I didn't find this creepy or scary. I did find it to be depressing as hell when all said and done. The tone was uneven and weird. It ended up feeling exploitative like the TV reality show that exists within the book. Maybe there is intent there that I'm missing or something.

The majority of the time the vibes are more reminiscent of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' than any of the horror references that the book eagerly gives shout-outs to (there is literally a character named Stephen Graham Jones mentioned in conversation by full name multiple times, for no other purpose than to have a character named Stephen Graham Jones).

And then the real horror is presented as an undeveloped afterthought. Well the horror is horrible (i.e. bleak) enough that this half-hearted treatment doesn't work for me. The mismatched tone and excess time spent on the wrong side of a certain revelation makes the story feel wildly unbalanced (like a person trying to walk on 'legs the size of fingers', if you will).

Edit: Just discovered that the biggest plot event (the ending) is directly lifted from a classic piece of horror literature that I haven't read. I won't say which to avoid spoiling. But that explains why it felt so out of place. Glad others enjoyed it, but not for me.