Two stories, one collection with a twist. The Babysitter Lives was previously released August 9, 2022 as an audio only novella. The Killer on the Road was released in the UK as a standalone novella on June 17, 2025. Together they were released by Saga Press as a double feature on July 15, 2025. A perfect pairing of stories for an old fashion horror double feature.
I was really curious how this was going to work when I preordered it. If you read the book the normal way, you will read “The Killer on the road” until about the half way point. Then you will have to flip the book upside down and around to read “The Babysitter Lives”. Such a cool gimmick and I am totally here for it.
“The Killer on the Road”. I don’t feel like this is spoiler territory, but at the same time I don’t want to ruin anything. If you haven’t read this, feel free to skip the next paragraph. You’ve been warned…🚫
“The Killer on the Road” is like The Evil Dead mashed with The Thing, Urban Legend, and Joy Ride all in one wild horror gift box. This is the perfect hit adrenaline slasher and I was hooked immediately. This story is brutal. The characters are constantly put in situations that just seem to get worse and worse. It is very much like a train wreck that you want to look away but just can’t. I kept hoping at some point the clouds would part and some light would find it’s way through. This is absolutely a high-speed thriller that will make you feel uncomfortable and uneasy from start to finish.
“The Babysitter Lives” is one I have read before. I got the audio book from Audible when it was first released. This is absolutely your classic slasher set up without the slasher. Halloween (1978) was originally titled, the Babysitter Murders I believe.
What if there is a world exactly like ours just beneath our own. Kind of like The Upside Down from Stranger Things. The world is kind of grey, sort of off. This world has the potential to be controlled and to take control of you. Trippy thought right. That is the best way I can explain what is going on in The BabySitter lives. Babysitter Charlotte has noticed something odd about the children she is watching over. The children explain there are funny places that allow you to go between the world. The kids may find it funny but there is something inside there that wants blood and the world itself wants a pound of flesh too.
This is a perfect collection of stories that build the feeling of impending doom and are just unsettling all at the same time. Each one has it’s own style but work perfectly together in this collection. These stories were so good and yet I have a hard time putting into words why. I can just share my feelings and the fact that these were so much fun.
I highly recommend this and give it a🥃🥃🥃🥃🥃. I think I liked the Babysitter Lives even more on a second read and i can’t wait to give Killer on the Road another read to see if it is the same. The Barnes & noble edition had an alternate opening for Killer on the Road and original notes on how Babysitter Lives was imagined which was really interesting to read. As much as I liked the alternate opening for Killer on the Road, I prefer the one that is in the final draft the best.
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