If I knew nothing going into this book and you had taken out the references to social media and cell phones, I would have sworn Gothic was written in the late 70s/early 80s horror heyday of Paperbacks From Hell fame.  But happily, this book was much better written than a lot of the sludge you have to wade through from that era to find the jewels (outside of the classics, of course).  Gothic revels in all of the dark and gaudy pulpiness of those bygone days with the added benefit of great characterizations and eloquently written passages, and does not hold back on the gory details. 

Things get dark in this book, but I found it more fun than scary.  Despite comparisons of the character of Tyson Parks to Jack Torrance, the sinister desk in Gothic is certainly no Overlook Hotel, but I would recommend this book for other fans of those old paperbacks for sure.  This is my second Fracassi book, after Sacculina, and I highly enjoyed them both.  I look forward to reading more of his work soon.