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Daddy Monster
Life couldn't get any better.
A new baby, the promotion, the new house - everything is finally going his way. A happy family and the comfortable life don't last long, though, once they start receiving visits from something that he does not understand. Or even believe.
His daughter, Little Olivia, is troubled by visions of a monster that only she can see.
He lurks in the shadows and lives on the edge of their perception, just out of sight, and sneaks in to steal the happiness from their dreams. But their frightening encounters with the unexplained serve only as a distraction, a break from the uncomfortable truth, will it be too late for him to realize what he has so easily forgotten?
Sometimes the things we need to fear most are closer than we expect.
A new baby, the promotion, the new house - everything is finally going his way. A happy family and the comfortable life don't last long, though, once they start receiving visits from something that he does not understand. Or even believe.
His daughter, Little Olivia, is troubled by visions of a monster that only she can see.
He lurks in the shadows and lives on the edge of their perception, just out of sight, and sneaks in to steal the happiness from their dreams. But their frightening encounters with the unexplained serve only as a distraction, a break from the uncomfortable truth, will it be too late for him to realize what he has so easily forgotten?
Sometimes the things we need to fear most are closer than we expect.
314 pages, Paperback
Published September 15, 2017
3 people are currently reading
464 people want to read
About the author
Kevin Berg
6 books43 followersKevin Berg is the award-winning author of Indifference, Daddy Monster, Ants in My Blood, and Fat Sensei. His dark fiction can be found at Pulp Metal Magazine, Near to the Knuckle, The Blood Red Experiment, Horror Sleaze Trash, Trembling With Fear, Underbelly Magazine, Stupefying Stories, Alien Buddha Press, and Black Hare Press, among others.
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
October 15, 2018
Initially a caustic look at corporate life, this novel veers into the intimate territory of an employee climbing the ranks for the sake of his family. Situations are bleak, and the upward climb still holds happiness and fulfillment out of reach. Turning into darker territory and flirting with the supernatural, the safety of the family unit is threatened. The author's style provides a slow burn of introduction into the personal recesses of close relationships. Ultimately, we are witness to the complete decimation of an American dream.
January 31, 2020
A young married couple try for baby, after struggling to conceive. When their daughter, Olivia, is born they settle in the US. All seems to be going as expected, with the usual challenges faced when trying to establish a secure life for a fledgling family. Soon strange events begin to manifest around the home, and an unsettling presence enters the dreamworld of the daughter in particular. The couple desperately search for a reason behind the unusual happenings. The father tends to minimise the events, as he is pulled towards establishing a stable job in order to support the family. Alternately, the mother suspects a spiritual answer, the culture she grew up in being very close to the spirits of myth and folklore. As the parents clash, the mysterious figure continues to haunt Olivia, and its presence seems to encroach further into the physical realm, in increasingly sinister ways.
Berg takes his time to introduce the characters, and this is of great benefit later on. The representation of the banalities and frustrations of office life is vividly executed. Berg excels at creating repellant and gross characters, and the discomfort of being forced into the same air-conditioned space with them is made very immediate and repugnant. The writing has some great descriptive flair, especially in the more nightmarish and gory passages. The novel moves in a slow burn, but when the horror comes, the impact is greater for it.
A solid addition to the haunted suburbia sub-genre, which injects some fresh shocks into the normal. Satisfying take on the anxieties and fears inherent in new parenthood, with a genuinely disturbing denouement.
Berg takes his time to introduce the characters, and this is of great benefit later on. The representation of the banalities and frustrations of office life is vividly executed. Berg excels at creating repellant and gross characters, and the discomfort of being forced into the same air-conditioned space with them is made very immediate and repugnant. The writing has some great descriptive flair, especially in the more nightmarish and gory passages. The novel moves in a slow burn, but when the horror comes, the impact is greater for it.
A solid addition to the haunted suburbia sub-genre, which injects some fresh shocks into the normal. Satisfying take on the anxieties and fears inherent in new parenthood, with a genuinely disturbing denouement.
October 21, 2018
A couple are desperate to conceive a child. Before long, they're cradling little Olivia in their arms. She is their pride and joy. But when she starts seeing a monster, is it just a figment of her imagination? Something supernatural? Or is there something more--something sinister that threatens to tear the happy family apart?
I greatly enjoyed Berg's writing and masterful storytelling. It was compelling and created a great, eerie atmosphere. I admit, though, that I found some parts a bit confusing and had to re-read certain portions for clarification. The pacing started out a bit slow but definitely picked up. There was a fair amount of violence and gore and Berg did an exceptional job depicting it all graphically, yet tactfully.
The ending blew me away! It is hauntingly beautiful and memorable.
I'd *LOVE* to see this book made into a movie. Hint, hint, Berg....
I greatly enjoyed Berg's writing and masterful storytelling. It was compelling and created a great, eerie atmosphere. I admit, though, that I found some parts a bit confusing and had to re-read certain portions for clarification. The pacing started out a bit slow but definitely picked up. There was a fair amount of violence and gore and Berg did an exceptional job depicting it all graphically, yet tactfully.
The ending blew me away! It is hauntingly beautiful and memorable.
I'd *LOVE* to see this book made into a movie. Hint, hint, Berg....
September 6, 2017
This is an interesting novel in several ways. First, it's written in the present tense, third person. This isn't for everyone. However, present tense lends an immediacy to the prose which is particularly relevant in the second half of the novel.
Which leads us to the other interesting aspect, this is a story of two halves. Initially this is a tale of a normal life, the struggles of a normal family. It's when the family move house when the story twists into something very different. A malevolent being inhabits the place already and makes himself known through Olivia, a young girl. What follows is an increasingly tense read. Dive in if you dare...
Which leads us to the other interesting aspect, this is a story of two halves. Initially this is a tale of a normal life, the struggles of a normal family. It's when the family move house when the story twists into something very different. A malevolent being inhabits the place already and makes himself known through Olivia, a young girl. What follows is an increasingly tense read. Dive in if you dare...
June 6, 2020
*I received a copy for free in exchange for an honest review*
One family’s suburban dreams are shattered when their young daughter starts being tormented by nightmares that are seemingly a little too real. Desperate to protect his daughter, a father must face the monsters that terrify his little girl.
I was really drawn by the summary of this novel. It sounded like a really great horror story, just the kind of book that I like to read. The author is a good writer. There was a wealth of description and vocabulary use. The style was dark in keeping with the genre.
However unfortunately I did not enjoy it at all. For me there were several things that meant that I just couldn’t get into it. One was the lack of names of the main characters. Only the daughter, Olivia, was named. The mother and father were not. For me a name is so important for forming an attachment to a character or even just being able to relate to them. This put me on the wrong-foot with this novel to begin with. The second thing was it was just so confusing. It went on and on with drawn out events that added no real value to the plot and just served to confuse. It jumped about all over the place and I could not follow what was going on at all, which was incredibly frustrating. The lack of names (and some characters were only referred to with unpleasant nicknames!) just added to this confusion and I nearly didn’t finish the book as a result.
When I finished it, I was left feeling rather disappointed that unfortunately this book was not for me.
One family’s suburban dreams are shattered when their young daughter starts being tormented by nightmares that are seemingly a little too real. Desperate to protect his daughter, a father must face the monsters that terrify his little girl.
I was really drawn by the summary of this novel. It sounded like a really great horror story, just the kind of book that I like to read. The author is a good writer. There was a wealth of description and vocabulary use. The style was dark in keeping with the genre.
However unfortunately I did not enjoy it at all. For me there were several things that meant that I just couldn’t get into it. One was the lack of names of the main characters. Only the daughter, Olivia, was named. The mother and father were not. For me a name is so important for forming an attachment to a character or even just being able to relate to them. This put me on the wrong-foot with this novel to begin with. The second thing was it was just so confusing. It went on and on with drawn out events that added no real value to the plot and just served to confuse. It jumped about all over the place and I could not follow what was going on at all, which was incredibly frustrating. The lack of names (and some characters were only referred to with unpleasant nicknames!) just added to this confusion and I nearly didn’t finish the book as a result.
When I finished it, I was left feeling rather disappointed that unfortunately this book was not for me.
November 5, 2017
With Daddy Monster, Berg has taken a massive step forward in his development. With debut, Indifference under his belt (and displaying an impressive array of skills for a first time writer) Berg has clearly tackled his follow up novel with an increased vigour. Technically more skilled than Indifference, berg’s second offering has lost none of the dark humour and often vicious plotting of indifference but contains much more heart and is infinitely better paced and plotted than his debut managed.
Inventive, filthy, dangerous and properly black-humoured, Daddy Monster finds a confident Berg utilising all of his impressive skills, manky imagination and cracking dialogue, but also employing a more considered approach than Indifference which at times felt like a series of set pieces written to elicit a response or perhaps purge the writer.
Not so in Daddy Monster. Berg has written a properly funny, often dark and incredibly impressive work that screams originality and vitality in a genre that badly needs both.
Berg is simply the best kept secret in US indie-publishing
Inventive, filthy, dangerous and properly black-humoured, Daddy Monster finds a confident Berg utilising all of his impressive skills, manky imagination and cracking dialogue, but also employing a more considered approach than Indifference which at times felt like a series of set pieces written to elicit a response or perhaps purge the writer.
Not so in Daddy Monster. Berg has written a properly funny, often dark and incredibly impressive work that screams originality and vitality in a genre that badly needs both.
Berg is simply the best kept secret in US indie-publishing
July 23, 2018
His book is dark, exotic, and wonderful. I was riveted. The stairs just kept going down into the shadows and I kept going down with them. Glad I read it in the day time. Impressive stuff.
October 10, 2017
Berg is a writer who definitely embraces the darker side of life and the human imagination. His first novel, Indifference, dealt with the harsh realities that are every day existence for some but would be the stuff of nightmares for most if we actually had to live it. With his second novel, Berg digs deeper into the nature of nightmares and what would you do if they came true.
The book begins slowly, letting you get to know the main character as he and his wife struggle to build a better life for themselves, moving to the other side of the world to make that happen. Even then, in the land of dreams he struggles to find any. But with perseverance he finally feels everything start to fall into place…Then we get to part 2 which is when it jumps to another level, branching into the realms of horror.
The writing is generally excellent, though sometimes the description is a little overdone, slowing down the narrative. But Berg creates some great characters along the way and the story builds like the classic horror story it is towards a very unexpected ending.
Well worth a read.
The book begins slowly, letting you get to know the main character as he and his wife struggle to build a better life for themselves, moving to the other side of the world to make that happen. Even then, in the land of dreams he struggles to find any. But with perseverance he finally feels everything start to fall into place…Then we get to part 2 which is when it jumps to another level, branching into the realms of horror.
The writing is generally excellent, though sometimes the description is a little overdone, slowing down the narrative. But Berg creates some great characters along the way and the story builds like the classic horror story it is towards a very unexpected ending.
Well worth a read.
November 1, 2017
The best books are the ones that leave a reader unsettled at the end. Daddy Monster does that and a bit more, I'm not quite sure whether to describe the book as dark or depressing. Whenever our main character seems to be on the point of success something, whether its real or imagined, will come and drag him down. After years of trying he and his wife finally have the much longed for baby, their daughter Olivia, but now Daddy must work longer hours to pay for that better house that seems to be falling apart even though it's brand new. Everything he tries, from DIY to office politics, seems to turn against him and that's before Olivia begins to see monsters lurking in the shadows.
With a narrative that doesn't let go and an ending that will never quite be forgotten, Daddy Monster is a horror story that starts dark and gets darker.
With a narrative that doesn't let go and an ending that will never quite be forgotten, Daddy Monster is a horror story that starts dark and gets darker.
September 29, 2017
Having read Berg's debut novel, "Indifference," I was looking forward to experiencing what he had come up with for his sophomore effort. The story moves at a slow pace, but the author's style and prose make it fairly easy to forgive this slow burn; there is still a flow and rhythm that keeps the reader engaged, until the tense and unforgettable climax and conclusion. I did not see the twist coming and the ending brought tears to my eyes. It still lingers in the back of my head, hours after I closed the book, or rather, turned off my kindle.
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews