The Words of Eleven
by C J Aggett @cjaggett.bsky.social)
Reviewed by Matt Adcock (@cleric20.bsky.social)
"Sidney instinctively steps back, his heart racing. The stalker slowly turns towards him, its movements unnaturally fluid, and he feels a chill run down his spine. He swallows hard, dread flooding his veins. In a terrifying standoff, they lock eyes, the stalker's pale blue gaze pierces through the shadows, its unnerving demonic grin spreading wider between those eyes..."
Eleven writers. One isolated castle. A killer premise. What could possibly go wrong?
In The Words of Eleven, Christopher Aggett, Writing Community Chat Show host, brings together a group of horror authors for a retreat that quickly slides into nightmare territory, as the stories they begin to write start clawing their way into reality. It’s a setup rich with potential, blending meta-fictional dread with classic haunted house vibes.
The concept is pure catnip for genre fans: what will these eleven horror writers lured to a remote gothic castle come up with? Will they live to regret their deviant creations? Think Inception meets Scooby Doo.
It’s the kind of high-concept pitch that would make a Shudder exec lean forward, especially if you whisper ‘South Wales community-led horror movie adaptation’ in the right ear.”
So the concept is strong, but for me, the execution doesn’t quite hold up its end of the deal. There are flickers of atmosphere and a few moments where things genuinely click, I liked the castle which has presence, and the central idea is clearly driven by a love of horror storytelling. But the writing varies with some scenes feeling rushed, and character voices blending into each other (am sure a character changed names on one page), and I found the tension kinda stop-start rather than building to a memorable climax.
Aggett’s passion for writing and the creative community is legendary, and his first two books (my review of The Deep series) are great. I love what Chris does championing indie authors and bringing creatives together and you can feel that same energy in this book. I'd like to see this story shine with tighter editing, more show, less tell.
The Words of Eleven is an ambitious horror story that lands a few good jabs but doesn’t quite hit hard enough overall. There’s masses of promise here though.
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