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Shoot the Devil: Ten Tales of Humans Defeating the Demonic
Ten of superversive's finest team up to bring you tales from a serial killer's basement, to the weird west, to the average small town, all featuring "mostly" ordinary men and women fighting back against the forces of darkness.
- GenresFiction
214 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2022
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7 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 11, 2023
I didn't take the intro by Eric Postma as a political lean. I could, however, see how somebody who identifies as being on the left side of politics would consider this a right lean though I don't see it as a right-wing thing. Eric did use the word "woke" once, which isn't a new phrase and has only recently been attributed to one side of the aisle. He also downed some Republicans for their shamelessness for only seeking re-election, which is really on both sides of the aisle, and worth stating. Postma really spoke on a lot of things that I would think anybody could agree with in a world of mentally unhinged influencers turned demagogues. Many find it debatable how real demons are: in the spiritual sense, in the physical sense, literally within a person's body, a symbolic voice inside your head, a tangible force guiding violence, a shoulder-sitting ear whisperer, etc. In any case, we should be fighting them, with direct offense or within ourselves. There is a bit of good humor to combat some of the darkness encountered, not mocking pain or anything of the sort, but giving a good landscape for handling the worst of things with a good mentality. As you'll see with some of the characters, they become weighed down by their more despairing emotions, as we all tend to do, and others seem to go headlong into possible death with either amiable fortitude to end up in Heaven or a jocular temperament to keep the evils-that-be from engulfing their mind frame. My more favorite tales here lean into an ancient mythology or well-researched historical set-up, with serious implications and humorous detachments.
An Exorcism for the Demon by Daniel Humphreys 3.5/5
Playing out like a noir detective tale near Chicago, Locke basically takes on
Phantom Ridge: From the Case Files of Virgil Everness by N. R. LaPoint 3/5
A spooky sci-fi western, people are disappearing without a trace in Phantom Ridge, Colorado, and a
Fell Beasts by John C. Wright 3/5
I wanted to like this, with some points of discussion on faith being potent, about witches burning non-witches in witch-hunts, but the tale was a bit too mysterious and philosophically preachy, as if the unnamed protagonist is
Who Rules the World? by L. Jagi Lamplighter 4/5
Opening in Tahiti, basically, the
Wolf in the Wind by James Pyles 4.25/5
It's 1887 in Idaho and the locals have a mysterious
Game Warden: A Tale of Peter Bishop by Russell Newquist 4/5
Out on a camping trip to Fort Yargo State Park, the Boy Scouts find preparing for the worst will come into play when they
The Silver String Job by Steven G. Johnson 4.25/5
Sagaheim. Guilds and wizards may have the market but the guildless have free reign ... as long as they aren't caught. A world filled with
Last Chance Lane by Michael Gallagher 4.25/5
Between A.A. accountability and financial "stability" for an ex-wife, a knight of
To Catch A Monster by Declan Finn 3.5/5
A centuries old
Eye Hath Not Seen by Corey Comstock 3.75/5
At times, when prompted, I've wondered if the magi worshipped the stars and set out after a sign in the sky to only end up worshiping Jesus instead of the stars, after meeting Him as a babe. This tale reminds me of that at least in that the magician lusts for the unknown/unseen, seeking out signs and sigils. But his goal isn't Jesus so his end may be quite different than the magi ... or not. Dark priests of Atlantis to modern medical temples dedicated unwittingly to demons of death, the human eye hath not seen what battles are fought around us.
- unnamed protagonist/antagonist magician
- Father Brown
An Exorcism for the Demon by Daniel Humphreys 3.5/5
Playing out like a noir detective tale near Chicago, Locke basically takes on
Phantom Ridge: From the Case Files of Virgil Everness by N. R. LaPoint 3/5
A spooky sci-fi western, people are disappearing without a trace in Phantom Ridge, Colorado, and a
Fell Beasts by John C. Wright 3/5
I wanted to like this, with some points of discussion on faith being potent, about witches burning non-witches in witch-hunts, but the tale was a bit too mysterious and philosophically preachy, as if the unnamed protagonist is
Who Rules the World? by L. Jagi Lamplighter 4/5
Opening in Tahiti, basically, the
Wolf in the Wind by James Pyles 4.25/5
It's 1887 in Idaho and the locals have a mysterious
Game Warden: A Tale of Peter Bishop by Russell Newquist 4/5
Out on a camping trip to Fort Yargo State Park, the Boy Scouts find preparing for the worst will come into play when they
The Silver String Job by Steven G. Johnson 4.25/5
Sagaheim. Guilds and wizards may have the market but the guildless have free reign ... as long as they aren't caught. A world filled with
Last Chance Lane by Michael Gallagher 4.25/5
Between A.A. accountability and financial "stability" for an ex-wife, a knight of
To Catch A Monster by Declan Finn 3.5/5
A centuries old
Eye Hath Not Seen by Corey Comstock 3.75/5
At times, when prompted, I've wondered if the magi worshipped the stars and set out after a sign in the sky to only end up worshiping Jesus instead of the stars, after meeting Him as a babe. This tale reminds me of that at least in that the magician lusts for the unknown/unseen, seeking out signs and sigils. But his goal isn't Jesus so his end may be quite different than the magi ... or not. Dark priests of Atlantis to modern medical temples dedicated unwittingly to demons of death, the human eye hath not seen what battles are fought around us.
- unnamed protagonist/antagonist magician
- Father Brown
September 16, 2025
I'm usually a fan of indie short story collections as it provides a number of introductions to new authors in the indie space and test out which writing styles, characters, settings would be good to check out. Plus, the collection of the whole, based on the editor's pick provides an encompassed viewpoint that can be interesting and also point to the talent and need for indie authors. The initial premise of Postma's collection is that evil should be vanquished and done especially in the "collective" Christian author viewpoint - hence the "shoot the devil". Well, this collection only uses a gun one time, and the collection seems to be an opportunity for a number of authors to try and hook with a pre-existing storyline character, and it feels really disjointed from a short story perspective. A number of other stories were not that good and the good ones were ok. There was nothing that really stood out in this collection that made me immediately search out the author like other indie collections have. The following are the stories and my short thoughts on them:
An Exorcism for the Demon by Daniel Humphreys - A psychic detective who gets kidnapped by a serial killer. The first character a part of the author's preexisting series whose powers seemed to be held back for no real reason and there was no allowance for tension to be built that was available in an interesting set up for the story. Final Grade - C-
Phantom Ridge: From the Case Files of Virgil Everness by N. R. LaPoint - A western setting where a husband and his psychic wife uncover the demons taking over a town. I liked the characters and the setting. A husband and wife demon-hunting couple who loved each other was refreshing, and they actually shot "the devil". Final Grade - A-
Fell Beasts by John C. Wright - A woman has a battle of wits with a demon vampire. A battle of wits with some interesting aspects of the vampire monster, and an ok conclusion, but left a lot to be desired. Final Grade - C+
Who Rules the World? by L. Jagi Lamplighter - An Illuminati meeting that might be its last. Another author who is using a preexisting story where a lot more had to be done for me to care or help me with who anyone was. There was not enough comedy where it could and tried to exist, and there were too serious takes for something that would have made the point with the comedy it was failing to use. It takes a lot for me not to like a story about a secret organization controlling the world. Final Grade - D
Wolf in the Wind by James Pyles - A sheriff hires a psychic detective woman to hunt a dimensional werewolf. Really hated this story. For a collection of books held by a loose confederation of Christian authors, this one especially had a of cursing and taking the Lord's name in vain and unnecessarily. The female psychic detective had some interesting qualities but the focus wasn't much on her, and the story was over with sequel bait that wasn't needed. Final Grade - F
Game Warden: A Tale of Peter Bishop by Russell Newquist - a man tries to save camping Boy Scouts as they're transported through dimensional portals after encountering a fae. I think this was part of another series. I was again lost because of that. The Boy Scout aspect could have been done a lot better with more time and the kids just seemed to be ok with everything happening to them. This was quite confusing what was happening and why it was in this collection. Final Grade - C-
The Silver String Job by Steven G. Johnson - a mage pulls out all the stops to track down the entity who might have his soul. The setup for this was decent, and the world-building had elements that I would have enjoyed reading in a larger story. There could have been a bit more explanation of the makeup of the world and the reason the mage is on the hunt for what he is. The ending kind of peters out. Final Grade - D+
Last Chance Lane by Michael Gallagher - a priest helps two men who return to settle a score with a monster who took their friend years ago. There were aspects of this I liked. Another story where a devil is shot using a gun. The haunted house aspect could have been used more. The set up is what took the majority of the story and the ending could have used more of the foucs. Final Grade - C-
To Catch A Monster by Declan Finn - a ageless demon hunter is fated to take out monsters and rescues a woman who wants to know more. The overall story is just ok. This again, seems to be a preexisting character but at least the tragic character was interesting and someone I probably wouldn't mind reading about. The problem I had with it is that seemed to be a story only to promote the character and not be part of a self-contained story. Final Grade - C
Eye Hath Not Seen by Corey Comstock - a man uncovers the dark arts but then has a change of heart that sets him down a completely different path. My Protestant bias is probably going to count against this one but at least in the world the story occupied, I understood the ending. I just didn't understand what world or when anything was happening. The mad scientist, I thought, was in a fantasy world but then seems to have been in our world where he once served the darkness, he stumbles into helping the light. Mary turns out to be a great focus than Jesus here. See, told ya, it couldn't be helped. Final Grade - D
Overall, I was disppointed with the collection and while the editor seemed to want to unite around punching the devil in the nose; the stories picked seemed to be "check out the full explanation of my story in my series I care about more". Final Grade - D
An Exorcism for the Demon by Daniel Humphreys - A psychic detective who gets kidnapped by a serial killer. The first character a part of the author's preexisting series whose powers seemed to be held back for no real reason and there was no allowance for tension to be built that was available in an interesting set up for the story. Final Grade - C-
Phantom Ridge: From the Case Files of Virgil Everness by N. R. LaPoint - A western setting where a husband and his psychic wife uncover the demons taking over a town. I liked the characters and the setting. A husband and wife demon-hunting couple who loved each other was refreshing, and they actually shot "the devil". Final Grade - A-
Fell Beasts by John C. Wright - A woman has a battle of wits with a demon vampire. A battle of wits with some interesting aspects of the vampire monster, and an ok conclusion, but left a lot to be desired. Final Grade - C+
Who Rules the World? by L. Jagi Lamplighter - An Illuminati meeting that might be its last. Another author who is using a preexisting story where a lot more had to be done for me to care or help me with who anyone was. There was not enough comedy where it could and tried to exist, and there were too serious takes for something that would have made the point with the comedy it was failing to use. It takes a lot for me not to like a story about a secret organization controlling the world. Final Grade - D
Wolf in the Wind by James Pyles - A sheriff hires a psychic detective woman to hunt a dimensional werewolf. Really hated this story. For a collection of books held by a loose confederation of Christian authors, this one especially had a of cursing and taking the Lord's name in vain and unnecessarily. The female psychic detective had some interesting qualities but the focus wasn't much on her, and the story was over with sequel bait that wasn't needed. Final Grade - F
Game Warden: A Tale of Peter Bishop by Russell Newquist - a man tries to save camping Boy Scouts as they're transported through dimensional portals after encountering a fae. I think this was part of another series. I was again lost because of that. The Boy Scout aspect could have been done a lot better with more time and the kids just seemed to be ok with everything happening to them. This was quite confusing what was happening and why it was in this collection. Final Grade - C-
The Silver String Job by Steven G. Johnson - a mage pulls out all the stops to track down the entity who might have his soul. The setup for this was decent, and the world-building had elements that I would have enjoyed reading in a larger story. There could have been a bit more explanation of the makeup of the world and the reason the mage is on the hunt for what he is. The ending kind of peters out. Final Grade - D+
Last Chance Lane by Michael Gallagher - a priest helps two men who return to settle a score with a monster who took their friend years ago. There were aspects of this I liked. Another story where a devil is shot using a gun. The haunted house aspect could have been used more. The set up is what took the majority of the story and the ending could have used more of the foucs. Final Grade - C-
To Catch A Monster by Declan Finn - a ageless demon hunter is fated to take out monsters and rescues a woman who wants to know more. The overall story is just ok. This again, seems to be a preexisting character but at least the tragic character was interesting and someone I probably wouldn't mind reading about. The problem I had with it is that seemed to be a story only to promote the character and not be part of a self-contained story. Final Grade - C
Eye Hath Not Seen by Corey Comstock - a man uncovers the dark arts but then has a change of heart that sets him down a completely different path. My Protestant bias is probably going to count against this one but at least in the world the story occupied, I understood the ending. I just didn't understand what world or when anything was happening. The mad scientist, I thought, was in a fantasy world but then seems to have been in our world where he once served the darkness, he stumbles into helping the light. Mary turns out to be a great focus than Jesus here. See, told ya, it couldn't be helped. Final Grade - D
Overall, I was disppointed with the collection and while the editor seemed to want to unite around punching the devil in the nose; the stories picked seemed to be "check out the full explanation of my story in my series I care about more". Final Grade - D
October 12, 2022
While this is admittedly my first delve into adult horror fiction, Eric Postma has compiled a well-balanced anthology that mixes quick action-hitters with tales that pull at the heartstrings, all with the overarching theme of hope and the defeat of evil spirits.
May 24, 2023
Refreshing antho where the good guys kill the very bad things.
November 19, 2023
Many top notch stories in this collection! Looking forward to the second one.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews