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The Butcher of Nazareth
Not yet published
Expected 26 Feb 26Goodreads #1 Horror Book to Read in 2026
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"The New Testament à la Cormac McCarthy." –Kirkus Reviews
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Haunting visions drive a grieving butcher to hunt down an obese, pre-ministry Jesus to prevent an age of fire and ash.
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But when the Butcher ‘adopts’ a dead newborn, his hunt for the son of Nazareth takes a personal and horrific turn.
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How does one choose between personal redemption and world-wide salvation?
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From Bethlehem to Jerusalem to Nazareth, familiar events and figures are reimagined with a modern sensibility, building to a gut-wrenching conclusion.
A heart of darkness story that explores: fathers and sons, grief, zealotry, and choice.
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ADVANCE PRAISE:
“Unique and unforgettable. A visceral and immersive work of historical horror - masterfully done.” –A.C. Wise, Out of the Drowning Deep, & Wendy, Darling
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"David Scott Hay is a street preacher for the apocalypse and he's written his own Fresh Testament, filled with grisly visions no amount of bleach will ever rinse out from your eyes." –Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
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"Enthralling, gut-wrenching, and bloody, The Butcher of Nazareth is destined to become a literary classic.” –Pedro Iniguez, Bram Stoker Award nominee and author of Fever Dreams of a Parasite
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“The Butcher of Nazareth offers a rare and uncompromising vision—an apocalyptic gospel where faith is questioned, history bleeds, and humanity must answer for what it dares to believe.” –BookLife
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“DSH’s writing is witty, smart, and precise.” –Chicago Sun-Times
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“DSH has a taut, bristling writing style stacked with compelling ideas.” –New City Journal
---
"The New Testament à la Cormac McCarthy." –Kirkus Reviews
---
Haunting visions drive a grieving butcher to hunt down an obese, pre-ministry Jesus to prevent an age of fire and ash.
---
But when the Butcher ‘adopts’ a dead newborn, his hunt for the son of Nazareth takes a personal and horrific turn.
---
How does one choose between personal redemption and world-wide salvation?
---
From Bethlehem to Jerusalem to Nazareth, familiar events and figures are reimagined with a modern sensibility, building to a gut-wrenching conclusion.
A heart of darkness story that explores: fathers and sons, grief, zealotry, and choice.
---
ADVANCE PRAISE:
“Unique and unforgettable. A visceral and immersive work of historical horror - masterfully done.” –A.C. Wise, Out of the Drowning Deep, & Wendy, Darling
---
"David Scott Hay is a street preacher for the apocalypse and he's written his own Fresh Testament, filled with grisly visions no amount of bleach will ever rinse out from your eyes." –Clay McLeod Chapman, author of Wake Up and Open Your Eyes
---
"Enthralling, gut-wrenching, and bloody, The Butcher of Nazareth is destined to become a literary classic.” –Pedro Iniguez, Bram Stoker Award nominee and author of Fever Dreams of a Parasite
---
“The Butcher of Nazareth offers a rare and uncompromising vision—an apocalyptic gospel where faith is questioned, history bleeds, and humanity must answer for what it dares to believe.” –BookLife
---
“DSH’s writing is witty, smart, and precise.” –Chicago Sun-Times
---
“DSH has a taut, bristling writing style stacked with compelling ideas.” –New City Journal
330 pages, Paperback
Expected publication February 26, 2026
2 people are currently reading
341 people want to read
About the author
David Scott Hay
10 books51 followersDSH is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter. As a novelist, he is a 2x Kirkus Prize Nominee.
He makes a mean old-fashioned and the best ribs on the block.
He currently lives with his wife and son and dog and chickens and a dozen typewriters in a valley between the ocean, the mountains, and the desert.
He makes a mean old-fashioned and the best ribs on the block.
He currently lives with his wife and son and dog and chickens and a dozen typewriters in a valley between the ocean, the mountains, and the desert.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
May 15, 2025
An incredible read. I couldn't stop devouring this book, because despite the pain, the horror, and the inevitability of the beast, I needed to finish the journey, just as the butcher did. David Scott Hay took the familiar stories surrounding Jesus of Nazareth and injected them with black-as-pitch streaks of human greed, malice, and obsession. This effectively takes the heightened, allegorical style of bible stories and turns them a deep and rusty shade of noir. Two-dimensional characters surrounding the classic manger tale become fully realized, flawed, and tortured under David's pen. The butcher himself is a complex and fundamentally human character, and it is easy to feel his pain as we watch him walk the line between the hope and dignity of man, and the cruel, heartbroken destruction of the beast he fears he may become. The best kind of villain is one that is made by circumstances, where we can see ourselves reflected back in the darkest of mirrors. In this case, Hay pulls the strings like a master puppeteer, and even when we see the calamity coming, all we can do is watch. There is no question that the butcher hears voices, but are they from the lord, or from the devil, or from somewhere else entirely? It was extremely entertaining to find out for myself. 5 stars.
December 3, 2025
Full Review
The Butcher of Nazareth is a phenomenal novel. It’s a thought-provoking, profound story told with succinct but vivid prose. Hay’s retelling of the Gospel is dark, violent, and brings a fascinating new prospective. This is easily one of the best novels that I’ve read recently and I highly recommend it.
The Butcher of Nazareth is a phenomenal novel. It’s a thought-provoking, profound story told with succinct but vivid prose. Hay’s retelling of the Gospel is dark, violent, and brings a fascinating new prospective. This is easily one of the best novels that I’ve read recently and I highly recommend it.
May 10, 2025
As soon as I heard the premise for this book (“A participant in the Biblical baby massacre when Jesus was born receives apocalyptic visions of the future and believes he’s on a mission to slay the Son of God”), I felt a powerful need to get my hands on it. I was worried I’d have to wait a while until the release, but I lucked into an ARC copy courtesy of the publisher!
Our main “hero” is [REDACTED], known only as the Butcher for a significant chunk of the novel. Being inside his mind is a frightening and somber experience. This dude has done some horrendous shit in his past, the kind of unfathomable acts no one could forgive. In his present, he’s trying to make up for his atrocities and find redemption. All he has to do is kill Jesus and prevent the birth of Christianity! Doesn’t sound too hard, right? Wrong! The journey our intrepid butcher departs on is brutal and strange. Everyone he meets on the way he views as either a temporary ally or obstacle to achieving his sinister goals. If you can believe it, he’s not the most sociable fella. He’s kinda like a Biblical Anton Chigurh! Even though the Butcher isn’t a “good guy”, I still found myself rooting for him to succeed in his history-altering quest.
The blasphemy aspects of this book are surprisingly nuanced and don’t feel edgy for the sake of shock value like other blasphemous stories. The best kinds of satire have a strong understanding of their subjects and don’t just mock them. If this is a satire, it certainly isn’t the conventional kind. The historical aspects are written in a way that feels respectful of Christian mythology. Once believers get past the disturbing idea of reading a book from the perspective of their Holy Saviour’s potential assassin, I think they would find a story that is profoundly moving under all the horror and bloodshed.
This is the second book I’ve read from David Scott Hay (NSFW was another certified banger) and he continues to impress me with his kickass prose and far out stories that defy easy genre categorization. Seems like I’ll have to try and check out whatever he cooks up next since he’s my kinda writer!
Our main “hero” is [REDACTED], known only as the Butcher for a significant chunk of the novel. Being inside his mind is a frightening and somber experience. This dude has done some horrendous shit in his past, the kind of unfathomable acts no one could forgive. In his present, he’s trying to make up for his atrocities and find redemption. All he has to do is kill Jesus and prevent the birth of Christianity! Doesn’t sound too hard, right? Wrong! The journey our intrepid butcher departs on is brutal and strange. Everyone he meets on the way he views as either a temporary ally or obstacle to achieving his sinister goals. If you can believe it, he’s not the most sociable fella. He’s kinda like a Biblical Anton Chigurh! Even though the Butcher isn’t a “good guy”, I still found myself rooting for him to succeed in his history-altering quest.
The blasphemy aspects of this book are surprisingly nuanced and don’t feel edgy for the sake of shock value like other blasphemous stories. The best kinds of satire have a strong understanding of their subjects and don’t just mock them. If this is a satire, it certainly isn’t the conventional kind. The historical aspects are written in a way that feels respectful of Christian mythology. Once believers get past the disturbing idea of reading a book from the perspective of their Holy Saviour’s potential assassin, I think they would find a story that is profoundly moving under all the horror and bloodshed.
This is the second book I’ve read from David Scott Hay (NSFW was another certified banger) and he continues to impress me with his kickass prose and far out stories that defy easy genre categorization. Seems like I’ll have to try and check out whatever he cooks up next since he’s my kinda writer!
May 23, 2025
The Butcher by David Scott Hay is a wild, original ride. From the first page, the voice pulls you in—smart, sharp, and totally unexpected. It’s the kind of book that feels like it was written with total creative freedom, and that energy is contagious as a reader.
The structure is clever, the pacing keeps you hooked, and the writing has this rhythm that makes even the darkest moments feel poetic. What really stood out to me was how layered it is, there’s grit and humor, but also real depth and heart underneath it all.
I love when a book surprises me, and The Butcher definitely did. If you’re looking for something bold and different, this one’s worth the read.
The structure is clever, the pacing keeps you hooked, and the writing has this rhythm that makes even the darkest moments feel poetic. What really stood out to me was how layered it is, there’s grit and humor, but also real depth and heart underneath it all.
I love when a book surprises me, and The Butcher definitely did. If you’re looking for something bold and different, this one’s worth the read.
December 29, 2025
My strongest work to date. No frills. No tricks. Can’t wait for everyone to read it. Pre-orders will be signed and stamped.
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May 8, 2025
David Scott Hay is a master storyteller, wielding sharp prose like a knife to the throat. Enthralling, gut-wrenching, and bloody, The Butcher of Nazareth is destined to become a literary classic.
May 9, 2025
this book was EVERYTHING!!! Full review to come!!
May 15, 2025
In The Butcher of Nazareth, David Scott Hay uses his distinctive prose and unique tone to play with speculative historical themes like fate, morality, and religion. Through presenting readers with a narrative that reimagines early Christian history, the novel confronts questions about zealotry, control, and belief. The story also poses profound philosophical questions about free will and the human psyche. Through its emotional exploration of father-son relationships, DSH delivers a genre-defying book that prompts social and cultural discussion and promises to be an iconic horror novel of 2026.
This was my first foray into horror novels, and I absolutely loved it! The imagery and the dialogue were so compelling and I can't wait to read more of his work.
This was my first foray into horror novels, and I absolutely loved it! The imagery and the dialogue were so compelling and I can't wait to read more of his work.
Review of advance copy
really well written book, almost like a cronenbergian version of the Bible at points. Only thing I wasn't a huge fan of is how the book is formatted. Tiny font and a ton of dead space on each page.
May 16, 2025
I can be a bit like Charlie Brown with the football when it comes to fictional reimaginings of the New Testament. No matter how many times I'm disappointed, it's a conceptual template I continue to seek out, hoping against hope that the next one will be the one that connects. As such, when David Scott Hay first sent me The Butcher of Nazareth, I was both excited (as a fan of both the form, and his previous work), and a little worried (as a reader already let down by the more famous likes of Philip Pullman and Christopher Moore). But fear not, brothers and sisters - followers of the good books - for I bring you glad tidings of great joy. This one is rad as hell.
Now full disclosure, I ended up writing the introduction for this book, so I'm necessarily biased, and much of what I have to say about it went into that work (which I hope you'll all read). But still, speaking strictly as a reader, The Butcher of Nazareth is a wicked good time. Revolving around Titus, a man conscripted into Herod's mass infanticide (here dubbed "the culling") and subsequently plagued by visions of the future apocalypse he believes will result from that project's failure to eliminate the Christ child, this is a dark, deft, and at times sinfully clever traipse across the shifting desert sands of myth and history in which he sets out to finish the job (with a bigass goat in tow).
In the hands of a lesser author, this whole idea might well have resulted in a one-note polemic against the church, or worse yet, a string of mindless, naughty boy sacrileges, but Hay takes great pains to imbue his characters, both real and imagined, with nuance and depth. His depiction of the young Jesus as a potbellied hippie frolicking with his beloved Mary Magdalene feels sweet and sexy in ways even Kazantzakis wouldn't dare, and in contrasting the small, lunatic horrors of Titus's damaged psyche with the rampant, global horrors still being wrought in the name of a corrupt, crusading religious movement, he offers us a vessel for all our lost and broken faiths.
These characters sense their own importance - their place at the dawn of something bigger than themselves, and The Butcher of Nazareth uses them to ask big questions - namely, would the world be better off if someone had just smothered baby Jesus in his manger? - without insisting on solid answers (as all good Biblical speculation should). And while I've still got a few more Charlie Brown kicks at the New Testament football in my reading plans for this year (Robert Graves, I'm lookin' at you), I feel confident in saying that no one will ever approach the greatest story ever told quite like David Scott Hay. At the risk of a little naughty boy sacrilege myself, I'd say he fuckin' nailed it.
Now full disclosure, I ended up writing the introduction for this book, so I'm necessarily biased, and much of what I have to say about it went into that work (which I hope you'll all read). But still, speaking strictly as a reader, The Butcher of Nazareth is a wicked good time. Revolving around Titus, a man conscripted into Herod's mass infanticide (here dubbed "the culling") and subsequently plagued by visions of the future apocalypse he believes will result from that project's failure to eliminate the Christ child, this is a dark, deft, and at times sinfully clever traipse across the shifting desert sands of myth and history in which he sets out to finish the job (with a bigass goat in tow).
In the hands of a lesser author, this whole idea might well have resulted in a one-note polemic against the church, or worse yet, a string of mindless, naughty boy sacrileges, but Hay takes great pains to imbue his characters, both real and imagined, with nuance and depth. His depiction of the young Jesus as a potbellied hippie frolicking with his beloved Mary Magdalene feels sweet and sexy in ways even Kazantzakis wouldn't dare, and in contrasting the small, lunatic horrors of Titus's damaged psyche with the rampant, global horrors still being wrought in the name of a corrupt, crusading religious movement, he offers us a vessel for all our lost and broken faiths.
These characters sense their own importance - their place at the dawn of something bigger than themselves, and The Butcher of Nazareth uses them to ask big questions - namely, would the world be better off if someone had just smothered baby Jesus in his manger? - without insisting on solid answers (as all good Biblical speculation should). And while I've still got a few more Charlie Brown kicks at the New Testament football in my reading plans for this year (Robert Graves, I'm lookin' at you), I feel confident in saying that no one will ever approach the greatest story ever told quite like David Scott Hay. At the risk of a little naughty boy sacrilege myself, I'd say he fuckin' nailed it.
August 3, 2025
The Butcher of Nazareth by David Scott Hay tells the story of a butcher from Hebron who was recruited to join the bunch of loyalists assigned by King Herod to assassinate all male children ages two years and below in all of Bethlehem (the Culling), in a selfish attempt to kill the new born king of the Jews. Titus, a butcher turned assassin, receives horrific visions from YHWH about a flame deluge destined to take place in a coming generation all because of the one child responsible for the Culling, yet who escaped it: Jesus of Nazareth. This child, who is now much older and fully grown, must be found and killed along with all those affiliated with him, so as to prevent these visions from coming to fulfillment. He is on a mission to save humanity. But on the quest for this Nazarene, he discovers empathy, redemption, and hope. Will this strengthen or shake his resolve of doing YHWH's bidding? Is YHWH guiding him to personal or worldwide salvation?
Opinion:
The Butcher of Nazareth is historical fiction at its finest. It's fascinating just how a tale as old as time gets woven with fiction that is so convincing. It reveals how vastly imaginative the mind of the author is. Titus, the butcher, is a fascinating character who I think is a self-righteous person beclouded with a need for purpose or higher calling. Apart from the main character, Joseph the father of Jesus, was another interesting character. Growing up as a Bible scholar, I've always wondered how accepting any man could be to accept a child that is not his! This book critically analyzed the human nature, and I learned that there are reasons and consequences for every action and inaction. The places the Bible left unspoken, the author dared to speak volumes. This book is a refreshing read for those of us who love to question the truth that has been laid out to us and fills up every crack with the wildest of our imaginations.
Opinion:
The Butcher of Nazareth is historical fiction at its finest. It's fascinating just how a tale as old as time gets woven with fiction that is so convincing. It reveals how vastly imaginative the mind of the author is. Titus, the butcher, is a fascinating character who I think is a self-righteous person beclouded with a need for purpose or higher calling. Apart from the main character, Joseph the father of Jesus, was another interesting character. Growing up as a Bible scholar, I've always wondered how accepting any man could be to accept a child that is not his! This book critically analyzed the human nature, and I learned that there are reasons and consequences for every action and inaction. The places the Bible left unspoken, the author dared to speak volumes. This book is a refreshing read for those of us who love to question the truth that has been laid out to us and fills up every crack with the wildest of our imaginations.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
Look out, bitches — this book is fire. I’m not kidding. It’s so friggen good I’m still vibrating. I devoured all 300 pages in a single day, blew off every Sunday responsibility I had, and even stayed up past my bedtime the night before going back to work after five glorious days off. And I have zero regrets.
If you’re not familiar with the biblical story of King Herod and the Massacre of the Innocents, take a minute and Google it. I’ll wait. (I had to do the same. Apparently my CCD teachers skipped that chapter.)
The short version: a paranoid king hears a prophecy about a child destined to overthrow him, so he orders the execution of every male infant two years old and under. An absolutely horrific historical event.
Enter David Scott Hay, who takes that nightmare and zooms in on one man caught in the middle of it — a grieving father, a master butcher, forced into the ranks of the Black Masks and compelled to participate in the very massacre that stole his own son. Many years later, he’s a man hollowed out by guilt and haunted by apocalyptic visions. Those visions point to a single surviving child, one who slipped through the slaughter. And now this butcher, this broken man, is tasked with finding the boy who got away… and killing him to prevent the end of the world.
What made this book so compulsively readable is how deeply Hay roots the story in this man’s torment. He’s not a villain. He’s a father trying to claw his way toward redemption through an impossible, soul‑splitting mission. The tension between duty, prophecy, grief, and the faintest flicker of hope is just... uuuugh... chef’s kiss.
This book didn’t just hook me. It dragged me by the throat. An absolute must‑read… as long as gory, alternate takes on biblical events don’t send you running for the hills. If you can handle the darkest corners of the Bible (and let’s be honest, that text gets grim), you’re going to have a blast with this one. I promise you.
If you’re not familiar with the biblical story of King Herod and the Massacre of the Innocents, take a minute and Google it. I’ll wait. (I had to do the same. Apparently my CCD teachers skipped that chapter.)
The short version: a paranoid king hears a prophecy about a child destined to overthrow him, so he orders the execution of every male infant two years old and under. An absolutely horrific historical event.
Enter David Scott Hay, who takes that nightmare and zooms in on one man caught in the middle of it — a grieving father, a master butcher, forced into the ranks of the Black Masks and compelled to participate in the very massacre that stole his own son. Many years later, he’s a man hollowed out by guilt and haunted by apocalyptic visions. Those visions point to a single surviving child, one who slipped through the slaughter. And now this butcher, this broken man, is tasked with finding the boy who got away… and killing him to prevent the end of the world.
What made this book so compulsively readable is how deeply Hay roots the story in this man’s torment. He’s not a villain. He’s a father trying to claw his way toward redemption through an impossible, soul‑splitting mission. The tension between duty, prophecy, grief, and the faintest flicker of hope is just... uuuugh... chef’s kiss.
This book didn’t just hook me. It dragged me by the throat. An absolute must‑read… as long as gory, alternate takes on biblical events don’t send you running for the hills. If you can handle the darkest corners of the Bible (and let’s be honest, that text gets grim), you’re going to have a blast with this one. I promise you.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I stayed up well into the night to finish this book. What a moving, troubling, frustrating and yet uplifting novel. Hay has retold the story of Jesus Christ, but from the viewpoint of an assassin who has seen a vision of the end of the world brought about by Christ’s follows in the far future. This is NOT a Bible story, or a religious story. This is the retelling of a fable or a myth. Gosh. I loved it.
The Butcher is a character soaked in blood. To save his beloved family, he was forced to become a murderous Black Mask. King Herod was told that the “King of Kings” bus born in his kingdom. The Black Masks were tasked with killing all the male babies in his kingdom to preserve Herod’s power. The Butcher can never face his family so he runs away to build roads and try and do penance for his murderous deeds.
Hay introduces us to the midwife present at Jesus’s birth, shows us different sides of Mary and Joseph, we meet Jesus and his teachers and neighbors. We meet Mary Magdalene, or Maggie, And we see The Butcher, struggling with what is real, who is giving him his visions, what is faith, what is redemption.
This book is about the horrors of religious fervor, blind faith, love and loyalty.
The Butcher is a character soaked in blood. To save his beloved family, he was forced to become a murderous Black Mask. King Herod was told that the “King of Kings” bus born in his kingdom. The Black Masks were tasked with killing all the male babies in his kingdom to preserve Herod’s power. The Butcher can never face his family so he runs away to build roads and try and do penance for his murderous deeds.
Hay introduces us to the midwife present at Jesus’s birth, shows us different sides of Mary and Joseph, we meet Jesus and his teachers and neighbors. We meet Mary Magdalene, or Maggie, And we see The Butcher, struggling with what is real, who is giving him his visions, what is faith, what is redemption.
This book is about the horrors of religious fervor, blind faith, love and loyalty.
July 1, 2025
What DSH has been able to accomplish over the course of his last three books places him into the rare class of writer who defies genre fatigue, and who embraces the any fiction toolbox to its maximum potential. Subtle notes of Roth, Palahniuk, and now, Wolfe’s Severian, coat the reader’s palate with complex and difficult worlds, begging the question of what’s next?
The beautiful buildup to the Butcher’s story had me hooked. And then the terror was so dark, had to finish the rest in one sitting. Loved it.
The beautiful buildup to the Butcher’s story had me hooked. And then the terror was so dark, had to finish the rest in one sitting. Loved it.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Wow! This book was so much more than I anticipated it to be! We follow our antihero on his journey to dispatch Jesus in order to save humanity......and this long journey is bleak, weird and intense! Also, this is one of the most thought-provoking horror books I have read....it will have you mulling over religion, morality, free will and grief. So refreshing!
June 19, 2025
A wholly original banger with prose sharper than the Butcher's blade. The personal is deftly blended with the apocalyptic, and sincerity and blasphemy walk hand in hand. I loved it.
November 3, 2025
Brutal, thrilling, and deeply thoughtful.
July 2, 2025
Sometimes a novel comes along that sits almost too comfortably within its decade’s zeitgeist. Divine intervention, maybe, but for now, I’ll have to accept that Hay is simply that good. The Butcher of Nazareth took me on a cruel but compelling journey, drawing me in so deeply that the story’s central obsession quickly became my own.
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews