Body Count by Codie Crowley
Many thanks to Disney Publishing
Worldwide, Disney Hyperion, and NetGalley for allowing me to read Codie Crowley’s
wild Wildwood horror novel Body Count. I was so excited to find a horror/slasher
book that takes place in Wildwood, NJ. Although Wildwood has evolved over the
years and celebrates its 1950s heritage, it will always be the kind of gritty,
tough alternative to the staid, Victorian (and boring) summer vacations of my
childhood spent in Cape May. There was usually one day out of our trips to Cape
May where we got to go to the Wildwood boardwalk, and it was always the
highlight of my summer vacation. Everything about Wildwood was so alive and
thriving compared to Cape May—the rides, the delicious boardwalks food, the
people, the crazy t-shirts, the talking tramcars! Wildwood is still a fun place
where I take my kids, but there always seemed to be a darker side, like something
under the surface that I could feel was so different in Wildwood than Cape May.
We usually visited during the day because my parents were afraid to be there at
night, and it was usually after some kind of kids fight erupting on the
boardwalk or a stabbing that induced further fear. However, Wildwood was also
the site of one of my most memorable fears when I was a child. In fact, I wasn’t
even sure if this place really existed or if it was some kind of nightmare that
seeped into my consciousness, but after doing some internet research, I discovered
that the Whacky Shack was a real place, and even if the scenes depicted in the
ride were with dolls and mannequins, it seemed real to my 5 year old self.
Maybe my older cousins took me on the ride because I know my parents would
never go with me, and I was too young to go on my own. However, I was haunted
for years by what I saw in the Whacky Shack, and the last sight riders see, a
hand coming up from the toilet, was forever seared in my brain. Codie Crowley’s
Body Count harkens back to these Wildwood days of fear and terror
lurking underneath the boardwalk or tucked away at the ends of the pier. It’s
fitting that Lia, one of the main characters, stays at the Blue Velvet motel, owned
by her aunt, since the book has a Lynchian feel where things don’t exactly seem
right in Wildwood. Like Lynch’s classic film that examines the underbelly of a
typical American town, Crowley’s book also peels back the surface of the island
where memories are made to see what kind of evil and violence is lurking
beneath the surface. It’s a fun and clever premise that anyone whose visited
Wildwood will appreciate. Even if they haven’t had the opportunity to visit
Wildwood, this is still a wild and creative idea for a slasher that haunts the
two female protagonists, Sundae and Lia, as they are both enchanted by the
spirit of a mysterious doowop singer, Holly Jolly, who drowned in a motel pool
after losing his opportunity for fame in a tragic diner fire.
There’s a lot to like about
Crowley’s book, from the young protagonists who battle sexism and harassment down
the shore after the prom to the inventive kills that the malevolent spirit of
the boardwalk enacts to fulfill their need for human life. While we first
encounter the spirit as Holly Jolly, the doomed doowop singer, in the motel
pool when Sundae is younger, there are other very Jersey-centric kills that
happen. I loved that Crowley used these kinds of reference points but also made
it a point to incorporate some of the Weird NJ stories from the Wildwood area for
the kills. For example, one of the forms that the spirit takes in the book is a
giant shark, just like the Jersey Shore shark attacks of 1916 that inspired Jaws.
Another one of the forms is Tuffy the lion, which I didn’t even know about
until one of the characters reveals that a lion was used in a stunt show in
Wildwood in the 1930s. Tuffy eventually had enough, got loose from its sidecar,
and ran wild on the boardwalk, killing a tourist and terrorizing beach goers. Crowley
includes some other stories from Weird NJ deaths that provide the boardwalk
spirit with a means to terrorize and kill all of the teens visiting Wildwood
after their prom. It’s inventive and a great tribute to how weird NJ is. I also
really liked the characters in the book. The story is primarily told through
Sundae, a senior from North Jersey who returns to Wildwood despite her
misgivings from an earlier encounter with Holly Jolly, another form of the
boardwalk wish-master spirit, in the pool of the motel where she spent the
summer with her mom after they left her abusive father. Lia, the lead singer of
Morticia, heads down the shore to play a show at her aunt’s motel and diner.
For Lia, this show is a shot at redemption after an earlier disaster opening
for a popular band in Philly when she seemed to suffer from doubts and stage
fright, running off the stage before her band’s set began. Lia’s exit from the
stage in Philly was a little unclear, and her bandmates, Edison and Dallas,
seem to hold a bit of a grudge against Lia for squandering their opportunity for
more exposure. Nevertheless, they trek on to Wildwood, looking forward to
playing a show for the seniors going down the shore. Although the book has
strong female protagonists like Sundae and Lia, I loved Edison and Dallas. They
were fun characters who made many references to horror movies throughout the
book. It was cool to see how the different events and kills in the book were
allusions to other great horror films from the 80s and 90s. Furthermore, I
loved the Wildwood references throughout the book. There’s a great scene on the
Ferris Wheel, and one of the first wishes that Sundae wishes for is not to have
to pay for anything so she can have a hermit crab, a classic living souvenir for
any kids visiting the Jersey shore. I also liked that Holly Jolly, the doomed
doowop singer who Sundae first encounters at the bottom of the motel pool,
represented Wildwood’s doowop history. He’s a creepy figure, who like Morticia,
Lia’s band, squandered his one opportunity at success when the concert venue he
was going to perform in burned down. As a result, his ghost haunts the motel
pool where he drowned himself, creating a great urban legend. I was a little
unclear if Holly Jolly’s chance at success was a result of making the cursed
wishes, but he eventually becomes part of the spirit that haunts the boardwalk.
Additionally, there’s a sign in the motel pool that warns swimmers not to open
their eyes under the water, and as Sundae finds out, this is to prevent swimmers
from seeing Holly Jolly and being invited to make a wish with his saltwater
taffy. The boardwalk spirit/genie becomes kind of like a Jersey Shore Pennywise,
drawing on the horrors of Wildwood, emerging during disasters and feeding off the
evil lurking under the boardwalk. It takes different forms and terrorizes the
youth of Wildwood who are just looking to party and have fun.
While the book is a wild and
inventive ride, there’s some questions I had about the events and execution. As
I just mentioned, I wasn’t sure if Holly Jolly was just as tempted by the
spirit for his chance at fame and the fire was like the price he had to pay for
his opportunity. We don’t learn too much about Holly Jolly, except from some
background exposition form one of the characters who works with Sundae’s mom
early in the book and from the lyrics to Holly Jolly’s song. Also, while
Morticia seemed like a great and realistic fictional band, Holly Jolly’s song
lyrics, which are repeated throughout the book, didn’t really sound like a
doowop song. The lyrics are dark and ominous and sounded more like a dark folk song,
like a folk horror song. I thought the lyrics were cool and fit with the tone
of the story, but they don’t seem to work as a doowop song. Also, there are
these images that pair with Holly Jolly’s lyrics throughout my ebook copy. It
was unclear what the images were and why they appear. I wish there was more
explanation about them—what they mean and their relation to Holly Jolly and his
haunting of Sundae. I loved the strong female protagonists in the book, but I
wondered about Lia’s breakdown during her concert in Philly. It’s never really
explained, but Lia seems to also be unsure of why exactly it happened. Maybe it’s
because she’s at the end of adolescence, struggling with her identity and
unsure of who she really is. While Sundae seems more empowered and assured of
her identity, Lia seems to struggle with her sense of self. I wish that this element
of Lia’s identity was explained a little more. I was also a little surprised
that this was listed as a YA book. It’s more of a subversive YA book, where the
characters engage in the kind of debauchery that is often a part of senior week
at the Jersey Shore. I felt like this was probably more appropriate for emerging
adults, like people in their 20s who maybe recently emerged from this period of
their lives. It’s also probably a book I would have read in high school, since
it has elements of It and other great slashers, but there’s a lot of
sex, drugs, violence, and rock-n-roll that some parents might find objectionable
for their kids. Even though I loved learning about the Weird NJ stories interspersed
throughout the book, they were often revealed by a character telling another
character about these backstories. For example, with Tuffy, one of the
characters reveals this story to tell about how visitors to Wildwood have a probability
of getting attacked by a lion on the boardwalk. We also learn about the Jersey
Shore shark attacks in this way. I wonder if these kinds of revelations and
connections might have worked better in a different narrative approach, like
maybe from old news reports or articles dating from the time. This might give
some more depth to the forms that the boardwalk spirit takes on. I wanted to
learn more about the whaler, the candystore keeper, and the railroad worker,
all forms that kill characters in the book. They just kind of appear, and the
connection to the spirit is tenuous and ambiguous, making it harder for readers
to see the connection. Finally, I’m just wondering how a book set in Wildwood
doesn’t include any tramcars. I would have thought there would be some mention
of tramcars on the boardwalk. Nevertheless, Crowley crafts a creative story
that uses Weird NJ history, but I wish that this history, real or not, could be
explored a little more and readers could learn more about the nature of the
events and maybe how they are tied to the evil lurking under Wildwood. Overall,
though, I’m so glad I had the opportunity to read this book. Body Count
was a fun ride that made me ready for the summer, excited to visit Wildwood and
learn more about how weird NJ really is. Recommended!
