Four ambitious climbers hike into the Kentucky wilderness. Seven months later, three mangled bodies are discovered. Were their deaths simple accidents or the result of something more sinister?

This nail-biting, bone-chilling survival horror novel is inspired by the infamous Dyatlov Pass incident, and is perfect for fans of Alma Katsu and Showtime’s Yellowjackets.

This is going to be Dylan’s big break. Her friend Clay, a geology student, has discovered an untouched cliff face in the Kentucky wilderness, and she is going to be the first person to climb it. Together with Clay, his research assistant Sylvia, and Dylan’s boyfriend Luke, she is going to document her achievement on Instagram and finally cement her place as the next rising star in rock climbing. 

Seven months later, three bodies are discovered in the trees just off the highway. All are in various states of decay: one body a stark, white skeleton; the second emptied of its organs; and the third a mutilated corpse with the tongue, eyes, ears, and fingers removed.

But Dylan is still missing. Followers of her Instagram account report seeing disturbing livestreams, and some even claim to have caught glimpses of her vanishing into the thick woods, but no trace of her—dead or alive—has been discovered. 

Were the climbers murdered? Did they succumb to cannibalism? Or are their impossible bodies the work of an even more sinister force? Is Dylan still alive, and does she hold the answers? 

This page-turning debut will have you racing towards the inevitable conclusion.

Goodreads Synopsis

Overall Rating

4/5

Spooky Rating

4/5

Quick Take

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer is an ingenious new addition to the survival/wilderness horror subgenre. The novel doesn’t hold back, and sends the reader into a claustrophobic, fear-filled frenzy. Kiefer is already a clear master of literary horror, and I cannot wait for what else she has in store!

Tell Me More

I am not usually a big fan of survival or wilderness horror, but when This Wretched Valley released, I knew that I had to pick it up and give it a shot. The premise and the cover enticed me, and I am always on the lookout for new female horror authors to support. 

This Wretched Valley follows four rock climbers who set off into the Kentucky wilderness to try and scale a new and uncharted slab of rock. However, as soon as they trek to the spot, everything slowly begins to go wrong before total chaos ensues.

From the first two lines of the novel, I was hooked. 

“What baffled them was the skeleton. The other bodies were weird, but they couldn’t figure out the fucking skeleton.” 

This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer

The novel starts at the end with the police finding the remains of three of the climbers, but shockingly, the body of Dylan – the prized climber in the story – is not with them. Each of the three bodies and their states are described, before the story starts back at the beginning and takes us on a moment-by-moment thrill ride into the group’s ordeal.   

The story begins slow, but not in a bad way. It lays the foundation for what is to come by slowly giving us information on the wilderness that the group is going into, as well as some background on each of the characters. However, things start to go wrong as soon as Luke – one of the climbers – loses his dog, Slade, which causes a rift between him and his girlfriend, Dylan. While the group seemingly moves on and continues to try and scale the slab of rock, more begins to go wrong when Dylan and Luke have an accident and Luke is severely injured. From there, the group tries to get Luke out of the forest and back to their car so they can take him to the hospital. But as they soon find out, no matter how far they hike, they always end up back where they are started.

There are so many things going on in this novel, from the accident, to ghosts, to hysteria, that the last third of the novel becomes grisly with gore and terror. I absolutely loved the historical elements added to the novel, and how the history of the wilderness was explored. My only gripe with this novel, however, was that none of the characters were particularly likeable. Therefore, I wasn’t as attached to them and feared for them as much as I would have liked. Some the imagery did also become a little repetitive, but the ending was fantastic, and I found the book to be an overall enjoyable read. 

If you are a fan of survival or wilderness horror with a touch of ghosts and A LOT of gore, you are going to love This Wretched Valley by Jenny Kiefer! I demand that you pick this one up immediately.