Tenebris

by Tim Curran

It comes out of the night. It kills with animal stealth and viciousness, but with an almost human capacity for cruelty and sadism.

And this time, it has left a witness.

Jim Duchane watched it kill his two best friends. Now tormented by their deaths and skeptical of his own memories of that awful night, he is approached by two fringe monster hunters who are desperate to track the beast. With his help, they will hunt down a monster of Native American folklore whose very existence belies a terrible biological reality.

And it may be the worse mistake Jim has ever made.

Genres: Horror, Monsters

97 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 16, 2015

About the author

Tim Curran lives in Michigan and is the author of the novels Skin Medicine, Hive, Dead Sea, Resurrection, The Devil Next Door, and Biohazard, as well as the novella The Corpse King. His short stories have appeared in such magazines as City Slab, Flesh&Blood, Book of Dark Wisdom, and Inhuman, and anthologies such as Shivers IV, High Seas Cthulhu, and Vile Things.

For DarkFuse and its imprints, he has written the bestselling The Underdwelling, the Readers Choice-Nominated novella Fear Me, Puppet Graveyard as well as Long Black Coffin.

Find him on the web at: www.corpseking.com.

Reviews

[Paul Nelson · Rating 3 out of 5]

They don't call Route 50 'the loneliest road in America' for nothing, it's not a road you want to break down on, no phone signal and you could end up with the worst kind of sunshine break. Jim, Rita and Dinah are traveling down Route 50 when a shape swoops down on them from out of the blackness, first disbelief, then dismissal and then 'it's coming' . An intense feeling of impending doom.

'It was like being in a dark room and knowing, knowing someone was in there with you sharing the space. You could feel them but you could never really be sure where they were until they reached out and touched you.'

Then something hit the SUV, scraped along the roof with claws and Route 50 suddenly turns into the road to hell, and not due to Chris Rea singing. Panic stations, absolute terror and the vehicle flips of the road, Jim's friends are literally ripped from the vehicle by something just a little bit frightening.

Conspiracy theorists are us contact him and Jim is drawn, quite willingly back to the scene of the incident, where he really, really shouldn't go within a million miles of. It becomes an obsession that is never going to end well.

As monsters stories go this wasn't one of Tim Currans best efforts, I kinda rode with it but, well, it was a gentle ride not one fraught with unnerving danger or scares. As folklore myths go, it was just too easy to find. I felt that if I went down Route 50 in a tank wearing a blindfold with earplugs in, I'd still run into this nightmare monster. I mean if you stood there and felt a sudden draft followed by a stench of death, then yep, it's just flown over you. I wasn't really bothered with any of the characters, they never felt real and I didn't care whether any of them survived. In conclusion, it's well written as all Tim Curran's stuff is, some will love it, I didn't.

Also posted at http://paulnelson.booklikes.com/post/...

[Gianfranco Mancini · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I'm going after it anyway." He laughed with a humorless sound.
"I'm going to get that thing. I'm going to destroy it. And when I do, I'm going to drag its carcass back and dump it in front of the Sheriff's Department. I want them to see it. I want them to smell it. I want to see the looks on their faces when the media starts taking pictures of them with it. That's my goal."

Vote: ☆☆☆ 1/2

While driving through desert on U.S Route 50, "The Loneliest Road in America", a SUV is attacked by a winged nightmare out from Native American myths and legends.
Lone survivor Jim Duchane swears to avenge his dead friends killed by the monster, and join forces with a duo of conspiracy theory cryptozoologists to find the beast and stop it.
This was a nice creature-feature novella read for me, with Tim Curran's trademark gore, but with lots of hilarious moments too: the foul-mouthed goth-girl (I was reading her dialogues with Kat Denning's voice as Max from the 2 Broke Girls show in my mind...) and the giant poo scenes made me laugh for good.
Just imagine something like an X-Files episode with The Lone Gunmen trio as main characters to get an idea about it.

A funny and gory quick read.

[Karl]

This mini-hardcover is copy 17 of 100 published and is signed by Tim Curran.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Curran is at the top not his game when it comes to incomprehensible monstrous entities. In TENEBRIS, he delves into Native American Folklore to bring us a winged creature that defies any attempt at comparison to what animals are known to exist.

Jim Duchane is driving two of his best friends home from a convention when they are attacked by something on a lonely strip of rural road. While Jim survives, he watches as the creature sadistically kills his two companions, apparently for "sport". Tormented by survivor's guilt and fueled with hatred, he can now only focus on on thing. He had been wronged and only violence would make it right . . .His justification was as applicable as the plot of an action movie in the real world."

Now we meet the comic relief, Shiner and Pettis, two researchers who have been after proof of the living nightmare that Jim encountered. These two played out so well with their familiar, "insulting" banter that it was near impossible not to like them, despite their overzealousness. In one scene, Shiner blows up at his partner and Jim:
".....Shiner shouted. "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU GUYS FOR THIS!" Pettis waited a moment or two. "Are you done now?" "Yeah, I'm done." They started climbing down."

Jim seems to have nobody left as a friend except for his neighbor, Nina. when he tries to explain--only to her--the truth of that night, his mind can't even begin the process of putting his thoughts into words.
"...He wanted her to believe him, but he knew that was impossible... It's something real. Something solid that runs very deep and is probably very old in respect to the human race.....what has been activated in me does not in any way nullify the empirical logic of your science. If anything, it enhances it."
Curran does a fantastic job evolving the creature from Folklore. He creates a being that I could actually "feel" through the thoughts and feelings of his characters. It is easy to see Jim's motivating force against a monster that has taken so much from him. The characters of Shiner and Pettis are priceless with their constant bickering and contradictions. Even the one other survivor that Jim is in contact with is a very well fleshed out individual, who stands out among the others and easily moves the action along while increasing the tension regarding what they're facing.

Another winning novella from Tim Curran and the DarkFuse lineup.

Recommended!

*I received an e-copy of this novella from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.*

[Rob Twinem · Rating 2 out of 5]

A disappointing and poorly presented kindle short horror story Jim, Rita and Dinah driving down route 50 “The Loneliest Road in America” when out of nowhere they are attacked by a giant bird! Fatalities happen but our hero Jim with the help of Shiner and Pettis proprietors of “Cryptodesert.com” search out our prehistoric Thunderbird...and the scene is set for a final showdown...”Find out exactly what did happen on Route 50 that night. It became not only a passion but an obsession. One way or another, he was planning on getting answers.”This is a short novella with a story that is mildly interesting but is able to hold the readers attention with the introduction of some interesting characters. Pettis and Skinner seek out unknown animals..... “At Cryptodesert.com our focus is the Nevada/Utah area, particularly the deserts of the Great Basin and Mojave. We collect regional tales and ephemera concerning things like killer bee swarms, giant beavers, cattle mutilators, the Bear Lake Monster, and, of course, Sasquatch.” Tim Curran provides a lovely description of Skinner “He was tall, jittery, and thin with hair so red it looked like it had rusted. He had bad teeth and a crooked smile, a gangly textbook nerd that even wore Coke-bottle glasses as if to accentuate the fact. He looked like he wanted to explode right out of his skin. He had a Bigfoot T-shirt on that read, Bigfoot Doesn’t Believe in You Either.”There is one enjoyable scene when Pettis and Skinner insist that Jim meet Reese, a young lady who has had a similar experience with a “thunderbird”....her introduction adds a little colour and fun to a somewhat one dimensional story....”Then a young woman that he’d seen loitering over near the counter made a straight beeline to his table and sat down. Her hair was black as Dracula’s cape set with neon red streaks, black eyeliner laid thick as road tar around her dark eyes. She wore a red plaid skirt, blue nylons with fashionable holes, leather nut-busting boots, and a tight Punisher skull T-shirt with no bra beneath, her breasts jutting like warm, ripe grapefruits and her nipples standing out like pushpins. The lights gleamed off the multiple piercings in her nose, lips and eyebrows.”It disappoints so much to find yet another kindle edition with grammatical errors when a simple proof reading could have corrected these mistakes:“It still seemed impossible. Was that was his flirting with Nurse Koreshi was about? should read...It still seemed impossible. Was that what his flirting with Nurse Koreshi was about?“If it hadn’t have been for Rita’s garden, he and vegetables would have been complete strangers” This sentence would be more grammatically correct if written “If it had not been for Rita’s garden, he and vegetables would have been complete strangers”“He help up a hand as if used to silencing scepticism...should read “He held up a hand as if used to silencing scepticism”“If they hadn’t been hanging onto one another, anchored by their combined weight, they would have went right over”...should read “If they hadn’t been hanging onto one another, anchored by their combined weight, they would have gone right over.”I was given a free copy of Tenebris for an honest review and that is what I have written. The story was an easy read and quite enjoyable, I would have awarded 3 stars if more time, thought and care had been directed towards the kindle presentation.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

I received an E-arc from Darkfuse Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Jim is driving down Route 50 with two of his friends when they are attacked by what looks like a giant bird. The predator kills his two companions but lets him live, he is tormented by dreams of what happened and wants to find this bird for himself. He enlists the help of several quirky characters but soon finds that his need for revenge may cost him his life.

This was hugely enjoyable, as usual Currans writing style places the reader firmly where the action is as he builds dread and disgust with eye watering, stomach churning detail. This is a definite strong point for Curran as I honestly thought I could smell, hear and see the things he was describing.

The pacing was speedy enough to keep the story going but still gave opportunity for character relationship development, as shown in Jims relationship with his friend Nina. The characters were also something that I enjoyed, they're a quirky and a lot of fun with some humorous scenes being added in to give some much needed light relief, care of Shiner and Pettis, two researchers who want proof of the bird. My favourite character was Reese, a smart mouthed survivor of the Route 50 predator, I wish she had been in the story more.

My only real critcisim is that the ending is very abrupt and unsatisfactory, it may be my only gripe but it was a big one.

Overall I would still recommend this as Curran does a great job with most of the book.

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the sixteenth book of Tim's I have read. The story starts out with three people( Jim, Rita & Dinah ) driving down Route 50 at night. Haven't seen a car or gas station in twenty minutes all of a sudden see this black shape swoop down on them. Then it scrapes the top of the car. Then Jim notices this green moist decay smell in the car. This thing hits the back of the car but they couldn't see anything. Dinah called 911. Then it hit the back again, Jim lost control of the car. It went into a ditch and then flipped over. Jim was hurt but okay, Dinah was crushed. He heard Rita moaning so he climbs out to get to her. Then he smelled that smell again, that fowl odor. Saw these shiny claws and... I will stop here don't want to say too much. Its a story about a man who's two friends get killed and he wants to find out what it was that did this to them. This sort of reads like a script from the Twilight Zone. I have to say I did enjoy reading the story but it wasn't one of his best. Like all his books they are well written and have good flow. I gave Tenebris 3 1/2 stars.


I received an e-arc of this book from DarkFuse in exchange for an honest review

[Andi Rawson · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars.

It's Curran so it's obviously good, because I don't think that Tim Curran is capable of writing something that isn't good or at least extremely readable. I would say that Tenebris is not his best. It's not Graveworm or The Underdwelling, two of my absolute favorite stories by him. Tim Curran is my all-time favorite horror author when it comes to being able to put into words the things that make my guts clench and my chest feel tight. It's like he knows the things my nightmares are made of and that is what he writes. That said, this one was almost there. I think if it were slightly longer, Tenebris would have been there. That said, it's a great short read and a little slice of skeeved out, or a lot, depending on your tolerance level.

I received this book from DarkFuse as an e-arc and am leaving a review of my own free will.

[Bill · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a huge Tim Curran fan. I have pretty much liked everything I have ever read by him. Dude has skills. Tenebris, while not my all time favorite, was still a very good short novella, but may have been better served in a slightly longer format. Reminded me a little bit of the movie "Jeepers Creepers" for whatever reason.

[Chris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Teacher Jim Duchane is returning from a conference with two fellow female colleagues, driving through the remote New Mexico desert, when something unseen and huge attacks their vehicle. Jim survives but is haunted by the horror, and after he recovers, he becomes obsessed with finding out what it was.

However, even with his zoologist neighbor, and aided by two cryptologists, Jim is wholly unprepared to face the true terror that killed his friends and nearly killed him.

My only minor criticism is that I felt the novella ended abruptly and could've had a bit more. Nevertheless, I enjoyed this very much.

Tim Curran is a master of horror, and one of the best of the newer crop of horror authors coming out over the last decade.

Highest of recommendations!

[Michael Hicks · Rating 3 out of 5]

TENEBRIS is a perfectly good read, but lacks the usual drive of unimaginable horrors and fear-tinged curiosity that made me a fan of Tim Curran's other works, such as DEAD SEA and BLACKOUT in particular.

That said, this is still a solid and enjoyable tale of a nightmarish thunderbird that draws largely on Native American myth. Jim is a schoolteacher and survivor of an attack from the monstrosity, intent on finding the bird and killing it. Aiding him in his quest are a pair of cryptid hunters, Pettis and Shiner. We get the usual skeptic/believer dynamic from them, and they reminded a bit of The Lone Gunmen from The X-Files in their good-natured ribbing of one another.

The characters are nicely developed, and I particularly enjoyed the interactions between Jim and his neighbor Nina, a retired zoologist who's been burned by other cryptid seekers before and has a natural distrust of Jim's new associates. After establishing characters and the underpinning mythology behind the narrative, things heat up nicely for the book's final third, with a few squirmy delights, but I felt as if the ending just kind of tapered off and was a bit anticlimactic.

So, overall this is a decent novella but not as unrelenting as other recent Curran titles published by DarkFuse (see DOLL FACE and NIGHTCRALWERS, for instance).

Note: I received a free copy of this title through the DarkFuse Book Club.

[Pamellia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book flowed well and is a quick read with a classic horror feel. Easily understood however somewhat predictable. Interesting and colorful characters with some outstanding dialogue. The beast was well described. Anyone enjoying creature feature stories should enjoy this one.

[Wade Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

An exciting, scary and at times funny creature feature out on the lonely highways and deserts of western America.
3.8 stars. Would ha e been a full 4 stars but the ending was clearly rushed and VERY abrupt. But I did finish this book wanting more and if an author is able to do that to me then that's a huge plus in my boom! This was a fast paced and fun creature feature with some genuinely scary and tense moments that had me sitting on the edge of my seat. It is also filled with some genuinely funny moments. The tone did go from very serious in the first quarter if the book tonless so at the halfway point but I won't hold that against the book. I do feel that the time spent at the hospital could have been cut back on greatly and used that space to flesh out the rushed ending more. Other than those things though I don't have a bad thing to say about this book. This is my first tim curran book and I can honestly say now I am fan.

[Bogdan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too short to make a real impact, but not so bad overall, for two hours of reading.

[Vladimir Ivanov · Rating 3 out of 5]

В юные годы я очень любил смотреть в видеосалонах "ужастики", причем не про банальных маньяков и убийц, а обязательно про столкновение простого человека со всякими загадочными и страшными (не обязательно сверхъестественными) явлениями. В темном зале видеосалона накрывало с головой, аж вздохнуть боялся. С возрастом интерес к жанру не пропал, но просмотр хоррор-фильмов стал сильно подпорчен чувством стыда, типа, ну откуда такие бездарные актеры, ну почему такой резиновый монстр, боже, зачем я это вообще смотрю. В общем, развлекательная ниша освободилась.

И Тим Каррэн со своими повестями эту нишу идеально занял. Обычно писатели нам предлагают либо роман на неделю чтения, либо рассказ на 20 минут. А у Каррэна каждая новелла - на полтора-два часа, как будто фильм посмотрел. Темп напряженный, события жуткие, сюжет (это особо ценно!) развивается непредсказуемо, хеппи-энд никто не обещал. На персональный внутренний киноэкран проецируется очень крутое и захватывающее хоррор-муви.

Если говорить конкретно про "Tenebris", то книжка вышла довольно посредственная, монстр так себе, сюжет не особо связный, короче, Каррэн умеет и может в сто раз лучше. Но вообще я не столько про нее хотел рассказать, сколько про самого Тима и его увлекательные страшилки, не короткие и не длинные, а ровно такие, как надо.

P.S. Полновесные романы у него тоже есть, причем отличные, но это все-таки немного другое :)

[Benjamin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Decent

Not my favorite story by Curran, but it holds up. It does have less of his customary grotesque imagery, but he holds the story together with his style.

[Robert Mingee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tenebris is a fun monster story based on Native American lore, something which has always held great interest for me. It's a revenge story about a man who has his 2 best friends taken away, and his quest for vengeance on their behalf. It is a very quick read, one that I found hard to put down and finished in a day. The pacing was good, the action was tight, and I actually would not have minded a bit more backstory, though I can understand why the author went the "lean and mean" route with it. There were also some really quirky characters that added to the humor of the story.

All that said, it's not perfect. I felt like the writing was a little rough in spots, and the number of errors was high for a work of that length. In the end I enjoyed it despite the issues, and that's really the point of fiction, but it is aggravating how little effort could have made this one a bit more polished. I also know these things don't bother most people, though, which was another part of why I didn't factor it into the rating.

Overall, this is recommended for anyone looking for a quick, exciting, entertaining read.

[Brian Mcclain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very entertaining monster story in which instead of dominating the action, the monster is given equal billing to Jim (in search of revenge) and his new friends (in search of cryptozoological fame) following Jim's original and less than fruitful meeting with the creature. The side characters are multidimensional and everyone seems to fit in the world that Curran's created. In addition to my enjoyment of the characters and their interactions was an appreciation of the creature itself. Going far beyond reality it still seemed somewhat realistic with the different details about it's appearance and behavior. And of course with all that, the inclusion of some humor is definitely appreciated.

A really fun, quick read. Highly recommended.

[Dixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great read from this author. Very interesting and different. Well done. Will read more

[Angela · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the third or fourth book by Tim Curran that I've read and I have to say, I have enjoyed each one and this one was no exception. Really good cryptozoological read. This is a quick, well written story. The characters are all fairly likeable and even though the story is so short, you find yourself caring about them.

Really enjoyed this quick read. Its action packed.

[Arizona Spartan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a solid rip roaring story that I read in 2 nights. I'm a fan of the author and also Native American lore so this was right up my alley. I enjoyed it and felt it captured the loneliness of the desert quite well. It's not as good as some of his other work but a good solid read for horror fans or desert mythology/lore buffs.

[DJMikeG · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm a huge Tim Curran fan. I think he is just about the most consistent horror writer working today. That said, this novella didn't do it for me. It really read like a stretched out short story. Curran is a great writer but this one was a miss.

[Nick Watts · Rating 4 out of 5]

Has a late 70's early 80's vibe along the lines of Q: The Winged Serpent. Great setting, great monster, good gore. Fucking read it.

[Scott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Tim Curran has become quite adept at these "creature feature" kind of stories. This time we have a man who survives a horrific attack from a cryptozoological entity, but has a feeling that it isn't over.

The story of Jim's struggle with what happened to him and what to do about it is spiced up by some fun supporting characters and a vividly described creature. There is always the danger in a novella that the story will seem rushed, and I felt that the ending fell victim to this. The tension built and built and then suddenly it was over. Still, Tenebris is a fine way to spend a couple of hours. 4 stars, recommended for genre fans.

[Bob · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this tale of a winged monster and its attacks on motorists along Nevada's lonely Highway 50. Interesting story and characters, especially Reese, the punk ex-stripper, and Pettis and Shiner, the Scully and Mulder, of Crypto-Desert.com. I'm hoping Tim writes a sequel or two to this enjoyable novella.

[Troy · Rating 5 out of 5]

If there is any subgenre that I enjoy as much as post apocalyptic stories, it's cryptozoological stories. Big ass creatures that have only been glimpsed and/ or encountered. Blame my Enquirer reading grandma for that. Highly recommended entertaining read!

[FictionFreak · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tenebris by Tim Curran is a great cryptid horror tale. Like most of Curran's works, it starts right away and doesn't let up much until it's over. Recommended, and how! Check out everything else by him, too!

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh, this might not have been a good place to start with Tim Curran because this really was not anything special to me. I'll have to give him another try.