What do you think?
Rate this book
Into Hell
What do you do when the dead open their eyes?
Meet Stephenie Paige. She finds herself trapped in Hell. Not metaphorically, but physically. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
Meet Carrie, Stephenie’s daughter; she’s five years old and cute as a button. And when she tells her mom that she needs the bathroom, her mom says, “No problem. I’ll pull the car off at the next available place.”
Welcome to King’s Diner, the gateway to eternal suffering.
Carrie enters the restaurant while Stephenie has her hands full at the gas pump. But the pump isn’t working, and the attendant is nowhere to be found. So she steps inside the restaurant...
...and discovers a slaughterhouse. The customers are dead. The staff are dead too. Twenty-odd people, chopped apart with an axe. There’s blood everywhere.
Worse still... Carrie is gone.
Meet Stephenie Paige. She finds herself trapped in Hell. Not metaphorically, but physically. It’s the only thing that makes sense.
Meet Carrie, Stephenie’s daughter; she’s five years old and cute as a button. And when she tells her mom that she needs the bathroom, her mom says, “No problem. I’ll pull the car off at the next available place.”
Welcome to King’s Diner, the gateway to eternal suffering.
Carrie enters the restaurant while Stephenie has her hands full at the gas pump. But the pump isn’t working, and the attendant is nowhere to be found. So she steps inside the restaurant...
...and discovers a slaughterhouse. The customers are dead. The staff are dead too. Twenty-odd people, chopped apart with an axe. There’s blood everywhere.
Worse still... Carrie is gone.
Nook
First published April 2, 2011
11 people are currently reading
76 people want to read
About the author
James Roy Daley
28 books14 followersJAMES ROY DALEY is a writer, editor, and musician. He studied film at the Toronto Film School, music at Humber College, and English at the University of Toronto. He is the author of Terror Town, Into Hell, 13 Drops of Blood, Zombie Kong, and The Dead Parade. In 2009 he founded Books of the Dead Press, where he enjoyed immediate success working with many of the biggest names in horror. He edited anthologies such as Zombie Kong - Anthology, Best New Vampire Tales, Classic Vampire Tales, and the Best New Zombie Tales series.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 9, 2011
This is abysmal. There's a good cop, there's a bad cop, there's a crazy woman making her confession that no one will believe, and a child in peril. You would think that using every plot cliché possible would be enough. Instead, were treated to description that again and again does not describe. Instead, the author says, 'this is like that movie - The Exorcist' or 'this is like that movie - Evil Dead.' Then he makes up for this by describing mutilated bodies and such in and inordinately detailed manner. In fact, the bulk of the book is just that - elaborately detailed descriptions of horrific violence.
I enjoy my fair share of horror, but I had to force myself to finish this.
It's not a book you read, it's one you endure.
I enjoy my fair share of horror, but I had to force myself to finish this.
It's not a book you read, it's one you endure.
September 30, 2012
James Roy Daley is one of those horror novelists that drives his imagination to excess. As I've stated in previous reviews, horror is a gratuitous medium and this kind of explicit detail is necessary to instill the emotion of horror in the reader.
J.R. Daley does not skimp on detail. I promise.
Into Hell is one of those treasures that really knocks Stephen King from his throne. I'm not kidding. The impressive thing is, Daley can do this without inventing new monsters a 'la Clive Barker. Don't get me wrong, that's an impressive feat to accomplish, but taking time-honored boggarts and subverting their tropes makes the horror all the more... alien. By doing this, Daley throws you, the reader into an uncanny valley where even the bad guys aren't comfortable and in control. Talk about disorienting.
Our heroine goes to hell in this book. The title isn't figurative or a metaphor. No, she sincerely rots in the abyss throughout its pages. Why she must, you don't truly know or really care by the end of the book. He doesn't touch on this too much because the terror begins immediately only to have the plot shift halfway through. Before the first chapter is finished, you feel like you are in a solipsistic playset owned by Leopold and Loeb. Genius, relentless, and murderous - fascist. There's two scoops of goop on every page and I guarantee this. But, c'mon folks, hell has to be burly, right? Daley has made this so and you aren't ever quite certain of where you are, even when things look mundane. If hell is this awful, I swear I'm going to be good from now on. No more premarital sex. No more cussin'. I'll even tithe to the United Way.
Most of you reading this have played survival horror video games. Forbidden Siren, Silent Hill, Res. Evil; you know the lot. The feel of this book is lockstep with that immediacy and I even found myself tapping my Kindle in hopes that I could control Stephenie so she could do the right thing. Alas, it is only a book. It's only a book...
Get Into Hell if you really want to experience a mirthless horror (there is no levity here - none) that will leave you second-guessing your atheism. This Canuck has crafted a world so terrible that you can once again fear Ol' Scratch. Canada doesn't mess around. With punk rock they spawned Dayglo Abortions and with literature they present James Roy Daley.
Six hundred sixty-six stars.
J.R. Daley does not skimp on detail. I promise.
Into Hell is one of those treasures that really knocks Stephen King from his throne. I'm not kidding. The impressive thing is, Daley can do this without inventing new monsters a 'la Clive Barker. Don't get me wrong, that's an impressive feat to accomplish, but taking time-honored boggarts and subverting their tropes makes the horror all the more... alien. By doing this, Daley throws you, the reader into an uncanny valley where even the bad guys aren't comfortable and in control. Talk about disorienting.
Our heroine goes to hell in this book. The title isn't figurative or a metaphor. No, she sincerely rots in the abyss throughout its pages. Why she must, you don't truly know or really care by the end of the book. He doesn't touch on this too much because the terror begins immediately only to have the plot shift halfway through. Before the first chapter is finished, you feel like you are in a solipsistic playset owned by Leopold and Loeb. Genius, relentless, and murderous - fascist. There's two scoops of goop on every page and I guarantee this. But, c'mon folks, hell has to be burly, right? Daley has made this so and you aren't ever quite certain of where you are, even when things look mundane. If hell is this awful, I swear I'm going to be good from now on. No more premarital sex. No more cussin'. I'll even tithe to the United Way.
Most of you reading this have played survival horror video games. Forbidden Siren, Silent Hill, Res. Evil; you know the lot. The feel of this book is lockstep with that immediacy and I even found myself tapping my Kindle in hopes that I could control Stephenie so she could do the right thing. Alas, it is only a book. It's only a book...
Get Into Hell if you really want to experience a mirthless horror (there is no levity here - none) that will leave you second-guessing your atheism. This Canuck has crafted a world so terrible that you can once again fear Ol' Scratch. Canada doesn't mess around. With punk rock they spawned Dayglo Abortions and with literature they present James Roy Daley.
Six hundred sixty-six stars.
March 13, 2012
This was an engrossing, original story, that genuinely creeped me out. You empathize with the main characters' plight, and you are drawn into the story immediately. The story itself in summation goes like this- recently widowed Stephenie begins her story in a police interrogation room after something subsequently gruesome went down in which she is being blamed. She then proceeds to tell her side of the story in which she and her young daughter somehow slipped through some time/space rip into hell when they stopped for gas and are now trapped there and forced to re-live a new creative emotional/physical/psychological terror each time Stephenie dies from the previous torture...and so on for ETERNITY. Throughout the story you question Stephenie's sanity, you cringe at author's creative twisted vision of "Hell", and if Stephenie is telling the truth then you are horrified at her predicament and the fact no one would EVER believe you. My only complaint is the ending 1/4 of the novel is a bit weak when compared to the intensity of the rest of the book, but the good parts were great enough that it was still an exciting horror story despite this.
April 24, 2020
Very repetitive with what happens in the storyline. Kind of a twist on the whole zombie thing.
March 18, 2014
I save single star reviews for book I don't plan to finish, and this is the first one of the year. While I've managed to get through several books that are less well written from a technical standpoint, this one is just so overwrought and annoying, I gave up after 43 pages. People yell whole paragraphs of dialogue in all-caps. The main character's inner-voice/demon/whatever taunts her incessantly, sometimes for entire e-book pages in an irritatingly folksy manner.
The author admits in the semi-apologetic author's note that serves as the description for the book that this novel is inspired by Silent Hill, but what I read never seemed to rise above the level of fan fiction.
I just can't handle the idea of another 200 pages of that.
The author admits in the semi-apologetic author's note that serves as the description for the book that this novel is inspired by Silent Hill, but what I read never seemed to rise above the level of fan fiction.
I just can't handle the idea of another 200 pages of that.
August 26, 2011
I'm of two minds about this book, because it really fell apart at the end. The last 1/4 made me think, "wtf, how did the author pull this plot twist out of the air?" But the first 3/4 of the book was amazing and intense. Daley's version of Hell is brilliant, and I found myself not wanting to put the book down at all, because I wanted to see what would happen next.
I would definitely recommend the book, but just keep in mind the ending may not be all that impressive. Just enjoy the gore and terror while it lasts.
I would definitely recommend the book, but just keep in mind the ending may not be all that impressive. Just enjoy the gore and terror while it lasts.
March 7, 2022
It was enjoyable, but by no means this author's best. The whole book contained quite a few cliches and just oddly goofy writing that ruined the setting a bit in my opinion. The first 3/4 was the better parts, then the climax really fell to that sort of writing, as well as very repetitive wording that felt like the author was trying to acknowledge and make excuses for cliches or something. Look at this like a gorey light hearted horror comedy with a sort of predictable twist at the end. If you aren't a fan of Daley's, probably skip it.
October 29, 2012
Oh my goodness - sick sick sick, it just doesn't end, and it gets so confusing, but brilliantly written. The would be another blood splattered triple x-rated horror film. Even so it is not for the faint hearted, violent, and mentally torturing, its just staggering what this woman goes through. I could not wait for it to end, and then could not stand it when it was over.
A must read for fans of sick disgusting violence.
A must read for fans of sick disgusting violence.
January 12, 2013
I made it about half way through the book (because it is actually pretty well written) but when we went from zombies to a werewolf to vampires I just gave up. Interesting concept but too much of a jumble of everything, as though all the elements of the genre were thrown in a blender. Very entertaining to begin with, but the repetition simply wore me down. Cut to about half the length and with some sort of real ending this would have been a great book.
August 6, 2011
This book was scary at times. The writing was adequate, and the story interesting. There were several horror scenarios tied together by the circular "you cannot escape" plot mechanism, which did not move toward a conclusion, or a lesson. Had some unifying concept been used, I think the story would have been much stronger.
September 24, 2011
There were segments this story that were engaging and left me wanting more. Overall it could have used a good editing.
July 26, 2012
Only reason this book gets a four instead of a three is because the setting and atmosphere are very good. Gory as hell and twisted. Slightly lost interest near the end but overall worth a look
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews