Beleth Station

by Bryan Smith, Samantha Kolesnik

Beleth Station has seen better days, days long since lost to time.

A tiny dot on the map beyond a two-hour drive to any one city. It’s a forgotten place to all except the unfortunate souls who were born there, folks who are barely hanging on and will likely never leave.

Beleth Station was once a thriving town in the Pennsylvania mountains, but ever since the Medallion Paper Mill closed, things haven’t been the same. Rumors spread of cancer clusters and benzene in the local water supply, but Medallion went bankrupt before an investigation could conclude. Now the town’s inhabitants—descendents of the old mill workers, make do in industries that are less than savory, and what remains of the mill is just a vacant haunt where bored teenagers like to wander at night, either hoping to scare the piss out of their buddies, or looking for a quiet corner to get laid. Of course, it’s also home to a few vagrants, some looking to get blasted in peace and others with more predatory intentions.

Newly-in-love outsiders Krista Mabry and Nick Rawlison have seen better days, too, now that they’ve ended up in the seedy town of Beleth Station, where untold horrors await.

Authors Samantha Kolesnik and Bryan Smith present two unique tales of brutal terror in BELETH STATION, a novella duo featuring Kolesnik’s A Night to Remember and Smith’s The Gauntlet. Set in the same town and in a shared universe, Smith and Kolesnik present two sides of the same sordid coin as we follow lovebirds Nick and Krista into the heart of Beleth Station, where corruption and depravity reign.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Thriller, Adult, Horror Thriller

232 pages, Paperback

First published May 9, 2023

About the author

Bryan Smith is the Splatterpunk Award-winning author of more than forty horror and crime books, including 68 Kill, the cult classic Depraved and its sequels, as well as The Killing Kind, Slowly We Rot, The Freakshow, and many more. Bestselling horror author Brian Keene called Slowly We Rot, "The best zombie novel I've ever read."

68 Kill was adapted into a motion picture directed by Trent Haaga and starring Matthew Gray Gubler of the long-running CBS series Criminal Minds. 68 Kill won the Midnighters Award at the SXSW film festival in 2017 and was released to wide acclaim, including positive reviews in The New York Times and Bloody Disgusting.

Bryan also co-scripted an original Harley Quinn story for the House of Horrors anthology from DC Comics. He has worked with renowned horror publishers in both the mass market and small press spheres, including Leisure Books, Samhain Publishing, Grindhouse Press, Death’s Head Press, and more. His works are available wherever books are sold, with select titles also available in German and Italian.

Reviews

[Brian Bowyer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fast, Brutal Horror!

Two kick-ass stories from two killer writers. What's not to love? I enjoyed both of these stories immensely. Highly recommended!

[Meghin · Rating 4 out of 5]

What is better than a novella? Two novellas in one.
Beleth Station is a small little (fictional) town in PA that has seen better days. The town is littered with creeps and depravity. We follow the main characters Krista and (her love interest) Nick trying to escape from Krista’s abusive husband. We meet a bunch of different people in the town and all of them are connected to each other somehow. Samantha and Bryan’s novellas were completely different stories following these same two main characters. I loved the creativity in this one and how they were able to create such different stories using the same characters and town. Definitely one of the most creative and unique horror books I’ve read!

Thank you Samantha for an ARC! This releases 5/9 be sure to check it out.

[Mique Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

ARC REVIEW:

Firstly, thanks so much to the authors for this ARC!

Samantha Kolesnik and Bryan Smith have written books that I’ve gushed about many a time on here. This time, we get double the story since this book takes its characters and offers us two separate novellas about them.

Same characters, same setting, different multiverse scenario. Neither scenario is good for anyone. Just what I love to see. 😁

Both tales follow Krista and Nick, as they end up in the Pennsylvania backwoods town of Beleth Station. Each tale juggles quite the hefty amount of characters—yet it’s never dull or confusing. The pacing is excellent, and the gore delivers! Each story plays into each author’s strength and offers up different treats for all horror readers.

The first tale, “Night To Remember” is a bleak nightmare akin to her previous novel, True Crime. It’s a tale of hopelessness and loss that spoke to me and made me feel seen (and the character of Erel will definitely satisfy your bloodlust).

Whereas Smith’s section, “Gauntlet”,—although dark and bleak as well—reads like a Laymonesque death game kind of story (before reading this I had just read In The Dark, and the vibes were quite similar!). When gruesome acts are done in the name of freedom, are there really any winners?

Overall I loved this book! It was everything I wanted it to be and more. The immense talent on display here had me in AWE. 👏

[Jess · Rating 1 out of 5]

I know some people find writing about or reading about sexual violence and sexual degradation cathartic or otherwise meaningful, and I don't want to shame anyone for their tastes, but that stuff made this book Really not for me. And i wish the reviews I'd seen had mentioned that stuff so I could have saved my money and not been prompted to write a 1-star review on a book that it seems others really enjoyed.

But also it opens up with a serial killer POV and again, really not my scene. (I've read too much awful romantic suspense in my life to have any more patience for this trope unless the rest of a book really grabs me 😅)

I didn't make it to the second story so maybe that one leans more into the cult-like stuff I was anticipating. I don't know. I have enough other stuff to read that I'm cutting my losses halfway through the first one.

[Andrew Schultheis · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up
4 for the Samantha Kolesnik story
3 for the Bryan Smith

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beleth Station, Pennsylvania. To you, it’s a dot on the map. To our main characters Krista and Nick, it’s a permanent stain on their lives.

Kolesnik and Smith have written sister-novellas, centered around the fictional town of Beleth Station and the depravity that is contained within the town’s borders. The pieces share the same characters and the same setting but with two wildly different outcomes.

A Night to Remember by Kolesnik follows Krista and Nick, as they evade Krista’s unsavory marriage. After breaking down on an isolated highway, they find their way to Beleth Station. There is a special depth to Kolesnik’s characters that is often forgotten in the extreme horror subgenre. A Night to Remember builds broken characters, with the smallest sliver of hope through suffocating bleakness, all with unmatched prose. (Also, shoutout to the card game scene. I will be rereading that chapter again and again!)

The Gauntlet by Smith puts our characters to the test. Will they physically and mentally be able to commit gruesome acts in the name of their own freedom? Smith’s novella had a large cast of characters but allowed the plot to take the forefront. This second novella added terror on top of terror, throwing gas on an already smoldering scene.

This dual-novella piece was unlike anything I’ve read in the genre. Kolesnik’s ability to build a scene, coupled with Smith’s ability to rewind time to change the character’s trajectory was a unique and gripping experience.

Thank you to Samantha and Clash for the ARC!

[Stuart Coombe · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5/5

Didn’t really do much for me.

The first novella was part a story of anguish as the main character leaves an abusive relationship, only to end up in the sorry town of Beleth Station.

The second was a million miles an hour rounded story, high in the physical gore stakes, with a clear storyline, possibly a bit too neat for its c. 100 page length.

Overall I just found both stories lacking albeit they were well written.

The first I didn’t connect with and as such had no real care what happened to anyone. The second was all a bit too neat - I know you are limited in a novella but I’d rather things were left open rather than needed an explanation, event and tying off of every storyline all within 100 pages or so.

The printed copy I bought also had some editing marks such as citation brackets eg [1] in there which presumably didn’t get cut from the edit before publishing.

Ultimately not a bad book but had much higher hopes. For a story of a sinister town Alan Baxter’s The Gulp and follow up The Fall were much more to my liking.

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Samantha Kolesnik and Bryan Smith offer a unique take on collaboration. Each author tells a story set in the small backwoods town of Beleth Station. No topic is too taboo and no one is safe. Kolesnik's "A Night to Remember" and Smith's "The Gauntlet" follow the same characters in the same places from different perspectives. Reminiscent of Pollock's Knockemstiff, the authors juggle a wide cast of characters, never forgetting that the town of Beleth Station is as, if not more, important than the people that inhabit it. Brutal and troubling, consistently shocking, and unexpected.

[Rachel · Rating 4 out of 5]

The 4 stars is for Kolesnik's wicked novella, which stole the show. Imagine David Lynch's antagonists all live in the same town and you've got Beleth Station, the worst small town in the US. Kolesnik could've made this into a 1000 page King-esque novel and I would've devoured it. Hopefully she writes more!

CW: sexual assault, domestic abuse, self harm, gratuitous violence against women

I couldn't get through the second one, after trudging through the first few chapters.

[Hope Madden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I imagine a lot of people have thought about getting out of a bad marriage and wondered, What’s the worst that could happen?

Those people should talk to Samantha Kolesnik and Bryan Smith. Or maybe they shouldn’t. The duo’s unusual A-side/B-side horror tale Beleth Station is like a premise wrapped in a dare that really digs into What’s the worst that could happen?

Both writers take the same set of characters, same basic idea of being trapped in a dying town off the Pennsylvania highway, and then each sees how bad it can get.

Kolesnik’s take, A Night to Remember, comes first, following Krista and Nick as they flee Krista’s stultifying marriage. They find themselves in need of roadside assistance in an isolated stretch – a common enough beat in horror, but one that Kolesnik takes in depraved and alarming directions. What follows is an experiment in degradation.

There is a deep hopelessness in this story, a kind of grim poetry that’s so beautifully written you commit to the long, bleak, terrifying haul. You will want to look away, but Kolesnik’s prose compels you.

Both stories explore the primal terror of helplessness, each wallowing in the evil that men do, each almost mocking the naivete of faith in the human condition. Still, they are vastly different tales. Smith’s The Gauntlet feels more cinematic, like Herschell Gordon Lewis’s Two Thousand Maniacs meets Stephen King’s The Running Man.

Conspiracy, brutality, revolution all fuel a tale that drops you in the middle of the action and never lets up. Two desperate pairs – young townies dying for escape, new lovers lured in from the outside – commit increasingly horrendous acts to garner freedom.

For Smith, the question isn’t how bad can it get as much as how far will you go, and what will you be when it’s over? He has a flair for both imagery and pace that makes The Gauntlet all but impossible to stop reading.

[Lexi · Rating 5 out of 5]

🩸 Splatterpunk
📚 2 Novellas in 1
☠️ Serial killers
🖤 Weird cults
❗ CW: rape

This is a unique little indie, and knowing what it is is critical. So Beleth Station focuses on a couple traveling together and getting stuck in Beleth Station, a rust belt community with a now defunct paper mill and a lot of desperate folks. The characters are largely the same between the two novellas, but the storylines change quite a lot, as do the fates of the couple. Each of the two authors put their own unique spin on the town and its inhabitants.

Samantha Kolesnik is a darker crime horror writer whose work has always been challenging, so its a significantly darker and more unsettling story. Bryan Smith is a more traditional splatterpunk author whose writing is shocking, but not necessarily as dreary as Kolesnik. You absolutely get two different feels from both works.

I liked both stories a lot, and was surpised how much characterwork could be packed into a very short pagecount. If you are a fan of Chandler Morrison or other splatter authors who focus on characters over shocj value, this is well worth your time.

[Horror DNA · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bryan Smith and Samantha Kolesnik are names familiar to lovers of extreme and visceral horror. In Beleth Station, the two have combined forces to craft a unique and intriguing story that draws upon the best of their talents. Few can match Smith for sheer bloodshed, and Kolesnik excels in the psychological aspects of horror. The co-authors combine their talents to bring the reader to Beleth Station, a forgotten town in rural Pennsylvania.

You can read Zachary Rosenberg's full review at Horror DNA by clicking here.

[Cat Voleur · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a pleasure to read!

I was very lucky to receive a review copy (and I jumped at the chance because I'm already a fan of Samantha Kolesnik.)

BELETH STATION is possibly the most unique example of co-authoring that I've ever read. I love the approach to singular takes on the same characters in a shared universe.

While the book offers two entirely different stories, there was something very satisfying about getting to see the two takes. I may have preferred the story in the first half (just because in terms of sub-genre it was more up my alley) but I was SO impressed by how the second half truly escalated the already insane horror.

I would highly recommend this, and am seriously considering picking up the limited edition hardcover because I think I need it for my collection.

[Paul Ataua · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel that extreme fiction is there to shatter the symbolic chains of social restraint, and ‘Beleth Station’ certainly goes way beyond the boundaries of what we are ‘allowed’ to say or even think. There are two parts here, the first written by Samantha Kolesnik, author of True Crime and Waif (two five-star reads for me) and the second by Brian Smith, author of Depraved and Slowly We Rot. Both push the limits with Kolesnik’s half being more extreme and Smith’s having a more rounded story, but with neither author really reproducing their best. The writing is excellent, the stories not so great. A treat for really extreme fiends, though.

[Blackacre Doe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A Night To Remember - 5 Stars, I liked this one possibly more than Waif and Samantha is becoming one of my favorite horror authors.

The Gauntlet - 2 Stars, just didn’t do anything for me and was heavily overshadowed by the emotional heft and nuance of the first story. To me it was just another run of the mill splatterpunk story.

[Greg · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this combo of novellas by different authors and enjoyed the shared universe concept. Both stories were excellent, although I enjoyed Samantha Kolesnik's more. Each was original, dark, and suspenseful. If you're in the mood for devastating stories that will keep your heart racing and your eyes glued to the page, you can't do much better.

[Mike Wallace · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent concept for a set of stories. Bryan Smith and Samantha Kolesnik write separate tales with some of the same characters in the depraved town of Beleth Station. Both stories are extremely dark. I think Samantha Kolesnik has achieved queen status as a writer of utter doom and depravity. I can’t wait for her next release.

5 Stars *****

[Clayton Gallaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

Two fun novellas in the same town with the same main characters. This was a brutal fun read and any fans of Bryan Smith will enjoy it. It was my first time reading Samantha Kolesnik but they wrote a harrowing, brutal story on par with Bryan.

[Erica Robyn Metcalf]

Not one for me, but phew boy - extreme horror fans, especially lovers of depraved sexual horror, you're gonna LOVE THIS!

[Kayli Scholz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depraved and nightmarish! Not for the faint of heart! Really enjoyed both. Want to read more Bryan Smith.