Book Review:Wolf Creek: Origins by Greg Mclean and Aaron Sterns

Wolf Creek Origin by Greg McLean and Aaron Sterns

Penguin Australia 287 pages

Co-author Aaron Sterns was at World Horror Con and I saw him speaking on a panel about Extreme horror. I enjoyed meeting him so I decided to bump this prequel up to the top of my TO BE READ pile. If you have not seen the film Wolf Creek I would suggest starting there. It is a great horror film without a shred of supernatural in it. It is a slow-burn that many impatient horror fans complain is to slow. Too bad, it is too me one of the best horror films of it’s decade.

At its heart is an absolutely horrifying character named Mick. Out in the wilderness of the aussie outback Mick hunts down lost tourists from the big city. Quentin Tarantino was such a fan of Mick he wanted to cast the actor in Death Proof (he got a cameo in Django). So my attraction to the book was getting Mick’s back story.

We certainly get that in this book, it also has a similar slow burn to the film. Like the film I have seen internet chatters commenting that some readers were bored. What? I for one was interested throughout. McLean and Sterns do a fantastic job of creating a deep and affecting atmosphere. I was interested in the outback setting in the film but it works even better in the book.

There is a little bit of Mick’s childhood and father, but more about Mick learning about how the outback can be used as perfect backdrop for killing. Mick doesn’t set out to be a killer and indeed the best scene involves Mick confronting a hippie who he helps repairs a truck for.

Does this book add depth to the film? It does, but I don’t think you NEED to read it to get the power of the story. Fans of the film will enjoy the added depth. I knew Mclean was a good filmmaker, and Sterns is solid writer. I look forward to reading stuff he has written out of the Wolf Creek verse.