Nat Cassidy's "REST STOP" Is The New Punk Rock Of Horror! (REVIEW)

Do you remember the first time you heard The Clash?  That “what is this, TURN IT UP” moment. At once familiar but different, there were stripped-down cords and guttural wailing but there was something unique about it, exciting and feral. It was a beautiful Frankenstein of sound and attitude paving a new direction that burned so hot and bright it scorched itself into the zeitgeist. That’s how we feel about Nat Cassidy’s “REST STOP.”  A simple premise that escalates into claustrophobia, dread, gore, and mayhem until you’re shaking. Picking up the torch from the Splatterpunk icons of the 80s and carving (literally) a new path that’s an homage to pulp and grindhouse classics yet completely its own. This novella should have a warning label, “BEWARE ALL YE WHO ENTER.”  

Having interviewed Nat about the novella and its origins (you can watch that interview here), we can share that it stemmed from countless road trips back and forth from New York to Pennsylvania. The route passed a roadside stop that got Nat's imagination firing, and the rest is, as they say, history—bloody, bloody history.  The premise is one everyone can relate to, a quick stop on the road to grab some junk and have a pee.  What could go wrong? Turns out plenty and that’s where all the fun starts.

Abe, our protagonist, is in limbo.  Stuck in a rut with his love life, his job, and his family he hits the road to visit his grandmother, Bobbi, who’s had a stroke. Cruising along listening to his favorite yacht rock, trying to get the girl he can’t have out of his mind, Abe pulls into a rest stop to grab some snacks and hit the bathroom.  Barely registering that, even though there are a few cars, including a van with a deeply troubling license plate, there’s no one inside the store. No one at all. It’s not until he tries to leave the bathroom that he realizes he’s stuck inside, or maybe someone locked him in. But why? That’s when the things start falling from the vent in the ceiling…living things…living things with fangs! The creepy crawlies turn out to be the least of Abe’s problems when he realizes that there's a person on the other side of the door that's responsible for his evolving Hell. From that point until the last page the reader is subjected to wave after wave of escalating insanity as Abe, the man whose life until this point has been defined by inaction and inertia must now become a person completely foreign to him, the hero. 

This is an experiment in fear but also a deeper exploration of the banality and randomness of violence.  The propulsive scenes of action and madness are balanced with flashbacks to Bobbi’s cold manner with Abe growing up, feeling his generation lacked the grit to overcome adversity, too soft to have lived through the unspoken horrors she survived in Poland after the war. The rhythm of these scenes elevates the story, giving us a deeper understanding of Abe and his motivations.  His eventual transformation from paralyzed victim to reluctant combatant lands.  It feels real and earned because Cassady fills in the blanks. Abe’s decisions are ones we would make, especially the bad ones. His sweat-soaked desperation is almost palpable as you’re reading. This is why “REST STOP” feels like a bold new direction in a post Splatterpunk world. We believe this work will eventually become referred to as one of the modern classics that reinvented a sub-genre for a new audience eager to dive headfirst into terror.

“REST STOP” was released from Shortwave Publishing on October 15th. You can find it here.

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