If you’re a fan of epistolary or “found footage” horror like me, you’ll understand why I find the genre appealing. When it works, the style can really add to the atmosphere of immediacy and turn even the most played out of ideas into something that feels new and refreshing. It was why I was drawn to Widow’s Point, as well as the fact that it is a collab between an author I already follow, Richard Chizmar, and his son W.H. Chizmar.
Told though a collection of video transcripts, news clippings, emails, and journal entries, the story transports readers to Nova Scotia, where the Widow’s Point Lighthouse has loomed over the rugged shoreline for nearly two centuries. Since then, the building has been the site of many tragedies, from workers falling to their deaths during its construction to the slaughter of an entire family by one of its later residents in the late twentieth century. By 1988, Widow’s Point was shuttered for good. But naturally, those with a predilection for the supernatural or uncanny just can’t seem to stay away. Reputed to be haunted, the lighthouse has drawn no shortage of ghost hunters, paranormal investigators, and thrill-seekers, all eager to tell its story and uncover its secrets.
In 2017, one of these investigators, a paranormal researcher hoping to document definitive proof of the haunting, arranged to spend an entire weekend locked inside the lighthouse. What followed next has never been fully explained, for he vanished without a trace, leaving behind only his recordings and written notes. Undeterred, a well-known online influencer decides to reopen the site years later in 2025, bringing along his own crew in an attempt to succeed where so many before him have failed. Armed with cameras and no small amount of bravado, the team intends to capitalize on the macabre history of the lighthouse but soon discover that some stories are far more dangerous to chase than they are to tell. Needless to say, thing don’t go according to plan.
Widow’s Point is told entirely through a multimedia lens, using a variety of documents to piece the story together. Admittedly, this isn’t the easiest format for audio, and I wish there had been added touches like sound effects or other audible cues to make the narrative flow smoother and more immersive—something I’ve seen other audiobooks to to great effect when it comes to this genre. Not surprisingly, the reading did feel a little flat at the beginning, while I tried to adjust to the Blair Witch docu-style presentation, but things eventually settled into rhythm.
What stood out for me was the lighthouse itself. Widow’s Point, from atop its isolated location looking over storm-battered cliffs, is the perfect horror novel setting. I especially enjoyed the snippets we got of its dark and sordid past, which were scattered throughout the text—brief but chilling accounts of murders, suicides, accidents, and unexplained disappearances that have plagued the lighthouse since it was built. They also do a great job of filling out the lore, reminding the reader that this is a cursed place steeped in blood and misfortune.
But there were other elements that didn’t work quite as well. Maybe it was the format, but the characters never truly came alive for me, as the epistolary style has a way of holding them at arm’s length. I was also disappointed that the audiobook narration didn’t do a lot to bridge that gap. The reading felt flat at times, which only reinforced the sense that the cast was made up of stock figures rather than real people. The middle section also dragged, offering little in the way of plot development. No big surprises or huge twists either, as events and the ending unfolded more or less exactly as expected.
In the end, Widow’s Point probably worked better for me as a spooky concept and setting rather than as a fully realized novel. That is, it makes for a decent enough ghost story, with some extra appeal for readers who enjoy haunted buildings, epistolary formats, or those found-footage vibes in prose. Quick and readable with its fair share of eerie and atmospheric moments, it’s enjoyable but ultimately struggles to rise above being just average....more
