What a wild ride from start to finish! McLeod Chapman really captures the feelings of fear and paranoia from the Satanic Panic period in history. I loved the way this was told, jumping back and forth between the main character as an adult and as a child. The descriptions of the people, places, and mood were absolutely superb. I felt a physical rush from following along as the story unraveled, slowly at first, then full-steam-ahead to the end.

Richard Bellamy has moved his livelihood to the small town of Danvers. There he begins his kindergarten art teacher job as well as his new role of husband and step-father to wife Tamara and step-son Elijah. However, when Richard’s childhood torments begin gradually emerging, accusations of the most heinous crimes begin to surface from the past, linking itself to present day occurrences and beyond. Could history have begun to repeat itself, or is it a disturbing masquerade of sinister intentions?

Set in the 1980s, author Clay McLeod Chapman delves into the horror behind the term “satanic panic” that was so well known within this time period. His fusion of past and present ping pong back and forth with tense, abhorrent subject matter. Having a vessel to guide satanic ritualistic undertones throughout the storyline, Chapman proclaims an evil and combines it with unimaginable coercive accusations. While treading on explosive and edgy topics, the central characters suffer because of hidden implications that are slowly revealed. What happens if you believe in a lie so much it comes true, even if the voice happens to be coming from an innocent kindergartener?

To be the intended target of such a terrible accusation is scary enough, but when it involves children, that fear doubles. This is where the reader will experience how a narrative can become a fountain of false testimony and how evil can be perceived and misconstrued into something that it’s not.

Chapman is a maestro at building grim suspense to the point of unimaginable consequences, proving genuine horror dwells in the world we live in today. Potential psychological damage may not come from a source one expects. It could very well come from authoritative figures such as teachers, preachers, and political leaders.

The reading audience will attend activities such as midnight masses, grave robbing, and satanic orgies involving cannibalism. Introductions will be made to personalities in all their distorted glory; in particular Mr. Stitch, Mr. Yucky, and The Bad Snatcher. These hidden truths and unconventional personas are explored in Whisper Down The Lane, with a plot that subverts expectations.

Readers, be prepared to play a deranged version of the children’s game, Whisper Down The Lane. Hearing classroom whispers of welcoming Devil’s disciples and Satan worshippers to come out and play along with their demented games, will eventually lead to a “damned if you do, damned if you don’t” life lesson. A very strong recommendation to read this one. Enjoy the façade.
(originally posted at mysteryandsuspense.com)

This book is based on real events that took place in the 1980's. Satanic rituals, child abuse-- a teacher is accused of this by Sean, a five year old, one of his students. The more Sean and his classmates are questioned, the more bizarre this becomes. More teachers are charged. I thought that Sean was very easily manipulated by the adults in his life.
Years later, Richard, a teacher, newly married with a stepson, is accused the same way Sean, accused his teacher.
But why? Richard hasn't done anything--or has he?
It was an interesting read. I liked it. I would give it a 3 out of 5.
Thank you to Netgally and the publisher for allowing me to read this book.

3.5 stars

As a huge fan of Gillian Flynn, let me start by saying this book gives huge Dark Places vibes. It's a story told in dual perspective about Sean, who has told a lie that has ruined his teacher's life and Richard, a teacher in the present day whose life is starting to go downhill now that he's being reminded of the past.

LIKES
I loved the general plot of this! Reading from the dual perspectives was cool and finally figuring out how they connected was so satisfying.

I loved how Chapman didn't stray away from the gruesome stuff. Sometimes I would read a sentence and be so shocked and a little disgusted from the picture forming in my mind, but it helped bring the story to life.

I really liked the little details that were part of Richard's story as well. It was just nice reading about mundane staff meetings and thinking about how I felt during them LOL

The 50%-ish mark AKA the moment where I didn't really want to put the book down because I wanted to know what the heck was going on.

DISLIKES
I'm not 100% sure how to explain this, but sometimes the children in the story felt older than what they actually were. It was hard to think about 5 year olds being able to do/say some of the things that were happening.

The ending wasn't my favorite. It felt really rushed and, not really out of nowhere, but as if there should've been more build up to get there.

Overall this was really enjoyable and I'm glad I can add it to my thriller/horror repertoire!

As a young child, Sean told a lie about his teacher, saying what he believed his mother wanted to hear, and that lie spiraled into something much bigger; something detrimental for the targeted teacher.

Thirty years later, Sean is a boy who no longer exists.

But Richard exists and Richard is a man who doesn’t want to remember his past. He doesn’t want to think about the consequences of his choice. But it doesn’t matter what Richard wants. Somebody else wants to make sure he never forgets.

Let’s talk about cute animals first - get that out of the way - because I don’t want you to hate me if I haven’t sufficiently warned you prior to getting you invested in a book that I thought was spectacular. Horror authors - they definitely know how to probe at their readers’ emotions - and I guess I understand why they do what they do sometimes. But I don’t like it. And I know a lot of you won’t like it. So, fair warning: This is a captivating story, but there are two brutally descriptive animal deaths in the book. It’s upsetting. Very, very upsetting.

Okay, so are you still with me? Are you ready to read about how much I loved this book? Good!

I, as a kid growing up in the eighties, with parents who considered Halloween and Friday the 13th to be excellent family movie options, was wholly unaware of the fact that there were other parents burning Cabbage Patch Kids and viewing marshmallows in kids’ cereals as anything other than sweet deliciousness. In short, I was oblivious to this thing called the Satanic Panic. I’d heard some rumors about The Smurfs, but that wasn’t until adulthood. I just… didn’t know.

Whisper Down the Lane weaves that concept into something more. The author creates a situation that involves both mass hysteria and the far-reaching consequences of a lie. In terms of horror, this is relatively tame, aside from the aforementioned animal deaths, but it does give the reader a lot of unsettling notions to consider.

I found this story to be fast-paced and meaningful, with undying relevance in its message. It’s very sad, too, when the impact of one fib is fully understood. The book ultimately challenges the reader with a question: Who is the actual monster of this story?

As long as you can stomach the animal scenes, you may find yourself enjoying this as much as I did. It embraced some of the psychological themes I love exploring and I fully believe that the positives outweigh everything else. This was a clever way to communicate a vital message about human vulnerability. We are often inclined to believe that we are not easily influenced and that may be one of the most dangerous beliefs that we possess.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my digital review copy. I also was fortunate to receive a physical ARC from a friend. All opinions are my own.

I was drawn to this creepy, occult horror novel because it is based on the satanic panic of the 1980s. Twisty and unsettling from the beginning, the story grows darker as it progresses. And, like with most good horror stories, the scariest parts ultimately do not draw on the occult or supernatural elements, but instead on what people do to themselves and one another.

Many thanks to #NetGalley and Quirk Books for a review copy of this book!

Richard doesn’t have a past. He doesn’t celebrate birthdays. He is focused on his future, his new wife, and becoming a father to her son. Richard is a teacher, and when the school’s pet rabbit is found dead in what appears to be an animal sacrifice, he begins to wonder who knows about his past. Richard will be forced to confront the sins.



This story is told in two timelines, Richard in the present and Sean in the past. Sean is a five year old boy embroiled in a scandal very similar to the real life McMartin preschool trial. The teachers have been accused of worshipping Satan and using the students in rituals. Sean’s chapters are very disturbing. The way the child is integrated had me cringing constantly. I found both timelines engaging and disturbing.



Whisper Down the Lane is a slow burn horror that builds to an explosive conclusion. The beginning of the book sets the scene for the true horror to come. I definitely read the last half of this book with the lights on. No matter how disturbed I was, I couldn’t put it down.



This books has triggers. Animal death/torture are high on the list. I found the animal deaths in this book hard to read. They are important to the story, and not thrown in for shock value though.



If you are looking for a slow burn horror story that brings back the Satanic Panic of the 80’s check this one out April 2021. Wear your fitness tracker and let me know your heart rate for the last half of the book. Thank you to Netgalley and Quirk Books for my review copy.

This book takes tension to a new level. Sean Crenshaw is five years old when he makes up a story to please an adult. Unfortunately, that story is one of ritualistic satanic abuse at the hands of a teacher who in reality was completely innocent. Thirty years later Sean, now Richard, finally has to come to terms with the true extent of the damage he caused both to himself and to others.

This is a story of the satanic panic in the 1980's which was a very real event in America where shady psychologists, leading questions, and a totally unwarranted faith in memories recovered via hypnosis led to the trials and imprisonment of daycare workers, teachers, and school administrators. This panic turned into a witch hunt of monstrous proportions and spread quickly throughout the nation. The story relayed through the book is both tension-filled and terrifying as panic spreads throughout a community twice -- once in 1983 and once in the present. However, by keeping the anxiety at a high level throughout the entire book the reader is left so breathless by the end that the books ceases to be enjoyable to read.

This was not quite the occult horror novel I was expecting to read, but nevertheless I ended up really enjoying the story that I read. The early marketing compared this book to Dark Places by Gillian Flynn, but I would rather compare it to something like Night Swim by Meagan Golden, which discusses a controversial topic through the narrative structure of a thriller.

To be clear, this book is more about the satanic panic rather than Satan himself. The story has harm to animals in it's opening sequence, but there is very little beyond that. The story addresses how easily children can be manipulated to provide false testimony through leading questions and the terrible ramifications that result from those false allegations. I would describe this book as more topical than terrifying.

Told of multiple perspectives, I found both the present day and past timelines nearly equally engaging. Shaun was a cute protagonist, highlighting life in the 1980s while Richard's perspective gave an accurate description of the hurdles of both being a teacher and a stepfather. I thought it was rather obvious how the two perspectives were interconnected so there was not a lot of mystery there. Still I found the story to be very engaging. While fiction, this familiar narrative is very much inspired by true events. The ending was perhaps a bit underwhelming only because I knew exactly where the story was going, but I still enjoyed the journey.

I would recommend this one to both horror and thriller readers who are interested in a story that explores the moral complexities surrounding the Satanic Panic of the 1980s.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

I won an ARC from Quirk Books through a Goodreads Giveaway. Alternating between 5 year old Sean in 1983 and school teacher Richard in 2013, this psychological thriller will have you intensely flipping the pages. The author self-proclaimed this book as satanic panic fan-fiction and it doesn’t disappoint. The safety and concern of parents in the 80’s and present, the innocence of children wanting to please adults, how a story changes during a game of “telephone,” the repercussions of childhood trauma are all explored in this story.

Overall, I could guess the ending for the most part – but that didn’t stop me from flipping pages and staying up late to finish this. Fans of Grady Hendrix will like the way this is written. It is horror while also being social commentary. I’m glad I won a copy.

I can recall living through some of the strange moments of the '80s like the sweeping Satanic Panic that gripped the country for awhile, and this novel encapsulates many of those moments quite well. From the media push, the outrageous claims, and the fear that anybody could be a Satan worshiper.

That's just one part of this story though, as the novel follows Sean, a five-year-old boy caught up in a Satanic cult story in the '80s and Richard, an elementary school art teacher finding himself in a frighteningly similar story.

As well as author Clay McLeod Chapman brings a reality to Sean's fictional Satanic cult story, he does an even more impressive job of documenting Richard's slowly shattering sanity as he deals with a Satanic themed attack on his character.

It's incredibly gripping, forcing you to turn each page as you search for the truth of the story. It all culminates in perfect horror film territory, bringing together fact and fiction to craft a terrifying story that could easily have been a warning to parents on any number of daytime talk shows during the '80s. You know this isn't real, but you'll find yourself realizing it could be far closer to truth than you're willing to admit.

As a self-proclaimed true crime buff, I knew I needed to read Whisper Down the Lane by Clay McLeod Chapman. The book gives the satanic panic hysteria of the 80s and 90s a 21st century rewrite. In the story, we follow two plotlines: one set in 1983 and one in 2013. The former involves 5-year old Sean and the latter follows adult art teacher, Richard. Chapters move back-and-forth between the two timelines, but the story isn't difficult to follow.

In the acknowledgements of the book, the author makes a comment about it being satanic panic fan-fiction and that's exactly what it reads like. For those of us who lived through the 80s and 90s, the earlier of the two plotlines is eerily familiar, if somewhat exaggerated. Most Gen Xers and elder Millennials will remember stranger danger and the belief that anyone in a van could snatch us at any moment. The lax parenting of the 70s was widely overcompensated for in subsequent decades. This book explores that and the impact the fear of child-snatching satanic cultists had on communities.

There's an uncomfortable sense of foreboding woven throughout this novel. I could see where the dual plotlines were headed but I simply couldn't look away. The tense narrative kept me turning pages and staying up past my bedtime to read chapter after chapter. I found the behavior of certain characters to be confusing and infuriating, but I still wanted to see how things would turn out.

I would say that this is a successful piece of work and that I enjoyed reading it. I absolutely see myself recommending it to other horror/true crime fan folx like myself. The conclusion of the story required me to suspend my disbelief a little too much, but that didn't detract from my overall enjoyment.

I was so graciously sent this book by the publisher, who has published many books I've loved as well as one of my favorite authors. I'm a sucker for anything horror and anything that takes place in the 80s, so naturally, I was hooked from the start and am so grateful to have gotten the chance to read this gem early.

Inspired by the 'Satanic panic' hysteria of the 1980s, 'Whisper Down The Lane' alternates between two stories in separate time periods that come together in a chilling way. The first strand follows five-year-old Sean in 1983, and what happens when his teacher becomes accused of dark rituals involving the children. The second follows Richard, a young art teacher in 2013, who becomes increasingly unnerved when that same story looks to be unfolding again, with him at the centre of a sinister plot. Though not entirely surprising, the way these strands converge makes the blood run cold, as Clay McLeod Chapman reminds us that ordinary human beings' responses can be more terrifying than any devils. Though there are descriptions of sacrificed animals, dark arts practices and a haunting figure referred to as 'the grey boy', it's Sean's series of interviews with a trauma counsellor that are perhaps the most disturbing passages in the book. Chapman handles the suggestion of coercion and corruption expertly, and these moments had me flicking to the next page in morbid astonishment.
All in all, the book is great at vividly portraying horror, whether folkloric or mundane (e.g. a Sandy Hook denier), and the characters who either seem to fit right in to this traditional small town or go against its grain. Though I wasn't always keen on the chattier style of Richard's first-person account, and felt that the denouement was disappointingly ordinary, I sped through 'Whisper Down The Lane' eager to find out more. Decades after 'The Crucible' and centuries after the witch hunts that inspired that work, the subject of baseless demonisation and corruption of innocents continues to be relevant. For that, I feel I'll be able to recommend this book for a long time yet.