Perspective

by Kevin J. Kennedy

Some monsters are born.

Others are chosen.

When a lonely man finally begins rebuilding his life after years of depression, the last thing he expects is to meet Samantha, a captivating, fiercely independent woman with a dangerous secret. One impulsive act of chivalry draws him into her world, where vampires are real, immortality comes with a brutal price, and humanity is nothing more than a matter of perspective.

As he embraces his new existence, the pair travel across Europe, hunting together and discovering that vampires aren't the only creatures lurking in the shadows. Werewolves, ancient powers, and hidden societies exist alongside humanity, unseen by those who would never believe.

But when an invitation from a mysterious ruler beneath the earth threatens to drag them into a war between monsters, they must decide where their loyalties truly lie, and what kind of monsters they are willing to become.

Fast-paced, violent, darkly humorous and packed with unforgettable supernatural characters, Perspective is a horror-fantasy adventure that asks a simple question…

Who are the real monsters?

Genres: Horror

Expected publication August 8, 2026

About the author

Kevin J. Kennedy is a Scottish horror author known for his fast-paced storytelling, dark humor, and unforgettable characters. He is also the curator of the bestselling The Horror Collection and Classic Monsters anthology series.

When he’s not writing tales of blood-soaked chaos, Kevin champions indie horror, supports fellow authors, and dreams up new ways to keep readers sleeping with the lights on.

Reviews

[Andrew Lennon · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review of this book.

My review of PERSPECTIVE by KEVIN J. KENNEDY.

I’ll be honest. When this story first started I was a bit apprehensive. I thought I may be entering a retelling of “An Interview With A Vampire”. However those fears were quickly quashed and Kennedy did a great job at making this tale his own.

Firstly the conversational tone I think is what rang my familiarities with “Interview” but the thing that really separated this work was the casual approach of the telling. Kennedy didn’t get bogged down in the mythology of these monsters. He simply passed it off as “some of what you’ve heard is true. Some of it isn’t”
And you know what? That worked so well!!

I feel like any human alive over the age of about 3 probably has some knowledge of vampires. Whether it’s the fangs, the blood sucking, the receding hairline…. Everyone has heard something. So we don’t need to be told all this stuff again. Take what you want from it and move on to the actual story. Kennedy did this seamlessly and effortlessly.

Now onto the story. It flows well. The writing is easy to read and moves fluently. The main characters are all pretty likeable. I feel like there’s any of the four key players could easily have their own body of work. Elena in particular would make a pretty kick ass anime cartoon. I imagine that to be all black and white except for the blood which stands out red. Anyway…. Yeah she’s a bad ass.

The real winner for this story is the fight scenes. There’s one in particular that takes up a good chunk of the tale and it is a LOT of fun. There’s fists and teeth and fur and limbs and everything flying everywhere and…. I’ve said too much. The first rule about monster fight club and all that jazz.

Would I recommend? Yes. You can easily read this in an hour or two and you’re going to have a lot of fun in doing so.

[Jess Beedle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Got as an arc from the author! What a solid read!! Loved the run up to the main part of the book and also the fight seen!! The sort read just topped it off at the end and created a great background for the main story!! Highly recommend this book! Vampires, lesbian werewolves and demons what more do you need!! We need more lgbtq representation in horror and I loved them!! Iconic couple!! Thank you for the arc! Highly recommend the author and his work!

[Nenad Mitrović · Rating 4 out of 5]

--- The erotic scenes are memorable, and sexuality is skillfully mixed with thriller, horror, and dark fantasy. Later, two werewolf women join the story, creating the amusing situation of one man travelling with three attractive women of supernatural power. Is this not, in some strange way, a dream come true? ---

Kevin J. Kennedy’s Perspective is built around a simple but attractive idea: a depressed and socially withdrawn man, through his transformation into a vampire, paradoxically finds his will to live again. There is something honest and direct in this approach. In contemporary fiction, sincerity sometimes seems less fashionable than irony, ambiguity, or layers of narrative tricks, so the emotional straightforwardness of this story deserves praise. It reaches the reader’s heart quite easily.
After the first several pages, my strongest visual association was with Nightbreed, and therefore, inevitably, with Clive Barker. Perspective uses many familiar elements—an alluring vampire woman, werewolves, demons, a secret underground world, and a supernatural “found family”—but it combines them with warmth and a certain pulp enthusiasm.
The unnamed narrator has a recognizable voice. At the beginning he feels vulnerable, insecure, and very human. There is a personal tone here, almost a sense of lived experience. One sentence captures the emotional core perfectly: “So I had decided that being a happy vampire beat being a miserable human.” For me, this is where the novella is strongest. Becoming a monster is not presented only as damnation, but as liberation from an older and more invisible prison.
The book is also very nicely put together. The editing is clean, and I noticed no distracting spelling or technical mistakes. It is an enjoyable ride. The narrator meets the mysterious Samantha at the gym, and she quickly fascinates him: “She was one of those girls who was just entirely comfortable in their own skin.” Their attraction contains a subtle sense of danger and loss of control, especially in the line: “I felt like I was speaking the words she wanted me to speak and not the ones that would naturally come into my head.”
From the beginning, we know this is a vampire story. There are no false identities, hallucinations, or prolonged games about whether somebody is truly a blood-drinker or merely has an unusual sexual fetish. Strangely, this directness frees the reader’s mind and allows us to concentrate on the journey. Kennedy also gives his own confirmation and reinterpretation of vampire rules. Vampires must kill after feeding, they cannot turn into “fucking bats,” and ancient supernatural abilities may be only myths. The lore is clear, practical, and delivered with humor.
The erotic scenes are memorable, and sexuality is skillfully mixed with thriller, horror, and dark fantasy. Later, two werewolf women join the story, creating the amusing situation of one man travelling with three attractive women of supernatural power. Is this not, in some strange way, a dream come true?
Here the narrative becomes more episodic: Amsterdam, travelling, werewolves, Germany, a mysterious corpse, and finally the underground complex. The mystery creates good momentum, although once the threat is revealed, the story depends mostly on extended combat scenes. These are competently written, but occasionally feel routine, and atmosphere sometimes gives way too easily to action and sexuality.
In conclusion, Perspective is a darkly entertaining story with Barker-like ideas beneath its surface. We are all monsters, perhaps. But monsters can have good hearts, and naturally they see themselves as heroes of their own stories. As the narrator says: “I still believe now that we all had good hearts. Judge as you may.”
The gore and lore are strong, although the horror aspect could have been more powerful for my personal taste. Still, readers who enjoy dark fantasy, supernatural fiction, sex, gore, black humor, and unapologetic monster stories will almost certainly find much to enjoy here.
The end of the novella, however, is not the end of the ride. As a final treat, Kevin gives us another short, connected story about Elena. If you thought Perspective was a narrative packed with sex and violence, then Elena will shock you — in the best possible way.

[Andreas Hort · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was fun.

In a clear, conversational, and lighthearted voice reminiscent of Jeff Strand, Kevin J. Kennedy wrote a story about a pair of vampires passing through unlife and looking for their place in the world. In some parts, the novella has a near slice-of-life feel as we follow our nameless protagonist and Samantha through their little adventures... which culminate into a fun, epic event and the well-earned conclusion.

There is one thing I wanna touch on specifically, and that's characters. On their journey, Protag and Samantha come across a pair of werewolf lovers, Isla and Elena. Now, if you read the anthology "Werewolves", assembled by Kevin, those two names might sound familiar to you. That's because one of the stories in the anthology came from Kevin himself. It's titled "Elena", and while the reviews praised it as one of the best stories in the anthology, my impression was... lukewarm. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed the piece and its fun twist, but the linear plot and no space for the characters to distinguish themselves made this a 3.5/5 read for me.

In "Perspective," Elena is the most interesting character for me. With a significantly larger word count to work with, Kevin turned her into a fun, complex person who comes across as a bubbly pup one moment and a bloodthirsty maniac the next. Even Isla with her stoic demeanor shows more character this time around. But the main thing that struck me about Samantha, Isla, and Elena was that they felt as though they had an inner life. They always felt as though they were thinking people with things going on in their heads that we'll never find out about.

That's a recurring element in this story: unanswered questions. But they didn't leave me frustrated like I was after the end of "Lost"; instead, they enhanced the novella, made the world feel lived in and more interesting.

So yeah. Great job, Kevin. Thanks for the couple hours of escapist fun.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kevin J. Kennedy is that double threat combination of publisher and writer who succeeds on both levels. His series of horror anthologies are always highly anticipated, and they are consistently rated at the top of their respective categories. And with PERSPECTIVE, he shows how that same attention to detail comes through in his own works. Now here's the thing; the only "big event" in this novella is the battle between the two protagonists and two of their friends, against overwhelming odds. And it is a doozy. But the thing that makes this story work on so many levels is the subtle points. For example, the two protagonists are vampires (the cover is a dead giveaway, so no spoilers there), but Kennedy tweaks the vampire mythos just a little. It's a subtle tweak, but one that adds a new dimension to the breed. He does the same thing for other "supernaturals" in the story. And those subtle changes pack a real punch. It's a story that seems to take place today in real time, so there is no lag in the action. His supernatural characters aren't that different from us in some ways, and that adds a certain power to the tale. And as an added bonus, he includes a story featuring one of the story's most interesting characters in her first appearance anywhere. And that, like the big battle, is a real dozy.

[Milt Theo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This one has it all: vampires, werewolves, demons, carnage, and a thousand bicycles parked in Amsterdam! It's a supernatural tale full of action and adventure, the chronicle of a guy who got bit by a vampire, and found himself enjoying life as one. Staying with the beautiful female vampire that turned him, he narrates how much fun he has hunting by her side, sharing their life together, and even befriending a lesbian couple of werewolves. And then someone drops a dead body at their doorstep. WTF.

I first read Kevin Kennedy's "Perspective" in a volume of Crystal Lake Publishing's Dark Tides anthology series, and it was good old fun with a message: it's better to be a happy vampire than a miserable human! Reading it a second time on the occasion of its getting published by Kennedy separately as a standalone, it's still a unique and entertaining story of classic monsters living the life in today's world. After all, how often do you see a vampire pumping iron at the gym? Not to mention the huge Easter Egg for readers of Kennedy's stories (specifically his sexy tale in KJP Publishing's "Werewolves" anthology).

I recommend it highly to anyone who enjoys fangs, claws, and gore. Enjoy the slaughter!

[Beverly Laude · Rating 4 out of 5]

Vampires? Check. Werewolves? Check. Demons? Check!! This short read is told from the perspective of a guy who is depressed and just doesn't care about anything in life. Enter a beautiful woman who seems to want him despite this. Only problem? She's a VAMPIRE!! When Samantha turns our narrator into one of the undead, he decides that the whole vampire thing isn't so bad after all!

The couple travel around, enjoying the sites of Europe and hunting together. When they meet a lesbian werewolf couple, things really heat up! While enjoying Amsterdam (complete with thousaands of bicycles!), a dead body shows up on their doorstep. This is followed by a mysterious note directing them to a strange underground tunnel. The quartet (of course, the werewolves go with the couple!) encounter a "demon" who controls a whole army of lesser demons and wants to add the vampire couple to his group.

What ensues is a truly epic battle scene, with plenty of gore and violence. This was a fast-paced read, with just the right amount of supernatural creatures and gore. I highly recommend anything by the author, as his work never disappoints!

[Željko Obrenović · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perspective isn't one of those vampire novels where a body with two puncture wounds turns up in the opening chapter, someone finally says the word "vampire" a third of the way through, everyone spends the next hundred pages insisting vampires can't possibly exist, and only in the final act—when the bloodbath is well underway—do the protagonists have no choice but to accept reality and fight back.
Perspective takes a different approach. It's written as a kind of pseudo-memoir narrated by a vampire who reveals exactly what he is from the very first pages. From there, we go back to his origin story, follow the unusual friendships he forms (rather furry ones, if I may say so), and then... well, I won't spoil too much.
What I will say is that you're in for plenty of action, twists, pulp mayhem... and yes, lots of gore. A truly cinematic treat for horror fans.

[Erica Robyn Metcalf · Rating 5 out of 5]

When two vampires are living their best lives, things are suddenly turned on their heads when they meet a being that forces them to work for him. Will they be able to fight back, or are they already lost?

My gosh, the battle scene here was INCREDIBLE! I had so much fun with this one, especially as Elena and Isla made an appearance! First meeting these two in Elena from KJK Publishing Presents Werewolves, I just knew this story was going to be a blast!

Horror fans, you're gonna love this!

[Veronica Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perspective by Kevin J. KennedyThe life of supernaturals! This story was so full of action and emotion, it was like a grand saga where I was rooting for the "bad guys." Towards the end of the story I was cheering. This is the first I've read of Kevin's vampires and werewolves but now I'm thirsty for more.

I can't recommend this book enough!
Veronica Smith - author of Salvation in the Wasteland, Nightmare on Indigo Street, & Chalk Outline

[Brian Moreland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Kevin J. Kennedy’s PERSPECTIVE offers a cool take on vampires and other supernatural creatures. I enjoyed the main character and his observations about what it means to be a vampire. Plenty of fun monster action and nonstop thrills kept me turning the pages.

[Mark · Rating 5 out of 5]

Despite it being written in first person, I actually liked this vampire tale. The main characters were both likable and really enjoyed how their relationship developed throughout this novella which went by quick and wasn’t bored for a moment.

[Bill Davidson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book in one sitting because I had to know what happened! I won't say what happened but it had one of the most epic battle scenes I've read in a while. Vampires, werewolves and demons.
They didn't get along

[Emily Haynes · Rating 4 out of 5]

There are many types of monsters. Not all of them are bad. Sometimes, they are more human than a human is.,They show their humanity differently.

[Reader · Rating 5 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book I like how it gets straight into the main story
Good suspense at times
Fight scene had me hooked.
Really enjoyed the short story at the end. Overall really good book.