Blue Hell

by Greg F. Gifune, Sandy DeLuca

A homeless man plagued by hideous nightmares awakens in a hospital with no knowledge of how he came to be there. When he accepts the help of an organization that assists the downtrodden, he finds himself in a strange apartment building that may very well hold the key to his terrifying visions and forgotten past...

A pregnant woman on the run, haunted by her own bleak dreams and an out of control drug problem, speeds down a highway in the dead of night, only to crash when she sees something terrifying on the side of the road. Charged with driving drunk and drug possession, she reports to a mysterious halfway house rather than face jail time, unaware of the horrifying fate that awaits her.

After unexpectedly losing his job, a carefree young salesman agrees to a drunken night on the town with an enigmatic older man he barely knows, unaware that it will soon lead to the terrible truth behind not only his own life, but those lost souls that came before him.

In the bowels of a haunted apartment building, along the dark and lonely highways to Hell, in a city of night, foggy streets and shadow-filled alleys, their stories and lives merge in a fever dream of profane hunger, sex, savagery, blood and endless fire.

These are the passengers of night.

This is Blue Hell.

Genres: Horror, Psychological Horror

142 pages, Kindle Edition

Published May 8, 2021

About the author

Called "One of the best writers of his generation" by both the Roswell Literary Review and author Brian Keene, Greg F. Gifune is the author of numerous short stories, several novels and two short story collections. His work has been published in a wide range of magazines and anthologies all over the world, and has recently garnered interest from Hollywood. His novels include The Bleeding Season, Deep Night, Saying Uncle, A View From The Lake, Night Work, Drago Descending, Blood In Electric Blue and Dominion.

Along with his short story collections, Down To Sleep and Heretics, his work has been nominated for numerous awards and is consistently praised by readers and critics alike across the globe. For seven years he was Editor-in-Chief of Thievin' Kitty Publications, publishers of the acclaimed fiction magazines The Edge: Tales of Suspense (1998-2004) and Burning Sky: Adventures in Science Fiction Terror (1998-2003), and currently serves as Associate Editor at Delirium Books. 

The son of teachers, Greg F. Gifune was educated in Boston and has lived in various places, including New York City and Peru. A trained actor and broadcaster, he has appeared in various stage productions and has worked in radio and television as both an on-air talent and a producer.  Earlier in life he held a wide range of jobs, encompassing everything from journalism to promotions.

The author of numerous novels, screenplays and two short story collections, his work has been consistently praised by critics and readers alike, and has been translated into several languages and published all over the world. Greg and his wife Carol live in Massachusetts with a bevy of cats. 

Discover more about his writing at GregFGifune.com and UninvitedBooks.com.

Reviews

[Char · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being that this book was dedicated to a dear online friend of mine, (and fellow Horror Aficionados moderator), Jon Recluse, I knew I had to own a copy. Several of my fellow moderators felt the same way, and a few others joined us as we began a buddy read of it. As with everything Gifune or Deluca, it did not disappoint!

There are three parts. The first concerning a homeless man called Stringer, the second about a lost soul named Carla and the third about a man named Marco. That's all I'm going to say about the stories because they should be discovered as the authors intended. All of the tales are connected in some way.

Having read both authors before I think I can tell who wrote what here. The first story seemed like pure Gifune to me. He almost always writes tales that feature a storm of some kind, (in this case, a blizzard), and his narratives usually have a dreamlike quality to them and this one definitely had that as well. The second tale seems like pure Deluca to me. The women in her stories always suffer and poor Carla, she had some troubles to be sure. I feel like the last part featured the best of both authors, writing together.

Overall, BLUE HELL is exactly what I thought it'd be and that's a good thing. My expectations of both of these authors were high to start with and they did not let me down. One last thing though? I KNOW that Jon Recluse would have loved this book, I just know it.

Highly recommended!

*I purchased this book with my hard earned cash.*

[Netanella · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read "Blue Hell" as a buddy read with the GR group Horror Aficionados, as the book was dedicated to one of the moderators, Jon Recluse, who recently passed. So it was with a melancholic heart that I started the book. The sadness did not last long, however, as the book quickly unpacked a tightly scripted story of three people, connected together by nightmares and blood, sex, and violence. That's pretty much the trifecta of horror, but the authors put this together so well, in a queasy landscape of a city where the homeless are being set on fire and a strange, haunted apartment building houses the lost souls. It's creepy and strange and oh, so good.

[WendyB · Rating 4 out of 5]

Finished this book, sat and thought about it for a few minutes, and decided I'm just not completely sure I understand what I read. Strangely though, I know I liked it. It was well-written and kept my attention. I'll simply have to think about this one for a while for all the parts to come together.

[Ghoul Von Horror · Rating 3 out of 5]

TW: Murder, gory scenes, language, rape, use of c-word

*****SPOILERS*****
About the book:
A homeless man plagued by hideous nightmares awakens in a hospital with no knowledge of how he came to be there. When he accepts the help of an organization that assists the downtrodden, he finds himself in a strange apartment building that may very well hold the key to his terrifying visions and forgotten past...

A pregnant woman on the run, haunted by her own bleak dreams and an out of control drug problem, speeds down a highway in the dead of night, only to crash when she sees something terrifying on the side of the road. Charged with driving drunk and drug possession, she reports to a mysterious halfway house rather than face jail time, unaware of the horrifying fate that awaits her.

After unexpectedly losing his job, a carefree young salesman agrees to a drunken night on the town with an enigmatic older man he barely knows, unaware that it will soon lead to the terrible truth behind not only his own life, but those lost souls that came before him.

In the bowels of a haunted apartment building, along the dark and lonely highways to Hell, in a city of night, foggy streets and shadow-filled alleys, their stories and lives merge in a fever dream of profane hunger, sex, savagery, blood and endless fire.

These are the passengers of night.
Release Date: March 05th, 2021
Genre: Horror
Pages: 160
Rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

What I Liked:
1. The plot was interesting
2. The writing style
3. Short chapters

What I Didn't Like:
1. Too many dreams
2. Felt like this story already existed

Overall Thoughts:
I picked this book up from my library on a whim when I was browsing their website. I searched for horror stories and this came up. I didn't care for the other book I read from Greg F. Gifune;Deep Night. I thought why not give him another chance.

The book starts with us meeting Stinger - a homeless man that's woken up from an accident he can't fully recount. He swears there was fire and the caseworker assures him there wasn't. She offers him a place to live free of charge and he accepts it. Weird things happen in the apartment such as seeing a smelly naked man walking around and disappearing. It was okay. The book continues on for two other people that are dealing with similar issues of them not being nice people. One time was great, two times okay, but three times - we get it.

This book reminded me of Clive Barker's Nightbreed meets Jacob's Ladder. It has that feel that something is never okay but all the characters are constantly telling our main characters everything is. It's very disorienting.
There's hideous horrific moments that these people.
You know what killed it for me that I lost interest in this short novella? Dreams. I didn't know there'd be dreams let alone dreams in every chapter that explain the story. By story three I found my mind wondering.

It was interesting to see the story woven together and see where the characters ended up.

Final Thoughts:
Interesting but too many dreams. I felt like the author was trying too hard to write a book that mimicked Clive Barker instead of finding his own voice. I enjoyed the concept and the writing was good but I needed more.

Recommend For:
• People that like Clive Barker
• Horror stories w/ a twist
• Scary scenes

IG | Blog

[Candace Nola · Rating 4 out of 5]

“Blue Hell” is a wildly disturbing collection of short stories that unfold in a lonely rundown apartment building where the less fortunate seem to dwell. The first story centers around a homeless man that cannot remember what has happened to him after waking up in a hospital bed. The only thing he can recall are awful nightmares that seem too real to be just dreams.

The second one follows a pregnant woman convicted of drunk driving, who is sent to a halfway house after being released from the hospital. Drug problems of her own and a haunting vision of something horrible on the road the night of her crash, continue to haunt her as she steps into the fresh hell of the halfway house and what awaits her there.

The final story is about a young man that just lost his job and agrees to an afternoon of drinking with an older man that used to work in the same mall. As day turns to night, he finds himself at the older man's apartment for more drinks as a storm ravages the night. The more he drinks, the more the behavior of the older man begins to worry him, and then downright scares him as he is forced to realize the truth behind his nature and the others that were there before him.

Reading this left me disturbed and somewhat confused, until I finished it. Each story is expertly crafted with a chilling tale to tell, each will scare you and will make you look over your shoulder and each central character will also pull at your heart as they try to make sense of what is happening to them. The final moments will tie everything together but until then, you are left wondering what the hell is going on, right along with characters. Not many stories can pull off such a feat and have it make sense so neatly at the end. I am giving this 4 out of 5 stars.

[Ray Palen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Greg Gifune is a horror writer I have seen much praise for but who I never had the pleasure of reading. That was rectified with my opportunity to read and review his most recent novel, BLUE HELL, which combined elements of classic horror with nightmarish settings and imagery that will linger long after the story is through.

Mr. Stringer, a previously homeless man, wakes up in a hospital bed claiming the whole world had been in flames. He is nicely corrected that he was struck by a car and that is all that happened. The next strange incident for Stringer is when a woman named Mrs. Milken offers him the opportunity for transition. This transition involves his being moved to his own apartment, small and meagerly equipped, where he can live safely. He accepts, but that strange feeling he has inside does not leave --- nor do the dreams of being on fire, an occurrence that seems to be happening regularly to the homeless in the area.

Mrs. Milken had also informed Stringer that he was one of lucky few to come to this place and that, like the other lost souls there, he had earned his place. It is only once he speaks with some other residents and gets a rare glimpse outside of the building that he begins to have other thoughts --- a feeling that he might be in hell. Although he is unable to verify this, he sees much around him that tells him he might be in a bad place --- like the words scratched into the walls of the communal restroom that read ‘HELP ME.’

Interspersed with the chapters on Stringer and his new existence are other chapters that show him somewhere else, with a group of people he doesn’t know, yet on some sort of life-or-death mission. It becomes difficult to decipher what is real and what was past experience he had somehow blocked out. He meets a young woman named Rita who he begins an intimate relationship with, but she is not quite sure what this place is either.

Part Two of the novel finds us with a new protagonist who is undergoing similar circumstances to Stringer --- a young woman called Carla --- who is also greeted by Mrs. Milken following a period of blackout. Part Three introduces us to Marco and Edgar, a young and older man, also in this same place. As Gifune states on the back cover, these are the passengers of night. This is Blue Hell. BLUE HELL is not so much a novel as an experience, one that reads like a waking nightmare. I especially like the quotations from the likes of Clive Barker and Nathaniel Hawthorne, which in some way reinforced that we were in the midst of a work dealing with strange horrors never before seen or experienced by any reader.

Reviewed by Ray Palen for JournalStone Hell Notes

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

I read this as part of a Goodreads book club recommendation. It was a little much for me.

Even though it wasn’t my cup of tea, but I’m sure horror aficionados will love it.