A Blade to Silence the Screams

by Tom Deady

Welcome to Sundown, Arizona. On its surface, it’s just another sun-scorched desert town. But evil dwells here…

A Blade to Silence the Screams

In the aftermath of a deadly house fire, the young survivor tells a chilling tale. “The Devil kilt my auntie and uncle. Kilt them with his claws then set hellfire to the farmhouse.” Deputy John Pierce sets out to unravel the mystery and finds an unsettling pattern of housefires with no survivors. Is there a madman murdering folks and covering his tracks with flames? Or is there something more sinister at play?

There’s a shadow over Sundown, and it carries a blade.


After Sundown

Two years after the events in A Blade to Silence the Screams, evil returns to Sundown. Sheriff Armstrong is found dead with a terrible message for young Deputy Billy Snow written in blood. Snow calls upon his old friend and mentor, John Pierce for help.

Pierce, retired from being a lawman and living the quiet life of a farmer, agrees to assist. What they find goes beyond the purview of the law and they enlist the shaman from a nearby reservation. Ghosts from Billy’s past have come to Sundown, but are they human?

----

This collection of twin novellas from Bram Stoker Award winning author Tom Deady contains two terrifying tales set against the backdrop of the old west.




Tom Deady's first novel, HAVEN, won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. He has since published several novels, novellas, a short story collection, and the first book in his middle grade horror series. Most recently, he compiled THE RACK, an anthology celebrating the bygone days of mass market horror paperbacks. He has a master’s degree in English and Creative Writing and is a member of both the Horror Writers Association and the New England Horror Writers Association. You can find out more about Tom and his work at www.tomdeady.com

Genres: Horror, Westerns

86 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 26, 2024

About the author

Tom Deady's first novel, HAVEN, won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. He has since published several novels and novellas. He has a Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing and is a member of both the Horror Writers Association and the New England Horror Writers Association. He resides in Arizona where he is working on his next novel.
Be sure to follow Tom on BookBub for the latest on sales: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tom-d...

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a collection of 2 short western horror novellas and I read it in a day. Both involve Sundown, Arizona. One is about a man who is trying to quiet the nearly non-stop screams in his head. The other is about a skinwalker. Who doesn't enjoy a good skinwalker tale?

Tom Deady is a great author and these two novellas were a lot of fun and provided a handy distraction from the news of the day.

Recommended, especially for fans of western style horror!

[ScarlettAnomalyReads · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got the chance to read this early and could not pass up a quick read from Deady.

I've been reading him lately and really enjoying his writing style and this was no exception.

Two little shock novellas and while I don't want to pick favorites, I can't help it, I know it's the same world, but the punch the first one served me was a big one.
I loved the back and forth of is it a human evil or supernatural? I always have that same first thought myself when reading horror, but when the characters themselves are also having rhs same struggle, it adds a layer of confusion I love.

Then we have the aftermath, literally in After Sundown.
Will it be enough to satisfy the questions that still haunt them from all those years ago or will they die trying finally finish this off and fight the evil for good..

This is a gorey read, let me put that out there, but the storyline is compelling and I couldn't put it down, it was quick but we'll done.

What a good one.

[Glenn Rolfe · Rating 4 out of 5]

After reading a number of Tom Deady books (HAVEN was AWESOME!), I saw he was putting out something with Cemetery Dance and knew I had to check it out.
After seeing the cover, I grabbed the book, but didn't bother reading the synopsis. And honestly, it took me a bit to realize these were westerns! I don't think the cover has a western feel to it at all.
That said, once we meet the deputy, it becomes clear we're in the Old West.

I liked both of these stories. Great cast of characters in each. I preferred the second story to the first, but an enjoyable short read all around. I would definitely read some more unfortunate events surrounding Deputy Pierce.

I give A BLADE TO SILENCE THE SCREAMS 4 high noon stars!

[Richard Quist · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Blade to Silence the Screams is a quick, fun read. I haven't read a lot of "old West horror" but Tom Deady really delivers in this ~85 page book, touching on both the horror of mental illness and more "traditional" horror elements. The town of Sundown is the perfect setting for the connected pair of novellas and showcases Deady's obvious love for westerns.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars, rounded up for Goodreads.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's been impossible for me to resist the name of Tom Deady on a book - it's an instant buy from me, with all the high praise every book of his deserves! It's the first time I get an ARC of his on my hands, however, and my joy of reading his work in advance cannot be easily described, so I won't even try. "A Blade to Silence the Screams" was a one-sitting read for me: even such a short Deady book is a sheer pleasure to read, even if -or especially because- the happenings in the stories are often macabre, violent, and brutal.

The book contains two novellas of Western Horror, neither of which is of the extreme/splatterpunk or the weird kind; the first revolves around a deranged serial killer, the second around the supernatural threat of shape-shifting monsters. Both stories are straightforward, deceptively easy reads, very much quiet horror in tone, the second story picking up a couple years after the first. The brutality of the events (especially in the first story) is counterbalanced by the terrific characterization and the honesty of the main character (John Pierce, the town deputy). This is especially true of the first story (the titular "A Blade to Silence the Screams"), whose gory opening finds its counterweight in the relatabilty of John, a man struggling to keep the law amidst cases of housefires, mob justice, personal loss, and dreams of settling down and becoming (again) a family man. And he's not the only honest man in town! It's refreshing to see people supporting John and trying to be honest themselves. Somehow, I've felt that these traits (truth and honesty) have been missing from current western horror stories. "After Sundown," the second story, also with John as the main character, also told in first person from his own POV, finds him retired, with a new family, and a farmer. The moment his help is asked, however, he responds, and some terrific supernatural shenanigans develop, although most of the violence and the gore is not shown on the page. Still, the tale has plenty of action, as the monsters decide to attack the sherriff's office, and John has to defend not only himself but also the new Deputy, his old pal Billy. I especially liked the character of the shaman who's drawn into the story; in fact, I liked all the characters and would enjoy seeing more of them.

[Aaron B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two short novellas tied together by geography (Sundown, AZ) and character's history tell a Western story of psychopaths behaving badly and the actions taken by survivors and lawmen to thwart them. This is a quick read offered by the Cemetery Dance Paperback Book Club and available on KU. There are horrific scenes, cruel deeds and derring-do aplenty. Well worth the hour or so it'll take to read it.

[Robert · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good Western Horror

I enjoyed reading this horror western. I look forward to reading more adventures with these characters. 2 good shorts in one book.

[Mary · Rating 5 out of 5]

There were actually two short stories; A Blade to Silence the Screams and After Sundown. The same characters were in both. After Sundown took place two years after the events in A Blade to to Silence the Screams. In the first story there was a deadly house fire. The young survivor tells a chilling tale about how the devil killed her aunt and uncle using claws and then setting the house fire. Deputy John Pierce sets out to unravel the mystery and finds an unsettling pattern of house fires with no survivors!

In the second story, two years later evil returns. Sheriff Armstrong is found dead with a terrible message for young Deputy Billy Snow written in blood. Snow calls upon his old friend and mentor, John Pierce for help. Pierce, retired from being a lawman and living the quiet life of a farmer agrees to help. I thought both stories were very good. They both moved very fast. This is the first time I have read a book by Tom Deady

[Peggy Denton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the first book by Tom Deady that I have read, and I love his writing! I will definitely be digging into his other work soon.

While I love horror books in general, western horror is my favorite. This little story is one of the best I've come across! I fell in love with the characters and the story and hated for it to end!

I can not recommend this book more!

[Alison Faichney · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice little double feature. This was my first work by Deady and he’s got a solid writing style. A Blade to Silence the Screams features two western novellas set two years apart. Both feature a nice cast of characters who mesh well. The first is more of a human horror feature while the second is firmly supernatural. Both were great. I tend to prefer some paranormal vibes anyway, so I’m not surprised that After Sundown was more my speed. I also probably preferred the second novella because Deady is able to build on the initial characterization which was a bit surface in the first story. Overall, both were solid reads.

Deady clearly loves his Westerns and the love shows through the writing. Deady builds on his characters well and they made choices I didn’t see coming and didn’t really fit into the standard tropes which is always appreciated.

If you vibe with western horror then I would definitely give this one a go. It’s not overly gory and while some heavy subjects are touched upon, the worst stuff remains off scene.

[Shannon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Two stories both set in the fictional town of Sundown, Arizona; one takes place a couple years after the other. Deputy John Pierce is the protagonist in both. The first story starts with a killer butchering a married couple, then setting their house on fire to hide his crimes; he didn't realize the couple's niece was living with them, and she survives as a witness. Was the killer human, or as the little girl claims, did the devil kill them? The second story also starts with a murder, but from the start it seems clearer Pierce is dealing with something supernatural. In this case, a Skinwalker.

This was a quick, easy read, enjoyable enough. I like the combination of genres here, western and horror. There's something about a little town in the Old West, isolated, just a small main street and scattered houses and farms, that really lends itself to a creepy atmosphere.

[Brian Mcclain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Western with a little horror

These two entwined stories are solid westerns with just a little horror mixed in. Solid cast of characters and some fun set pieces at a fairly break neck pace.

[Jenni Hurd · Rating 4 out of 5]

Evil lurks in unexpected places.

[Lauren Fitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.6 stars