive.

"Dare to walk down Dracula Drive,
In day or night, you won't survive.
They wait in trees and hide below,
Hungry for people too blind to know."

I do not scare easily, but from the first mere glimpse of Dracula Drive at the beginning of the book I had the most eerie feeling like someone just walked over my grave. As the story went on I was almost afraid to turn the page, but before I knew it I was reading faster and faster almost like I needed to escape the book before the melon heads could get me.

Why is it always so hard to write reviews for five star reads?

I read The Misfits in one sitting, the moment I finished that opening chapter I knew I wasn't going to put this book down.
I don't even know where to begin.

Let's start with the Melon Heads- Holy shit they were terrifying. Movies like The Hills Have Eyes scare the bejesus out of me and that's exactly what we have here, only these dwell in the woods surrounding a small town.
You know what else makes my pulse pound? Home invasions.
Hunter Shea has combined both in a non stop brutally violent horror story that had me enraptured the whole way through.
I have this weird thing about not putting down a book whilst one of the characters is in imminent peril, well this entire novel consists of that tension.

What makes The Misfits even scarier and gives it real depth is the relationship between the cast of characters. The bonds of real friendship and the 'never leave a man behind' attitude of a group of teens half neglected by their parents was so endearing, I cared about the fate of each and every one of them.

As you'll know from the synopsis the story begins with rape, the event itself is sudden and over quickly. It's a necessary basis for the revenge plot that ensues and the aftermath is continuously referred to, but if like me it's the psychological build up that turns you away from such stories I would say its a manageable evil.

I couldn't find a single fault with this novel if I tried, hands down best I've read of my 50 titles so far this year.

Written in third from the POVs of five friends, The Misfits is a stomach churning terrifier of a book. I highly recommend to horror fans- quite possibly my favourite Flame Tree Press release yet.

Reading Misfits was like re-watching the first three seasons of Stranger Things and rereading Stephen King’s IT; it has a strong sense of nostalgia with a callback to the early eighties while putting the fate of a small town in the hands of a group of young social outcasts.

No pressure.

These group of social outcasts are my favorite character trope to read about, especially given all the bad shit happening to them behind the scenes at home and how much their resolve gets tested and pushed when facing the unthinkable. Each character is as dynamic as could be, haunted by personal demons their collective misery actually encourages a sense of unspoken love they have for each other.

Misfits gets things going from the start and in high gear, finally easing off until you meet the mysterious Melon Heads and realize that facing one evil with another might not work out as well as you had hoped it would.

The action is grim, grisly, and there is barely a moment of respite as Shea expertly conveys the sense of alarm these characters are feeling. The quiet moments in-between the madness allow a brief respite only for the quiet to become unsettling as paranoia creeps in and you’re right there alongside Chuck or Heidi second guessing yourself about that elusive shadow you just spotted behind that trash can in the street.

At this point you’re praying for a shadow person to leap out at you because the alternative is too generous with where their hands and mouths go to be remotely welcome.

Although the concept about myth being a real thing stupid kids realize they should have never messed with, Shea takes every situation you could expect from the horror genre and gives it his unique twist, even at times when you know exactly how it’s going to turn out, you’re strapped in and ready for this conductor to take you on a ride that will leave you beyond squeamish.

Closing off with a unique ending I really enjoyed, Misfits is a bad-ass love letter to small-town folklore and days of past.

This is another really good read from Hunter Shea. He's a master at the horror / strange creature / dark and scary novel and I really enjoy the pure weird escapism of his books and this is no different.

It's about a group of friends and some mystical, horror creatures called The Melon Heads, who come out of the dark and devour people. This gives you an idea of the type of book this is. I would recommend it as a YA but it is very dark in places, but, always with Hunter Shea there is humour.

The Misfits of the title are 5 friends, none of whom really fit in and one of whom has an horrendous experience that the others wish to revenge. What follows is gory, suspenseful and fun and I thoroughly enjoyed the ride.

3.5 stars rounded up for this really good read.

Thanks to NetGalley, Hunter Shea and Flame Tree Press Books for the opportunity to preview.

Just perhaps there is a kernel of truth in some urban legends. For centuries the children of small town Milbury have chanted this little ditty: Dare to walk ... Down Dracula Drive .... In day or night.... You won't survive ... They wait in trees ... And hide below ... Hungry for people ... Too blind to know. No one ventures down Dracula Drive - actually it's Wainscott Road - to venture into the dense woods beyond which reside the Melon Heads. They are theorized as a tribe of disfigured cannibals having their origin in the seventeen hundreds .... the continuing offspring of a line of discarded encephalitic settlers who had been cast out by the founders of Milbury .... they were deemed unfit, both mentally and physically. Fast forward to the 90's ... a group of five teenagers bond together ... they even smoke their first joint together ... and enjoy their music, transitioning from the hair metal music to the new pervasive grunge bands. Everyone in school, including the parents and teachers assume Vent, Heidi, Chuck, Marnie and Mick hang together because of the weed .... but, despite their differences they just click.
Everything changes when Marnie is brutally raped. They know there is no place to turn to for justice. The Milbury Police Department was comprised of asswipes who looked upon them as cockroaches. Vengeance must be obtained at their own hands. After Marnie revealed her attacker, he was captured and brought into the forest and left bound up as a sacrifice to the Melon Heads. However, they have now let the genie out of the bottle ... everything goes off the rails . They have unleashed an all consuming horror upon their city and homes, as the deformed cannibals slither out of their forest.
Hunter Shea spins a somewhat campy outrageous yarn that rivals the cannibal movies of the 90's. Imagine the background score filled with the grunge music of Alice In Chains, Nirvana, Pearl Jam, and Stone Temple Pilots.

(I recieved an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review)

I went into this book seeking the grunge-type misfit group of 90's kids that would eventually fight some malevolent force of some sort in order to save their town. And that's what I got. Almost. Somehow.
It was a good book overall, easy to read and flew by quite fast, but it didn't quite pack a punch for me in order to give it more than 3 stars. I didn't feel that the atmosphere was horror-like enough. It was indeed 90's grunge stuff, but not really thrilling, horrifying, at least not for me.
The beginning and the end were very surprising (the end much more so, for those who have read it, they know) but, as full of battles and murder as the middle was, I felt like I couldn't really enjoy it that much.
I don't really have much to say about the book other than the fact that I enjoyed it, but I don't think I'll come back to it or anything of that sort. I also felt that the ending was quite thrown in there just for the shock factor (as at least for me it was quite shocking). I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to give it a try, but maybe not to die-hard horror fans, because it may leave you very unsatisfied. I'd say it's a no-no for people under 18 tho. Also, keep in mind triggers for sexual assault, drinking, drugs, bad family relationships.

Creature Features are one of my favorite horror sub-genres, wherein Hunter Shea has proven his unrivaled expertise countless times already. So when I spotted the 'Misfits', I knew I had to read it immediately, never doubting that I was in for another treat.

Five friends, a group of outsiders and stoners picked on by their schoolmates, decide to take revenge on the rapist of one of them by means of the 'Melon Heads'. Spooky stories about the Melon Heads living in the woods are told to keep children from venturing into there, while attracting teenagers to do just that on a dare.

Believing they can make a deal, the friends kidnap the man and bring him into the woods for punishment. But the Melon Heads are not easily bargained with, and when the friends realize their mistake it's already too late - now they are on the hitlist themselves, and the Melon Heads are out for the hunt. Which group of misfits will prevail over the other and come out alive?

The 'Misfits' is slightly different with regards to the type of creatures haunting the woods of Milbury, which are more human than the usual animalistic beasts we encounter in such stories. This made room for some very depraved twists only the human mind is capable of devising, and the author mercilessly took advantage of it, right up to the very sick ending - I loved it!

My thanks to Flame Tree Press, Hunter Shea and Netgalley.
I liked this book right up to the 50% mark. I did read more from there, but I was done.
Not scary. I'm truth, this was some stupid shit that may have been scary 30+ years ago. For now? Lame. Really, lame. Listen to every one write up Shea's reviews.
For me? Such a waste of time.

Hunter Shea again delivers the horror. Ultra-creepy creatures called the Melon Heads, dark places, sinister betrayal. Well-fleshed out main characters give the reader a selection of who to root for, with no bad choices. Plenty of action and gore keep the story moving at a fast pace. The graphic, hard-to-read-without-wincing final chapters are a true horror fan’s dream. Add a star if omniscient POV tickles your fancy.

Well this is Hunter Shea so what can you say other than brilliant. I have never read a book by Hunter Shea that I didn’t love. It seemed to me that this book was a little longer than others I have read but that just made more to enjoy. The story was so interesting and the misfits group were fabulous. I didn’t expect what happened to Heidi and it left me wanting to shout at the book for her to run, and the impact to their families was devastating and so sad for the group. I was cheering for them when they went down Dracula Drive on their mission and really did not see the end coming, it was a great surprise and was totally in character for the team. I will always look for more by Hunter Shea and read them with great enthusiasm. Absolutely recommend to everyone. Thanks Netgalley and Hunter Shea for letting us read these books.

First I'd like to thank netgalley for letting me read this book for an honest review. The description had me from start. I'm a sucker for a good story with a great set for friends that will do anything for each other. I also loved all of the 90s grunge references.
This book is definitely a good horror book because at parts my heart was beating out of my chest. Very well written and I will be looking into getting more books by this author.

I’ve read a few of Hunter Shea's books previously and have liked them so when I saw this one on  NetGalley curiosity got to me and I clicked on that request button.

Misfits follows five teenagers who are looked down upon by society and the people in their town. After a horrifc attack on a friend, the group come together to teach the attacker a lesson. The group turn to the Melon Heads for help (You’ll have to read the book to find out more about the Melon Heads.)

The book did take me a while to get into and was a little confusing as we are introduced to the characters, but everything comes together and it all starts to make since.

There are lots of gore details in this book which I loved  in terms of scariness I wasn’t convinced. It’s really hard to explain but I felt there wasn’t enough of that scare factor that I look for in a horror book. Even though this was not scary for me it’s definitely not for the faint hearted.

Although this book had some faults I still enjoyed it enough to give it a solid 3 out of 5.

Before you decide to pick up this book please beware of the trigger warnings below.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, Physical Assault

I would like to thank NetGalley and the publishers Flame Tree Press for my eARC in return for an honest and unbiased review.

A huge thank you to Hunter Shea, Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Mick, Vent, Heidi, Chuck and Marnie are definitely the misfits of their small town, the stoners, the underachievers, the forgotten, the abused. When an truly horrific incident happens to Marnie, her friends rally for their own brand of justice using the legend surrounding their town, but are woefully unprepared for the dark road they are about to travel.

I think that every town, big or small, has its own legends, scary or not. The legend of the Melon Heads that our misfits know is one that is creepy, disturbing and leaves a lot to imagine at the beginning of this story. There were good intentions regarding this little ragtag group, but as they say, "The road to Hell...." In attempting to bring revenge for Marnie, the consequences are truly dire and brutal without apology.

I enjoyed this book, I enjoyed the camaraderie between these friends, the respect and care they have for one another that is missing from home life is heartwarming and heartbreaking at the same time as they go to battle with creatures in the woods who only know how to destroy. I think anyone looking for a story regarding real friendship and knowing who really has your back, urban legends and a bit of gore will get into this book with no problem.

Well this was a blast. Gory, funny, even moving in parts, this is my third or fourth Hunter Shea and he never disappoints.

Set in the 90s, it’s the story of fiver stoner/grunge friends. Coming from dysfunctional families they are outsiders in their own little town. A town that has its own skeletons and myths, namely The Melon Heads, a group of apparently mythical creatures who’s stories have scared kids for generations.

When an unprovoked savage attack happens to one of our five outside of a bar(a brutal rape to be precise) one of the group says he has a friend who lives out in the woods alone who is in contact with The Melon Heads and they should find the culprit and bring him to feed to the Melon Heads!
The rest of the group are extremely sceptical but go along with the plan.

All hell ensues for the rest of the book(in the best possible way). There are several set pieces that are fantastically written. Tension, violence, graphic graphic violence' it has your adrenaline racing reading it.

This book is extremely gory but it is so much fun to read. It’s constantly on a knife edge of over the top violence and black humour and melodrama and personal issues and relationships. It zips along nicely and as usual with Shea, doesn’t outstay it’s welcome.

Shea comes across as an extremely enthusiastic writer if that makes sense. There’s an energy and vibrancy to his books that makes them impossible for me not to enjoy.

The story is a bit bonkers, the main characters vary from very well written to a little one dimensional but it’s just hard not to enjoy the ride with Shea. He tells great stories. I’m yet to be disappointed by him.

Many thanks to Netgalley, Flame Tree Press and Hunter Shea for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is a full-on horror novel that is certainly not for the faint of heart. Lots of gore and scenes of varying violence. Some people might need a trigger warning for this one.
That said, it's masterful in maintaining suspense and an unpredictable trajectory. Changes in pace spare the reader from it being too bleak for too long, but it's certainly not a cosy read.

I can always count on Hunter Shea to deliver a fun creature-feature romp, and while I enjoyed Misfits a great deal I'm not sure I can use the word "fun" to describe it. I honestly wasn't expecting just how dark and brutal this book was going to get, and Shea lets his inner-Jack Ketchum out to play. Over the course of this story, Shea becomes completely unchained, delivering what might be his bleakest, darkest work to date. This ain't no Mail Order Massacres or Megalodon in Paradise, so brace yourselves!

Misfits is built on the urban legend of the Melon Heads, a group of disgustingly deformed inbred cannibals with oversized bumpy heads living in the woods of Michigan, Ohio, and Connecticut. It's this latter state where Misfits is set, in the small town of Milbury, where all the local kids know to stay away from the woods at the end of Dracula Drive (not the street's real name, of course, but the euphemistic nickname the kids have given it), even if they don't necessarily believe what lurks deep within the trees.

Mick and Marnie believe, though. These high schoolers have seen the Melon Heads, or at least something approximating them fleeting through the brush, just out of sight. After Marnie is brutally raped by her ex-boyfriend's father, she and Mick are hungry for revenge and, with their friends, concoct a plan to take Mr. Dunwoody deep into the woods and offer him to the creatures living there. It's a simple, diabolical plan. It's also the start of a very long, very violent nightmare for these kids.

With his latest, Shea takes us back to the early 90s, capturing the grunge aesthetic of the decade wonderfully. It's all flannel shirts, beat-up leather jackets, torn jeans, and backwoods bloodshed set to a soundtrack by Alice in Chains and Stone Temple Pilots, as witnessed through a thick fog of weed smoke. (It's also a bit scary to realize that in another decade or so, if not sooner, we'll be rife with coming of age horror stories set in freaking 2000 to help make me feel even older and decrepit.) Our band of stoners find out way more about the Melon Heads than they had ever bargained for, and that knowledge comes with a heavy price.

Misfits grows more oppressive by the page as our delinquent protags are hunted and subjected to unimaginable horrors. Shea goes there, subjecting both his characters and his readers to some twisted, unsettling scenarios, made all the worse by the simple fact that I actually liked most of these kids. I will admit, it took some time for me to warm up to Mick, whose introduction did little to bring me to his side. When we first meet him, we're given a portrait of somebody who is little more than a bully, shooting his best friend with a BB gun because he thinks it funny and because he's angry at the world. After only a few pages of getting to know this guy, I was ready for him to meet the Melon Heads and get what's coming to him. But a funny thing happened along the way. I got to know Mick better, got a better understanding of his situation and why his friends actually suffer his foolishness, and I wanted to see him win. I also got to know his friends, which made some of Shea's cold-blooded gut punches all the harder to handle.

And Shea doesn't pull his punches in this one. There are a pair of rape scenes in Misfits which might be pretty difficult for some to read. I did appreciate, though, that Marnie isn't a wilting flower. Although she was terribly victimized, her rape does not ultimately strip her of her agency, and she grapples with the fallout as best as she can. She's a strong young woman, and even beset by the physical and mental trauma of her ordeal, she keeps fighting and is able to target her anger and desire for revenge, without sacrificing her basic goodness despite the darkness surrounding her. Writ large, there is some interesting subtext here about how the rape of a young woman threatens the safety of an entire community, and how a thirst for revenge is not so easily slaked. I know there's an over-reliance in popular media of having women raped or fridged in order to motivate the menfolk to save the day, but Shea puts a nice little spin on that by having Marnie commandeer this scenario, acting as the driving force for vengeance against her rapist and instigating Mick into action. What follows is a series of unforeseen consequences that spiral out of that inciting rape, and Shea leads us into some very tight, pitch-black corridors.

Misfits may not have been the fun romp in the woods I was expecting, but it is definitively a Hunter Shea story, and might be the darkest, meanest book of his I've read yet, delivering a terrifying take on the Melon Heads. He takes the serious-as-a-heart-attack stylings he's been developing of late with Creature and We Are Always Watching, and rolls that attitude up with the hardcore monster horror he's best known for. It's bleak, it's oppressive, and it's damn good. Just don't wander into these woods expecting a good time.

A small town with a legend of Melon Heads that live in the woods, strange creatures that prey on those who wander into their area. Few believe in them, and they’re mostly a joke for the kids that live there. But after an attack on one of their friends, a group of misfit teenagers decide to see if the Melon Heads can be helpful to them, to deal with their problems.

Misfits follows five teenagers, all misfits of their town, looked down on, as they try to deal with an attack on their friend, and the following problems with going to the Melon Heads for help. It was a gruesome book, over the top gore, and some really unsettling scenes. There is also quite a graphic rape scene for those that have a hard time reading that, with a lot of lasting effects due to the rape - so content warnings for anyone who struggles with reading scenes like that, especially with the aftermath effects on the character.

If you’re looking for an over the top creature feature horror, with some 90’s themes thrown in for fun, Misfits might be the book for you. Hunter Shea doesn’t mince words when it comes to over the top death scenes, and the book doesn’t slow down at all once it gets started as things spiral out of control very quickly for the teens and their dealings with the Melon Heads. It’s a fast paced, gruesome book, and a lot of horror fans will enjoy that from it.

I did find the rape scene a bit unnecessarily graphic for the surrounding story - it’s very different reading a scene like that versus a gruesome creature tearing someone apart. It happens rather early in the book, and I found that it really hindered a lot of character development that way too, as it stays that that’s the characters defining feature - the girl who was raped. The were no redefining moments, nor did it allow her to grow beyond what happened to her, and I found that really disappointing. My other problem with the book, and I know it’ s set in the 90’s, so the times then were different, but there’s a lot of homophobic sentiments being tossed around. While an accurate fact of life for the 90’s, it didn’t add a lot to the story and it just made the book feel a bit dated when it shouldn’t.

So while the book isn’t perfect, and I did have some problems with it, I still think a lot of horror fans will find enjoyment from the base story of Melon Heads and horror fuelled problems for teenagers. It was a fun story for that, and if you can get past the other aspects of the book, one worth seeking out if you’re looking for a bloody gross read.

Misfits follows a group of friends who summon the Melon Heads to avenge the rape of one of them.

This was an incredibly spooky book with a few gorey and jump scare moments. which in hindsight, is to be expected.

The story is set in the 90's which is great news for those of us who are feeling nostalgic of pre-social media times. How refreshing to read about teenagers who are not on their phones 24/7!

Misfits was great!

Disclosure: I'd like to thank the publisher for my advanced reader copy. This is my honest review.

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Make sure to mark your calendar for the September release of Shea's latest!  Misfits is a fast-paced homage to the horror movies of the 80s and 90s.  You have a group of misfit friends from a small town discovering that the local legends of cannibalistic "melon heads" are all too real.  I was rooting for all of the characters, even had some feelings for the unsavory ones, and Shea has a knack for bringing those creatures of local folk stories and urban myths to life.  Truly not a slow moment in the book.  My reason for a 4 star rating stems from some issues I had with certain parts, but since I received an uncorrected first ecopy I will refrain from going into detail just in case these things are changed in the final copy.   Overall, I would say this is a must read for all horror fans! Thank you to Netgalley, Flame Tree Press, and Hunter Shea for the advance ecopy!

A Hell of a Ride! Maximum Chaos!

Misfits was a novel that took me a moment to get into. Well, at first I was very interested, and then a lot of the characters got split up. I felt that when the group was split the story slowed somewhat, but Hunter brought it back home! However, I am getting ahead of myself.

Misfits begins in a time period that is different than when the majority of the book takes place. Two brothers go down the dreaded Dracula Drive, coined by Milbury kids. One brother schemes to sell his brother out to the fabled Melon Heads in order to receive a favor in return. However, things do not go as expected!

Years later the story really takes off in Milbury CT 1993. Grunge is in full swing. Out with the 80’s hair metal, and in with flannel, tattered jeans, clunky boots, and ratty hair.

As the story progresses Shea centers around five main Misfits. Mick, Vent, Chuck, Heidi, and Marnie. Each one of these characters are all in on the grunge scene, stoners, and listen to only the best music. Most of their families are less than perfect, and some down right atrocious!

Now I’m sure you are wondering about the fabled Melon Heads? Well, they are very mysterious, and Hunter feeds tiny bits of information about them throughout the story. It really keeps the story moving forward!

On a fateful night Marnie is attacked, and viciously beaten and raped. (Shea did a fantastic job of not being too descriptive here, and was very tactful). This is what sends the band of misfits in search of the Melon Heads. Revenge and retribution!

As the story progresses many things go awry. More unfolds pertaining the mysterious Melon Heads, and much blood and carnage! As mentioned before the group is split for a period in the book, and I found this a weak point because the character building waned a bit. However, Hunter rectified this upon their reunion.

I thought I had the whole plot figured out. What was going to happen, what tragedy awaited the misfits, and the fate of the Melon Heads. I was way off! Shea seemingly pulled a one, two punch and knocked me off of my feet! This was a fantastic, and fun read! Hunter really captures the angst and attitude of teenagers during the Grunge era, and the dialogue was superb!

I was really sucked in by the fact that the majority of the story takes place during the Grunge era. I loved the music references, and the nostalgia it had while reading it. Hunter was quick to slip in references of Grunge’s great bands throughout, and I couldn’t get enough because I still love the music!

All in all I give Misfits by Hunter Shea 4 🌟’s out of 5 🌟’s. I felt that the book was nearly flawless, and only lacking a few unanswered questions. My main reason to deduct a star is the fact that when the group is split the character building is a bit muddled, and slows quite a lot. Nonetheless, I would most definitely recommend this novel to anyone looking for a good, creepy, creature and woods story!

I would like to thank #netgalley #flametreepress and #huntershea for the opportunity to read and write an honest review of this ARC. It has been an absolute pleasure, and I am grateful to have been able to contribute my opinion. #misfits