Review: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre, by Philip Fracassi

Title: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

Author: Phili Fracassi

Publisher: Tor Nightfire

Genre: Horror

Date of Publication: September 30th, 2025 

Number of Pages: 416

See it on Goodreads: The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre

Summary

Brimming with dark humor, violence, and mystery, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre is a blood-soaked slasher sure to keep readers cringing, laughing, and guessing until the very last page.

Rose DuBois is not your average final girl.

Rose is in her late 70s, living out her golden years at the Autumn Springs Retirement Home.

When one of her friends dies alone in her apartment, Rose isn’t too concerned. Accidents happen, especially at this age!

Then another resident drops dead. And another. With bodies stacking up, Rose can’t help but wonder: are these accidents? Old age? Or something far more sinister?

Together with her best friend Miller, Rose begins to investigate. The further she digs, the more convinced she becomes: there’s a killer on the loose at Autumn Springs, and if she isn’t careful, Rose may be their next victim.

Review - Retirement Home Slasher

My initial plan wasn't to write a review about The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre by Philip Fracassi, but here we are. It turned out to be such a banger that I simply had to convince you to read it. This is actually a book that I feel extremely excited about, a thing that I haven't felt in a while. 

In this book, you get what the title promises: a massacre taking place in a retirement home. This premise sounded so unique that it made me interested enough to pick it up, even though I hadn't really heard many things about it. But it also turned out to be so much more that I wasn't expecting. 

First, the plot takes advantage of all the slasher tropes you might think of. Rose DuBois is a final girl you don't mess up with, and she proves it in this book again and again. The story is entertaining and the killings are imaginative. While I was reading the book, there were numerous times were I gasped because I couldn't believe how the killer decided to hit - and make it look like an accident. 

Beyond the slasher elements though, this book managed to win me over because it had heart. Yes, one of the central points that also moves the plot forward is that no one really cares if many deaths are happening in a retirement home, even in such a short amount of time. Even the police argues that people are dying every day in a retirement home. In addition to this, we also see how neglected old people are by their children/grandkids because life has got too busy. Or even worse, how little care there is for those that don't have anyone else. 

Yet, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre doesn't leave us with this feeling of neglect. Old age is often depicted as something horrible, something we should put under the rug, and pretend like it's not there. This doesn't happen here. Instead, we see how the residents of the retirement home create a community, build friendships, and even fall in love. They show an immense desire to live for as long as they have left, and I was so happy witnessing that. In this sense, you could even call it a cozy horror. 

When it comes to the characters, Rose DuBois is undoubtedly the star of the book. She's funny, intelligent, and courageous. She deals with trauma from her past, which she recognizes that it still affects her, and when we finally learn what happened to her, we can't help but feel deeply for what she'd gone through. Apart from her though, the rest of the residents are also likeable. Each one has their own personality and passions, which is clear to see. 

As you might be able to tell, The Autumn Springs Retirement Home Massacre was a surprising read for me. Could I find things to nitpick about? Certainly, but I don't want to. I think that it's extremely underrated and I would strongly recommend it. 

Read more of my reviews here.