Anais' Annotations: "The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek" By Link Neal and Rhett McLaughlin

Whenever a small town is the center of a plot, you can bet on corruption also being a central theme. The supernatural, on the other hand, is much more unexpected. “The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek” (2019) manages to incorporate both. Written by stars of the YouTube series “Good Mythical Morning,” Link Neal and Rhett McLaughlin, the book is best described as a little spooky, a little funny and a lot of a slow-burning mystery. 

From the jump, you can tell where the heart of this story begins: in the real-life experiences of the authors. Neal and McLaughlin set the piece in a small town in North Carolina. While Bleak Creek is a fictional place, the authors are both originally from North Carolina and grew up as best friends, just like the main protagonists of the book.  

The characters are veiled versions of the authors themselves, Leif Nelson and Rex McClendon. A whole cast of family, friends and other town bigwigs are also central to the plot. 

When I first dove into this book, I hardly expected anything supernatural to come out of it. I was onto there being something in the water– literally– but spent pretty much the entirety of the novel trying to figure out what exactly that was.  

It was more surprising to find that ghosts and a swamp monster-esque situation are also present. I can never resist a good spooky plotline, but I must say that it threw me off in this story. This disconnect is likely due to how deeply rooted the rest of the story is in realism. 

Something about the more supernatural part of the plot really clashed with the other issues it brought up– corruption, moral brainwashing and grief included in that list.

Supernatural elements are almost always used in literature to speak on difficult parts of the human condition. I never felt like that was the message of their use in this work. Even post-read, I am still somewhat conflicted on whether I liked that element or not. 

Besides the somewhat strange inclusion of the supernatural, the narrative moves flawlessly. I was greatly impressed by how the story continuously wove in the elements of mystery, so readers keep guessing.  

There was absolutely no way to predict how things would end. I found myself hunkering down to finish what I had left of the book in one sitting because I was just too deep into the mystery to leave it waiting. 

Fair warning– “Bleak Creek” is considered a young adult (YA) novel, which is something I have struggled with in recent popular books. I still found it greatly enjoyable, even if it sometimes leans too much into the YA genre. For mature readers, some of the plots may seem a little unlikely, so I suggest making peace with that now to enjoy the read later. 

On the note of fair warnings, I cannot stress enough how many dark topics this book goes into. Child death and abuse, religious trauma and some grisly depictions are all part of this story. None of these is bad enough to make for a wholly unpleasant reading experience, especially if one enters the story aware of these themes. 

“The Lost Causes of Bleak Creek” is a fun look at another side of two of the most important internet icons. It is a classic all’s well that ends well take on an exaggerated version of small Southern towns. Between the setting and the nostalgia of the book, I just really loved it. I rate this book an 8 out of 10.