Book Review: We Are Good People by Danger Slater

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“People were boorish and crude and ignorant and predictable and they needed someone like me to help them help themselves. This was my burden as a visionary. As a man.”

📚

Logan and Kennedy Hopewell are Good People. Married for nearly 20 years, they’re innovative, generous, creative, accomplished, and caring: community pillars living the Dream and improving the lives of everyone around them — until the morning they awake tethered to their home by umbilical cords. Unable to eat or leave, they’re essentially imprisoned, bodies withering as they struggle to make sense of their mystifying predicament. And when a solution presents itself, it’s messy, leaving them to wonder what they’ve done to deserve this.

We Are Good People is a phenomenal social splat-ire that’s ruthlessly precise in its dissection of humanity. Riddled with purposefully problematic elements and characters, the narrative explores everything from gender stereotypes, cognitive dissonance, political divisions, systemic imbalance, and bodily autonomy to ethics, racism, homophobia, prejudice, discrimination, and more. The dialog — along with protagonist Logan’s private reflections — is deliciously loaded and layered, the plot uber-grotesque and hilarious, producing a mind-bending powerhouse of a story that, in its absurdity, acts as a balm. And what an unbelievable relief it is to laugh at taboo situations that, in the real world, would be oh-so-heavy and anything but funny.

Because what can we do with the literal and existential horror show that is our present day? It’s a place where priorities are warped and people are constantly connected yet completely detached from what really matters. And while tragedy has always served as entertainment, never before has it been on such a massive and readily accessible stage. Full of rage and savagery, it’s bloodthirsty, soulless, and the antithesis of enlightenment, an oppressive burden from which we can’t escape.

And if we continue on as we have, never learning or breaking free, then truly, we’ve succumbed: when we prioritize things over people, we’re trapped, attempting to fill the void and feed the inexhaustible hunger for more that has been programmed into us with an almost biological ferocity. In other words, we mindlessly consume, generating waste and contributing nothing of value to the grand ol’ societal cesspool. And what’s the point? What type of reality results when “the best” are actually the worst, and when the worst view themselves as martyrs and saviors? You get the current “golden age”: a planet hurtling toward cataclysm and a population riven by fear and hate — delusional masses obsessed with appearances, figuratively shackled by vital tethers of their own making.

If this sounds scary and upsetting, it should. Because it is. It’s a nuanced tale that’s brutal and offensive, grotesque and shocking, riveting and merciless, surreal and extreme, absurd and scathing, nihilistic and horrible, ironic and nauseating, symbiotic and parasitic: an utterly brilliant skewering of all things then and now and an insanely original take on the haunted house. A mind-blowing examination of greed and privilege, selfishness and entitlement, ignorance and hypocrisy, and dehumanization and violence: the utter lack of empathy, compassion, morality, and self-awareness that plagues and characterizes modern times.

This is bizarro horror at its finest. The most terrifying aspect is relatability: satire, symbolism, and extreme/bizarre facets lay the groundwork, rendering unspeakable horrors palatable, guiding the reader and allowing room to breathe (and laugh) before delivering a wallop of stark realization. It’s haunting, masterful stuff.

Thank you to Tenebrous Press for sharing an eARC of this forthcoming release, which publishes on February 9, 2027. I've already pre-ordered a copy of We Are Good People for my shelves (and my growing Danger Slater collection) and urge fellow horror fans to do so, as well. And mark your calendars, as we have another new Danger Slater title to look forward to next year: In a Quiet Village by the Sea, which is currently slated for summer 2027 release via Death’s Head Press.

**Content Warnings: Per the publisher: “Being a work of mature Horror, a degree of violence, gore, sex, and/or death is to be expected. Additionally, We Are Good People contains scenes featuring: misogyny, police violence, fatphobia, racism, homophobia, pet death (off-page, non-graphic), child abuse (implied, discussed), abortion (discussed). Please be advised.”

🖤Amanda

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