Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Red Ice

Rate this book
A festive creature feature!

Chris and Jessica take a brother and sister road trip to Gallipolis, Ohio. Jessica wants to see the famous Christmas lights; Chris wants to travel across the river to Point Pleasant, WV to find The Mothman. Could it be possible that they both unwrap the gifts they asked for? Best Christmas ever?

Unknown Binding

First published November 24, 2023

6 people are currently reading
53 people want to read

About the author

Damien Casey

26 books88 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
34 (40%)
4 stars
30 (35%)
3 stars
11 (13%)
2 stars
4 (4%)
1 star
5 (5%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews
Profile Image for Mir.
4,977 reviews5,330 followers
December 31, 2024
MOTHMAN Mythos + Sibling roadtrip (one likes cryptids the other likes Christmas lights)

A lot of decapitations and impalements and faces ripped off by claws, but despite the gore this is pretty light horror, think more B-movie rather than dark and disturbing.

I picked this up because it was free and it was enough fun that I'll probably get something else by this new-to-me author.
Profile Image for Ghoulfriend_pls.
128 reviews5 followers
December 28, 2025
3.5 ⭐️ Rounded Up.
A fun and quirky mothman Christmas story with lots of gore, action sequences, and Damien Casey’s usual clever pop culture nods and references. Makes some points about culture and society sometimes under a layer of comedy. A quick and fun holiday themed read.
Profile Image for Adam Hulse.
227 reviews13 followers
November 25, 2023
Sometimes you a book release hits the perfect timing. Caught between Halloween and Christmas, I have to say Red Ice falls into that category. Casey brings the cuteness, the laughs, and plenty of cool action set-pieces for all horror fans. I felt like when I was a kid watching Gremlins for the first time. A little scared but cosy and excited at the same time. That's what Casey can do. His books can give you that bit of magic you lost somewhere along the way. I also enjoyed the little streams of consciousness that are used as a character thinking but are actually the author having fun with social cynicism. Buy Red Ice NOW because NOW is the perfect time to read it.
Profile Image for Joe Ortlieb.
Author 9 books12 followers
November 26, 2023
Moth mayhem

Do you like Dog soldiers how about predator? Yeah then throw in mothman and you have red ice. An action fueled joy read like only Casey can do. This one is a banger that needs to be read by all, for all to have a good night. Ok yeah like seriously just read it. Why because it's Casey at his best!
Profile Image for Lance Loot.
Author 7 books31 followers
December 31, 2023
If you're even remotely a fan of everyone's favorite winged cryptid, read this NOW!!!

This book is a freaking burn barrel of red-eyed, action-packed madness paired with the best Mothman origin story ever conceived!

Winter in Point Pleasant has never been as terrifying as this! Don’t eat the yellow snow, but more importantly, don’t approach the RED ICE!!! 🔴 V 🔴
Profile Image for Ziggy Nixon.
1,168 reviews36 followers
December 5, 2025
They’ve all been wrong. This thing is real and not totes adorbs.

< 2 ½ stars. There were parts of Damien Casey's "Red Ice" that one could really love. Like I'm talking "oh I'm getting that tattoo'ed somewhere on my nether regions" kind of love. Then there were parts of "Red Ice" that could drive someone into a rage so complete, that tossing your Kindle would be the mildest reaction I can currently think of… and I am REALLY protective of my Kindle. But if I did decide to suddenly test its flingable Frisbee powers, I would make sure that whomever it struck that it would leave at very least a nasty bruise that wouldn't go away quickly with ice and/or heat. Or light beams or tranquilizer guns either. Yeah, I mean business.

It was made to be the world’s deadliest soldier.

I'll try to alternate a bit here but I'm probably going to run out of good things pretty quickly. First and foremost - and I want each and every one of you to sit up and take note here - this is a freakin' Christmas story that features the Mothman. No, no, no, not just some "oh here he is with all his cryptid friends and they want to join us at the campfire for a joyful song-time" type of youngish adult books that I've patiently perused in the past. No, Casey actually comes up with an origin story for young Lemuel or Lemmy, who was apparently "born" in 1951 where we get to follow with brief glimpses of his sad and tragic upbringing ("He has a son right here. A son begging for love and affection.") until this latest "encounter" in what may or may not have been 2023. Or the year before. Or after. Sorry, but time becomes wobbly (I always blame quantum) but also because Casey stops writing the dates down in his chapter headers, so don't write any of that down in pen. No, instead focus on the spirited use of the actual, "hey look at Mothman's sexy butt" statue in Point Pleasant, West Virginia (don't forget to force some change in there!) which again, get my sincere kudos.

Nine foot tall, no fat to be found. Nothing but skin, bone, muscle, and now anger mixed with confusion.

What was also very neato in my book (I'm so hip!) is that Casey gives our eventually not-so-wee Mothperson some really cool powers besides just being able to fly and rip off peoples' faces whenever the urge strikes him. No, he's got this weird thing he can do - sub- or full-fledged consciously, I'm not sure? - where electronics go all screwy when he's flying around and perhaps even also angry. That means no one can telephone ahead or call for help and that for whatever odd reasons Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and/or Frosty the Snowman are the only musical choices anyone can access during their desperate times of need. It's all very David Lynch-esque in nature (yes, I know he's dead … but his genius lives on!) and I was enjoying the "Twin Peaks" vibes. Or maybe "X-Files" would be more accurate considering that Ed and Ted, the completely not-at-all disguised goverment agents, were regularly on hand and prepared to cover everything up in the interest of national security and all that rot. And if that meant shooting American citizens in the face to protect their freedom, then so be it.

That’s a dinosaur, sure as shit. That or some sort of deranged Sasquatch.

However (yep, it's time for bad things), this was all very difficult to follow as the editing was abyssmal - and yes, that's after I looked for softer words than my original selection. I'm going to just copy here some of my comments from the first Casey book I read, namely, "Bride of the Living Chad" because this is obviously a symptomatic issue in need of immediate beta review fixing! First of all, the basic rules of continuing a statement - including punctuation and capitalization - are not adhered to. This became very!!! distracting as they were not only often wrong, but inconsistently wrong (or conversely, occasionally right). In addition, decisions need to be made in the book to ensure consistency. For example, in this book we meet a young girl named Camory. Or at least that's her name on page 24. Some six pages later she is called Camry and not too many pages after that she's even referred to as Candy. Poor kid: running from a maddened killer cryptid and she doesn't even have her own name to fall back on.

They always forget about Olive: "Olive the other reindeer, used to laugh and call him names…"

Plus, there are so, so many misspelled words (for example: with your eyes, you peek at something, whereas mountains have peaks!) and what I guess count as misspelled words in that I'm not sure what was meant at all (cheao, stans, unkown, etc.). At one point, young Lemmy gums along to a song and I wasn't sure if his eyes were in fact growing or meant to be glowing. Maybe plowing? And this all becomes all the more egregious because this was not a novellette or novella or well-formulated short story of any significant, well, girth. With apologies if I offend any "MothMilfs without kids" - it's a thing!- out there saying it that way. It was only 86 pages long when you carve the extra fat away (I'd like to thank all my cousins, etc.). It was, in effect, an outline for what could have been and should have been a much better and more fleshed out book.

This thing ruined her Hallmark Christmas movie moment and she’s pissed.

As it was, if this had been presented to me written on the back of a few old bank envelopes, I doubt I would have blinked an eye. Casey has a way with words or at very least, a potential for a way with words ("The sound is like a car being dropped into a pool of Jello and bones."). That and what I'm still convinced is a very good imagination. But as it was, this effort was incredibly incomplete, choppy, and desperately in need of expansion into a real, living boy. Um, book, I mean, book. Anyway, Merry Christmas. And cryptids are totally real y'all. So let's be careful out there, m'kay? Oh and don't forget the cool fade to black moment either:

We’ll round all of these things up if it’s the last thing I do.
Profile Image for Craig Matthews.
313 reviews3 followers
December 2, 2023
Red Ice was more of a 3.5*, 7/10 for me, but it feels fairer to round this one up, rather than down, in this case.

Now December is well & truly underway, I've been in the mood to get more festive reads under my belt, and why not one starring everyone's favourite (non-Bigfoot) cryptid? In a lot of ways the Christmas setting here feels a little like window dressing - I don't think the story would materially have to change a lot if it was set at a different time of year - but that's fine for me. Even if it didn't necessarily drive the story, being set during the festive period worked for me, and made it a nice twist on similar stories.

Clocking in at ~100 pages or so, this novella was a quick, fun read. It took me a couple of hours from reading the first page to finish it, and it was enjoyable enough to keep me wanting to read one more chapter. Before I knew it, I'd reached the end. There's some good action sequences throughout, bloody in places but certainly not gory to extreme levels, but despite these acts of violence the author has managed to make Mothman - or Lemmy - a sympathetic character. The details of his history and background really helped flesh him out, making key moments in the story all the more impactful.

To me, I felt like most of the other characters didn't share the same depth - this isn't a massive surprise, as we do end up with a large number of them introduced, and the short form of the story naturally doesn't leave a lot of room for all of them to develop naturally. There were certainly at least a couple of the main characters I did like a lot, however, and not surprisingly those were the ones who I felt we learned more about and saw more of their thoughts and feelings.

Overall, a highly enjoyable short read, and one that's perfect as a December read. It's also the second Christmas-set horror novella in a row I've read that's made numerous punk references, which is a fun coincidence. Highly recommend checking this out if you like festive B-movies, quick action-packed reads or, of course, the Mothman.
Profile Image for Joanna Glispie.
35 reviews1 follower
June 9, 2024
With indie books like this, I always want to give them the benefit of the doubt so I’ll start with the things that I liked: I did love reading about the sites, stores, and vibes i know well from Point Plesant. There were some funny enough one liners. Other than that, the rest of the book wasn’t for me as much as I adore mothman.

Trying to humanize mothman and give him a name, bad father, and love of Christmas music didn’t do what I believed it was intended to do. The writing was about equal to what the average 12 year old boy would have done, down to the poor depictions of women as sexual objects even when they’re supposed to be badass and cool. There were too many character with poor characterization to have any kind of emotional response when they were picked off in the slasher style story, and there were times I had to go back and reread to see where I had missed one dying because it was written more as an off handed comment than an epic and scary moment. None of the characters acted like real people would if their friends were being slaughtered before them, and if someone spoke to me in real life in the way the dialogue was written in this book, I’d laugh in their face.

All in all, it’s so cool to have published work out there, so congrats to the writer for having the courage to put himself out there like this. I finished the book, to respect that fact. But a book that is just over 100 pages long should not have taken me so long to get through.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for ⚕️NurseNan⚕️.
130 reviews5 followers
November 28, 2023
Mothman - the moth, the myth, the legend. Also a lover of Christmas with a backstory that will leave you shooketh. Shooketh I say.

In this story, you find out the Origins of Mothman and his ties to other Cryptids. You also encounter a brother and sister on a holiday vacation that neither will soon forget. Both come face to face in the West Virginia town of Point Pleasant. Mix in some colorful locals and Government officials, and you have a holiday tale straight out of an action movie.

This book made me cry. Actually cry. It is sad, it is funny, it has warm fuzzy feelings and scenes of brutal carnage. Check this book out as part of your holiday readings.
Profile Image for ania | hellishreads.
314 reviews9 followers
December 30, 2023
this was a really quick christmas read centred around mothman! while there’s absolutely horror elements, people being murdered and all, it’s also such an emotional read. who knew you could feel all the feels for little mothman? 🥲

i think it’s a great read during christmas if you want a holiday themed book and would recommend it if you’re into mothman and want a light horror! the only downside to the book is the amount of characters to keep track of, there’s far too many making some scenes too chaotic and confusing. but if that’s not an issue to you as a reader, it’s a delightfully sweet and bloody read.

rating: 3.5 stars (rounded up on here).
Profile Image for Patrick.
138 reviews4 followers
March 26, 2024
This book was fantastic, I’m obsessed with anything cryptic or mothman related! So when I seen this book I absolutely had to read it… and yes it’s a Christmas book and I’m just reading it at the end of march but we’re going to ignore that because never late than ever.. or something like that. This book was fast paced and action packed! The characters were all fantastic! The setting of the book was absolutely brilliant! The story its self was very enjoyable and well thought out! This was a super fun twist in the mothman! If you can get your hands on a copy do it! This is something all horror fans need to read! Who doesn’t love a festive creature feature!
Profile Image for Megan Wintrip.
578 reviews12 followers
December 4, 2023
I'm sure you have all heard of Mothman, correct? I have and I love folklore and anything Cryptid so when I got the chance to read this book I had to!

It's a great spin on Mothman and hey for all we know it could be really how everything happened!

Started as a boy/moth hybrid now a man/moth hybrid... Mothman. Who lived Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and Frosty the Snowman. I think Mothman is still a child at heart but when his "father" tried to end him he did not like people anymore! Now he haunts Mount Pleasant and kills who and what he wants!

I absolutely loved this book!
Author 31 books82 followers
December 15, 2023
Damien is probably the most unique writer I've ever read. While all of his books are extremely different, they each have things in common. Great characters, wild adventures, tons of fun, lots to laugh at, and unexpected events. Anything could happen in a Damien Casey book and it usually does. This was pure escapism. Forget where you are and what problems you might have, grab a big mug of tea, put your feet up, and go off on a wild, unforgetable adventure.
Profile Image for Phrique.
Author 11 books120 followers
December 17, 2023
🦋🦋🦋🦋🦋/5

The only thing better than a good Christmas story is a Christmas story of the Mothman who brings tidings of blood & gore. This was a quick, funny, extremely red Christmas horror story that delivered everything I asked for on my list to Santa. From TikTok’s gone wrong to she-sheds in shambles to YouTubers earning their likes/subscribes, this story was entertaining through & through. Hoping for a sequel or 20, highly recommend this one. Merry Mothmas!
Profile Image for Dion Smith.
511 reviews3 followers
December 15, 2023
3.5 stars out of 5.

This was a quick fun and gory read, I have read a few books by Damien Casey now, and they all have a fun quirky style to them, If you have read any of his other work you will know what I mean.

The only downside to this book, is that I want more of it, I'd love a detailed interconnecting stories, like Stephen Kings Dark Tower universe but with Casey's style.

Profile Image for Cat Voleur.
Author 41 books48 followers
December 1, 2023
This is my new favorite Christmas book.

For those of you who are having a little trouble finding the holiday spirit, I cannot recommend this book enough. It's bloody, strange, and surprisingly heartfelt.

Who doesn't want a little mothman history for the holidays?
Profile Image for Stephanie Sanders-Jacob.
Author 6 books57 followers
December 5, 2023
I try to read a bunch of Christmas horror in December and I was so happy to see this! Mothman loves the holidays, but he’s also a killing machine. It’s tough to be a bug. I really enjoyed this refreshing take on the cryptid. Very fun!
131 reviews5 followers
December 9, 2023
Did someone say mothman Christmas? I enjoyed this so much! Modern themes with gore and humor. The characters were amazing. I was sucked in and fell in love with Lemmy before I was even done reading the prologue. Might add this to my 'will read again' pile
39 reviews1 follower
December 27, 2023
Quirky little Christmas horror

It was cute. Just the right amount of gory.
I would have liked to know more about what happened to Lemmy, but overall I thought there was enough closure.
Profile Image for Horror Haus Books.
534 reviews77 followers
December 2, 2023
I’m a sucker for a good Mothman story and this one slayed. I really enjoyed it. The writing style is on point and there’s the perfect amount of gore & humor.

The perfect holiday read.
8 reviews
December 21, 2023
What a wonderful festive horror novella! The Mothman is officially a Christmas icon now.
Profile Image for Norman Miller.
Author 32 books12 followers
December 23, 2023
A festive tale of a mothman who loves Christmas and loves to spread cheer by splattering jolly blood everywhere.
Profile Image for Sarah.
254 reviews6 followers
February 11, 2024
Just the right amount of Christmas and mirhman goodness. It is fast-paced, well written, and keeps you hooked the whole time. It's probably the best mothman story I've ever read. Definitely recommend
Profile Image for Jason Reads.
30 reviews3 followers
April 25, 2024
Hallmark meets cryptid horror, if that's not a Christmas miracle I don't know what is.
Profile Image for Syd White.
25 reviews
May 23, 2024
Easily one of the most fun holiday horror books I've ever read.
Profile Image for Danielle Yeager.
173 reviews12 followers
December 27, 2024
Damien Casey, Mothman, me... all West Virginians. So when this book came out, I rushed to buy it and I LOVED it! It's a Christmas banger full of action and hilarity. If you, like me, are a lover of cryptids and/or a Damien Casey fan, you NEED this book. If you haven't read anything by him yet, start with this one—'tis the season!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 32 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.