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The Midnight Order
To say ex-porn star Nikki Lane has led a troubled life is putting it mildly. She’s abused every human vice from here to Hell and back again—she’s given herself to men, alcohol, drugs and pain. But now she’s ready to face her demons, to snatch her life back from the dark pit of depravity.
Looking for a place to get away from it all, Nikki seeks the advice of an old friend who belongs to an exclusive group of recovering individuals called the Midnight Order, who promise to siphon the evil from her very soul in a remote castle on the East Coast.
But at nightfall, the paradise transforms into a bleak fortress of horror when the Order convenes its secret cleansing ceremonies. And the chilling price is more than Nikki’s willing to give as she’s forced to face her greatest demon yet.
What stalks the halls of the castle, the cliffs of the island, and the shores of the beach? What cruel payment is demanded from…the Midnight Order?
Looking for a place to get away from it all, Nikki seeks the advice of an old friend who belongs to an exclusive group of recovering individuals called the Midnight Order, who promise to siphon the evil from her very soul in a remote castle on the East Coast.
But at nightfall, the paradise transforms into a bleak fortress of horror when the Order convenes its secret cleansing ceremonies. And the chilling price is more than Nikki’s willing to give as she’s forced to face her greatest demon yet.
What stalks the halls of the castle, the cliffs of the island, and the shores of the beach? What cruel payment is demanded from…the Midnight Order?
- GenresHorror
88 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2015
1 person is currently reading
10 people want to read
About the author
Christopher Fulbright
47 books37 followersChristopher 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
March 20, 2015
The Midnight Order was my second read from Christopher Fulbright and the start showed some promise. Nikki Lane star of over 150 of the hottest porn flicks around is living on borrowed time it seems, in the twilight of a career riddled with drugs and alcoholism, she shows up drunk to the latest Linda Lix film and its pretty much over from that point. The booze it seems is all she has left and she's reached rock bottom, flat on her back and this time, with her legs not in the air.
Out of the blue comes an old friend offering salvation in the form of the Midnight Order and a personal experience with a supernatural being sounds like a powerful medicine, a new life and she's more than ready for it, desperate.
A ferry to Blackrock Island and nestled in a ravine, the Gothic castle of the Midnight Order, redemption comes with a price and she's not the only one battling the demons within.
Ok I'm with the story so far but unfortunately things went downhill from this point, when I say with the story I don't mean in the sense of a complicated plot but more along the lines of believability and style. Things got clunky and leaden from the castle onwards, it felt awkward and I started to think how things could be described better, which is never a good sign reading a story.
Lines like 'Its breath smelled like a thousand corpses' and 'A cracking sound came from her spine. She felt it deep within' just didn't feel right and a rapid recovery from someone being a slither away from unconsciousness. No I'm sorry to say I just didn't gel with this story at all after initial high hopes from a really good cover and start.
A 2.5 Rating
Out of the blue comes an old friend offering salvation in the form of the Midnight Order and a personal experience with a supernatural being sounds like a powerful medicine, a new life and she's more than ready for it, desperate.
A ferry to Blackrock Island and nestled in a ravine, the Gothic castle of the Midnight Order, redemption comes with a price and she's not the only one battling the demons within.
Ok I'm with the story so far but unfortunately things went downhill from this point, when I say with the story I don't mean in the sense of a complicated plot but more along the lines of believability and style. Things got clunky and leaden from the castle onwards, it felt awkward and I started to think how things could be described better, which is never a good sign reading a story.
Lines like 'Its breath smelled like a thousand corpses' and 'A cracking sound came from her spine. She felt it deep within' just didn't feel right and a rapid recovery from someone being a slither away from unconsciousness. No I'm sorry to say I just didn't gel with this story at all after initial high hopes from a really good cover and start.
A 2.5 Rating
March 23, 2015
2.5 stars.
I had some high hopes for this novella--a great premise, and cover art! The story started out strong, with enough depth given to our main character, Nikki, that I honestly cared about her plight. I believe that this carried over well in explaining why she felt that she needed to take such drastic measures in order to radically alter her lifestyle.
When she arrives at the mansion for her "cure", things got very interesting for a while--aside from the cliched "romantic interest", conveniently added. Unfortunately, things then seemed to go off into an altogether different direction (or two)--practically abandoning the main theme in the process. While this may have worked out alright for a novel (adding different sub-plots), I just don't feel that it can be done as well with a novella-lengthed work.
There were certainly some scenes that I found interesting, but overall, the last third felt very "forced" to me, and the writing seemed to loose its ability to capture my attention as well. I've read other books by this author that I've really enjoyed; I just wish the ending to this one could have been as gripping as the beginning was.
I had some high hopes for this novella--a great premise, and cover art! The story started out strong, with enough depth given to our main character, Nikki, that I honestly cared about her plight. I believe that this carried over well in explaining why she felt that she needed to take such drastic measures in order to radically alter her lifestyle.
When she arrives at the mansion for her "cure", things got very interesting for a while--aside from the cliched "romantic interest", conveniently added. Unfortunately, things then seemed to go off into an altogether different direction (or two)--practically abandoning the main theme in the process. While this may have worked out alright for a novel (adding different sub-plots), I just don't feel that it can be done as well with a novella-lengthed work.
There were certainly some scenes that I found interesting, but overall, the last third felt very "forced" to me, and the writing seemed to loose its ability to capture my attention as well. I've read other books by this author that I've really enjoyed; I just wish the ending to this one could have been as gripping as the beginning was.
June 8, 2015
3.5*
I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Nikki Lane is an washed up ex-porn star who, after a disastrous attempt to get back into the industry, instead finds solace at the bottom of a bottle. After a near fatal binge drinking session she is given some advice from an old friend. Her friend tells that to get her life back on track she needs treatment from The Midnight Order. This treatment promises to rid her of her vices and help her make a fresh start.
As sceptical as she is, she joins 4 other people for the 'cleansing ceremony' and finds that while she is no longer tempted by her past addiction she feels oddly hollow. She grows concerned for the other participants, especially as one of the last things she remembers was the howl of a wild animal. It soon becomes clear that the treatment wasn't successful for all and that the ceremony is advantageous to more than just the participants.
Nikki is drawn really well by the author and makes a pretty sympathetic character, for such a short read she's given a fair amount of depth and you gain an understanding as to how her life turned out as it did. The other main character Adam was also quite likeable but not nearly as much info is given about him, especially once his true condition is revealed.
The writing flows nicely and I liked the authors style, it was not especially fast paced but it certainly kept my interest and I found myself keen to keep going with the story until finished. The story itself is a bit muddled and although Nikki is the main character it really is focused a lot on Adam which was a slightly disappointing story arc. I also felt that the end had too much going on with the order, the ceremony and Adam and it detracted from the promising story that was being set up so well in the beginning.
This is definitely worth reading but just got a bit cluttered with ideas towards the end.
I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.
Nikki Lane is an washed up ex-porn star who, after a disastrous attempt to get back into the industry, instead finds solace at the bottom of a bottle. After a near fatal binge drinking session she is given some advice from an old friend. Her friend tells that to get her life back on track she needs treatment from The Midnight Order. This treatment promises to rid her of her vices and help her make a fresh start.
As sceptical as she is, she joins 4 other people for the 'cleansing ceremony' and finds that while she is no longer tempted by her past addiction she feels oddly hollow. She grows concerned for the other participants, especially as one of the last things she remembers was the howl of a wild animal. It soon becomes clear that the treatment wasn't successful for all and that the ceremony is advantageous to more than just the participants.
Nikki is drawn really well by the author and makes a pretty sympathetic character, for such a short read she's given a fair amount of depth and you gain an understanding as to how her life turned out as it did. The other main character Adam was also quite likeable but not nearly as much info is given about him, especially once his true condition is revealed.
The writing flows nicely and I liked the authors style, it was not especially fast paced but it certainly kept my interest and I found myself keen to keep going with the story until finished. The story itself is a bit muddled and although Nikki is the main character it really is focused a lot on Adam which was a slightly disappointing story arc. I also felt that the end had too much going on with the order, the ceremony and Adam and it detracted from the promising story that was being set up so well in the beginning.
This is definitely worth reading but just got a bit cluttered with ideas towards the end.
December 11, 2015
Though it starts strongly and fleshes out major character Nikki Lane well, Christopher Fulbright's The Midnight Order undoes much of its early good work once a second major plot-line involving another character is introduced. This serves to only muddle proceedings, and detract from what was an engaging idea: That of some nefarious group which lures broken and emotionally spent people to a secluded location by way of a not-at-all defined cure.
For an 88 page novella, this should have been enough. Having Nikki deal with what she finds at the secluded location would have been story enough, with the other bit characters serving as either fodder for the process or foils for her efforts. Instead, the reader has to accept a fairly out-there turn of events, with the secondary threat proving far more deadly than the initial one. As such, my interest waned, despite the relative brevity of the story.
Fulbright's writing itself was good without being overly memorable, while the secret the order is protecting is also interesting. And as stated, Nikki is a believable and interesting character. If only the story she originally appeared in had have stayed the course, this could have been a great little novella.
2.5 Creatures Out of Left Field for The Midnight Order.
For an 88 page novella, this should have been enough. Having Nikki deal with what she finds at the secluded location would have been story enough, with the other bit characters serving as either fodder for the process or foils for her efforts. Instead, the reader has to accept a fairly out-there turn of events, with the secondary threat proving far more deadly than the initial one. As such, my interest waned, despite the relative brevity of the story.
Fulbright's writing itself was good without being overly memorable, while the secret the order is protecting is also interesting. And as stated, Nikki is a believable and interesting character. If only the story she originally appeared in had have stayed the course, this could have been a great little novella.
2.5 Creatures Out of Left Field for The Midnight Order.
May 31, 2015
I finished this book a while ago but forgot to write the review. Kind of hard to remember all the story but here goes. The Midnight Order is the third book by Chistopher Fulbright I have read, the other two were Elderwood Manor and The Red Chalise. The main character in the story is a woman named Nikki Lane. Who does adult movies but is at the end of her movie career. Because of her age and drugs and everything else she has done, she is having trouble finding work. Then one day a old friend told her about a group called The Midnight Order to help change her life around. Nikki hitting the bottom of the barrel as far as life goes decided to take her friends offer to go to this castle to try to change her life. Once she arrives at the castle she meets the others and gets interested in a man. Things start going wrong during the cleansing ceremonies. This when the story takes off. This book had the makings of a good story but fell short in my opinion. It started off strong for me but lost it towards the end. I gave The Midnight Order 3 stars.
I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review
I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review
June 20, 2015
2.5 stars.
A decent start and good premise.The Midnight Order, much like the last book I read by Fullbright, starts out strong and then falls flat. A used up porn star who boozes herself out of the business finds herself on the road to recovery-- in an east coast castle--- with some creepy cult. Some cliche romance and a lot of the bizarre put this one over the top for me. Nikki was every bit of the hot mess that makes my life seem like a fairy tale and I wanted to like it. It just didn't work.
I received this e-arc from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.
A decent start and good premise.The Midnight Order, much like the last book I read by Fullbright, starts out strong and then falls flat. A used up porn star who boozes herself out of the business finds herself on the road to recovery-- in an east coast castle--- with some creepy cult. Some cliche romance and a lot of the bizarre put this one over the top for me. Nikki was every bit of the hot mess that makes my life seem like a fairy tale and I wanted to like it. It just didn't work.
I received this e-arc from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review.
April 1, 2015
I enjoyed this one from Christopher Fulbright even though it may have been better served in a longer format. The concept was good and the story moved quickly. I was able to finish the story in a single day, which is saying something for me because I usually just grab a few minutes here and there. I liked the character of Nikki, but was still left wanting more depth in some of the back story and secondary characters.
April 17, 2015
I felt like this novella started out strong, with a very interesting premise, and the creepy, pulp-feel setting of a mysterious castle on a small isolated island. The main character was reasonable fleshed out - an adult film star trying to break out of that life and settle down, but it unfortunately just isn't working for her.
Not long after they get to the island and a ritual starts, things go a little off the rails. The writing gets a little awkward in places, and various horror elements (trying no tto spoil anything) seem really overblown to the point of feeling almost comical. I think it really was going for old-fashioned pulp horror, but it just seemed to lose its way some.
I still did enjoy it overall, and I thought some elements of the story were very creative. I've read Christopher's work before and really enjoyed it, and I'm sure I will again - this one just sort of fell flat down the stretch.
Lastly, for a novella length work, I ran across more editorial issues than I would have expected, and that's kind of a pet peeve of mine, so that may have contributed to my overall impression.
Not long after they get to the island and a ritual starts, things go a little off the rails. The writing gets a little awkward in places, and various horror elements (trying no tto spoil anything) seem really overblown to the point of feeling almost comical. I think it really was going for old-fashioned pulp horror, but it just seemed to lose its way some.
I still did enjoy it overall, and I thought some elements of the story were very creative. I've read Christopher's work before and really enjoyed it, and I'm sure I will again - this one just sort of fell flat down the stretch.
Lastly, for a novella length work, I ran across more editorial issues than I would have expected, and that's kind of a pet peeve of mine, so that may have contributed to my overall impression.
March 16, 2015
The Midnight Order is full of pulpy goodness. A creepy castle on a remote island, a secretive group of hooded men, a mysterious chamber in the basement...what's not to like?
Protagonist Nikki Lane's introduction is shocking; we quickly learn she is a not-quite-ex-porn star as she casually drops in for a few hours of sex on film when she needs some extra cash. Her more stable life is only hanging by a thread however, and when things fall apart she accepts advice from an old friend in the business who tells her how she can get some drastic help. The nightmare begins in the aforementioned castle.
I really enjoyed the novella, but based on the opening chapters I thought it would be a little deeper. Once things started rolling the story became more about physical menace and less psychological. I'm not horribly disappointed, but a little surprised how the story progressed. Christopher Fulbright has given readers a solid two hours of entertainment in his latest novella, and I would recommend it to genre fans. 4 stars.
Protagonist Nikki Lane's introduction is shocking; we quickly learn she is a not-quite-ex-porn star as she casually drops in for a few hours of sex on film when she needs some extra cash. Her more stable life is only hanging by a thread however, and when things fall apart she accepts advice from an old friend in the business who tells her how she can get some drastic help. The nightmare begins in the aforementioned castle.
I really enjoyed the novella, but based on the opening chapters I thought it would be a little deeper. Once things started rolling the story became more about physical menace and less psychological. I'm not horribly disappointed, but a little surprised how the story progressed. Christopher Fulbright has given readers a solid two hours of entertainment in his latest novella, and I would recommend it to genre fans. 4 stars.
September 3, 2015
Very good novella about adictions and hidden dark secrets.There are interesting characters and good twists until the end.Also I'd recommend his
previous Darkfuse novella written in collaboration with Angeline Hawkes: Elderwood Manor.
previous Darkfuse novella written in collaboration with Angeline Hawkes: Elderwood Manor.
October 11, 2016
This novella contained a main protagonist whom I have never seen (or thought about) before. Nikki is an aging, worn-out porn star and she is looking for a means out of the business and clean up your life. She is a difficult character with whom to empathize despite a tragedy in the early pages—mostly because of the poor decision-making she undertakes to cope with her pain. When the opportunity comes to completely and successfully turn her life around, she jumps at the chance. The opportunity, though, involves partaking in a secret occult ritual in a gothic looking castle on a remote island.
So far, so good.
Nikki is drawn well, despite being a less than sympathetic character. Her trip on a boat to the island drew me in and the introduction to the castle is nicely handled. The place is genuinely creepy and the stage is set. The rest of the story did not quite live up to the introduction, however. The plot is pretty creative, but handled in a fairly predictable way. There’s a lot of action and gore but no huge shocks. So, The Midnight Order is a decent read overall but probably won’t knock you off your feet.
So far, so good.
Nikki is drawn well, despite being a less than sympathetic character. Her trip on a boat to the island drew me in and the introduction to the castle is nicely handled. The place is genuinely creepy and the stage is set. The rest of the story did not quite live up to the introduction, however. The plot is pretty creative, but handled in a fairly predictable way. There’s a lot of action and gore but no huge shocks. So, The Midnight Order is a decent read overall but probably won’t knock you off your feet.
November 1, 2015
The Midnight Order started off very strongly, but around the 40% mark it quickly became muddled with a few too many implausibilities that really strained my suspension of disbelief given how grounded the opening chapters were.
While I very much liked the strong Gothic tones that Fulbright imbued this work with, the dangerous cult turned monster mash-up got to be a little too much for my tastes. There's a number of characters and concepts here that could have easily filled two or three other novellas, or been an excellent novel-length work with a bit more development, but packing it all into an 88-page read gave it an overly-stuffed feeling. What started off as a promising and moody horror novella devolved into a Van Helsing-like bit of a farcical escapism that just wasn't for me.
While I very much liked the strong Gothic tones that Fulbright imbued this work with, the dangerous cult turned monster mash-up got to be a little too much for my tastes. There's a number of characters and concepts here that could have easily filled two or three other novellas, or been an excellent novel-length work with a bit more development, but packing it all into an 88-page read gave it an overly-stuffed feeling. What started off as a promising and moody horror novella devolved into a Van Helsing-like bit of a farcical escapism that just wasn't for me.
April 26, 2015
Creepy! People who reach the lowest point of their life are chosen to spend a weekend at an island castle to be relieved of their various negative vibes. Would make a good movie. Highly recommended.
May 14, 2015
The story started off strong, some weak contrived parts in the middle and the ending was great. Slightly close to 5 stars.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews