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Hard Rain #1
Lights Out
"Lights Out is fast-paced, engaging, and filled with action... a novel that will lock up many readers and not release them until they've completed the last sentence."
-Twilight Ridge
Burnham State Maximum Security Penitentiary holds the worst criminals humanity has to offer. Murderers, rapists, and others who have preyed upon humanity populate the prison, creating a food chain of violence and fear. Something lives beneath Burnham, however, and after years of waiting, it has been set free.
And it is hungry.
Now, those who call Burnham home must band together if they hope to survive. After years of being called monsters, they will face something much worse, and they will know how it feels to be prey.
-Twilight Ridge
Burnham State Maximum Security Penitentiary holds the worst criminals humanity has to offer. Murderers, rapists, and others who have preyed upon humanity populate the prison, creating a food chain of violence and fear. Something lives beneath Burnham, however, and after years of waiting, it has been set free.
And it is hungry.
Now, those who call Burnham home must band together if they hope to survive. After years of being called monsters, they will face something much worse, and they will know how it feels to be prey.
374 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2012
10 people are currently reading
184 people want to read
About the author
Nate Southard
67 books119 followersNate Southard is moody, shy, lanky, bald, and has bad skin. When he isn’t writing, he’s probably cooking Thai food or fried chicken. Seriously, he has something like fifty fried chicken recipes. It’s ridiculous. He recently discovered coffee-flavored ice cream, and it’s ruling his entire world. Did you know if you mix it with chocolate ice cream, you can kinda make mocha ice cream? Nate does!
Nate lives in Austin, Texas.
He sucks at skateboarding.
Nate Southard's books include Will the Sun Ever Come Out Again?, Scavengers, This Little Light of Mine, Red Sky, Just Like Hell, Broken Skin, and He Stepped Through. His short fiction has appeared in such venues as Nightmare Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Black Static, Thuglit, and LampLight. His short story "Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand" received an honorable mention in Ellen Datlow's The Year's Best Horror, and he earned a Bram Stoker Award nomination for his story "In the Middle of Poplar Street."
Nate lives in Austin, Texas.
He sucks at skateboarding.
Nate Southard's books include Will the Sun Ever Come Out Again?, Scavengers, This Little Light of Mine, Red Sky, Just Like Hell, Broken Skin, and He Stepped Through. His short fiction has appeared in such venues as Nightmare Magazine, Cemetery Dance, Black Static, Thuglit, and LampLight. His short story "Going Home, Ugly Stick in Hand" received an honorable mention in Ellen Datlow's The Year's Best Horror, and he earned a Bram Stoker Award nomination for his story "In the Middle of Poplar Street."
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
June 13, 2016
There’s something inherently, and perhaps deceptively, simple in Nate Southard’s premise that, like 30 Days of Night previously, makes you wonder why it hasn’t been done before. Whereas the Steve Niles/Ben Templesmith comic book series took the brilliant premise of vampires attacking an Alaskan town during the winter where the sun doesn’t shine for a month, Southard sets his vampire story in a prison, an equally inhospitable killing ground for these bloodsuckers to roam wildly and violently satisfy their cravings.
The result is a ridiculously fun read with a few disparate wheels that Southard keeps turning in a way that looks easy. Yes, there are vampires, but we also get a good deal of atmosphere from the prison itself and its inhabitants. There’s gang warfare, corrupt guards, the prison administration that doesn’t want to believe the growing crisis is the result of the supernatural, and the prison’s priest who realizes what’s happening and wants to stop the growing spate of murders.
While the vampires are interesting creatures in their own right – and blessedly ugly, non-sparkling, vicious underground killing machines – there’s enough human drama to occupy the daylight hours and keep the interest level high. Some of the prisoners are downright awful, others less so, and a couple that even earn a begrudging nod of respect and who are fun characters. While they fit certain prison archetypes (the Sicilian mafia boss, the Latin and black gang members, and the hardcore racist Aryan Nation trash), Southard fleshes out these characters well enough that they each, mostly, possess various shades of gray rather than being merely stereotypical cutouts and stand-ins to idle the time in between vampire attacks.
But, this is a vampire novel, straight-up, and one other thing Southard does very well is violence. There’s plenty of gore to go around, from brutal shivings to throat-ripping nastiness that culminate into a wild finale. Fun stuff!
If you’re looking for a dark, gruesome vampire story, this book needs to be on your reading list – it’s good – damn good – and one of the most flat-out enjoyable books I’ve read thus far in 2016.
[Note: This review is based on an advanced copy provided by Sinister Grin Press via Hook of a Book Media and Publicity.]
The result is a ridiculously fun read with a few disparate wheels that Southard keeps turning in a way that looks easy. Yes, there are vampires, but we also get a good deal of atmosphere from the prison itself and its inhabitants. There’s gang warfare, corrupt guards, the prison administration that doesn’t want to believe the growing crisis is the result of the supernatural, and the prison’s priest who realizes what’s happening and wants to stop the growing spate of murders.
While the vampires are interesting creatures in their own right – and blessedly ugly, non-sparkling, vicious underground killing machines – there’s enough human drama to occupy the daylight hours and keep the interest level high. Some of the prisoners are downright awful, others less so, and a couple that even earn a begrudging nod of respect and who are fun characters. While they fit certain prison archetypes (the Sicilian mafia boss, the Latin and black gang members, and the hardcore racist Aryan Nation trash), Southard fleshes out these characters well enough that they each, mostly, possess various shades of gray rather than being merely stereotypical cutouts and stand-ins to idle the time in between vampire attacks.
But, this is a vampire novel, straight-up, and one other thing Southard does very well is violence. There’s plenty of gore to go around, from brutal shivings to throat-ripping nastiness that culminate into a wild finale. Fun stuff!
If you’re looking for a dark, gruesome vampire story, this book needs to be on your reading list – it’s good – damn good – and one of the most flat-out enjoyable books I’ve read thus far in 2016.
[Note: This review is based on an advanced copy provided by Sinister Grin Press via Hook of a Book Media and Publicity.]
February 5, 2017
This was a pretty good read. Finished it early hours of the morning. The story is about prisoners that are getting murdered by an unknown creature. The story moves along at a fast pace and it kept me riveted to find out what was going to happen next. Four star read for this one.
July 23, 2015
Gritty, raw, visceral would be a few good words to describe this horror novel by Nate Southard. Set in the Burnham State Maximum Security Penitentiary, the warden and staff are puzzled over a series of brutal deaths and missing bodies, both inmates and officers. Prison factions are blaming each other as tensions mount to the boiling point, and perhaps only the prison chaplain may have the answer to the real horror behind the bloodshed.
This was my first Nate Southard novel, and certainly not my last. Nasty and fun-filled gore fest for those who enjoy their horror a bit more on the graphic side. Highly recommended.
This was my first Nate Southard novel, and certainly not my last. Nasty and fun-filled gore fest for those who enjoy their horror a bit more on the graphic side. Highly recommended.
September 2, 2014
After the awesomeness of Red Sky and the enjoyable zombie tale that was Scavengers, I was really looking forward to Nate Southard's take on vampires in the prison setting. Unfortunately, this one simply isn't up to the high-quality standard of those previously mentioned horror novels.
The problems with Lights Out are numerous. For one, the pacing is all over the place. The vampires make their first appearance in the prologue but then disappear for large stretches of the novel, during which time the reader is subjected to supposedly character-building scenes of shouting, threats of violence, and grandiose posturing. Characters are eventually established - but none beyond the various faction leaders have any noteworthy depth, and it takes a long time for more than one sympathetic character to rear his head. Worse, the various authorities who could do something about the lethal problem within the prison choose to turn a completely blind eye despite the reams of evidence that something well beyond prisoners murdering prisoners is taking place. In other words, characters behave unbelievably to keep the story going in the direction the author required. Then there is the editing - or apparent lack thereof. In this day and age of self-publishing, most readers expect typographical errors and the occasional mistake in grammar. But not when it comes from a reputable publisher and not when it contains whole sentences that have been repeated, while others have words completely missing.
In terms of the good, Southard does throw together an impressively over-the-top blood-soaked finale that, if it contains few surprises, is considerably more satisfying than the rest of the novel.
All in all, compared to other prison-based horrors like Robert Ford's The Compound or Tim Curran's Fear Me, Lights Out falls well short of the bench mark set by these excellent reads. Here's hoping for a return to form with Southard's next piece of horror fiction.
2 Shiv-Based Shankings for Lights Out.
The problems with Lights Out are numerous. For one, the pacing is all over the place. The vampires make their first appearance in the prologue but then disappear for large stretches of the novel, during which time the reader is subjected to supposedly character-building scenes of shouting, threats of violence, and grandiose posturing. Characters are eventually established - but none beyond the various faction leaders have any noteworthy depth, and it takes a long time for more than one sympathetic character to rear his head. Worse, the various authorities who could do something about the lethal problem within the prison choose to turn a completely blind eye despite the reams of evidence that something well beyond prisoners murdering prisoners is taking place. In other words, characters behave unbelievably to keep the story going in the direction the author required. Then there is the editing - or apparent lack thereof. In this day and age of self-publishing, most readers expect typographical errors and the occasional mistake in grammar. But not when it comes from a reputable publisher and not when it contains whole sentences that have been repeated, while others have words completely missing.
In terms of the good, Southard does throw together an impressively over-the-top blood-soaked finale that, if it contains few surprises, is considerably more satisfying than the rest of the novel.
All in all, compared to other prison-based horrors like Robert Ford's The Compound or Tim Curran's Fear Me, Lights Out falls well short of the bench mark set by these excellent reads. Here's hoping for a return to form with Southard's next piece of horror fiction.
2 Shiv-Based Shankings for Lights Out.
January 24, 2020
It was good. It had some lackings though. I didn't understand the 'monster's description properly.
Loved the characters, father Albright, Anton Ribisi, Omar Marquez. Especially Tree.. I loved the guy very much. It's very unfortunate what happened to the big guy. Then again I feel horrible for Jim AKA the Maggot. Loved how both the inmates and the prison guards fought together. It was really something from my point of view. In short, I loved the book. Absolutely recommending anyone who loves Horror novels.
Loved the characters, father Albright, Anton Ribisi, Omar Marquez. Especially Tree.. I loved the guy very much. It's very unfortunate what happened to the big guy. Then again I feel horrible for Jim AKA the Maggot. Loved how both the inmates and the prison guards fought together. It was really something from my point of view. In short, I loved the book. Absolutely recommending anyone who loves Horror novels.
October 15, 2024
Bibliophilia Templum review
https://bibliophiliatemplum.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/lights-out/
Lights Out is one of the best vampire novels ever and one of my favorite novels of all time.
Mixing classic horror mythos with modern explicit violence in a cesspool prison environment, Nate Southard brings the graphic horror full force. The only thing more terrifying than the depraved characters are the things that hunt them.
The story is fast paced, engaging, and splendidly written.
But Lights Out is not for the squeamish.
These are not romantic vampires.
These are not likeable characters.
The graphic characterization of the prison inmates and corrupt prison staff is shocking and horrific in and of itself. Southard even adds a touch of psychological horror to the mix by giving disturbing backstories that will twist your heart. Add to that the historic monsters of the story, and there is no escape from the horror.
An innovative twist on a classic theme, Lights Out is most definitely shelf worthy and highly recommended, especially this newly edited edition, freshened up and with a bold new cover.
https://bibliophiliatemplum.wordpress.com/2017/07/03/lights-out/
Lights Out is one of the best vampire novels ever and one of my favorite novels of all time.
Mixing classic horror mythos with modern explicit violence in a cesspool prison environment, Nate Southard brings the graphic horror full force. The only thing more terrifying than the depraved characters are the things that hunt them.
The story is fast paced, engaging, and splendidly written.
But Lights Out is not for the squeamish.
These are not romantic vampires.
These are not likeable characters.
The graphic characterization of the prison inmates and corrupt prison staff is shocking and horrific in and of itself. Southard even adds a touch of psychological horror to the mix by giving disturbing backstories that will twist your heart. Add to that the historic monsters of the story, and there is no escape from the horror.
An innovative twist on a classic theme, Lights Out is most definitely shelf worthy and highly recommended, especially this newly edited edition, freshened up and with a bold new cover.
January 20, 2017
Doing it right
Nothing sparkles here. It's raw and fast and you *live* these people, you feel their hatreds and their fears and their desperation. This is what a vampire story should be: it's not romantic, it's not glittery, it's bloody and monstrous and some of the monsters are human. This is a story to learn from.
Nothing sparkles here. It's raw and fast and you *live* these people, you feel their hatreds and their fears and their desperation. This is what a vampire story should be: it's not romantic, it's not glittery, it's bloody and monstrous and some of the monsters are human. This is a story to learn from.
March 11, 2020
I'd give it less than one star if I could. This book was probably the worst I've ever read. I think this dude wrote it just to says slurs every other page. Hell, some instances it was every other sentence. Just awful garbage on a hot day.
October 15, 2025
Great story
I love the intertwinimg.of.vampire myth and.prison.gang story. Non stop action.and.tons of.blood and.gore and.depravity the story is unputdownable. I love the cliff hanger ending as well. This is superb.action and.gore soaked mayhem. Its a must read for sure.
I love the intertwinimg.of.vampire myth and.prison.gang story. Non stop action.and.tons of.blood and.gore and.depravity the story is unputdownable. I love the cliff hanger ending as well. This is superb.action and.gore soaked mayhem. Its a must read for sure.
September 9, 2015
This was my first introduction to Nate Southard's writing, and it was a fast paced experience with a new take on an old horror villain.
The story is set in Burnham Maximum Security State Penitentiary, a building built to house the worst prisoners the state has to offer. Two prisoners attempt to tunnel their way to freedom and inadvertently release an ancient and hungry evil. As hardened prisoners are murdered night after night, panic sets in among both staff and prisoners alike. The hunters have now become the hunted and rumors begin to spread of monsters. Everyone within Burnham must then decide how far they are willing to go to survive the night.
Nate Southard has a fast paced and descriptive style of writing. He did a great job setting the stage for the novel and giving the main characters all a strong back story to flesh them out. However this book has two major flaws for me. First, I didn't really care if everyone in the prison was wiped out; they were mostly monstrous criminals and corrupt officers. There were a few innocents in there as well, but honestly I just couldn't get attached to any of the characters. Second, I am personally just not a big fan of vampire type beings in horror. I feel like they have been overdone and I would have preferred the villain to be something else. Overall, I will say that it was a good read and I would recommend it as a fun summer read. I will also certainly be picking up more of Nate Southard's writing in the near future.
I received a copy of this book for free in e-book format in return for an honest review.
The story is set in Burnham Maximum Security State Penitentiary, a building built to house the worst prisoners the state has to offer. Two prisoners attempt to tunnel their way to freedom and inadvertently release an ancient and hungry evil. As hardened prisoners are murdered night after night, panic sets in among both staff and prisoners alike. The hunters have now become the hunted and rumors begin to spread of monsters. Everyone within Burnham must then decide how far they are willing to go to survive the night.
Nate Southard has a fast paced and descriptive style of writing. He did a great job setting the stage for the novel and giving the main characters all a strong back story to flesh them out. However this book has two major flaws for me. First, I didn't really care if everyone in the prison was wiped out; they were mostly monstrous criminals and corrupt officers. There were a few innocents in there as well, but honestly I just couldn't get attached to any of the characters. Second, I am personally just not a big fan of vampire type beings in horror. I feel like they have been overdone and I would have preferred the villain to be something else. Overall, I will say that it was a good read and I would recommend it as a fun summer read. I will also certainly be picking up more of Nate Southard's writing in the near future.
I received a copy of this book for free in e-book format in return for an honest review.
May 15, 2015
Did you watch the HBO prison drama Oz and think, "Man, that's great, but it's missing something. Oh wait, I know, VAMPIRES." If so, Lights Out is for you.
This book was great. It was the first I had read from Nate Southard and I will definitely check out more of his work. The pacing was consistent, the characters well-rounded, and the gore plentiful. Pop culture seriously killed vampires much like they're currently doing with zombies, but this one manages to feel fresh and exciting, and deserves to be up there with The Light at The End, my all-time favorite bloodsucker novel. I dinged it one star due to some sloppy editing in parts (at least for the kindle edition), but overall I'd highly recommend this, and can't wait to dive further in to Southard's work.
This book was great. It was the first I had read from Nate Southard and I will definitely check out more of his work. The pacing was consistent, the characters well-rounded, and the gore plentiful. Pop culture seriously killed vampires much like they're currently doing with zombies, but this one manages to feel fresh and exciting, and deserves to be up there with The Light at The End, my all-time favorite bloodsucker novel. I dinged it one star due to some sloppy editing in parts (at least for the kindle edition), but overall I'd highly recommend this, and can't wait to dive further in to Southard's work.
July 5, 2015
This is the second novel by Nate Southard that I've read and I must say I enjoyed it a lot.
The plot is very interesting and the author did a fantastic job developing it,there isn't a dull or boring moment until the novel is finished where the
raised tension leads to a explosive ending.Besides Mr.Southard takes his time to show us what kind of persons are the main characters,there are
plenty of very interesting and terrible persons in the story (and some good ones too).
A terrific novel by a very talented author.Highly recommended.
The plot is very interesting and the author did a fantastic job developing it,there isn't a dull or boring moment until the novel is finished where the
raised tension leads to a explosive ending.Besides Mr.Southard takes his time to show us what kind of persons are the main characters,there are
plenty of very interesting and terrible persons in the story (and some good ones too).
A terrific novel by a very talented author.Highly recommended.
October 7, 2015
So that was fucking awesome. A brutal non stop blood bath about vampires in a prison! Having all the different factions of gangs and guards added all different types of tension and suspense to the story outside of just the vampire threat. Excellent adrenaline fueled horror novel! If you want old school savage vampires get this book asap.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews