Amanda Pearson wants a second chance at fame. Once, she had the adulation of fans as she sang her hit single but then she crashed and burned. Now she doesn’t even know how she will continue paying her bills  until opportunity knocks at her door yet again. This time her former manager offers her a chance to gain her fame back. All she has to do is live in a house with five other strangers. There’s just one other catch- one of them will be taking an experimental drug while the others will take placebos. The force behind this opportunity promises no adverse side effects. What could possibly go wrong?
HONEYCOMB is not a story for the faint of heart. Some of the characters start off obnoxious and only deteriorate in their words and behaviors as the experiment commences. And yet, I couldn’t stop reading! Imagine mixing a reality TV show, such as Big Brother, with one of the old (and now deemed unethical) social experiments, such as the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment or the 1965 Milgram experiment, and you have a taste of what HONEYCOMB entails. Those old social psychology experiments have always haunted me, and HONEYCOMB gives readers a taste of what it must have been like to observe or even participate in such an unethical experiment.
S.B. Caves introduces us to the other house residents through Amanda’s eyes initially. One by one, their backstories are revealed, and we see how they ended up in the experiment. No spoilers but their backstories only make their inclusion more horrifying and angered me even more- even for the most distasteful and unlikeable characters. Be warned, however, as some of the comments made by the characters are misogynistic and racist- but all are befitting the de-evolution of the characters and none of the comments are made gratuitously.
HONEYCOMB is a cautionary and very chilling tale about the cost of fame and adoration and just how far some will go to achieve it- and just how little society values some folks. S.B. Caves has crafted a horrifyingly realistic storyline that continues to haunt me after finishing the last page, perhaps even more so with the ending than all the other parts of the tale. If you like horror that is creepy without excess gore, then HONEYCOMB is just what you are looking for!