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Children of Chaos
In a torrential downpour, Phil, Jamie and Martin-three teenage boys-encounter a strange and enigmatic man covered in horrible scars who will change their lives, their destinies and the very fate of their souls forever. When their encounter mistakenly leads to murder, they realize this eerie stranger may not have been a man at all, but something much more... Thirty years later the boys-now men-lead tormented lives filled with horrifying memories of the scarred man and what they did all those years ago in the rain. Phil is a struggling writer, divorced, with a daughter and a mounting drinking problem. Jamie is a defrocked priest with depraved secrets and horrible addictions, and Martin, a madman who thinks himself a god, has vanished into a desolate desert region of Mexico and established a feared and violent blood cult. When Martin's dying mother hires Phil to find her son and bring him home, Phil embarks on a perilous journey that will take him from the seedy streets of Tijuana, to a dangerous and allegedly haunted stretch of Mexican desert road known as The Corridor of Demons. At the end of the road, in an old and previously abandoned church, Martin and his followers wait in the Hell-on-Earth they've created deep in the desert. There will be only one chance for redemption, one chance for salvation, and one chance to stop the rise of an antichrist's bloody quest for demonic power. From the void, came chaos. These are its children.
308 pages, Paperback
First published February 1, 2009
About the author
Greg F. Gifune
81 books357 followersCalled "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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 10, 2022
From the void, came chaos. These are its children.
Thirty years ago, in the pouring rain, three boys Phil, Jamie, and Martin encounter a man that was not a man. In his bag he carried an ancient blade and book. Thinking he killed a girl in town, they confront the man and Jamie kills it. Deep down, the boys know they have started a chain of events that will bring about destruction.
Present day all three boys now men lives are in ruins. Phil is an alcoholic. Jamie is a defrocked priest. Martin...well, Martin is missing. Martin's mother sends for Phil to fulfill her dying request. Martin seems to be the head of a bloody cult in Mexico. He and his followers are holed up in a rundown church at the end of The Corridor of Demons. Whispers of his powers, including necromancy, are spreading.
After a harrowing ride through the desert, Phil finds his old friend. If there is a Hell of Earth, Phil has found it. He also has found the antichrist, and he is ready to ascend to his throne.
This is the best horror book I have read in a while. Every page, it has you hanging on to find out what happens next. It was a wild, fantastic read!
Thirty years ago, in the pouring rain, three boys Phil, Jamie, and Martin encounter a man that was not a man. In his bag he carried an ancient blade and book. Thinking he killed a girl in town, they confront the man and Jamie kills it. Deep down, the boys know they have started a chain of events that will bring about destruction.
Present day all three boys now men lives are in ruins. Phil is an alcoholic. Jamie is a defrocked priest. Martin...well, Martin is missing. Martin's mother sends for Phil to fulfill her dying request. Martin seems to be the head of a bloody cult in Mexico. He and his followers are holed up in a rundown church at the end of The Corridor of Demons. Whispers of his powers, including necromancy, are spreading.
After a harrowing ride through the desert, Phil finds his old friend. If there is a Hell of Earth, Phil has found it. He also has found the antichrist, and he is ready to ascend to his throne.
This is the best horror book I have read in a while. Every page, it has you hanging on to find out what happens next. It was a wild, fantastic read!
May 5, 2016
I read this book over the course of just a few days, unfortunately other commitments delayed the writing of this review. In retrospect, this is not a bad thing, because ten days after closing those final pages, the smothering despair of Children of Chaos by Greg Gifune still scurries around inside my skull like a worry-rat on bad acid - and this as a compliment.
Anyone who has read anything by Greg F. Gifune can tell you he writes from some really dark places, and it is fair to say that Children of Chaos may well be his darkest journey yet. Chaos is the author's re-imagining of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and in my humble opinion he far exceeds the progenitor. (Not sure I'm supposed to use 'progenitor' when referencing a book? But, hey, my review my rules.)
Phil, Jamie, and Martin, are three regular teenage boys enjoying life in a small town. One night, during a terrible storm, fate leads them to a strange man covered with scars. The man is in possession of an arcane book, and he wields an ancient and mystic looking blade. There is also something bizarre about the stranger's eyes - they appear almost too blue. Through the heavy rain it almost seems as though the scars on the man's body are alive, snaking like vines across his arms and torso.
Circumstances lead to disaster, and at the end of it all, the stranger lays dead in the rain. The three friends have a decision to make. Should they notify the authorities and atone for their crime, or should they remove any evidence of it ever having happened?
Years later and Phil is a struggling mid-list author with a failed marriage behind him. Guilt-ridden drinking has blighted the whole of his life, and without doubt this too impacted his marriage. It would seem that the scars of the dead stranger now rest firmly on him.
Phil receives a visit from a representative of Martin's mother, and he soon learns that he alone is not the only one still paying penance for a crime committed years before. Martin has become embroiled with a cult; worse than this, he has actually taken the mantle of leader - he believes himself a god.
Phil realizes that his childhood friend is likely a lost cause, and he has no real desire to re-connect with any of his old partners in crime. Nevertheless, and maybe in an attempt to atone for that sin he committed as a child, he agrees to travel to Mexico, and later into the desert and along its Corridor of Demons, in an effort to save the sanity of his boyhood friend.
It really is that simple.
It is just a commune out in the desert.
All he has to do is get in, and get his old friend out.
But what about the man they killed years earlier; his body covered with scars; scars that appeared to move as snakes across his body?
Quite simply, Gifune's writing is sublime. The overpowering sense of waiting catastrophe, the threatening claustrophobia of the desert nights, and Gifune's ability to make us care so much about deeply flawed characters.
They say that when reading Stephen King it is all about the journey, well this time Greg Gifune really does take us on a journey - into the Corridor of Demons.
Buckle up. It's gonna be a bumpy ride!
If you only read one book this year, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Children of Chaos. It's excellent. And it's some scary shit!
Anyone who has read anything by Greg F. Gifune can tell you he writes from some really dark places, and it is fair to say that Children of Chaos may well be his darkest journey yet. Chaos is the author's re-imagining of Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, and in my humble opinion he far exceeds the progenitor. (Not sure I'm supposed to use 'progenitor' when referencing a book? But, hey, my review my rules.)
Phil, Jamie, and Martin, are three regular teenage boys enjoying life in a small town. One night, during a terrible storm, fate leads them to a strange man covered with scars. The man is in possession of an arcane book, and he wields an ancient and mystic looking blade. There is also something bizarre about the stranger's eyes - they appear almost too blue. Through the heavy rain it almost seems as though the scars on the man's body are alive, snaking like vines across his arms and torso.
Circumstances lead to disaster, and at the end of it all, the stranger lays dead in the rain. The three friends have a decision to make. Should they notify the authorities and atone for their crime, or should they remove any evidence of it ever having happened?
Years later and Phil is a struggling mid-list author with a failed marriage behind him. Guilt-ridden drinking has blighted the whole of his life, and without doubt this too impacted his marriage. It would seem that the scars of the dead stranger now rest firmly on him.
Phil receives a visit from a representative of Martin's mother, and he soon learns that he alone is not the only one still paying penance for a crime committed years before. Martin has become embroiled with a cult; worse than this, he has actually taken the mantle of leader - he believes himself a god.
Phil realizes that his childhood friend is likely a lost cause, and he has no real desire to re-connect with any of his old partners in crime. Nevertheless, and maybe in an attempt to atone for that sin he committed as a child, he agrees to travel to Mexico, and later into the desert and along its Corridor of Demons, in an effort to save the sanity of his boyhood friend.
It really is that simple.
It is just a commune out in the desert.
All he has to do is get in, and get his old friend out.
But what about the man they killed years earlier; his body covered with scars; scars that appeared to move as snakes across his body?
Quite simply, Gifune's writing is sublime. The overpowering sense of waiting catastrophe, the threatening claustrophobia of the desert nights, and Gifune's ability to make us care so much about deeply flawed characters.
They say that when reading Stephen King it is all about the journey, well this time Greg Gifune really does take us on a journey - into the Corridor of Demons.
Buckle up. It's gonna be a bumpy ride!
If you only read one book this year, do yourself a favor and pick up a copy of Children of Chaos. It's excellent. And it's some scary shit!
October 16, 2016
4.5
“I’ve spent my entire life looking over my shoulder. It ruined us, that night. It destroyed all three of us.”
Children of Chaos was my introduction to Greg Gifune's writing. After this book, I'm already ready for more of the author's work. With a writing style that is poetic and haunting, I loved how the backward glances to the past mixed in so effortlessly with the disaster of the present. The flashbacks to what happened on ""that night"" that changed their lives forever was powerful and perfectly composed.
Rich in despair, Children of Chaos is a bleak example of lives truly destroyed. The depressing ambience is relentless, but instead of just fogging me down unnecessarily, it enriched the colorful story-line that is both surreal and unique. It can be a refresher to be in the main character's head when they're a mess, particularly when it's not angsty or silly just for the sake of cheesy emotional manipulation.. There's genuine pain coating these pages.
The flawed characters aren't necessarily nice guys, but Gifune managed to make me genuinely care. I gasped in dismay at the death of two, as awful as those deaths were, and it sunk me. Applause to the author for making me get so emotionally tied to the characters that came alive so forcefully. In fact, some of character deaths affected me so strongly that it slightly weakened my enjoyment of the book.
Going from a seedy apartment in America to a dangerous area of Mexico added oomph to the story, but ultimately it was in the heart of the desert that the claustrophobic pressure increased. Gifune doesn't dig into the destination quickly, instead going through the motions at a semi-sedate pace, but it never grew dull. The ending is a twisted, sick finale that truly disturbed. Excellent, but seriously dark story.
“I’ve spent my entire life looking over my shoulder. It ruined us, that night. It destroyed all three of us.”
Children of Chaos was my introduction to Greg Gifune's writing. After this book, I'm already ready for more of the author's work. With a writing style that is poetic and haunting, I loved how the backward glances to the past mixed in so effortlessly with the disaster of the present. The flashbacks to what happened on ""that night"" that changed their lives forever was powerful and perfectly composed.
Rich in despair, Children of Chaos is a bleak example of lives truly destroyed. The depressing ambience is relentless, but instead of just fogging me down unnecessarily, it enriched the colorful story-line that is both surreal and unique. It can be a refresher to be in the main character's head when they're a mess, particularly when it's not angsty or silly just for the sake of cheesy emotional manipulation.. There's genuine pain coating these pages.
The flawed characters aren't necessarily nice guys, but Gifune managed to make me genuinely care. I gasped in dismay at the death of two, as awful as those deaths were, and it sunk me. Applause to the author for making me get so emotionally tied to the characters that came alive so forcefully. In fact, some of character deaths affected me so strongly that it slightly weakened my enjoyment of the book.
Going from a seedy apartment in America to a dangerous area of Mexico added oomph to the story, but ultimately it was in the heart of the desert that the claustrophobic pressure increased. Gifune doesn't dig into the destination quickly, instead going through the motions at a semi-sedate pace, but it never grew dull. The ending is a twisted, sick finale that truly disturbed. Excellent, but seriously dark story.
July 12, 2013
Children of Chaos
Greg Gifune’s Children of Chaos takes Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and bends its shadow into something unsettlingly modern, intimate, and spiritually raw. It isn’t simply an homage—it’s a reimagining filtered through the cracked lens of contemporary horror, where moral decay and metaphysical terror intertwine. The echoes of Conrad are undeniable, yet the pulse I felt beating beneath the narrative aligned even more with Apocalypse Now.
Martin may not wear Kurtz’s crown outright, but he carries that same magnetic rot, that hypnotic gravity pulling everything—and everyone—into his personal abyss. Holly Quinn, too, feels like a beautifully warped reflection of Dennis Hopper’s manic photojournalist; only here the camera has died and become a relic she wields like a talisman, clinging to it as if it might still capture truth in a world gone feral.
But Children of Chaos is far more than a clever set of parallels. Gifune pushes deeper. His narrative burrows into the nerves of faith, madness, morality, and the precarious thread between salvation and surrender. The supernatural touch is subtle yet pervasive, like heat rising off asphalt—distorting everything just enough to keep you uneasy.
His prose is pure glide. There’s a silky elegance to the way he constructs emotion, scene, and dread; reading this book feels like slipping into a cool, perfectly fitted silk shirt—luxurious, effortless, and quietly dangerous. The story moves with a rhythm that is both hypnotic and ominous, inviting you in even as it tightens the grip.
The ending, too, lands with conviction. It feels earned, carefully assembled, and resonant in that unmistakable Gifune way—lingering long after you’ve closed the book, tugging at the part of your mind where doubt, hope, and fear all mingle.
I highly recommend Children of Chaos. If you’ve never read Greg Gifune before, this is an excellent doorway into his world: unsettling, lyrical, and deeply human.
Greg Gifune’s Children of Chaos takes Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness and bends its shadow into something unsettlingly modern, intimate, and spiritually raw. It isn’t simply an homage—it’s a reimagining filtered through the cracked lens of contemporary horror, where moral decay and metaphysical terror intertwine. The echoes of Conrad are undeniable, yet the pulse I felt beating beneath the narrative aligned even more with Apocalypse Now.
Martin may not wear Kurtz’s crown outright, but he carries that same magnetic rot, that hypnotic gravity pulling everything—and everyone—into his personal abyss. Holly Quinn, too, feels like a beautifully warped reflection of Dennis Hopper’s manic photojournalist; only here the camera has died and become a relic she wields like a talisman, clinging to it as if it might still capture truth in a world gone feral.
But Children of Chaos is far more than a clever set of parallels. Gifune pushes deeper. His narrative burrows into the nerves of faith, madness, morality, and the precarious thread between salvation and surrender. The supernatural touch is subtle yet pervasive, like heat rising off asphalt—distorting everything just enough to keep you uneasy.
His prose is pure glide. There’s a silky elegance to the way he constructs emotion, scene, and dread; reading this book feels like slipping into a cool, perfectly fitted silk shirt—luxurious, effortless, and quietly dangerous. The story moves with a rhythm that is both hypnotic and ominous, inviting you in even as it tightens the grip.
The ending, too, lands with conviction. It feels earned, carefully assembled, and resonant in that unmistakable Gifune way—lingering long after you’ve closed the book, tugging at the part of your mind where doubt, hope, and fear all mingle.
I highly recommend Children of Chaos. If you’ve never read Greg Gifune before, this is an excellent doorway into his world: unsettling, lyrical, and deeply human.
September 3, 2017
Philip, Jamie, and Martin are young teenagers when they stumble upon the mysterious stranger in the rain. The encounter ends with the stranger mumbling odd ramblings about destinies and then, before their very eyes, the children see the scars that line his back move and change shapes. In an act of self defense, the boys murder the stranger. Their lives were never the same again. Fast forward to the present. Philip has failed at his marriage, is failing as a writer, and is worried that he'll fail as a father to his teenage daughter. The only thing he seems to succeed at is being a full-blow alcoholic. Jamie has failed as a priest due to his inner demons with girls that aren't of age. And Martin? Well, let's just say that Martin is not of his right mind. His last destination was at the end of a lonely stretch of road called the Corridor of Demons. It's because of Martin and his cult of followers that the road gained it's nickname, and reputation. Martin's ailing mother back home pays Philip to bring her mentally ill boy back to her. Is this a suicide mission or something more?
The description of Children of Chaos is that it's an homage to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I've never read Heart of Darkeness, so I wouldn't be able to tell one way or another. (Put your pitchforks away, literature snobs) One thing that I do know is that Children of Chaos is Gifune clicking on all cylinders. It has the trademark shadowiness, for which I have come to know him. It has disturbed and flawed characters with layers and layers of depth within them. It has a story that slowly unfurls itself and makes you turn the page to see what's on the other side, not quite figuring it out until the last act. It makes you ask the question, What are we? Are we the masters of our own destiny or simply pawns in a game played by higher powers? Is everything chaotic and random or preordained? These are question I've often pondered in my own life, as I'm sure many of you have as well. The ending kind of ties things up with a neat little bow, maybe a little too conveniently for some, but I still enjoyed it. For myself, I pulled bits and pieces of Mystic River and Angel Heart from the story. This is one that will stick with me for a while and that's the sign of a good one.
4 1/2 Cult of Personalities out of 5
You can also follow my reviews at the following links:
https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com
http://intothemacabre.booklikes.com
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...
The description of Children of Chaos is that it's an homage to Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness. I've never read Heart of Darkeness, so I wouldn't be able to tell one way or another. (Put your pitchforks away, literature snobs) One thing that I do know is that Children of Chaos is Gifune clicking on all cylinders. It has the trademark shadowiness, for which I have come to know him. It has disturbed and flawed characters with layers and layers of depth within them. It has a story that slowly unfurls itself and makes you turn the page to see what's on the other side, not quite figuring it out until the last act. It makes you ask the question, What are we? Are we the masters of our own destiny or simply pawns in a game played by higher powers? Is everything chaotic and random or preordained? These are question I've often pondered in my own life, as I'm sure many of you have as well. The ending kind of ties things up with a neat little bow, maybe a little too conveniently for some, but I still enjoyed it. For myself, I pulled bits and pieces of Mystic River and Angel Heart from the story. This is one that will stick with me for a while and that's the sign of a good one.
4 1/2 Cult of Personalities out of 5
You can also follow my reviews at the following links:
https://kenmckinley.wordpress.com
http://intothemacabre.booklikes.com
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5...
October 26, 2014
REVIEW REPUBLISHED FROM 'CHRISTOPHER & ERIC'S FAVORITES' AT THE DINNER PARTY SHOW. http://thedinnerpartyshow.com/2015/05...
Simply put, “Children of Chaos” is a devastating and darkly beautiful journey into madness and terror. It is not for the faint of heart, to be sure, but Greg. F. Gifune is one of the best writers of horror and supernatural thrillers at work today. With artful and hypnotic prose, Gifune transported me to a landscape turned virtually surreal by unmitigated human cruelty, but he never resorts to the smug sadism of torture porn, which I absolutely loathe. The story begins when three teenaged boys encounter a strange man covered in horrible scars during a torrential downpour, and it ends with a deeply damaged hero in the grip of a terrifying cult that lives along a desolate stretch of Mexican road known as The Corridor of Demons. Gifune frames the grotesqueries and frights with psychological depth and soulful assuredness. I’ve unearthed a lot of great new authors as a result of random Amazon searches; Greg F. Gifune is one of the true gems you should know about.
Simply put, “Children of Chaos” is a devastating and darkly beautiful journey into madness and terror. It is not for the faint of heart, to be sure, but Greg. F. Gifune is one of the best writers of horror and supernatural thrillers at work today. With artful and hypnotic prose, Gifune transported me to a landscape turned virtually surreal by unmitigated human cruelty, but he never resorts to the smug sadism of torture porn, which I absolutely loathe. The story begins when three teenaged boys encounter a strange man covered in horrible scars during a torrential downpour, and it ends with a deeply damaged hero in the grip of a terrifying cult that lives along a desolate stretch of Mexican road known as The Corridor of Demons. Gifune frames the grotesqueries and frights with psychological depth and soulful assuredness. I’ve unearthed a lot of great new authors as a result of random Amazon searches; Greg F. Gifune is one of the true gems you should know about.
January 11, 2014
Children of Chaos follows the story of Phil, Martin & Jamie, three young boys who in the furious rain meet a scarred man, his torso is described as ‘a hideous melange of horror carved into his skin like demonic brands’ and with the word Chaos tattooed on his back. The meeting results in tragedy, an emotionless act that will haunt them all for the rest of their days and an effortless violence from a young man that is shocking in its extremity.
Now in their forties the three have led widely separate lives, divided by that one act, Jamie is a disgraced priest, Phil a writer with a penchant for the bottle and a failed marriage behind him, and Martin who leaves society behind to lead a dangerous cult with a brutal destiny foretold.
The story is told from Phil’s point of view as he is hired by Martins family to make contact and bring him back from the desolate, stifling wasteland of Mexico, along the eerie Corridor of Dreams and a trip he may well never return from. Those sent to find Martin before either disappeared or went stir crazy, it’s a journey fraught with danger and death.
This is a thought provoking story told with Greg’s usual fantastic prose, again we have some significantly dark & flawed characters but it’s the atmosphere and tension created that stand out. My only complaint was that for me the story didn't really take off until 40% in when Phil reached Mexico and the Corridor of Dreams.
Now in their forties the three have led widely separate lives, divided by that one act, Jamie is a disgraced priest, Phil a writer with a penchant for the bottle and a failed marriage behind him, and Martin who leaves society behind to lead a dangerous cult with a brutal destiny foretold.
The story is told from Phil’s point of view as he is hired by Martins family to make contact and bring him back from the desolate, stifling wasteland of Mexico, along the eerie Corridor of Dreams and a trip he may well never return from. Those sent to find Martin before either disappeared or went stir crazy, it’s a journey fraught with danger and death.
This is a thought provoking story told with Greg’s usual fantastic prose, again we have some significantly dark & flawed characters but it’s the atmosphere and tension created that stand out. My only complaint was that for me the story didn't really take off until 40% in when Phil reached Mexico and the Corridor of Dreams.
May 12, 2022
"Nobody gives a pinch of pussy squirt on a bagel if you disappear, boss." Haaaahahaha. Yes, it's that kind of book.
Greg Gifune based this story on a book I attempted to read twice but never got more than a few chapters into. Yikes! That is, Heart of Darkness- Ugh. Not off to a good start. He just changed the scenery and characters. You'll also find a little Rosemary's Baby, The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple and of course, numerous biblical bits and pieces.
There is a lot of philosophical rambling to demonstrate the horrors of religious sects, or in this case, ANTIreligious sects, rather than the horrors of colonialism and colonialists (ala Heart Of Darkness). These ramblings seemed more like the lettuce in your chicken salad...just filler. Also, the bonking scene seemed to be an afterthought...err...an early afterthought...but at least it did have significance, rather than being thrown in to satisfy the horny reader.
The writing and editing were pretty slick. The plot, though "borrowed", was nicely complex, and the ending had a good twist. There were a lot of cryptic or abstract descriptions which were lost on me and I took a star off because they wasted my precious reading time. The horror bits kept me going. Not too bad.
Greg Gifune based this story on a book I attempted to read twice but never got more than a few chapters into. Yikes! That is, Heart of Darkness- Ugh. Not off to a good start. He just changed the scenery and characters. You'll also find a little Rosemary's Baby, The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple and of course, numerous biblical bits and pieces.
There is a lot of philosophical rambling to demonstrate the horrors of religious sects, or in this case, ANTIreligious sects, rather than the horrors of colonialism and colonialists (ala Heart Of Darkness). These ramblings seemed more like the lettuce in your chicken salad...just filler. Also, the bonking scene seemed to be an afterthought...err...an early afterthought...but at least it did have significance, rather than being thrown in to satisfy the horny reader.
The writing and editing were pretty slick. The plot, though "borrowed", was nicely complex, and the ending had a good twist. There were a lot of cryptic or abstract descriptions which were lost on me and I took a star off because they wasted my precious reading time. The horror bits kept me going. Not too bad.
June 30, 2018
If "The Heart of Darkness" and "Mystic River" had a baby - and that baby was conceived during a Black Mass, it would probably be "Children of Chaos".
When they were young teenagers, Phil, Martin and Jamie met a strange man, covered in scars, with the word "Chaos" tattooed across his back, camping right outside their little Massachusetts town. They were on their way back from the fair and caught in a torrential downpour when this encounter with the scarred man quickly escalated into violence and tragedy. They decide to keep this a secret, but their lives will never be the same.
Twenty five years later, Phil is a divorced, alcoholic writer struggling to make ends meet and keep a good relationship with his teenage daughter in upstate New York. He hasn't heard much from his childhood friends in years; he knows that Jamie became a priest and that Martin traveled a lot after high school, but not much else. After a bad binge, a young woman shows up at his house with an envelope full of cash and a request from Martin's mother; she is dying of cancer and wants to see her son one last time. She knows he leads a sort of commune in the desert in Mexico, and has been periodically sending her disturbing letters and tapes, but she can't reach him. She appeals to Phil in his capacity as an old friend, that maybe he'll be able to convince Martin to come home. Phil soon realizes the commune is actually a dangerous cult, based on artifacts related to that infamous night with the scarred man, and that their church is located at the end of an abandoned road known as the Corridor of Demons.
The parallels with "The Heart of Darkness" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) are obvious: a mad man worshiped as a god, his stronghold located at the end of a dangerous road in a wild country. Of course, this book isn't about racism or colonialism; it's about the disconnect from civilization. Phil's journey into Martin's darkness has a hallucinatory flavor to it, and before he reaches his goal, he will confront more madness and sin than anyone should. Gifune wrote him perfectly: deeply flawed and human, but determined to do the right thing by his daughter, by his oldest friends and by newer friends. But once the darkness has its claws in him, it will not let go. The prose is powerful, the atmosphere thick and it sticks to the skin like dirty sweat. I plowed through this book in a couple of sittings; I simply could not look away, and just like Phil, I had to see what was at the end of the road.
After the awesomeness that was "The Bleeding Season" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) I can confidently say that Greg Gifune is in a league of his own. The heartbreaking, perfect ending makes this a perfect horror novel and a five star read.
When they were young teenagers, Phil, Martin and Jamie met a strange man, covered in scars, with the word "Chaos" tattooed across his back, camping right outside their little Massachusetts town. They were on their way back from the fair and caught in a torrential downpour when this encounter with the scarred man quickly escalated into violence and tragedy. They decide to keep this a secret, but their lives will never be the same.
Twenty five years later, Phil is a divorced, alcoholic writer struggling to make ends meet and keep a good relationship with his teenage daughter in upstate New York. He hasn't heard much from his childhood friends in years; he knows that Jamie became a priest and that Martin traveled a lot after high school, but not much else. After a bad binge, a young woman shows up at his house with an envelope full of cash and a request from Martin's mother; she is dying of cancer and wants to see her son one last time. She knows he leads a sort of commune in the desert in Mexico, and has been periodically sending her disturbing letters and tapes, but she can't reach him. She appeals to Phil in his capacity as an old friend, that maybe he'll be able to convince Martin to come home. Phil soon realizes the commune is actually a dangerous cult, based on artifacts related to that infamous night with the scarred man, and that their church is located at the end of an abandoned road known as the Corridor of Demons.
The parallels with "The Heart of Darkness" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) are obvious: a mad man worshiped as a god, his stronghold located at the end of a dangerous road in a wild country. Of course, this book isn't about racism or colonialism; it's about the disconnect from civilization. Phil's journey into Martin's darkness has a hallucinatory flavor to it, and before he reaches his goal, he will confront more madness and sin than anyone should. Gifune wrote him perfectly: deeply flawed and human, but determined to do the right thing by his daughter, by his oldest friends and by newer friends. But once the darkness has its claws in him, it will not let go. The prose is powerful, the atmosphere thick and it sticks to the skin like dirty sweat. I plowed through this book in a couple of sittings; I simply could not look away, and just like Phil, I had to see what was at the end of the road.
After the awesomeness that was "The Bleeding Season" (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...) I can confidently say that Greg Gifune is in a league of his own. The heartbreaking, perfect ending makes this a perfect horror novel and a five star read.
May 28, 2012
I finished this novel Sunday morning. Saturday and Sunday mornings are
my favorite reading times, so as soon as I was finished this one I
immediately went to my Goodreads list to decide what to read next.
Most, okay, pretty much all of my reading preferences fall on the darker side of fiction. But Children of Chaos did something that not many novels do: it bleaked me out.
I didn't realize it was happening at the time, but after I finished it, the whole thing began to settle in on me. The despair, the bleakness of it, made a lot of my to-read books unappealing.
So I came back downstairs and whined to my girlfriend that I needed something a little less dark for a change. After some pacing around, I went back upstairs, came back down to my Kindle and started reading.
"So you decided on something lighter?"
"Yeah"
"What is it?"
"Uh...Eight Million Ways to Die"
and she laughs...
"It's more of a mystery, though"
still she laughs...
Anyways, that snippet of Bill's Sunday aside, I just have to say that this is one of those stories that for some reason hooked into my head and stayed with me long after I finished it. I'm still thinking about it...
Greg Gifune has the goods. He's a very good storyteller, and although there was a point in the middle of this story where I felt it could have moved on a little quicker (and this is more of a testament to a good story begging resolution, not on his writing style), looking back on the novel as a whole afterwords is where the impact is felt.
I read an interview with him recently, and he didn't even mention this one as the novel he's most proud of. Wow, good news for me. Next on the slate is Say Uncle, but I will save that for a time when I'm ready to return to the dark side.
Children of Chaos ranked a 4 as I was reading it, and then rose above that as it formented through the day. So a 4.5, really.
my favorite reading times, so as soon as I was finished this one I
immediately went to my Goodreads list to decide what to read next.
Most, okay, pretty much all of my reading preferences fall on the darker side of fiction. But Children of Chaos did something that not many novels do: it bleaked me out.
I didn't realize it was happening at the time, but after I finished it, the whole thing began to settle in on me. The despair, the bleakness of it, made a lot of my to-read books unappealing.
So I came back downstairs and whined to my girlfriend that I needed something a little less dark for a change. After some pacing around, I went back upstairs, came back down to my Kindle and started reading.
"So you decided on something lighter?"
"Yeah"
"What is it?"
"Uh...Eight Million Ways to Die"
and she laughs...
"It's more of a mystery, though"
still she laughs...
Anyways, that snippet of Bill's Sunday aside, I just have to say that this is one of those stories that for some reason hooked into my head and stayed with me long after I finished it. I'm still thinking about it...
Greg Gifune has the goods. He's a very good storyteller, and although there was a point in the middle of this story where I felt it could have moved on a little quicker (and this is more of a testament to a good story begging resolution, not on his writing style), looking back on the novel as a whole afterwords is where the impact is felt.
I read an interview with him recently, and he didn't even mention this one as the novel he's most proud of. Wow, good news for me. Next on the slate is Say Uncle, but I will save that for a time when I'm ready to return to the dark side.
Children of Chaos ranked a 4 as I was reading it, and then rose above that as it formented through the day. So a 4.5, really.
September 5, 2012
An amazing book from Gifune, one of the best horror novels I've read in a long time. Gifune has a real talent for analyzing the true nature of evil and digging into our fears and nightmares in a rather descriptive way. The story moves along swiftly and the ending was unexpected and powerful and left me thinking about it for a some time after, the mark of a truly great book. Gifune deserves to be much more recognized in the horror genre. I will be reading more of his books in the future. Very highly recommended.
Read
November 30, 2012Crushingly dark and brilliant from beginning to end. A masterpiece of contemporary horror.
April 13, 2010
Greg F Gifune is a writer who I haven't previously had the pleasure of reading. His book, Children of Chaos, is my first venture into his work. The title already plunges images of satanic kiddies running amok, but this is a very different book.
Three childhood friends find their lives take a tragic change of direction one fateful night. Finding a horrifically scarred man living rough with an odd book and a sword in his possession, they assume he is responsible for a child murder that had recently taken place in their small town. One of the boys, Martin, takes justice into his own hands, and while Phil and Jamie don't really agree with him, they don't stop him either.
Years later, and Phil is a burnt out, alcoholic writer with major family problems. He's contacted by Martin's mother, who pays him to find her son, who is now settled deep in Mexico, a raving religious fanatic with a cult that follows his every whim. Needing the money, Phil agrees to go to Mexico and bring him home.
This is an interesting book. VERY interesting.
The setting - the barren and unforgiving Mexican desert - is a character in itself. We find ourselves on this journey not simply to recover the madman Martin, but to survive the physical dangers of the environment and also the local populace. Gifune doesn't shy away from realistic violence and rawness in this regard.
There is the pulp element with the basic storyline, but the book delves a little deeper. There are beautifully written and intelligent passages that offer an insight into the morals and politics of the situation, which elevates the novel at times into something more than a simple violent road trip affair. The only bad point with this at that in rare instances, the writer does go on a little too long in this regard and the story gets a bit rambly before we jump back into the action. Dream sequences suffer a bit from this. The disorientation and bizarreness could have been captured in a much shorter space.
The horror element comes in later in this book, and doesn't disappoint. Again, Gifune keeps his violence and gore realistic, and this adds to the grittiness. When he does dabble in the supernatural, he does so with lasting results. There is one part that has 'shock value' written all over it, and it's both creepy and unsettling in a good, strong hit. Wonderful stuff. The gore is delicious (I'll never be able to look at a yoga mat the same way again).
My first read of Gifune was a good one, and I hope to add him to my roster of regular authors. While still contemporary, the setting made this book. If you want something a little different but still packed with action, shocks and blood, this might be the book for you.
Three childhood friends find their lives take a tragic change of direction one fateful night. Finding a horrifically scarred man living rough with an odd book and a sword in his possession, they assume he is responsible for a child murder that had recently taken place in their small town. One of the boys, Martin, takes justice into his own hands, and while Phil and Jamie don't really agree with him, they don't stop him either.
Years later, and Phil is a burnt out, alcoholic writer with major family problems. He's contacted by Martin's mother, who pays him to find her son, who is now settled deep in Mexico, a raving religious fanatic with a cult that follows his every whim. Needing the money, Phil agrees to go to Mexico and bring him home.
This is an interesting book. VERY interesting.
The setting - the barren and unforgiving Mexican desert - is a character in itself. We find ourselves on this journey not simply to recover the madman Martin, but to survive the physical dangers of the environment and also the local populace. Gifune doesn't shy away from realistic violence and rawness in this regard.
There is the pulp element with the basic storyline, but the book delves a little deeper. There are beautifully written and intelligent passages that offer an insight into the morals and politics of the situation, which elevates the novel at times into something more than a simple violent road trip affair. The only bad point with this at that in rare instances, the writer does go on a little too long in this regard and the story gets a bit rambly before we jump back into the action. Dream sequences suffer a bit from this. The disorientation and bizarreness could have been captured in a much shorter space.
The horror element comes in later in this book, and doesn't disappoint. Again, Gifune keeps his violence and gore realistic, and this adds to the grittiness. When he does dabble in the supernatural, he does so with lasting results. There is one part that has 'shock value' written all over it, and it's both creepy and unsettling in a good, strong hit. Wonderful stuff. The gore is delicious (I'll never be able to look at a yoga mat the same way again).
My first read of Gifune was a good one, and I hope to add him to my roster of regular authors. While still contemporary, the setting made this book. If you want something a little different but still packed with action, shocks and blood, this might be the book for you.
January 17, 2021
Bad things happened tonight...there's worse coming
No Spoilers:
In the summer of 1978, in New Bethany, NY, three teenage boys killed a man with his own mysterious sword...
Phil, our narrator, was the first to come across the strange scarred man. He was a short but large man, thick muscled, scarred all over his body...
It was raining heavily that night...the carnival which had come to town was forced to close down...Phil came across the man's encampment in a vacant field...the man told Phil to go home...bad things happened tonight and worse was coming...
Shortly after, the other two boys, Jamie and Martin, caught up with Phil who was taking shelter from the rain under the man's tent awning...they told Phil about the murder of their classmate's sister...they saw the scarred man and thought he was a bum...they jumped to the conclusion that he must be the little girl's killer...
The man had a sword with ornate carvings and runes on it...he also had a mysterious leather bound book with unknown symbols on its cover...the scarred man started praying in an strange language...that's when one of the boys picked up the sword and killed the stranger...
Fast forward about thirty years...the boys are now men...they need to solve the mystery of the scarred stranger...
This was a real page-turner. It was a tale of horror and I warn you that some of the horror was extreme ( which I'm not a fan of) but it all fit nicely into the story and was not just random bloodletting. I removed half a star because of some loose ends (not many).
No Spoilers:
In the summer of 1978, in New Bethany, NY, three teenage boys killed a man with his own mysterious sword...
Phil, our narrator, was the first to come across the strange scarred man. He was a short but large man, thick muscled, scarred all over his body...
It was raining heavily that night...the carnival which had come to town was forced to close down...Phil came across the man's encampment in a vacant field...the man told Phil to go home...bad things happened tonight and worse was coming...
Shortly after, the other two boys, Jamie and Martin, caught up with Phil who was taking shelter from the rain under the man's tent awning...they told Phil about the murder of their classmate's sister...they saw the scarred man and thought he was a bum...they jumped to the conclusion that he must be the little girl's killer...
The man had a sword with ornate carvings and runes on it...he also had a mysterious leather bound book with unknown symbols on its cover...the scarred man started praying in an strange language...that's when one of the boys picked up the sword and killed the stranger...
Fast forward about thirty years...the boys are now men...they need to solve the mystery of the scarred stranger...
This was a real page-turner. It was a tale of horror and I warn you that some of the horror was extreme ( which I'm not a fan of) but it all fit nicely into the story and was not just random bloodletting. I removed half a star because of some loose ends (not many).
January 18, 2019
Like I said in my early impression of this book this one also has all the dramatic and tragic tones in it`s pages, those things that are quite a trademark of the writer from what I could gather reading some previous works also.
Yeah, he has some really disturbed individuals, usually from something in their childhood, and then when they all grown up, all the madness begins.
Overall I liked his work, but this time I wasn`t so much into this story like his other novels. The characters were powerful, well made, their actions and interactions were natural and easy to get into, just that the direction this book had wasn`t in my area of interest.
Also, the end was really dark and depressing, but I was quite expecting a Big surprise there, not the one that Gifune had it in his mind, but I had a hunch that something was fishy there from the beginning.
Anyway, for the horror fans out there, it definitely worth a look!
Yeah, he has some really disturbed individuals, usually from something in their childhood, and then when they all grown up, all the madness begins.
Overall I liked his work, but this time I wasn`t so much into this story like his other novels. The characters were powerful, well made, their actions and interactions were natural and easy to get into, just that the direction this book had wasn`t in my area of interest.
Also, the end was really dark and depressing, but I was quite expecting a Big surprise there, not the one that Gifune had it in his mind, but I had a hunch that something was fishy there from the beginning.
Anyway, for the horror fans out there, it definitely worth a look!
September 17, 2021
Great story!
A supernatural 'Apocalypse Now' with a great line taken from the movie 'Event Horizon'
A dark story that goes full-throttle around the 3/4 mark. Quite disturbing in places, even for me.
Reminded me of Laird Barron's style of writing.
Will definitely be reading more of GG.
A supernatural 'Apocalypse Now' with a great line taken from the movie 'Event Horizon'
A dark story that goes full-throttle around the 3/4 mark. Quite disturbing in places, even for me.
Reminded me of Laird Barron's style of writing.
Will definitely be reading more of GG.
October 29, 2021
My mind is so blown right now… and so, I’ll leave you with this 1 word review:
PHENOMENAL!!
Hopefully, when my brain mends, I’ll be back with more words. For now, I’m going to sit here for a moment and wait for my jaw to come off the ground!!
PHENOMENAL!!
Hopefully, when my brain mends, I’ll be back with more words. For now, I’m going to sit here for a moment and wait for my jaw to come off the ground!!
January 14, 2019
Oops.
“I think we just killed God.”
That can’t be good.
A trio of teenage friends run into trouble in their small town of New Bethany when a young girl gets murdered and a strange, scarred man appears out in a field, praying in a strange tongue with a satchel containing ancient relics.
This chance meeting will change their lives forever.
Yep. Gifune.
Gifune is one of the best in the business. It’s been a while since I read anything from him too. Not sure why. Actually, I do. For whatever reason, I never want to read a favorite author’s entire catalog. Then I always have something in reserve for when I really need it. Like having a 12-pack in the trunk of your car. Just makes you feel better knowing it’s there.
Dark and smart, disturbing and appropriately bloody.
Yep. Gifune.
4.5 Stars! And Highly recommended!
“I think we just killed God.”
That can’t be good.
A trio of teenage friends run into trouble in their small town of New Bethany when a young girl gets murdered and a strange, scarred man appears out in a field, praying in a strange tongue with a satchel containing ancient relics.
This chance meeting will change their lives forever.
Yep. Gifune.
Gifune is one of the best in the business. It’s been a while since I read anything from him too. Not sure why. Actually, I do. For whatever reason, I never want to read a favorite author’s entire catalog. Then I always have something in reserve for when I really need it. Like having a 12-pack in the trunk of your car. Just makes you feel better knowing it’s there.
Dark and smart, disturbing and appropriately bloody.
Yep. Gifune.
4.5 Stars! And Highly recommended!
March 18, 2019
This was my first read by Greg Gifune and wow, just wow is about all I can say. Rarely am I horrified and moved at the same time by a book and it's characters, so to have it happen here says a lot about Mr Gifune's writing. I loved this book, it stayed with me and continues to stay with me long after reading it. If you like your horror to be something that lingers, that is completely unforgettable, then read Children of Chaos, you won't regret it.
December 31, 2022
Do you believe in the Devil? In God? Angels? Or, like me do you believe that YOU are your own god? Well let me tell you what....after you read Gifunes' "Children of Chaos" you WILL believe in Something! Just read or listen (which I prefer!) to it! You will never forget this tale of what is ahead of us in LIFE!
Highly Recommended! 5 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
This book had strangely appeared on my 'to rean Next' on my Scribd Audio list once I finished 'Depraved'. I looked at it and read the description and thought what the hell. 1 word: Wow!
Greg Gifune writes a tale that will make you think, it will turn your stomach, and it might even make you get a tear in your eye.....i did.
What starts out for 3 young teenaged boys one horribly rainy night after going to their local carnival, they meet a strange man with horrifying burn scars all over his body. Scars that 'move!'. It ends up in them murdering this strange man with a warning that he gives them that actually scares into them doing what they did. Now what? Did anyone see? Did anyone know this man? who knows, what they do know is, they have to hide this mans dead body.....and the strange long sword like type weapon with a tale all it's own.
Phil, Martin and Jamie were always the best of friends and they were so different that it made you wonder why they were as close as they were? 30 years later.
Phil is divorced and an alcoholic, and struggling to become a published writer, he also has a teenaged daughter that he adores more than anything in life.
Jamie, a Priest that has been knocked down off his pulpit due to addiction and terrible secrets of his own.
Martin....well let's say Martin is missing. All on his own accord because of madness and the beilief that he is the Next Messiah, the God who can and will save the humanity of the world, and he has escaped to the 'Chorridor of Demons' in Mexico. When Martin's dying mother contacts Phil, and offers him a huge amount of cash to him if he can find her son and bring him home to say goodbye to her once more before she dies of an illness, Phil accepts. But what Phil does not know is that this is a journey that has been planned for him over 30 years ago. It is and will be a journey that will terrify you, disgust you, invade your sleeping hours and or hours of whenever you are alone. But! Let me tell you, this journey will show you things that you will NEVER be able to 'UnSee' or ever forget. If you are a staunch believer in your beliefs then this horror novel might disturb you in complete different ways that it did me, but I am so glad i read this!! I will highly recommend this terrifying, and very graphic and disturbing world of what may really be out there for us in the end. I LOVED this. I cannot wait to find another book of his to listen to. Read 'Children of Chaos'.
5 👹👹👹👹👹
Highly Recommended! 5 🩸🩸🩸🩸🩸
This book had strangely appeared on my 'to rean Next' on my Scribd Audio list once I finished 'Depraved'. I looked at it and read the description and thought what the hell. 1 word: Wow!
Greg Gifune writes a tale that will make you think, it will turn your stomach, and it might even make you get a tear in your eye.....i did.
What starts out for 3 young teenaged boys one horribly rainy night after going to their local carnival, they meet a strange man with horrifying burn scars all over his body. Scars that 'move!'. It ends up in them murdering this strange man with a warning that he gives them that actually scares into them doing what they did. Now what? Did anyone see? Did anyone know this man? who knows, what they do know is, they have to hide this mans dead body.....and the strange long sword like type weapon with a tale all it's own.
Phil, Martin and Jamie were always the best of friends and they were so different that it made you wonder why they were as close as they were? 30 years later.
Phil is divorced and an alcoholic, and struggling to become a published writer, he also has a teenaged daughter that he adores more than anything in life.
Jamie, a Priest that has been knocked down off his pulpit due to addiction and terrible secrets of his own.
Martin....well let's say Martin is missing. All on his own accord because of madness and the beilief that he is the Next Messiah, the God who can and will save the humanity of the world, and he has escaped to the 'Chorridor of Demons' in Mexico. When Martin's dying mother contacts Phil, and offers him a huge amount of cash to him if he can find her son and bring him home to say goodbye to her once more before she dies of an illness, Phil accepts. But what Phil does not know is that this is a journey that has been planned for him over 30 years ago. It is and will be a journey that will terrify you, disgust you, invade your sleeping hours and or hours of whenever you are alone. But! Let me tell you, this journey will show you things that you will NEVER be able to 'UnSee' or ever forget. If you are a staunch believer in your beliefs then this horror novel might disturb you in complete different ways that it did me, but I am so glad i read this!! I will highly recommend this terrifying, and very graphic and disturbing world of what may really be out there for us in the end. I LOVED this. I cannot wait to find another book of his to listen to. Read 'Children of Chaos'.
5 👹👹👹👹👹
October 27, 2026
A very dark and bleak horror novel that feels like Black Mouth by Ronald Malfi and Baal by Robert McCammon were smashed together. This is high praise because Malfi and McCammon are easily two of my favorite horror authors, and Children of Chaos will definitely have me checking out more of Gifune's works. The style of writing and content reminded me of some 70s horror books, with some truly horrific stuff in there. The premise of the story is fantastic and the book doesn't shy away from making the reader freaked out and uncomfortable (it is a horror novel after all). The plot is pretty gripping and I blew through this one quickly.
I do have some minor criticisms though: I loved the idea of the main characters going through a traumatic event in childhood and seeing how that affects their lives, but there was actually very little character development in the early years or even later in life. The reader is told that the friends are very close but we never actual see much evidence of that. This is unfortunate because the stakes of the rest of the book rely heavily on the reader buying how deep the friendship supposedly was, so I felt less invested than I would've liked. We also get very little information on concrete events that happen to each of the characters to show how they ended up where they are. Jamie is basically not even a character in this book considering the amount of time he's given, and yet we're told that he's one of the major friends? I think the character development was pretty lacking, but the plot carried things along nicely despite this.
All in all, entertaining horror book and I'll likely check out another of Gifune's books in the future.
I do have some minor criticisms though: I loved the idea of the main characters going through a traumatic event in childhood and seeing how that affects their lives, but there was actually very little character development in the early years or even later in life. The reader is told that the friends are very close but we never actual see much evidence of that. This is unfortunate because the stakes of the rest of the book rely heavily on the reader buying how deep the friendship supposedly was, so I felt less invested than I would've liked. We also get very little information on concrete events that happen to each of the characters to show how they ended up where they are. Jamie is basically not even a character in this book considering the amount of time he's given, and yet we're told that he's one of the major friends? I think the character development was pretty lacking, but the plot carried things along nicely despite this.
All in all, entertaining horror book and I'll likely check out another of Gifune's books in the future.
July 7, 2018
The prologue alone sets a disturbing tone. A man with all over body burns is in the vicinity of a carnival in town and encounters some local boys, who assume he must be responsible for a little girl's murder that happened that day. It all goes downhill for them fast from there.
Then the first chapter jumps in time and the boys have grown up and gone separate ways, each affected in their own ways by the events of the beginning. Phillip, the protagonist is probably the least screwed up, but his past comes back to haunt him when the mother of one of the other boys asks for his help.
The author admits in his notes that part of this story was inspired by Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I can see the correlations, though the writing is riveting and most of it original. I'll admit that I didn't think the end measured up to the journey. I'd like to have seen something more original and unpredictable, though it served the story well enough to enjoy the read.
The horrific elements were pretty strong in places and the tension almost exhausting at times. The setting was depicted very effectively so that I felt I was there and the characters fit in well, each of them very unique. Although I didn't much like the ending, I can see why this author is becoming very popular with those who enjoy a good Horror novel. I have another of his that I'll look forward to reading soon.
Then the first chapter jumps in time and the boys have grown up and gone separate ways, each affected in their own ways by the events of the beginning. Phillip, the protagonist is probably the least screwed up, but his past comes back to haunt him when the mother of one of the other boys asks for his help.
The author admits in his notes that part of this story was inspired by Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad. I can see the correlations, though the writing is riveting and most of it original. I'll admit that I didn't think the end measured up to the journey. I'd like to have seen something more original and unpredictable, though it served the story well enough to enjoy the read.
The horrific elements were pretty strong in places and the tension almost exhausting at times. The setting was depicted very effectively so that I felt I was there and the characters fit in well, each of them very unique. Although I didn't much like the ending, I can see why this author is becoming very popular with those who enjoy a good Horror novel. I have another of his that I'll look forward to reading soon.
October 29, 2018
Phil, Jamie and Martin are childhood friends who experience a terrifying and mysterious event that will impact the rest of their lives. Thirty years later and the world has changed for all of them, their worlds' scarred by the trauma inflicted that night.
From the moment Martin's mother contacts Phil, begging his help as she explains her son has become ruler of a cult in deepest Mexico, you begin to sense this cannot end well for any of the participants. This is an excellent novel, crafted to instill a sense of clawing unease and with just the right amount of supernatural dread. Good book from Greg F. Gifune. I'm a fan!
From the moment Martin's mother contacts Phil, begging his help as she explains her son has become ruler of a cult in deepest Mexico, you begin to sense this cannot end well for any of the participants. This is an excellent novel, crafted to instill a sense of clawing unease and with just the right amount of supernatural dread. Good book from Greg F. Gifune. I'm a fan!
July 30, 2014
Review: CHILDREN OF CHAOS
Once I had read Greg Gifune's spectacular "Saying Uncle" and "The Bleeding Season," I knew he is an author who must be read. "CHILDREN OF CHAOS" is yet another example, an extraordinarily heart-ripping, gut-wrenching tale, penned by master.
I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.
Once I had read Greg Gifune's spectacular "Saying Uncle" and "The Bleeding Season," I knew he is an author who must be read. "CHILDREN OF CHAOS" is yet another example, an extraordinarily heart-ripping, gut-wrenching tale, penned by master.
I read this book via Kindle Unlimited.
May 10, 2021
It started with a bang! Like the first scene really hooks you and then the momentum died. And when you think “nah this is just okay” it hits you with a bang again! The last 5% made it this book a 4 starts to me. Wow!
March 2, 2022
Things I hated about this: the hideous cover.
Things I loved about this: everything else. Even the one scene I thought was meh and kind of out of place came around at the end.
This is so extremely gruesome but totally riveting.
Things I loved about this: everything else. Even the one scene I thought was meh and kind of out of place came around at the end.
This is so extremely gruesome but totally riveting.
January 13, 2022
This author has me hooked.
January 9, 2010
I don’t say the word masterpiece lightly, this novel is pretty close to a perfect horror novel. It has a brilliant concept and it was enough to make buy immediately. Over the years I heard things about this author but it was the concept that really intrigued me. Basically this novel is a modern re-telling of the Joseph Conrad classic “The Heart of Darkness” set in north Mexico in the dessert outside of Tijuana.
Cool concept for a novel. The prologue reminded me of Clive Barker and Ray Bardbury, the set up three boys involved in the murder of a strange magical seeing man hide the bizarre looking book that the strange man is holding. As adults thirty years later the main character Phillip is hired by his childhood friend’s mother to track down him down in Mexico. He is not just hangin down in Mexico he has started a cult and has followers.
You see where this is going. Gifune has created a chilling brutal and dark horror epic that follows Phillip on his journey to discover the awful truth. The novel is creepy, action filled and operates slickly on every level. What impressed me was how vivid the story was and I could really feel the characters terror.
If I were to look for weakness or holes I can only think of two minor ones. There are times I wish the novel was not written in first person, but I am rarely a fan of first person. The only real problem I have with Children of Chaos is the Phillip being an author. To me it doesn’t serve the story and I feel if we are going to have a writer character there should be a good reason for it at this point.
These are minor problems; this is one of the strongest horror novels I have read so far this year. That is saying a lot. This year I have already read new releases like Lisa Morton’s Castle of Los Angeles and Cody Goodfellow’s Perfect Union. Those were prime examples of new generation of strong horror writers hitting their stride. This novel like those others I mentioned proves that our generation of writers still has vital and important works to add to the genre. I am excited to explore Gifune’s work further.
Cool concept for a novel. The prologue reminded me of Clive Barker and Ray Bardbury, the set up three boys involved in the murder of a strange magical seeing man hide the bizarre looking book that the strange man is holding. As adults thirty years later the main character Phillip is hired by his childhood friend’s mother to track down him down in Mexico. He is not just hangin down in Mexico he has started a cult and has followers.
You see where this is going. Gifune has created a chilling brutal and dark horror epic that follows Phillip on his journey to discover the awful truth. The novel is creepy, action filled and operates slickly on every level. What impressed me was how vivid the story was and I could really feel the characters terror.
If I were to look for weakness or holes I can only think of two minor ones. There are times I wish the novel was not written in first person, but I am rarely a fan of first person. The only real problem I have with Children of Chaos is the Phillip being an author. To me it doesn’t serve the story and I feel if we are going to have a writer character there should be a good reason for it at this point.
These are minor problems; this is one of the strongest horror novels I have read so far this year. That is saying a lot. This year I have already read new releases like Lisa Morton’s Castle of Los Angeles and Cody Goodfellow’s Perfect Union. Those were prime examples of new generation of strong horror writers hitting their stride. This novel like those others I mentioned proves that our generation of writers still has vital and important works to add to the genre. I am excited to explore Gifune’s work further.
June 29, 2011
4 AND 1/2 STARS.
This is hands down one of the best horror books of the year. It's the writer's job to take you by the hand and lead you on a journey. However, Gifune doesn't just grab your hand. He yanks at your hair and pulls you by the neck, never allowing you to take even a single breath. He delights in smothering you in evil for 300 fantastic pages.
Children Of Chaos is filled with vivid characters and a fascinating and addictive premise. Gifune's writing is smooth and poetic and wonderfully consistent with its darkness and tone. That being said, I did think the showdown was slightly muddled and too close to Apocolypse Now / Heart Of Darkness for my taste. But that doesn't take away from the fact that this book is near perfect. Anyone calling themselves a fan of this genre needs to pick this book up fast. I'll be getting the rest of Gifune's titles for sure.
This is hands down one of the best horror books of the year. It's the writer's job to take you by the hand and lead you on a journey. However, Gifune doesn't just grab your hand. He yanks at your hair and pulls you by the neck, never allowing you to take even a single breath. He delights in smothering you in evil for 300 fantastic pages.
Children Of Chaos is filled with vivid characters and a fascinating and addictive premise. Gifune's writing is smooth and poetic and wonderfully consistent with its darkness and tone. That being said, I did think the showdown was slightly muddled and too close to Apocolypse Now / Heart Of Darkness for my taste. But that doesn't take away from the fact that this book is near perfect. Anyone calling themselves a fan of this genre needs to pick this book up fast. I'll be getting the rest of Gifune's titles for sure.
May 22, 2014
Another phenomenal novel from the mind of Greg Gifune. Children of Chaos takes the reader on a quest to question life`s purpose, loyalty, reality, commitment, predestination, faith, and obligation. COC is a richly textured and thought provoking read. It is a story of how we choose to blend our human and spiritual experiences in a manner that gives us comfort in our reason for being.
The reluctant journey of one man to save an old friend and to honor his friend`s mother`s request sparks explosive discoveries of self and human beliefs. The intense horror lies in the unsettling truth that nothing ever remains the same, and that each of us navigates through our life solely at the mercy of our own belief system. COC brilliantly dissects each character`s pursuit of Truth, and drives a story line that is filled with horrific and gruesome scenes, rapidly paced, and intensely gratifying.
The reluctant journey of one man to save an old friend and to honor his friend`s mother`s request sparks explosive discoveries of self and human beliefs. The intense horror lies in the unsettling truth that nothing ever remains the same, and that each of us navigates through our life solely at the mercy of our own belief system. COC brilliantly dissects each character`s pursuit of Truth, and drives a story line that is filled with horrific and gruesome scenes, rapidly paced, and intensely gratifying.
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