Black Mercy Falls

by Christopher Fulbright, Angeline Hawkes

The small Colorado town of Black Mercy Falls has a ghastly past.

The massive waterfall above the town runs thick with black iron oxide, but there are hushed suggestions that something evil is responsible for the dark waters. Whispers of the locals connect a list of missing children with a diabolical tale of the town's founding father. Is the waterfall haunted? Or is the town cursed by something that stalks its children by night?

Now the waterfall and the land it's on are bequeathed to Lance Evans by his estranged uncle. But when Lance brings his wife and son to explore the inheritance, they scarcely have a chance to marvel at its beauty and settle in to the rustic cabin than good fortune is overshadowed by tragedy. Mists of the past enshroud a dark legacy that threatens to take the lives of those he loves. It'll take all he can do to save them or die trying.

Genres: Horror

207 pages, Mini Hardcover

First published October 1, 2011

About the author

Christopher Fulbright is the author of short stories, novellas, and full-length novels of fantasy and horror. His short stories have appeared in many venues--webzines, magazines, and anthologies--since 1993. Fulbright received the Richard Laymon President's Award in 2008 from the HWA, and his short stories have received honorable mentions in "The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror" and "Best Horror of the Year."

Christopher is a former journalist turned technical writer, but his real job is raising four kids with his wife and sometimes collaborator, the Bram Stoker award-nominated author Angeline Hawkes.

Reviews

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

The setting for this story was just about the most unlikely place you'd expect an overwhelming evil to be harboring in! We start out with Lance Evans, his son Jeremy (from his first wife, who died of cancer), and his new, pregnant wife, Colleen. When Lance finds out that an uncle he barely knew has left him property in Black Mercy Falls, he immediately takes his family up there to check up on things, and arrange his Uncle's funeral.

Enter the most breathtaking, idealistic waterfall you could imagine--right in "his" own yard! Awed by the beauty of this scene, the family is immediately drawn to the source.

What they are unaware of, are the whispers of an ancient evil.
What they are unaware of, are the tales of tragedy--largely swept under the rug by the local, Sheriff.

But ignornace does not equate bliss in this fast-paced novella, that will have you reading through it in a single sitting--unwilling to leave off at any point..

Highly recommended!!

[Benjamin Uminsky · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an introduction to two new horror authors for me, Fulbright and Hawkes. It was pretty good... but not great.

I think the strongest part of this novella was the beginning, in which the reader is treated to strong character development, and an outstanding casting of a gloomy pall over all of the characters and when both Colleen and Jeremy met their demise, it really struck a chord. Unfortunately, I think that the dynamic of the three characters (Rick, Colleen, and Jeremy) was such that when we are left with only Lance for the remainder of the story, the story felt a bit flat and slightly unmoored. This truly felt like a story written by two authors in which perhaps our authors could not agree upon a single direction and tried to include elements of multiple approaches to the story of each of their likings.

Also, I understood eventually how the prologue tied into the overall narrative, but I think it was a waste of pages... not really furthering either mood, plot, or character development. It felt like a cinema artifice intended to draw the reader in. Honestly, the beginning scenes and interactions between the family was more than sufficient to get the story moving forward and captivate the reader.

Furthermore, Lance's direct interaction with the "evil" in the caves was well done, but unfortunately left undeveloped by our authors. Sure, we get gossip, news articles, and innuendo that we hear from the townsfolk about the evil residing at the falls, but beyond that, we never really find out more. The ending came too swiftly, and felt a little cheapened by the deux ex machina resolution. The revelation at the end about the sheriff was entirely predictable and didn't carry the impact intended by the authors.

I think a more drawn out and explored struggle between Lance and the entity would have made for a better story. Nevertheless, despite some of the criticisms, it was a good enough intro to both Hawkes and Fulbright.

[Chuck Rios · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit that this is the first time I have A: ever heard of Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes and B: ever read any of their work and upon finishing Black Mercy Falls I have to say that I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It is a story about mysteries and an old town legend, missing children and a waterfall that spews Iron Oxide, black and fowl. The protagonist, Lance Evans inherits this crazy waterfall and the land that goes with it from a long estranged uncle but when Lance begins to explore the land, a tragic event unfolds and Lance soon finds that the past will quickly destroy the ones he loves.
Black Mercy Falls is a mixture or crime and horror and reminds me of Tom Piccirilli’s stuff but without the hardcore crime scenes. I will be on the lookout for more from this dynamic duo of crime in the future. Black Mercy Falls is available from darkfuse.com in the kindle edition.

[Mike · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story with good creep factor and in one of my favorite genres, supernatural horror.