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Consuming Darkness
TERROR HAS ARRIVED!
A nightmare has arrived in the small town of Langston, Ohio. It is not of this planet, nor is it the deadly creation of Man. It moves among the cover of darkness with an insatiable taste for human flesh, leaving a scene of gut-wrenching horror in its wake. It is not anything that human eyes have ever seen and strikes fear into the hearts of those who witness its presence.
The first three bodies were found by the train station outside of town and from there on the nightmare only grew worse. As the slaughter continues, more bodies begin to pile up.
In the span of three hours one summer night, Sheriff Bruce Morrison will be one small town’s last chance stop this creature and end to its body count before it’s too late.
A nightmare has arrived in the small town of Langston, Ohio. It is not of this planet, nor is it the deadly creation of Man. It moves among the cover of darkness with an insatiable taste for human flesh, leaving a scene of gut-wrenching horror in its wake. It is not anything that human eyes have ever seen and strikes fear into the hearts of those who witness its presence.
The first three bodies were found by the train station outside of town and from there on the nightmare only grew worse. As the slaughter continues, more bodies begin to pile up.
In the span of three hours one summer night, Sheriff Bruce Morrison will be one small town’s last chance stop this creature and end to its body count before it’s too late.
186 pages, Paperback
Published September 8, 2022
11 people want to read
About the author
Brian J. Smith
17 books12 followersBrian J. Smith has been featured in numerous anthologies, e-zines, and magazines in both the mystery and horror genres. His novellas Dark Avenues (the novella featured in the short story collection of the same name) The Tuckers, and Three O’Clock are still available on Amazon for Kindle. He lives in southeastern Ohio where he eats more than enough spicy food that no human being should ever consume, already has too many books and buys more and doesn’t drink enough coffee to suit his palate and cheers on The Ohio State Buckeyes.
His book, Dark Avenues, is available on Amazon for both Kindle and paperback this December.
His book, Dark Avenues, is available on Amazon for both Kindle and paperback this December.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 16, 2022
Quick paced super creepy read. This is a great creature feature book, set in a small town with unsuspecting residents. This one grabbed me from the first few pages and from there I couldn’t put it down! The book follows the flesh hungry creature through the night from dusk until the finale. Making its way through the small town looking for flesh to feed on, but who will survive and can anyone put a stop to the flesh hungry creature?!
September 18, 2022
Short, sharp and full of monster goodness, a book I found hard not to love. Cose, you know me. I love a good creature feature. Brian Smith uses his great power of description to create a fantastic visual image in your mind of Langston. He also creates a great cast of characters, where you get almost a snapshot view into their backstories. Enough to make you feel for some of them *cough Percy cough* before yanking your heart out George R. R Martin style.
The other thing I enjoyed was the unique set-up of the story, rather than chapters you get times. Brian always has a knack for bringing some form of uniqueness to his work, whether that's introductions for the short stories he created in Dark Avenue or the time frame set in this one. All take place in separate parts of town until it all comes together in one complete story, all while keeping the mystery of the beastie until the big reveal.
Now let's talk about Mr monster, I love the fact that the atmosphere around this creature was very Jeepers Creepers had a baby with a xenomorph. With him you get little snippets that repeat such as the amber eyes and then bits and pieces of detail slowly dribble in so it holds your attention. I did enjoy the vivid gore and his process of we'll, nomming his victims as it was something even more interesting. Like Brian took parts of traditional monsters and added bits of his own to make it unique to him. It has a very unsettling vibe, which helps set the scene when the action sequences kick in. I mean very rarely did I see a moment where it dragged, because Bri was intent on keeping the reader tied in. Which with a short story is always incredibly good, but can also be difficult.
Now there are character developments that really did shock me, but I loved the twist in the dynamics because I found myself rooting for Gabi more. After all, boy, she has shit taste in mates. Also, I love the no shits given approach of Bruce the town sheriff and I was halfway through the story going 'Brian you better not kill my favourite character.' But either way, you do grow attached to the characters in play that didn't get eaten. But I loved this story, there was constant action with very few slow parts so it kept up a great pace for the reader. The ending was not what I expected at all but a nice little wrap up for this short read.
So if you like your monster 80s-style horror then you may wanna pick up this book. I
The other thing I enjoyed was the unique set-up of the story, rather than chapters you get times. Brian always has a knack for bringing some form of uniqueness to his work, whether that's introductions for the short stories he created in Dark Avenue or the time frame set in this one. All take place in separate parts of town until it all comes together in one complete story, all while keeping the mystery of the beastie until the big reveal.
Now let's talk about Mr monster, I love the fact that the atmosphere around this creature was very Jeepers Creepers had a baby with a xenomorph. With him you get little snippets that repeat such as the amber eyes and then bits and pieces of detail slowly dribble in so it holds your attention. I did enjoy the vivid gore and his process of we'll, nomming his victims as it was something even more interesting. Like Brian took parts of traditional monsters and added bits of his own to make it unique to him. It has a very unsettling vibe, which helps set the scene when the action sequences kick in. I mean very rarely did I see a moment where it dragged, because Bri was intent on keeping the reader tied in. Which with a short story is always incredibly good, but can also be difficult.
Now there are character developments that really did shock me, but I loved the twist in the dynamics because I found myself rooting for Gabi more. After all, boy, she has shit taste in mates. Also, I love the no shits given approach of Bruce the town sheriff and I was halfway through the story going 'Brian you better not kill my favourite character.' But either way, you do grow attached to the characters in play that didn't get eaten. But I loved this story, there was constant action with very few slow parts so it kept up a great pace for the reader. The ending was not what I expected at all but a nice little wrap up for this short read.
So if you like your monster 80s-style horror then you may wanna pick up this book. I
January 14, 2023
Set in a small town in Ohio and taking place over the course of one night. A darkness descends on the town as a mysterious evil creature harvests it’s victims. A dark and tense read where we follow the carnage and one man’s fight to end it. I definitely recommend this book, once I started reading it was so compelling I could not stop till the end.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews