Something Out There

by Ronald Kelly

It was passed down from generation to generation. The legend of the Dark 'Un, the strange beast that roamed Pale Dove Mountain. The dark monster that no one had ever seen -- at least not and lived to tell about it -- except, so it was said, old Fletcher Brice who lived at the foot of the mountain.

No one really believed in The Dark 'Un. It was just a story to make a child's flesh crawl.

Until Old Man Brice died.

Now, the people of Tucker's Mill, Tennessee, would be forced to believe.

Genres: Horror, Fiction

406 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

About the author

Ronald Kelly was born and raised in the hills and hollows of Middle Tennessee. He became interested in horror as a child, watching the local "Creature Feature" on Saturday nights and "The Big Show"---a Nashville-based TV show that presented every old monster movie ever made ---in the afternoons after school. In high school, his interest turned to horror literature and he read such writers as Poe, Lovecraft, Matheson, and King. He originally had dreams of becoming a comic book artist and created many of his own superheroes. But during his junior year, the writing bug bit him and he focused his attention on penning short stories and full-length novels. To date, he has had thirteen novels and twelve short fiction collections published. In 2021, his extreme horror collection, THE ESSENTIAL SICK STUFF, won a Splatterpunk Award for Best Collection.

He currently lives in Brush Creek, Tennessee with his wife, young'uns, and an ultra-hyper Jack Russel named Toby.

Reviews

[Jack Tripper · Rating 3 out of 5]

Here's a larger image of the 1991 Zebra mass-market. I'm hoping the big bad here isn't really a giant iguana. I mean, that could be cool I guess, but after binge-watching Netflix's (stellar) Stranger Things this past weekend, I'm really in the mood for a good creature feature. And my standards have risen a bit.

Full review to come.

[Phil · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really love Kelly's downhome, southern fried tales and Something Out There hit a sweet spot for sure. While Zebra released this as a horror novel, it really comes across more as an adventure tale, populated primarily with folks from a small mountain town south of Knoxville, Tennessee. For as long as anyone can remember, tales have been told about the Dark'un that roamed around Pale Dove Mountain, just outside of Tucker's Mill, though primarily to kids to keep them in line. Maybe there is some truth to the old tales after all!

Something Out There also reads like a morality tale alongside its adventure/horror aspects. One of the main protagonists is a ruthless business tycoon, Jackson Dellheart, with his global empire based in Memphis. On the sly, Dellheart has had some geologists poking around Eastern Tennessee looking for business opportunities; Dellheart's company, Eco-Plenty, basically makes money anyway it can, usually leaving the environment much worse. Dellheart has a hankering after the gold his pet geologists believe to be in Pale Dove Mountain, plus the coal and timber, but an old man owns the entire mountain and has for generations. Dellheart sends a minion out to buy the land, but the old guy refuses to sell; Dellheart, however, is not one to take no for an answer and things get rather ugly quickly...

So, we have a rapacious business tycoon against the folk of Tucker's Mill, which include the old sheriff, the owner of the town's boarding house, the owner of the general store in town, plus the daughter of the old man who owns the mountain. For their part, the townies just want to be left alone to continue as they have for generations. Dellheart, a greedy and rapacious bastard, refuses to be swayed. Drop into this mix the Dark'un, and we have quite a story.

I guess you could also call this a creature feature, given the Dark'un, but while central to the story, the creature really plays second fiddle to the characters involved. All this told with Kelly's almost trademark flowing southern prose and idioms!. Something Out There does not scare so much as entertain, but it does the latter very well. 4 Dark'un stars!

[Latasha · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was not one of Ronald Kelly's best.

[Marina Schnierer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am loving Ronald Kelly's books. Fear was my first read by this great author, it blew me away and has become my favourite book of all time. Something Out There didn't disappoint, it was just as entertaining and wonderfully written. Being an Ozzy, I thought I would struggle with the southern lingo, but that was part of what was so entertaining about this book. The characters, the setting and of course, the shapeshifting creature known as the Dark 'Un, all made this a blast to read from start to finish. I have a few of Ronald Kelly's books on kindle and have ordered a couple of his new books which I am super excited to read. If you are looking for stories with high entertainment value, then I highly recommend his books.

[Menion · Rating 4 out of 5]

Time to get off my lazy ass and get back to work here. Long and short: this books kicks ass. Good horror read, decent amount of gore, an unexpected streak of hilarity, and the whole thing is southern-fried in hillbilly country. What more do you need?
RDCV of plot: Pale Dove Mountain is in the woods of some hick-ass town in Tennessee called Tucker's Mills. A whole bunch of peaceful creatures live on the mountain, they are unique because they are all albinos. Albino sheep, albino deer, albino moose...you get the picture. Anyhow, these creatures are protected from the occasional hunter and random asshole by The Dark 'Un, a mean ass, shape shifting creature. The mountain belongs to the Brice family, who are as redneck as they come. They have been charged with always maintaining control of the property the mountain is on. Of course, some rich, douchbag developer wants to blast the top off the mountain and mine it for coal. The developer won't take 'no' for an answer, so it is up to The Dark 'Un and a few of the local townspeople to stop him. The End.
Excellent pacing on this one, and plenty of plot turns and twists. This IS a horror novel, but as mentioned, the hilarity streak had me laughing my ass off a few times. What really helps this one, is the author clearly knows how to write in a Appalachian setting. He really brings it to life, from the scenery descriptions, to the characters. I suspect some people might whine about the southern characters in the book being stereotypes. I do not understand that. Stereotypes are usually based in reality. So the characters in here chew tobacco, talk polite to each other, and are distrustful of Yankees. Plus, they have hilarious verbal expressions. Plenty of southerners are like that! And, it's not a bad thing. Also, it's nice to read a story not based around smooth talking city characters, I really liked the setting. My favorite was the old lady scaring the hell out of some annoying Italian city loser with an automatic pistol. Hell, he had a gun too, and wound up running from her!
The plot does take plenty of twists. Sure, you might find the ending to be a little over the top, as it basically turns into a full-scale war with a LOT of firepower on the mountain, but fuck it. I like huge slam-bang endings, and this one was a real humdinger. Ronald Kelly threw in everything and the kitchen sink (plus the plumbing) and it works great. I will be reading more of his material for certain, I just hope they are in a southern setting again.
This one is easily worth your time, it's hard to put down. Best random one from a second hand store I have read in a LONG time. Good on you, Ronald!

[DJMikeG · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. A wildly imaginative blend of horror, science fiction, fantasy and good old southern folklore. Kelly is quickly becoming one of my favorite genre authors. He's a truly original voice in horror lit. Recommended for those who want to read something very different.

[Andrew · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book starts in a really low key comfy way focusing on this small town that is brilliantly realized. However as the book continues to go on this book becomes less and less focused on its opening 50 pages and goes into some ABSOLUTELY WILD scenarios.

I am not even 100% sure I'd call this a horror novel by the end, there are some deliciously gruesome moments and tons of monster carnage...but THE MONSTER is the hero of this story.

The last third introduces some dated elements although those elements did seem to ring true to the characters that say them.

Kelly seems to build characters he loves and doesn't have the heart to kill them off. A similar thing happened with the other Kelly book I read 'Undertaker's Moon' as protagonists don't die and that takes away from the horror. Still I did like the characters a lot in those first two acts, unfortunately they don't get a lot to do during the climax.

While this certainly wasn't what I was expecting, I ended up having a good time on the ride.

[Rebecca L. Carpenter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and all of Ronald Kelly’s books I have read so far. If you have never tried him you must give him a try. Excellent author. He just had two books released this month.

[Emily Haynes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pale Dove Mountain has beautiful rare animals . That have a protector who will do anything to keep them safe from harm.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

The "monsters" are very cool and the story is great fun. The characters' relationships are tied up a bit too neatly at the end.

[Kimberly · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars--:)

[Deanna Matlick · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was an interesting read.