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Devil's Creek
GIVE US THAT OLD-TIME RELIGION
About fifteen miles west of Stauford, Kentucky lies Devil’s Creek. According to local legend, there used to be a church out there, home to the Lord’s Church of Holy Voices—a death cult where Jacob Masters preached the gospel of a nameless god.
And like most legends, there’s truth buried among the roots and bones.
In 1983, the church burned to the ground following a mass suicide. Among the survivors were Jacob’s six children and their grandparents, who banded together to defy their former minister. Dubbed the “Stauford Six,” these children grew up amid scrutiny and ridicule, but their infamy has faded over the last thirty years.
Now their ordeal is all but forgotten, and Jacob Masters is nothing more than a scary story told around campfires.
For Jack Tremly, one of the Six, memories of that fateful night have fueled a successful art career—and a lifetime of nightmares. When his grandmother Imogene dies, Jack returns to Stauford to settle her estate. What he finds waiting for him are secrets Imogene kept in his youth, secrets about his father and the church. Secrets that can no longer stay buried.
The roots of Jacob’s buried god run deep, and within the heart of Devil’s Creek, something is beginning to stir…
About fifteen miles west of Stauford, Kentucky lies Devil’s Creek. According to local legend, there used to be a church out there, home to the Lord’s Church of Holy Voices—a death cult where Jacob Masters preached the gospel of a nameless god.
And like most legends, there’s truth buried among the roots and bones.
In 1983, the church burned to the ground following a mass suicide. Among the survivors were Jacob’s six children and their grandparents, who banded together to defy their former minister. Dubbed the “Stauford Six,” these children grew up amid scrutiny and ridicule, but their infamy has faded over the last thirty years.
Now their ordeal is all but forgotten, and Jacob Masters is nothing more than a scary story told around campfires.
For Jack Tremly, one of the Six, memories of that fateful night have fueled a successful art career—and a lifetime of nightmares. When his grandmother Imogene dies, Jack returns to Stauford to settle her estate. What he finds waiting for him are secrets Imogene kept in his youth, secrets about his father and the church. Secrets that can no longer stay buried.
The roots of Jacob’s buried god run deep, and within the heart of Devil’s Creek, something is beginning to stir…
520 pages, Hardcover
First published June 16, 2020
359 people are currently reading
9854 people want to read
About the author
Todd Keisling
47 books476 followersTODD KEISLING is the two-time Bram Stoker Award®-nominated author of Devil’s Creek, Scanlines, Cold, Black & Infinite, and most recently, The Sundowner’s Dance, among several others. A pair of his earlier works were recipients of the University of Kentucky’s Oswald Research & Creativity Prize for Creative Writing (2002 and 2005), and his second novel, The Liminal Man, was an Indie Book Award finalist in Horror & Suspense (2013). He lives in Pennsylvania with his family.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 491 reviews
November 15, 2020
I’m scoring this a positive 3 stars and I’m sure many will score it higher.
Devils Creek by Todd Keisling was my Halloween read.
Always on the look out for decent horror novels this one caught my eye as it seems to be picking up a lot of word and mouth momentum.
It’s a big, ambitious and pretty good yarn, with the feel of one of Stephen King’s classic small town horror novels. Throw in zombies, a crazy religious cult and a monumental battle between good and evil and it becomes a bit of an epic.
1981 - Six children survive a horrific event involving evil religious indoctrination and mass suicides.
Present Day - Jack, one of the six children returns to Stauford, Kentucky, his hometown (and scene of the atrocity) to confront a reawakening of the horror.
Devil’s Creek is a smooth read, well plotted with likeable, credible characters (and some monstrous ones of course) but, although it’s an enjoyable and scary novel I did have a couple of issues. As a goodreads friend mentions in her review, the events of 1981 were so horrific that they certainly wouldn’t be nearly forgotten or simply the stuff of rumour or fireside tales a few years later. This rankled a little. Also, common with many horror novels, the amount of blood and gore gets so overwhelming that it begins to lose impact ........ and there are only so many slimy things that can ooze out of unlikely orifices :)
Finally, although the book is generally cleverly paced, it is long and became a bit repetitive at times.
All being said though, this is a book destined to go viral and a must read for horror aficionados.
Devils Creek by Todd Keisling was my Halloween read.
Always on the look out for decent horror novels this one caught my eye as it seems to be picking up a lot of word and mouth momentum.
It’s a big, ambitious and pretty good yarn, with the feel of one of Stephen King’s classic small town horror novels. Throw in zombies, a crazy religious cult and a monumental battle between good and evil and it becomes a bit of an epic.
1981 - Six children survive a horrific event involving evil religious indoctrination and mass suicides.
Present Day - Jack, one of the six children returns to Stauford, Kentucky, his hometown (and scene of the atrocity) to confront a reawakening of the horror.
Devil’s Creek is a smooth read, well plotted with likeable, credible characters (and some monstrous ones of course) but, although it’s an enjoyable and scary novel I did have a couple of issues. As a goodreads friend mentions in her review, the events of 1981 were so horrific that they certainly wouldn’t be nearly forgotten or simply the stuff of rumour or fireside tales a few years later. This rankled a little. Also, common with many horror novels, the amount of blood and gore gets so overwhelming that it begins to lose impact ........ and there are only so many slimy things that can ooze out of unlikely orifices :)
Finally, although the book is generally cleverly paced, it is long and became a bit repetitive at times.
All being said though, this is a book destined to go viral and a must read for horror aficionados.
July 6, 2020
⭐ 5 𝘾𝙐𝙇𝙏𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙤𝙘𝙠 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨! ⭐
I love this fantastic book! The author didn't just bring the story and characters to life, he brought an ENTIRE town alive and I felt like I was living among the unfortunate residents of Stauford, Kentucky.
𝙎𝙞𝙭 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.
'𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 "𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳" '
This book is long, over 400 pages, but it never lagged and the writing is so impressive that I never wanted it to end!
This is the first book given to me by NetGalley and I think it's the start of a beautiful friendship between us.
P.S. If any future readers of this book wanted to keep count of the number of times the words TWILIT and HERETIC are used I'd love to know the final tally!
I love this fantastic book! The author didn't just bring the story and characters to life, he brought an ENTIRE town alive and I felt like I was living among the unfortunate residents of Stauford, Kentucky.
𝙎𝙞𝙭 𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙙𝙧𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙨𝙘𝙪𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙖 𝙘𝙪𝙡𝙩 𝙧𝙞𝙜𝙝𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙚 𝙞𝙩'𝙨 𝙢𝙚𝙢𝙗𝙚𝙧𝙨 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙢𝙞𝙩 𝙢𝙖𝙨𝙨 𝙨𝙪𝙞𝙘𝙞𝙙𝙚 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙥𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙪𝙧𝙣𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙪𝙣𝙙. 𝙏𝙝𝙞𝙧𝙩𝙮 𝙮𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙨 𝙡𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙤𝙨𝙚 𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙣 𝙠𝙞𝙙𝙨 𝙖𝙧𝙚 𝙧𝙚𝙪𝙣𝙞𝙩𝙚𝙙, 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮'𝙧𝙚 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙤𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙤𝙣𝙚𝙨 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙖𝙣 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙥 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙖𝙨𝙩 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙧𝙚𝙥𝙚𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛.
'𝘑𝘪𝘮𝘮𝘺 𝘬𝘯𝘦𝘭𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦 𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 "𝘐 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘎𝘰𝘥, 𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯. 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭, 𝘏𝘦'𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘶𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳" '
This book is long, over 400 pages, but it never lagged and the writing is so impressive that I never wanted it to end!
This is the first book given to me by NetGalley and I think it's the start of a beautiful friendship between us.
P.S. If any future readers of this book wanted to keep count of the number of times the words TWILIT and HERETIC are used I'd love to know the final tally!
June 12, 2020
4.5/5 stars!
If there were travel guides for places NOT to visit, the town of Stauford, Kentucky would top that list! Devil's Creek is about 15 miles away from Stauford, but that's not far enough to keep the town safe.
Devil's Creek was the site of a religious cult back in the early 80's, a site which burned to the ground in 1983. Those that survived suffer nightmares all the time, even though they've blocked a lot of their actual memories. The head of the cult, Jacob Masters, was a charismatic man who persuaded members of his "church" to give up their children to him, for whatever dark acts he wished to perform. One of them rebelled though, (Imogene), and was able to save six of the children. Unfortunately, Imogene has now passed on and her grandson has to return to the town he hates to settle her affairs. But something else has started happening since his return. The nightmares suffered by the survivors get even more vivid and scary, and soon after? They're facing something even worse: something that wants to make up for lost time and all it's asking for? Is their suffering. Will these survivors be able to get to the bottom of things before it's too late? Will the town of Stauford even survive? You'll have to read this to find out!
I'm struggling to keep this review short, because DEVIL'S CREEK was so epic. Packed with scenes from both the past and the present, there was a lot going on. The author took his time introducing the characters and giving each a thorough history. Which, of course, made it that much more difficult to take when these characters were then put through the wringer and tortured in ways you never thought possible.
Evil in a small town is one of my favorite horror tropes. I couldn't help but be thinking of Salem's Lot, or even Needful Things, where the author did the same kind of storytelling: introducing us to a town full of characters and then subjecting them to all kinds of terrors, both human and supernatural.
The level of writing here was excellent and the plotting well done. Any seasoned horror reader is familiar with these types of tropes, (evil in a small town, Satanic cults, etc...), so it's up to the author to pull something original and enticing out them. Keisling did that here, in spades!
The only issue I had with this book, (and it's a small one), was that it became a little repetitious in some places as events were sometimes told from different points of view. As I said, it was a small thing, but for that, I deducted half a star.
DEVIL'S CREEK is going to have a special spot in my memory, along with the corrupted town of Stauford. Give us that old-time religion, baby. Yes, sir!
Highly recommended!
Available June 16th, but you can pre-order here: https://amzn.to/2XURqrn
*Thanks to the author and to Silver Shamrock publishing for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
If there were travel guides for places NOT to visit, the town of Stauford, Kentucky would top that list! Devil's Creek is about 15 miles away from Stauford, but that's not far enough to keep the town safe.
Devil's Creek was the site of a religious cult back in the early 80's, a site which burned to the ground in 1983. Those that survived suffer nightmares all the time, even though they've blocked a lot of their actual memories. The head of the cult, Jacob Masters, was a charismatic man who persuaded members of his "church" to give up their children to him, for whatever dark acts he wished to perform. One of them rebelled though, (Imogene), and was able to save six of the children. Unfortunately, Imogene has now passed on and her grandson has to return to the town he hates to settle her affairs. But something else has started happening since his return. The nightmares suffered by the survivors get even more vivid and scary, and soon after? They're facing something even worse: something that wants to make up for lost time and all it's asking for? Is their suffering. Will these survivors be able to get to the bottom of things before it's too late? Will the town of Stauford even survive? You'll have to read this to find out!
I'm struggling to keep this review short, because DEVIL'S CREEK was so epic. Packed with scenes from both the past and the present, there was a lot going on. The author took his time introducing the characters and giving each a thorough history. Which, of course, made it that much more difficult to take when these characters were then put through the wringer and tortured in ways you never thought possible.
Evil in a small town is one of my favorite horror tropes. I couldn't help but be thinking of Salem's Lot, or even Needful Things, where the author did the same kind of storytelling: introducing us to a town full of characters and then subjecting them to all kinds of terrors, both human and supernatural.
The level of writing here was excellent and the plotting well done. Any seasoned horror reader is familiar with these types of tropes, (evil in a small town, Satanic cults, etc...), so it's up to the author to pull something original and enticing out them. Keisling did that here, in spades!
The only issue I had with this book, (and it's a small one), was that it became a little repetitious in some places as events were sometimes told from different points of view. As I said, it was a small thing, but for that, I deducted half a star.
DEVIL'S CREEK is going to have a special spot in my memory, along with the corrupted town of Stauford. Give us that old-time religion, baby. Yes, sir!
Highly recommended!
Available June 16th, but you can pre-order here: https://amzn.to/2XURqrn
*Thanks to the author and to Silver Shamrock publishing for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it!*
January 14, 2021
I am fascinated by cults and cultish behavior. I watch a lot of documentaries about them, read true crime novels about infamous cult leaders and enjoy learning about the secret practices of cults. Naturally, Cult Horror is a favorite, fictional sub-genre but it can be hit or miss with me. I feel like a lot of authors want to spend time on the sensational aspects without doing the leg work developing the practical mechanics of a believable cult.
In order for me to buy in, I need a charismatic leader capable of convincing seemingly normal people to do outlandish acts of service.
Todd Keisling’s Devil’s Creek is the perfect example of quality cult horror. Let me unpack it for you, as always, I’ll be mindful of spoilers.
In the tradition of books like Salem’s Lot by Stephen King, Keisling lays down important, historical groundwork for the setting of his epic cult tale.
Stauford, Kentucky is a fictional small town haunted by the legend Jacob Masters’ death cult, The Lord’s Church of Holy Voices. Keisling spends quality time peeling back the layers of this seemingly quaint town in order to reveal the dark, insidious roots below. Prepare to settle in with Devil’s Creek and enjoy the ride. This isn’t the kind of book that makes for casual or light reading. Todd Keisling sets early expectations for the rest of this book by the way he sets everything up in the beginning. He takes you back in time to 1983 so that when the reader arrives in the modern day narrative, you carry with you more truth than most of the townspeople have.
This is a sprawling story with a large cast of characters. In order to help readers identify important, generational players, Keisling graciously calls people by their first and last names. (Mother Horror Pro Tip: Pay attention to the last names and keep a mental note of the Stauford Six.)
Over the course of the novel, a few main protagonists emerge: Imogene Tremly and her grandson Jack are the ones I connected to emotionally. Keisling does an amazing job giving life and personality to the people on these pages. This helps the reader become invested in their motivations and purpose. I find this to be so important because Devil’s Creek deals with extremely dark subject matter. Plenty of potential triggers abound so proceed with caution if you’re a sensitive reader. Not to mention this is scary shit. I read a lot of horror; it takes a lot of originality for something to get under my skin in a unique or new way. This book got to me more than once. I’d say at least several times I felt the blood cool in my veins.
The book which is doled out in 5 parts, readers can expect to witness graphically detailed accounts of cult practices lead by a murderous, sexual deviant. Some of it is pretty difficult to stomach.
At no point in this novel did I feel as though I was enduring the depravity needlessly. Keisling’s story development is clearly given top priority. Suffering through explicit scenes felt necessary instead of exploitive or gratuitous. I trusted Keisling to bring me through the muck and the mire to get me to the other side and I was only too eager to get there. There is a compelling almost compulsive nature to this story where I felt as if I had to know how this was all going to end. It has to be said that calling this Keisling’s magnum opus is accurate. He takes a small, dark cult of maybe twenty to fifty people and blows it up into a full-blown cosmic horror novel over the span of four hundred pages or so; impressive as hell to say the least. I don’t believe any word was wasted, no detail was left out or ignored, and every character was given a reason to exist on the page. I never experienced a dull moment. Definitely will make my Best of 2020 list at the end of this year.
~Sadie Hartmann
I'm tempted to offer up a warning, a word of caution. To read DEVIL'S CREEK is to lose yourself in a story of hideous depravity and unholy madness. Todd Keisling's local legend of The Lord's Church of Holy Voices joins the ranks of other ritualistic cult horrors but definitely rests at the top tier.
I compared a book to early King status earlier this year (TOUCH THE NIGHT by Max Booth III) and now I'm doing it again, this book gave me serious King vibes.
My full review to come!
February 17, 2022
In Stauford, Kentucky, lies Devil’s Creek. In Devil's Creek is a church with Jacob Masters at the helm. It isn't God from above word he is teaching. He is teaching the god that dwells beneath the church, the word of hellfire and brimstone. Right before sacrificing six of his own children, he is killed by defectors. The other members of the church commit mass suicide while the church burns to the ground. Thirty years later all six children now adults are back in town. With the rise of the moon full, the unholy pastor has risen and hellbent on revenge.
This was one horror filled ride from beginning to the end. It is told from different points of view as so much is going on around the town. Especially when Masters arrives on the scene. Recommend!
This was one horror filled ride from beginning to the end. It is told from different points of view as so much is going on around the town. Especially when Masters arrives on the scene. Recommend!
September 4, 2020
Wow, what a novel. Jacob Masters found a new nameless god. He and his followers worship them in a way quite different to normal religion. When six children of his should be sacrificed Imogen Tremly opposes the cult leader and kills him. Now thirty years later he seems to have come back! Can Jack and his friends overcome this uncanny evil threat? A nameless evil worshiped (had to think about Lovecraft's god), an extremely eerie priest (Masters), a small town, incest, hypocrisy, bigotry, depraved intercourse, satanism, witchcraft, devil worship... here you'll find all in one novel. Absolutely compelling, extremely dark, a horrorfest in the truest sense of the word with well rounded characters. This was an extremely well written novel and is definitely one of the highlights of my reading year. Highly recommended!
July 10, 2020
"Old lies above, new love below"
Welcome to the Lord's Church of Holy Voices where Jacob Masters preaches the word of a nameless god.
1983 - Stauford, Kentucky - The Lord's Church of Holy Voices burns to the ground after a mass suicide. Jacob's six children manage to survive referred to by the townsfolk as the Stauford Six. Being the bible belt and all they aren't embraced by their community but reviled. Each longing to get very far away from their hometown.
Now an adult, Jack, one of the Stauford six, has made a successful art career for himself in NYC but when he gets word that his grandmother has died he returns to Stauford to settle her affairs. However, what he is about to find out is that not all secrets stay buried and some just might return from the grave to settle the score.
I am so torn on this book. This is one of the best written horror novels I have read in quite some time. Kiesling can set tone and atmosphere perfectly. Stauford itself is as much as a character as any other in the book. Buuuuuutttttt.....this book is too long. There. I said it. This book was a solid 5 star reading experience until around 65% but then oh my nameless god it became so tedious. If this book shaved about 100 pages off it would have been so much better. Even the climactic grand finale I skimmed because it went on F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I have checked out other reviewers thoughts on this and they are singing its praises so my complaint could very well be a "me" thing.
This is a solid horror story and one that I think is going have plenty of accolades thrown its way. And as with all good horror novels - the gore drips from the page! Yum! 3.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Welcome to the Lord's Church of Holy Voices where Jacob Masters preaches the word of a nameless god.
1983 - Stauford, Kentucky - The Lord's Church of Holy Voices burns to the ground after a mass suicide. Jacob's six children manage to survive referred to by the townsfolk as the Stauford Six. Being the bible belt and all they aren't embraced by their community but reviled. Each longing to get very far away from their hometown.
Now an adult, Jack, one of the Stauford six, has made a successful art career for himself in NYC but when he gets word that his grandmother has died he returns to Stauford to settle her affairs. However, what he is about to find out is that not all secrets stay buried and some just might return from the grave to settle the score.
I am so torn on this book. This is one of the best written horror novels I have read in quite some time. Kiesling can set tone and atmosphere perfectly. Stauford itself is as much as a character as any other in the book. Buuuuuutttttt.....this book is too long. There. I said it. This book was a solid 5 star reading experience until around 65% but then oh my nameless god it became so tedious. If this book shaved about 100 pages off it would have been so much better. Even the climactic grand finale I skimmed because it went on F-O-R-E-V-E-R. I have checked out other reviewers thoughts on this and they are singing its praises so my complaint could very well be a "me" thing.
This is a solid horror story and one that I think is going have plenty of accolades thrown its way. And as with all good horror novels - the gore drips from the page! Yum! 3.5 stars!
Thank you to NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
September 15, 2020
Okay I went into this really excited but unfortunately it kind of ... fizzled.
Mostly, the story just seemed a good excuse to:
1. Trash talk religion
2. Make people do weird kinky things
The story follows Jack, who is returning to his hometown after his Grandmother's death. Back when he was a kid, he was part of a cult led by Jacob Masters, who fathered six children specifically so he could later sacrifice them. Jack was one of those kids, so now he has to face his past, particularly since it seems, after 30 years, Jacob may longer be satisfied with staying dead.
So it begins with exactly what went down with the demise of the cult and Jacob's death. Jacob is a religious nut who realised God is not above but actually beneath, and he demands blood, suffering and general depravity. To start, I kind of found it hard to believe that this religious nut hears a 'god' from below and doesn't even think about the possibility it's the devil? How did the dude with the horns and pitchfork not even turn up beyond the title? That surprised me a lot. I found it a little unbelievable that this pastor who was so devoted to God suddenly had his switch flipped by a voice from below. Then again, what do I know about religion? *shrugs*
Soon enough it jumps to present day, 30 years later, where the 'Stauford Six' are just trying to live ordinary lives. Jack is the only one who ever moved away - he went off to become a highly successful artist, thanks to the disturbing artwork inspired by his nightmares. Way to capitalise, buddy. Anyhoo, now he's back in town and we're following as he reunites with a few of his siblings and suddenly discovers that his loving grandma was into some weird stuff before she died.
It was all a little too detailed for me. We get to know half the town in greater detail than was really necessary, and it slowed everything down so much. I got King vibes from the storytelling, but it never drew me in like King's work does. Instead we get to know all of these people that just end up meaning very little to the story. Plus all the backstory with the idol got kinda dull after a while.
The violence is graphic yet sporadic, so you can get this really terrifying, gruesome scene, then the next is an info dump of history that's mostly boring. Also, it's so sexualised. I'll spoiler-tag the details, but safe to say some kinky stuff goes down. It also starts really strong and creepy but then it ends up being more of the same so it gets a bit repetitive, to be honest. It's like it wants to get creative but just misses the mark.
I enjoyed the lore and the building of the story behind this evil, but all the rituals made it a little too confusing for me and at the end of it I'm still not entirely sure I understand it. I feel like so much detail went into it when it was actually more simple? It got a little bit wild and I think a lot of it was kind of wasted.
I think the takeaway message is that people can do crazy stuff when they think they're doing God's will. It definitely takes a nice solid swipe at the devout, but in doing so it divides the town into 'evil religious nuts' or 'outcasts with no faith'. I think I really needed that middle ground to become properly invested.
I never really felt a lot for the characters, and I think that's because we jumped between so many of them. The substance was certainly there but I just didn't stay with them long enough to really get too invested.
Finally, the whole thing just took so long to play out that, by the end, I was just bored. It started strong but then put so much effort into creating substance and fleshing out details; normally this is something I would appreciate but it just felt pointless and wasted on this story. I think the amount of violence and depravity in this story called for less effort in the storytelling. Alternatively, I would have appreciated fewer, more effective incidents of violence. Basically, the balance was off.
Overall it was an enteraining story that I think just took itself too seriously. I didn't hate it, but I think there's a fair bit of room for improvement.
With thanks to Netgalley for a copy.
Mostly, the story just seemed a good excuse to:
1. Trash talk religion
2. Make people do weird kinky things
The story follows Jack, who is returning to his hometown after his Grandmother's death. Back when he was a kid, he was part of a cult led by Jacob Masters, who fathered six children specifically so he could later sacrifice them. Jack was one of those kids, so now he has to face his past, particularly since it seems, after 30 years, Jacob may longer be satisfied with staying dead.
So it begins with exactly what went down with the demise of the cult and Jacob's death. Jacob is a religious nut who realised God is not above but actually beneath, and he demands blood, suffering and general depravity. To start, I kind of found it hard to believe that this religious nut hears a 'god' from below and doesn't even think about the possibility it's the devil? How did the dude with the horns and pitchfork not even turn up beyond the title? That surprised me a lot. I found it a little unbelievable that this pastor who was so devoted to God suddenly had his switch flipped by a voice from below. Then again, what do I know about religion? *shrugs*
Soon enough it jumps to present day, 30 years later, where the 'Stauford Six' are just trying to live ordinary lives. Jack is the only one who ever moved away - he went off to become a highly successful artist, thanks to the disturbing artwork inspired by his nightmares. Way to capitalise, buddy. Anyhoo, now he's back in town and we're following as he reunites with a few of his siblings and suddenly discovers that his loving grandma was into some weird stuff before she died.
It was all a little too detailed for me. We get to know half the town in greater detail than was really necessary, and it slowed everything down so much. I got King vibes from the storytelling, but it never drew me in like King's work does. Instead we get to know all of these people that just end up meaning very little to the story. Plus all the backstory with the idol got kinda dull after a while.
The violence is graphic yet sporadic, so you can get this really terrifying, gruesome scene, then the next is an info dump of history that's mostly boring. Also, it's so sexualised. I'll spoiler-tag the details, but safe to say some kinky stuff goes down. It also starts really strong and creepy but then it ends up being more of the same so it gets a bit repetitive, to be honest. It's like it wants to get creative but just misses the mark.
I enjoyed the lore and the building of the story behind this evil, but all the rituals made it a little too confusing for me and at the end of it I'm still not entirely sure I understand it. I feel like so much detail went into it when it was actually more simple? It got a little bit wild and I think a lot of it was kind of wasted.
I think the takeaway message is that people can do crazy stuff when they think they're doing God's will. It definitely takes a nice solid swipe at the devout, but in doing so it divides the town into 'evil religious nuts' or 'outcasts with no faith'. I think I really needed that middle ground to become properly invested.
I never really felt a lot for the characters, and I think that's because we jumped between so many of them. The substance was certainly there but I just didn't stay with them long enough to really get too invested.
Finally, the whole thing just took so long to play out that, by the end, I was just bored. It started strong but then put so much effort into creating substance and fleshing out details; normally this is something I would appreciate but it just felt pointless and wasted on this story. I think the amount of violence and depravity in this story called for less effort in the storytelling. Alternatively, I would have appreciated fewer, more effective incidents of violence. Basically, the balance was off.
Overall it was an enteraining story that I think just took itself too seriously. I didn't hate it, but I think there's a fair bit of room for improvement.
With thanks to Netgalley for a copy.
June 12, 2020
DEVIL'S CREEK, by Todd Keisling, is a horror novel that has all of the main components I look for in a great read. We have fantastic, fully fleshed-out characters, an atmosphere that switches between "worn-down" and "menacing", supernatural, occult, and even a bit of coming-of-age.
Thirty years prior, a "religious" zealot--Jacob Masters--who worshipped "Old gods" and depravity, held sway over a group of people from Stauford, Kentucky. A few stood up to him and managed to rescue six half-siblings: Jack, Stephanie, Chuck, Bobby, Susan, and Zeke.
That was hardly the end, though.
After the death of his Grandmother and guardian, Genie, Jack returns to set her affairs in order.
". . . he realized the shadow trailing him all his life hadn't really left at all . . . "
Keisling weaves his novel between glimpses of the past events, the current state of each of the six siblings, and the "awakening" of things that had previously lie dormant.
". . . They called us the Stauford Six. The cursed Devil's Creek kids . . ."
With Genie's death, something long dead is free to rise once more, intent on spreading the perverted beliefs he once did in life. And now all six of his children were home.
". . .he'd turned toward something older, something far more dangerous, something malignant sleeping beneath the earth . . ."
The characterization--of Jacob Masters and his followers thirty years prior--and of the six half-siblings and their current day acquaintances, was so detailed and complete that I felt as if I had known them all their lives. Though none of them--mentally--escaped their youth unscathed, they each went on in various directions of their own.
". . . What happened out there in those woods all those years ago defined her . . ."
The town also projected the perfect backdrop for a story of this magnitude and direction. A small town--with no new growth--populated by bigoted, corrupt systems, and virtually no prospects facing those youth unlucky enough to have been born there. Isolated from the rest of the world by the cursed landscape as well as the opinionated residents, Devil's Creek truly was a place all of its own, without any outside interference.
". . . What I do believe is there are things in this world we aren't meant to understand."
Todd Keisling has created an inescapable atmosphere where readers can truly believe that evil and . . . older things . . . still exist, unchecked by modern civilization.
". . . Something hidden. Something horribly old . . . "
His combination of characters, legends, atmosphere/location, and imagination created a nightmare that I found myself completely immersed in.
And I loved every minute of it!
Some family legacies are more . . . lethal . . . than others. For the six Devil's Creek siblings, things are about to come back to haunt them in a much more literal way.
"Family's family. You can't change that . . ."
Certain to be on my list of "Best Reads of 2020".
Highly recommended.
**Releasing June 16, 2020. You can pre-order your copy here: https://amzn.to/2WkSbZ8 **
Thirty years prior, a "religious" zealot--Jacob Masters--who worshipped "Old gods" and depravity, held sway over a group of people from Stauford, Kentucky. A few stood up to him and managed to rescue six half-siblings: Jack, Stephanie, Chuck, Bobby, Susan, and Zeke.
That was hardly the end, though.
After the death of his Grandmother and guardian, Genie, Jack returns to set her affairs in order.
". . . he realized the shadow trailing him all his life hadn't really left at all . . . "
Keisling weaves his novel between glimpses of the past events, the current state of each of the six siblings, and the "awakening" of things that had previously lie dormant.
". . . They called us the Stauford Six. The cursed Devil's Creek kids . . ."
With Genie's death, something long dead is free to rise once more, intent on spreading the perverted beliefs he once did in life. And now all six of his children were home.
". . .he'd turned toward something older, something far more dangerous, something malignant sleeping beneath the earth . . ."
The characterization--of Jacob Masters and his followers thirty years prior--and of the six half-siblings and their current day acquaintances, was so detailed and complete that I felt as if I had known them all their lives. Though none of them--mentally--escaped their youth unscathed, they each went on in various directions of their own.
". . . What happened out there in those woods all those years ago defined her . . ."
The town also projected the perfect backdrop for a story of this magnitude and direction. A small town--with no new growth--populated by bigoted, corrupt systems, and virtually no prospects facing those youth unlucky enough to have been born there. Isolated from the rest of the world by the cursed landscape as well as the opinionated residents, Devil's Creek truly was a place all of its own, without any outside interference.
". . . What I do believe is there are things in this world we aren't meant to understand."
Todd Keisling has created an inescapable atmosphere where readers can truly believe that evil and . . . older things . . . still exist, unchecked by modern civilization.
". . . Something hidden. Something horribly old . . . "
His combination of characters, legends, atmosphere/location, and imagination created a nightmare that I found myself completely immersed in.
And I loved every minute of it!
Some family legacies are more . . . lethal . . . than others. For the six Devil's Creek siblings, things are about to come back to haunt them in a much more literal way.
"Family's family. You can't change that . . ."
Certain to be on my list of "Best Reads of 2020".
Highly recommended.
**Releasing June 16, 2020. You can pre-order your copy here: https://amzn.to/2WkSbZ8 **
September 23, 2020
Unfortunately I am not finishing this book as it is literally doing nothing for me. Some parts are spooky but then some of the book is long and drawn out. There are tons of characters to keep up with as well. It took a long time for anything to even happen in the story and though this book has been getting rave reviews, it just isn't for me.
My thanks to Netgalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for letting me review this ARC.
My thanks to Netgalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for letting me review this ARC.
June 22, 2020
An engrossing ode to horror, rife with well-developed characters and a cosmic force of encroaching terror. This is a beast of a novel. Savor it with the lights on.
February 11, 2022
This one was close to a five star read. Very very very close indeed. I already heard from different people that this book is one well worth checking out and I was not disappointed...not at all! I haven´t read anything by Todd Keisling before but judging him on Devil´s Creek, he´s a huge new talent to look out for in the future. What´s so great about this novel is not the story in the first place but the writing: How the author creates multiple characters that are all perfectly fleshed out and how smoothly he switches from one character to the next in a following chapter. Usually it becomes kind of a pain in the ass when we change the perspective between chapters, but this really isn´t the case here - Keisling has a hell of flair for timing and pacing and although his book is around 400 pages it just never feels long or boring.
Now, here we are with the story itself which starts with raging fury (up-to-date, actually!) when a group of grandparents decided to put an end to the terror of a mad preacher and rescue their abused grandchildren before their mutual father can sacrifice them to an ancient god. These half siblings - dubbed the Stauford Six - will come together in their hometown decades later, when the darkest evil is about to wake up again.
So, this sounds a lot like a Stephen King situation with it´s small town horror and a group of survivers facing their enemy again as adults. It also has a bit of Clive Barker´s own short story adaptation Lord of Illusions, in which a small group is rescuing a young child from a dangerous cult at the beginning. But let´s be honest: Most temporary horror stories are influenced by at least one of the great writers from the big genre boom of the 80's. And Keisling finds a fresh voice in his own stew full of the best ingredients, tasty and very meaty. My only complaint - which prevented the perfect score - is that the grand finale is a bit too over the top in comparison to the parts that came before. Don´t get me wrong - on it´s own I highly enjoyed this wild crescendo of cosmic horror but I (yes, this is only my personal opinion) wished that Keisling just went on with the more quiet dread that worked so fabulous in the book before.
Overall, this was a great read that I can recommend to all horror lovers without hestitation.
Now, here we are with the story itself which starts with raging fury (up-to-date, actually!) when a group of grandparents decided to put an end to the terror of a mad preacher and rescue their abused grandchildren before their mutual father can sacrifice them to an ancient god. These half siblings - dubbed the Stauford Six - will come together in their hometown decades later, when the darkest evil is about to wake up again.
So, this sounds a lot like a Stephen King situation with it´s small town horror and a group of survivers facing their enemy again as adults. It also has a bit of Clive Barker´s own short story adaptation Lord of Illusions, in which a small group is rescuing a young child from a dangerous cult at the beginning. But let´s be honest: Most temporary horror stories are influenced by at least one of the great writers from the big genre boom of the 80's. And Keisling finds a fresh voice in his own stew full of the best ingredients, tasty and very meaty. My only complaint - which prevented the perfect score - is that the grand finale is a bit too over the top in comparison to the parts that came before. Don´t get me wrong - on it´s own I highly enjoyed this wild crescendo of cosmic horror but I (yes, this is only my personal opinion) wished that Keisling just went on with the more quiet dread that worked so fabulous in the book before.
Overall, this was a great read that I can recommend to all horror lovers without hestitation.
September 30, 2022
Devil's Creek is the book that should make Todd Keisling a household name for horror fans. I fully expect it to see mentioned in the same breath as Stephen King's Salem's Lot, with Keisling's Stauford, KY standing alongside those east coast terror towns of Derry and Castle Rock, ME. Stauford's a special place to visit, but I sure as hell wouldn't want to live there!
Thirty years ago, a group of children were born and raised to serve as sacrificial pawns in Jacob Masters' death cult. Masters, their father, was stopped and the children were saved, but they've carried the memories and scars of that violent night with them ever since. Some, like Zeke, have gone on to become drug dealers, while others, like Stephanie have found a modicum of success, building their own hard rock radio station that has earned the ire of the town's most devout worshipers. For Jack Tremly, he's turned his decades worth of nightmares into lucrative pieces of art. After his grandmother's death, he returns to the town he left behind years ago -- just in time for everything to go south after two children go missing.
Devil's Creek is freaking nuts, and Keisling kicks the action off in grand fashion, opening the book with a high octane set piece that feels more like a gung-ho climax than a proper starting point. And in some ways, it is just that -- it's a climax to Master's legacy as leader of the Lord's Church of Holy Voices, and the upsetting of his plans to kill half a dozen kids on behalf of his nameless god and in service to The Old Ways. It's violent and kinetic, and, good lord, it's only just the beginning! Instead of serving up an "and they lived happily ever after," Keisling instead charts a course for the aftermath, jumping ahead 30 years and into the present-day to show us what became of those children, the Stauford Six.
Jack Tremly is our central character here, but we also become acquainted with his brothers and sisters along the way, all of whom are the offspring of the deranged Jacob Masters. Some have continued their father's work in secret, while others live each day in disavowal of the man's memory. In Jack, we see just how much damage Masters has caused to these children's bodies and psyches. As Jack uncovers more of his grandmother's secrets, though, we also learn of darker, more arcane rites and although Masters's church and many of his followers may have been destroyed decades previously, remnants still persist. In the woods where Masters used to conduct his sermons, something evil is lurking and growing hungry, and demanding fresh followers.
Keisling crafts several moments over the course of Devil's Creek that are legitimately scary, and the work as a whole is a masterful blend of the occult, creature, and cosmic horror, with a few dashes of body horror thrown in for good, disquieting measure. I will admit, I have thing for horror scenes involving eyes, and it always, always, always makes me twitchy when a book or movie starts forecasting some kind of violent damage being done to a person's eyes. Well, Keisling freaked me out good a few times with some of his more ocular-focused descriptions, and the sort of creepy-crawly terrors that set their sights on Stauford are absolutely brilliant in their awful and bloody depictions.
While the supernatural elements are top-tier, the human elements of Devil's Creek are just as salient and help ground the work in a much-too-relateable fashion. Stauford is right in the heart of the Bible Belt and it's a town built firmly on the typical foundations expected of such locales, namely hypocrisy and bullying. Despite being Bible thumpers, the people of Stauford aren't exactly quick to turn the other cheek, preferring to mock, attack, and attempt to censor whoever has ruffled their feathers of late. It's the type of town that wants to see Stephanie's radio station, Z105.1 The Goat, shut down but no doubt listens to Rush Limbaugh and prays for his good health because he's such a decent, upstanding human, votes Trump, and has banned Harry Potter books from the local library if they haven't already burned them all. The good people in Stauford have either left town, like Jack, have died, like the vilified Mawmaw Tremly, or are social outcasts, like Stephanie and her goth nephew, Riley. This isn't all to say that Devil's Creek is overly political, for those of you who gnash teeth over such things -- it's certainly less "political" than the preceding sentence here! -- but it does capture a very specific culture and belief system of a modern-day, small Bible Belt town, and it feels all the more realistic for it.
It is, in short, the perfect place for evil to brew.
Thirty years ago, a group of children were born and raised to serve as sacrificial pawns in Jacob Masters' death cult. Masters, their father, was stopped and the children were saved, but they've carried the memories and scars of that violent night with them ever since. Some, like Zeke, have gone on to become drug dealers, while others, like Stephanie have found a modicum of success, building their own hard rock radio station that has earned the ire of the town's most devout worshipers. For Jack Tremly, he's turned his decades worth of nightmares into lucrative pieces of art. After his grandmother's death, he returns to the town he left behind years ago -- just in time for everything to go south after two children go missing.
Devil's Creek is freaking nuts, and Keisling kicks the action off in grand fashion, opening the book with a high octane set piece that feels more like a gung-ho climax than a proper starting point. And in some ways, it is just that -- it's a climax to Master's legacy as leader of the Lord's Church of Holy Voices, and the upsetting of his plans to kill half a dozen kids on behalf of his nameless god and in service to The Old Ways. It's violent and kinetic, and, good lord, it's only just the beginning! Instead of serving up an "and they lived happily ever after," Keisling instead charts a course for the aftermath, jumping ahead 30 years and into the present-day to show us what became of those children, the Stauford Six.
Jack Tremly is our central character here, but we also become acquainted with his brothers and sisters along the way, all of whom are the offspring of the deranged Jacob Masters. Some have continued their father's work in secret, while others live each day in disavowal of the man's memory. In Jack, we see just how much damage Masters has caused to these children's bodies and psyches. As Jack uncovers more of his grandmother's secrets, though, we also learn of darker, more arcane rites and although Masters's church and many of his followers may have been destroyed decades previously, remnants still persist. In the woods where Masters used to conduct his sermons, something evil is lurking and growing hungry, and demanding fresh followers.
Keisling crafts several moments over the course of Devil's Creek that are legitimately scary, and the work as a whole is a masterful blend of the occult, creature, and cosmic horror, with a few dashes of body horror thrown in for good, disquieting measure. I will admit, I have thing for horror scenes involving eyes, and it always, always, always makes me twitchy when a book or movie starts forecasting some kind of violent damage being done to a person's eyes. Well, Keisling freaked me out good a few times with some of his more ocular-focused descriptions, and the sort of creepy-crawly terrors that set their sights on Stauford are absolutely brilliant in their awful and bloody depictions.
While the supernatural elements are top-tier, the human elements of Devil's Creek are just as salient and help ground the work in a much-too-relateable fashion. Stauford is right in the heart of the Bible Belt and it's a town built firmly on the typical foundations expected of such locales, namely hypocrisy and bullying. Despite being Bible thumpers, the people of Stauford aren't exactly quick to turn the other cheek, preferring to mock, attack, and attempt to censor whoever has ruffled their feathers of late. It's the type of town that wants to see Stephanie's radio station, Z105.1 The Goat, shut down but no doubt listens to Rush Limbaugh and prays for his good health because he's such a decent, upstanding human, votes Trump, and has banned Harry Potter books from the local library if they haven't already burned them all. The good people in Stauford have either left town, like Jack, have died, like the vilified Mawmaw Tremly, or are social outcasts, like Stephanie and her goth nephew, Riley. This isn't all to say that Devil's Creek is overly political, for those of you who gnash teeth over such things -- it's certainly less "political" than the preceding sentence here! -- but it does capture a very specific culture and belief system of a modern-day, small Bible Belt town, and it feels all the more realistic for it.
It is, in short, the perfect place for evil to brew.
May 11, 2021
Cults and Spooks!
This was, honestly, a bit of a tome for me at 400 pages. For me, books beyond 320 seem to quickly lose steam and are bogged down by things that don't accelerate the plot. This book wasn't like that. It kept a steady medium pace of a small town and the folks in it, who each stumble upon the happenings at the grounds where decades ago a cult practiced and worshipped.
We often think of cults as sick jokes--a mentally unstable leader or leaders guiding the mentally unstable followers into dark and darker crevices of self-preservation and self-sacrifice. The cult in the center of this story is quite different.
Piercing, glowing blue eyes. Black phantasms. Eerie voices of children singing. Dreams, nightmares declaring, "He's here!"
This book had it all and in some aspects was reminiscent of some of King's works. There were so many characters with their own personal dramas playing out as a darkness slowly swept over the whole town and into a hefty climax. I loved the direct, in-your-face horror scenes. I loved the small cliffhangers dotted throughout and the whodunits switching and swapping. Great, descriptive, brilliant writing and deep, fleshed-out, believable characters (minus the one-dementional, predictable bullies).
A new master in horror? Just might be.
This was, honestly, a bit of a tome for me at 400 pages. For me, books beyond 320 seem to quickly lose steam and are bogged down by things that don't accelerate the plot. This book wasn't like that. It kept a steady medium pace of a small town and the folks in it, who each stumble upon the happenings at the grounds where decades ago a cult practiced and worshipped.
We often think of cults as sick jokes--a mentally unstable leader or leaders guiding the mentally unstable followers into dark and darker crevices of self-preservation and self-sacrifice. The cult in the center of this story is quite different.
Piercing, glowing blue eyes. Black phantasms. Eerie voices of children singing. Dreams, nightmares declaring, "He's here!"
This book had it all and in some aspects was reminiscent of some of King's works. There were so many characters with their own personal dramas playing out as a darkness slowly swept over the whole town and into a hefty climax. I loved the direct, in-your-face horror scenes. I loved the small cliffhangers dotted throughout and the whodunits switching and swapping. Great, descriptive, brilliant writing and deep, fleshed-out, believable characters (minus the one-dementional, predictable bullies).
A new master in horror? Just might be.
August 26, 2020
Freaky-wild and also dirt-clompingly a spewing good time.... golf clap 👏🏻
Not sure on rating. Thinking. I’m all for mud and earth and I’m a savior to the stranded earth worm, but I hope I don’t see one for quite a while.
It was wickedly scary and also had a really good point to it. If you can get to that you have found the gold here! I did it. I found it and though it took a while, I am glad I found it. It fits with today.
Not sure on rating. Thinking. I’m all for mud and earth and I’m a savior to the stranded earth worm, but I hope I don’t see one for quite a while.
It was wickedly scary and also had a really good point to it. If you can get to that you have found the gold here! I did it. I found it and though it took a while, I am glad I found it. It fits with today.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 26, 2020
I'm sorry in advance. I know the author must have put a lot of effort into this and I'm bashing it for my own pleasure. But there is so much wrong with this book that I feel compelled to push others away and save them the laughable experience of reading it.
Starting off, just to be clear: this book is pulp. There are no themes, no characters, nothing left to subtle interpretation. This is a book that contains sex for no reason save titillation, gore for no reason save shock value. This is the kind of book that repeats itself to remind distracted readers of the plot. If that's your game: cool, you might find something enjoyable. Just make sure you don't expect anything other than pulp.
That was my main mistake. I imagined a trade-off trudging through this book, a pearl at the center. But the book itself told me what to expect, the first chapter literally ending on a character pulling a one-liner while cocking a shotgun. I just wasn't listening. Maybe it was the story concept that kept my hopes up; cosmic horror, corruption of religious values, trauma revisited. It really was all there for a great read. But as we move forward, things fall apart.
(spoilers below, I don't really know why you would care though)
The largest flaw of this book is that the protagonists have no significant impact on the story whatsoever. Following the perspective of the six (GET IT? LIKE THE SUPER EVIL SINISTER DEVIL NUMBERS?) children separately could have been a great move used to explore different reactions to their childhood trauma and finding contrasting approaches and relationships to the antagonist, culminating in a finale where they stood with their own personal motives in the confrontation. Of the six I was especially rooting for Susan to have an arc set apart from her siblings; she seemed unpredictable.
But alas, nothing develops. All the characters get less and less words toward the end of the book, becoming corrupted pointlessly one by one (their actions and thoughts hidden behind the bloat of text dedicated to describing the same worms and sludge dribbling out of the various orfices of a given townsperson turned crazed bible hymn-chanting sex zombie) making them entirely uninteresting and in the end don't contribute at all in defeating the antagonist. I get the feel that they exist entirely to walk around saying "hmm" and "oh no! look at that horrible thing!" and reminiscing of their juvenile abuse while getting nothing much done. Why did the only competent character in the entire book even bother leaving the artifact in the hands of such an inept grandchild?
And Susan. Man, look at this quote from the last time Susan has any meaningful presence:
Writing that out, it really is a hilarious image to picture. And that's fair - how could zombie incest sex be anything but comical?
The next problem is that the motives of the antagonist are unclear at best and nonsensical at worst. I figure Jacob is portrayed as a revenant prophet for the supernatural entity residing in the whispering eyeball cave of horror and that much of what happens to the townsfolk is motivated by his grudge regarding how the town unjustly displaced his father. Much of the later corruption is modeled on not killing the townsfolk, but rather humiliating them and making their flesh suffer, which points toward punishment rather than domination as his intent.
So that's all good and fine, but what was the point of raping the children? This is a big plot point but the reason is never explained. Was the bone whisperer cave all like "hey Jacob listen, yeah we'll get your paradise on earth thing sorted out soon, sure, but in the meantime I really need you to kill some kids in this here cave. I really dig their bones and blood and stuff, but hey, could you maybe rape them first for like, I dunno, a few years? would really help"? Or maybe he did it because he enjoyed it? He doesn't return to this specific vice later, which makes it unlikely. And if the whole point of the setup in the beginning of the book was grooming the kids for sacrifice, what purpose did the other sect members serve in committing collective suicide when people trying to stop the sacrifice showed up? Maybe they could have timed that part of the ceremony differently.
Similarly: if the whole point of the plot was for Jacob to get a hold of the glowing statue for the cave: why the skulking around in the woods grabbing kids and stoners? Was he planning on walking into the church from the beginning to get his followers, and if so, why bother with all the small-fry along the way? Did he really need a brainworm zombie army to storm some dead old lady's house? Walking in himself and spraying people with his earth juice wouldn't cut it, being immortal and all? Why did Imogene even leave the statue there, so close to Jacobs presumed awakening point? Why on earth would she want her grandchild anywhere close to his revived rapist?
We are reaching critical mass on bizarre actions, and shifting from a plot first supposed a compelling mystery into the realization of it consisting of clumsily composed pulp. Which again, is fine if that's what you're after. But I wasn't, and if you aren't, do not fool yourself into thinking that this book will be anything other than a good laugh or two between hours of boredom.
In ending, my favorite part: in the culmination of the battle between Jacks father and grandmother, statue bashing and eyeballing and whatnot, Jack pauses his dramatic escape to look back to his grandmother and, realizing her sacrifice in order to stop Jacob, he blows her a kiss. Can't make this stuff up.
Starting off, just to be clear: this book is pulp. There are no themes, no characters, nothing left to subtle interpretation. This is a book that contains sex for no reason save titillation, gore for no reason save shock value. This is the kind of book that repeats itself to remind distracted readers of the plot. If that's your game: cool, you might find something enjoyable. Just make sure you don't expect anything other than pulp.
That was my main mistake. I imagined a trade-off trudging through this book, a pearl at the center. But the book itself told me what to expect, the first chapter literally ending on a character pulling a one-liner while cocking a shotgun. I just wasn't listening. Maybe it was the story concept that kept my hopes up; cosmic horror, corruption of religious values, trauma revisited. It really was all there for a great read. But as we move forward, things fall apart.
(spoilers below, I don't really know why you would care though)
The largest flaw of this book is that the protagonists have no significant impact on the story whatsoever. Following the perspective of the six (GET IT? LIKE THE SUPER EVIL SINISTER DEVIL NUMBERS?) children separately could have been a great move used to explore different reactions to their childhood trauma and finding contrasting approaches and relationships to the antagonist, culminating in a finale where they stood with their own personal motives in the confrontation. Of the six I was especially rooting for Susan to have an arc set apart from her siblings; she seemed unpredictable.
But alas, nothing develops. All the characters get less and less words toward the end of the book, becoming corrupted pointlessly one by one (their actions and thoughts hidden behind the bloat of text dedicated to describing the same worms and sludge dribbling out of the various orfices of a given townsperson turned crazed bible hymn-chanting sex zombie) making them entirely uninteresting and in the end don't contribute at all in defeating the antagonist. I get the feel that they exist entirely to walk around saying "hmm" and "oh no! look at that horrible thing!" and reminiscing of their juvenile abuse while getting nothing much done. Why did the only competent character in the entire book even bother leaving the artifact in the hands of such an inept grandchild?
And Susan. Man, look at this quote from the last time Susan has any meaningful presence:
Zeke grinned, slapping Susan's bare ass so hard the snake tattoo on her thigh danced from the impact.
Writing that out, it really is a hilarious image to picture. And that's fair - how could zombie incest sex be anything but comical?
The next problem is that the motives of the antagonist are unclear at best and nonsensical at worst. I figure Jacob is portrayed as a revenant prophet for the supernatural entity residing in the whispering eyeball cave of horror and that much of what happens to the townsfolk is motivated by his grudge regarding how the town unjustly displaced his father. Much of the later corruption is modeled on not killing the townsfolk, but rather humiliating them and making their flesh suffer, which points toward punishment rather than domination as his intent.
So that's all good and fine, but what was the point of raping the children? This is a big plot point but the reason is never explained. Was the bone whisperer cave all like "hey Jacob listen, yeah we'll get your paradise on earth thing sorted out soon, sure, but in the meantime I really need you to kill some kids in this here cave. I really dig their bones and blood and stuff, but hey, could you maybe rape them first for like, I dunno, a few years? would really help"? Or maybe he did it because he enjoyed it? He doesn't return to this specific vice later, which makes it unlikely. And if the whole point of the setup in the beginning of the book was grooming the kids for sacrifice, what purpose did the other sect members serve in committing collective suicide when people trying to stop the sacrifice showed up? Maybe they could have timed that part of the ceremony differently.
Similarly: if the whole point of the plot was for Jacob to get a hold of the glowing statue for the cave: why the skulking around in the woods grabbing kids and stoners? Was he planning on walking into the church from the beginning to get his followers, and if so, why bother with all the small-fry along the way? Did he really need a brainworm zombie army to storm some dead old lady's house? Walking in himself and spraying people with his earth juice wouldn't cut it, being immortal and all? Why did Imogene even leave the statue there, so close to Jacobs presumed awakening point? Why on earth would she want her grandchild anywhere close to his revived rapist?
We are reaching critical mass on bizarre actions, and shifting from a plot first supposed a compelling mystery into the realization of it consisting of clumsily composed pulp. Which again, is fine if that's what you're after. But I wasn't, and if you aren't, do not fool yourself into thinking that this book will be anything other than a good laugh or two between hours of boredom.
In ending, my favorite part: in the culmination of the battle between Jacks father and grandmother, statue bashing and eyeballing and whatnot, Jack pauses his dramatic escape to look back to his grandmother and, realizing her sacrifice in order to stop Jacob, he blows her a kiss. Can't make this stuff up.
January 9, 2026
"Your will and the old ways are one."
Religious/Occult horror is one of my favorites, so going into this, I was expecting it to be dark and foreboding. But this was much darker than anything I have ever read, and I have read many dark books in my day. It is disturbing at its very core and more chilling than my mind could ever possibly conjure up in my imagination.
The story depicts how evil can be such a huge influence on someone with a disturbed mind and how people will follow the masses, looking for something to believe in. The mistakes made by overlooking the atrocities that are occurring and eventually realizing how evil the occurrences happening really are. The suffering lingers for a lifetime.
The evil that lies below is a cosmic evil entity that whispers, "Suffer for me", making promises of a life of deplorable freedoms to do as one pleases. Sexual desires, drugs, etc. This added an even more disturbing aspect to the story that gave me an unpleasant feeling deep within. Especially when it came to the children!
I appreciate a thick book with deep storytelling that keeps me engaged, waiting to see what the ending will be. The ending here was not disappointing hoping that good over evil will win.
Religious/Occult horror is one of my favorites, so going into this, I was expecting it to be dark and foreboding. But this was much darker than anything I have ever read, and I have read many dark books in my day. It is disturbing at its very core and more chilling than my mind could ever possibly conjure up in my imagination.
The story depicts how evil can be such a huge influence on someone with a disturbed mind and how people will follow the masses, looking for something to believe in. The mistakes made by overlooking the atrocities that are occurring and eventually realizing how evil the occurrences happening really are. The suffering lingers for a lifetime.
The evil that lies below is a cosmic evil entity that whispers, "Suffer for me", making promises of a life of deplorable freedoms to do as one pleases. Sexual desires, drugs, etc. This added an even more disturbing aspect to the story that gave me an unpleasant feeling deep within. Especially when it came to the children!
I appreciate a thick book with deep storytelling that keeps me engaged, waiting to see what the ending will be. The ending here was not disappointing hoping that good over evil will win.
October 25, 2020
Horror fans, take note! Devil's Creek is the real deal.
In October I read horror. All year long I save up my creepy books to binge during the lead-up to Halloween. Inevitably a few mislabeled titles sneak in, making me wonder how in the world they ever got classified in the horror category. You know the ones - haunted houses that aren't really haunted, vampires more concerned with love than blood, a monster that just needs a hug. But Devil's Creek? True horror alllll the way.
The novel quickly draws you in with the first chapter's vivid depiction of a death cult ceremony. From there you'll be taken on a bleak journey of the survivors and their small town in its aftermath. The story is scary, and the imagery is very disturbing. Really really gross stuff here, for those who are into that sort of thing. Like pearl-clutching, screw-up-your-face-in-disgust gross.
My personal issue with the book can be found right in the synopsis. Following a mass suicide (that's compared to Jonestown), "their ordeal is all but forgotten... a scary told around campfires." Um???? No. If a load of people committed suicide in the US (taking their kids with them), that event would not be forgotten. I just couldn't get beyond that unrealistic premise, so that disbelief hung over all 405 pages for me.
Still, I would absolutely recommend Devil's Creek to anyone looking for a story by an up-and-coming horror author. Todd Keisling may get lost on the shelf next to King and Koontz, but he's definitely worthy of a place beside them.
My thanks to the author, Silver Shamrock Publishing, and NetGalley for the digital review copy.
In October I read horror. All year long I save up my creepy books to binge during the lead-up to Halloween. Inevitably a few mislabeled titles sneak in, making me wonder how in the world they ever got classified in the horror category. You know the ones - haunted houses that aren't really haunted, vampires more concerned with love than blood, a monster that just needs a hug. But Devil's Creek? True horror alllll the way.
The novel quickly draws you in with the first chapter's vivid depiction of a death cult ceremony. From there you'll be taken on a bleak journey of the survivors and their small town in its aftermath. The story is scary, and the imagery is very disturbing. Really really gross stuff here, for those who are into that sort of thing. Like pearl-clutching, screw-up-your-face-in-disgust gross.
My personal issue with the book can be found right in the synopsis. Following a mass suicide (that's compared to Jonestown), "their ordeal is all but forgotten... a scary told around campfires." Um???? No. If a load of people committed suicide in the US (taking their kids with them), that event would not be forgotten. I just couldn't get beyond that unrealistic premise, so that disbelief hung over all 405 pages for me.
Still, I would absolutely recommend Devil's Creek to anyone looking for a story by an up-and-coming horror author. Todd Keisling may get lost on the shelf next to King and Koontz, but he's definitely worthy of a place beside them.
My thanks to the author, Silver Shamrock Publishing, and NetGalley for the digital review copy.
February 20, 2022
Story 5/5
Narration 5/5
Narration 5/5
July 7, 2020
Oh, I loved this!
You’ve got the small town you really don’t want to live in, a dangerous cult, a creepy cult leader and simply epic horror.
This is my first book by Keisling, but it definitely won’t be my last.
The horror here is fast, furious and intelligent. And, yes, it’s graphic – in all the right ways.
I felt like I took an epic, terrifying adventure in this read. In the end, I just wanted more.
Seriously looking forward to his next offering!
*ARC Provided via Net Galley
dnfed
October 3, 2024I'm DNFing this one at 56%. As much as I love Keisling's literary voice and the parts of the story that I did get through I find myself not wanting to pick it back up because there's too many characters and jumps back and forth time for me.
June 16, 2020
Review up on www.scifiandscary.com
As the weather heats up, one of the things I love to do is pick up a chunky book and get lost. Devil’s Creek is indeed a heavy tome, but it also is firmly entrenched in two of my favorite sub-genres: small town horror and cult horror. Add that to the fact that I LOVED Keisling’s novella, Scanlines, and I jumped into these pages with glee.
The synopsis above does a decent job of highlighting the need-to-knows without giving too much discovery away, and I had a decent idea of what to expect. Or so I thought. This book is rich and developed. Longer works sometimes have sections that can be removed and the story is better. This is not the case with Devil’s Creek. Keisling’s prose is tight, the story line developed, and every single piece has a purpose. Reader’s should expect a fully developed world and “no holds barred” when it comes to action.
Finally, if you are looking for a HORROR novel, this is the book. Being scary does not make something “horror”, but readers will find it in these pages. Elements of dread and fate combine with some of the most disgusting descriptions I’ve read to make reading this book truly an event. Keisling infuses every character with life and multiple timelines are woven expertly throughout, something that can fall flat in longer pieces.
After this, sign me up for everything this author writes in the future. If you dig small towns, cults, seamless and rich writing, and an immersive experience, then this book is for you. It’s no wonder Silver Shamrock decided to snap this one up – it is near perfect.
As the weather heats up, one of the things I love to do is pick up a chunky book and get lost. Devil’s Creek is indeed a heavy tome, but it also is firmly entrenched in two of my favorite sub-genres: small town horror and cult horror. Add that to the fact that I LOVED Keisling’s novella, Scanlines, and I jumped into these pages with glee.
The synopsis above does a decent job of highlighting the need-to-knows without giving too much discovery away, and I had a decent idea of what to expect. Or so I thought. This book is rich and developed. Longer works sometimes have sections that can be removed and the story is better. This is not the case with Devil’s Creek. Keisling’s prose is tight, the story line developed, and every single piece has a purpose. Reader’s should expect a fully developed world and “no holds barred” when it comes to action.
Finally, if you are looking for a HORROR novel, this is the book. Being scary does not make something “horror”, but readers will find it in these pages. Elements of dread and fate combine with some of the most disgusting descriptions I’ve read to make reading this book truly an event. Keisling infuses every character with life and multiple timelines are woven expertly throughout, something that can fall flat in longer pieces.
After this, sign me up for everything this author writes in the future. If you dig small towns, cults, seamless and rich writing, and an immersive experience, then this book is for you. It’s no wonder Silver Shamrock decided to snap this one up – it is near perfect.
August 5, 2020
This gave me some serious heebee jeebees and I loved it!!!! I don’t get too scared of ghosts, zombies, or scary monster type stories because they’re so easy to say, that’s totally not real. This book seemed so very eerily real that I’m not uncertain that this very thing hasn’t happened!!!!
Cults pop up all the time and while most people think, oh boy, another group of crazies getting ready to drink the juice, this gives a back story to one of those cults. We follow these kids into their adulthood who actually believe they were a part of one of those wacky crazy people cults, but then start to realize daddy wasn’t such a nut after all.
I don’t want to say too much because the fear is in the details, but this one really gave me the creeps. There is a good amount of nastiness, so watch out for that if you’re not a fan of gore and... well, bugs. And dirt? Oh and all the disgusting sex. I’m not saying I don’t like sex, I mean the sex in this book is not fun, it’s gross and cringeworthy. Incest. Death. Point blank staring you in the face death. And some major occult stuff. All that just made it all the more real for me though.
I definitely recommend this to those who think they can handle it. It’s intense but so worth it!!!
Thanks sooooo much to NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for providing me a copy of this book for my honest an unbiased opinion.
Cults pop up all the time and while most people think, oh boy, another group of crazies getting ready to drink the juice, this gives a back story to one of those cults. We follow these kids into their adulthood who actually believe they were a part of one of those wacky crazy people cults, but then start to realize daddy wasn’t such a nut after all.
I don’t want to say too much because the fear is in the details, but this one really gave me the creeps. There is a good amount of nastiness, so watch out for that if you’re not a fan of gore and... well, bugs. And dirt? Oh and all the disgusting sex. I’m not saying I don’t like sex, I mean the sex in this book is not fun, it’s gross and cringeworthy. Incest. Death. Point blank staring you in the face death. And some major occult stuff. All that just made it all the more real for me though.
I definitely recommend this to those who think they can handle it. It’s intense but so worth it!!!
Thanks sooooo much to NetGalley and Silver Shamrock Publishing for providing me a copy of this book for my honest an unbiased opinion.
September 14, 2020
I thought this was a very good, very effective horror novel that somehow felt both new and old at the same time. I appreciated the character development and even though there were a shit-ton of characters, Todd Keisling was able to keep the pace swift and everything else tight and focused. I'd seen a lot of stellar reviews for this lately, a lot of very high praise, and this, to me at least, was worth it. John Carpenter would have made this into a helluva movie, what with the old time religion, the town gone mad, and all the other bull-jive going on, it would have been great to see it at a drive-in. So my final thoughts are this is a fun book that reminded me of 1980s horror done well, but with 2020 sensibilities.
July 26, 2020
Devil's Creek is a great example of the crazy shit people will do in the name of religion. This book takes that crazy and pushes it to the extreme. This book was brutal and intense. Sometimes the hypocrisy hit a little too close to home and I had to set it down for a while. The writing is so, so good and beautiful. The story is good but sometimes was a little more graphic than I like to read. Song to play with this book: Rage Against the Machine's Killing in the name of."
July 3, 2020
Just finished and was completely floored by this novel.
This cult horror juggernaut is a must read, and deserves all the praise and awards it’s sure to win. One of the best horror novels I have ever read! All the stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
This cult horror juggernaut is a must read, and deserves all the praise and awards it’s sure to win. One of the best horror novels I have ever read! All the stars! 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
July 11, 2020
This book was all over my GR’s feed and everyone seemed to be reading it. From the amount of praise it received from very respectable sources and authors, maybe everyone was . Maybe this was the next best thing in genre fiction. At any rate, this book was sufficiently hyped up for me to be very excited to grab it off of Netgalley and read it. Then again, I might have read it anyway, I like a good scary story and I’ve actually read the author ages ago, I read and not finished (due to not having book 3, not for quality reasons) his Liminal Man trilogy and it was a pretty good introduction to Keisling, whose writing seems to have only improved since. You can tell, because this sort of fiction lives and dies by its writing, because the plot is usually…somewhat familiar sounding, maybe. I mean, have you heard this one before…a small town in the middle of nowhere, something terrible occurs (say, an evil man named Jacob Masters leads his devout congregation into the woods to start an evil cult worshipping the darkness below), there’s a confrontation (say, some locals who have come to see the reason), the evil is put down, but temporarily with an understanding that it shall be revisited upon survivors at some time in the future. Fast forward 30 years to the present day and the surviving kids dubbed Stauford Six at the time get reunited now as adults and must join forces to battle the return of Jacob Masters and his minions. Minus the details, this is a very, very familiar plot concept for a scary story, so if you can’t get original with the plot, you have to do so with the execution and Keisling does, he really does. The man may not reinvent the wheel, but he spins it of so ably. Excellent character writing, great atmospheric settings and oh boy does he go in for the graphic and grotesque of the gore and guts. Plus he throws in a very nice backstory and makes the darkness cosmic. The latter is unusual because typically cosmic terrors are set in New England (from which they were originally spawned) and thereabout, not boonf*ck Kentucky, but there you go. Dark indifferent entities apparently can find followers elsewhere. The appeal is difficult to understand, apparently originally it was meant to be subversive, defiant to a town of hypocritical small minded small spirited people, but it all too quickly turned into debauched depraved nightmare with a surprising amount of willing candidates, like everyone was just waiting the entire time to go live without modern conveniences and condone child abuse. The other thing difficult to understand is that out of Stauford Six, who mostly all grew up surprisingly well adjusted outside of frequent nightmares, only one kid left the town and went on to have a life outside of all that. Seriously? Why would you stay somewhere with a past like that? In a small town with long memories and nothing to offer outside of gossip and more small mindedness. Inexplicable. But anyway, eventually even Jack returns, if only because his beloved grandmother dies. And then Jacob Masters returns and the entire thing essentially turns into the battle for survival between the forces of good and evil. Yeah, it’s classic like that. Good too. But somehow it didn’t quite work for me, not all the way, and I’ve tried and tried to put it into words and it’s something like this…if possible….there’s just too much of the horrific within these pages. I mean, it’s relentless and in the end exhausting. Not enough balance, sadly so, because Keisling is such a good writer, but he seems to have made a choice to make the genre rule each and every page. In fact, it seemed that the ending took the entire second 50% of the book, but started even before that. There’s not so much in a way of set up and so, so very much in a way of graphic violence and abuse and sex and guts and gore and all that. And sure, I understand how genre fans would delight in all of that and it is objectively well done, it’s just over done, over the top, too much. It overpowers the novel in so many ways. This is, of course, a very personal thing and I’m sure it won’t be the case for many genre fans. I’m very specific when to literary terrors and I do like them literary, but there has to be the right balance of subtlety and graphic content. Not too slow and subliminal, but not too gore churning all the time either. The other thing is that for me this book read so slowly, it’s hefty enough at just over 400 pages, but it read longer than that, which is quite odd, it’s well written and dynamic, but somehow it still dragged. Yeah, odd. But at any rate, this was objectively good, I can understand how it gathered so much acclaim and attention, even if it didn’t quite sing for me personally the same way. And Keisling is definitely a talented author, it’s nice he’s got his magnum opus out into the world, maybe now he can do something along of the lines of the slimmer executions of the more original concepts. At any rate, genre fans should be delighted with this one. And small towns…well, they are always terrifying in some ways. Thanks Netgalley.
October 25, 2024
Been bad about writing reviews lately or very late at least. This was one of the best cultist horror I've read and it was definitely creepy at parts.
February 23, 2021
When my buddy Dan 2.0 threw this book into the ring for a read amongst friends, it was an instant yes for me. If you are (still) following my reviews at all over the last couple of years, you'll know that my reading has taken a hard non-fiction social justice turn, to the exclusion of nearly everything else. But once upon a time, books like this were my JAM, and so, I jumped at it.
And then proceeded to take about 286 years to read it. OK, fine, that's a SLIGHT exaggeration. It took me 53 days. But I was also reading a bunch of other books at the same time. (About 8 of them. NOT an exaggeration this time.)
So, about this book. This has a 4.09 average rating right now. It's only been out for about 8 months, so I anticipate that coming down a bit as more people read it. Usually early release enthusiastic positivity is followed by more middle-of-the-road and critical reviews later on, so it might moderate a bit, but I think that this will stay a book that most people who read this genre will really enjoy. I see it likely winning (or placing pretty solidly at least) in the Goodreads Choice Awards horror category (unless Stephen King shits out another book this year, then sorry for your loss, Mr. Keisling).
But I am about to drop that average down a bit right now. Why wait?
After I finished this book this afternoon, I was firmly in the "middle-of-the-road" camp and had planned to rate this 3 stars. But as it settled in, I found myself wondering and wanting a lot of things this book didn't deliver on.
OK - Standard warnings apply here. There may be spoilers beyond, so read on at your own risk.
----
The premise of this drew me in right from the start. A religious death cult set in Appalachian Kentucky right around the corner from where I used to live in southwestern Virginia? Yessir. As soon as I realized where this fictional town was supposed to be located, I felt right at home (even though it's been a long time since I've been in that neck of the woods - which is also kind of fitting and appropriate). The town that I actually DID live in made a nice stand-in for Stauford, KY in my mind, and I could easily picture the town and backwoods settings described here, and quite enjoyed the lush descriptions of the area that set the scene.
Unfortunately, after that, it kinda went a bit stagnant for a good chunk of the middle section. 'Algae covered swampwater teeming with mosquitos in the still night air' stagnant. The first quarter was lovely and revved right up. The last quarter was something of a rollercoaster (more on that in a bit) but the middle half was just... a whole bunch of buildup that really only served to set-up an ending that didn't deliver for me. I liked it well enough, but it's also fair to say there wasn't much going on. Characterizations, but they didn't really matter, so... *shrug*
The aspects of religion, and the DICHOTOMY of the religions depicted here - your standard Southern Christianity vs the cult of the Nameless God - really piqued my interest and I kept waiting for that to be relevant. I'm still waiting... because it never was. The cult literally only served to attract hardcore disciples, and as a catalyst for the story. If the cult-religion aspect was completely removed from the book after the prologue, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference. And depending on how it was handled, it could have actually improved it quite a bit in my opinion.
So as I say, it was essentially just a catalyst for the story, which is that there's a supernatural hive-mind Lovecraftian-style "old god" entity living under Stauford, and it's hungry. It lured in a preacher who had been cast out of his Christian church and encouraged him to found a new church around it, and then proceeded to infect and corrupt and essentially eat its devotees - though it likes innocent children the best, so encourages them to breed sacrificial appetizers.
All of that makes complete sense to me. It checks out, and I can truck along with this story thus far. But when Hivey makes its move and really starts infecting and spreading and corrupting the people of the town, that's when it loses the plot for me. Because ol Hivey infects and "converts" the entire town, has them commit some fade-to-black torture in the name of "suffering" as part of the conversion of others, and then burn all their bibles, get all sexually depraved - incest, multiple mentions of sex with children, orgies, you name it - and then all of the adults just walk into a raging fire and burn to death. The corrupted kids celebrate it, and are left behind and forgotten as the story moves on.
So what was the point? We see Hivey ACTUALLY eat 3 sacrifices under Devil's Creek... why did he convert all of the people in the town, just to throw them away? They weren't used to further spread the infection, or to breed children... It was like their only purpose in the story was so that there could be lots of depravity, and lots of gross as fuck mentions of worms and fingers and black tears and people's faces and bodies splitting open as the corruption contorts them.
It really seems to me like the whole book was written around the depictions of the "suffering" and an image of an underground ocean with a sky full of eyes, rather than the story itself. In that way, I feel like this book straddled the line between torture porn and horror... but lands on the horror side simply because I don't think there was a firm commitment to the torture aspect... By which I mean that it wanted to be shocking and gory and depraved, but it flinched away from actually depicting any overt acts, and then also wanted to have its mysterious Lovecraftian 'never show the scary thing' aspect too.
This book didn't know what it wanted to be. It's supernatural, in that people come back from the dead, and apparently can float, or crawl across ceilings (but to me that's more insectile than anything), but then the resolution of the story is super mundane, in that they blow up some propane tanks... and that's that. Literally, it could have happened by accident if Zeke and his buddy fucked up their meth lab in the area.
It's religious, but that really only serves to lure people in. There's no reason for the religion of the "old god" to carry on once someone is infected. There's nothing relevant to religion in the resolution - no "True God" comes to the rescue, or faith intervenes, or someone holds a crucifix up and the banishes the devil, or whatever. There's no point or purpose at all to the idol that is stolen at great cost and effort by a side character, and is supposed to be KEY to everything. Hivey gets it back, and sacrifices 3 people in the light of its blue eyes, and nothing happens at all. There's no point to the ritual that Genie spent 30 years researching and working on in order to come back to life, because she, or literally anyone else could have fought Jacob and kept him occupied enough to blow shit up... Was she supposed to be a Christ-like savior? I just feel like there are so many holes that it doesn't work for me. The corruption/infection should have been something like the cordyceps fungus and we could have had a story that had fewer plot holes around the religion aspect, and a much better story that actually somewhat fit with the kill-it-with-lots-of-burny-burny-fire ending. Killing a supposedly ancient, immortal supernatural hive-mind that has spread to hundreds of people with one centralized explosion seems... unrealistic. There was nothing to suggest that the location was special or critical, it's just where it was. (And I'm not buying that the idol was destroyed and that is was what killed it either, because we have no proof that is what happened. Genie hit Jacob with the idol, yes, but that doesn't mean it was destroyed then, or in the explosion.)
I dunno... there's just so much that seemed built up to set a specific tone and theme, and never delivered on the implied promise. It breaks the Chekhov's Gun principle. Religion and the idol were built up as key components of the story - and neither mattered in the slightest.
All in all... I didn't hate reading it. There were a lot of quirky phrasings that bugged me ("canceling" a call instead of just hanging up, for instance), but I really liked the occult references and research aspects as they were building up. It's just after I realized that they added up to a whole lot of nada that it became frustrating. The last quarter of the book moved fast and kept me interested enough, but again was quite disappointing in the end when the implied built-up aspects came to nothing.
Oh well.
And then proceeded to take about 286 years to read it. OK, fine, that's a SLIGHT exaggeration. It took me 53 days. But I was also reading a bunch of other books at the same time. (About 8 of them. NOT an exaggeration this time.)
So, about this book. This has a 4.09 average rating right now. It's only been out for about 8 months, so I anticipate that coming down a bit as more people read it. Usually early release enthusiastic positivity is followed by more middle-of-the-road and critical reviews later on, so it might moderate a bit, but I think that this will stay a book that most people who read this genre will really enjoy. I see it likely winning (or placing pretty solidly at least) in the Goodreads Choice Awards horror category (unless Stephen King shits out another book this year, then sorry for your loss, Mr. Keisling).
But I am about to drop that average down a bit right now. Why wait?
After I finished this book this afternoon, I was firmly in the "middle-of-the-road" camp and had planned to rate this 3 stars. But as it settled in, I found myself wondering and wanting a lot of things this book didn't deliver on.
OK - Standard warnings apply here. There may be spoilers beyond, so read on at your own risk.
----
The premise of this drew me in right from the start. A religious death cult set in Appalachian Kentucky right around the corner from where I used to live in southwestern Virginia? Yessir. As soon as I realized where this fictional town was supposed to be located, I felt right at home (even though it's been a long time since I've been in that neck of the woods - which is also kind of fitting and appropriate). The town that I actually DID live in made a nice stand-in for Stauford, KY in my mind, and I could easily picture the town and backwoods settings described here, and quite enjoyed the lush descriptions of the area that set the scene.
Unfortunately, after that, it kinda went a bit stagnant for a good chunk of the middle section. 'Algae covered swampwater teeming with mosquitos in the still night air' stagnant. The first quarter was lovely and revved right up. The last quarter was something of a rollercoaster (more on that in a bit) but the middle half was just... a whole bunch of buildup that really only served to set-up an ending that didn't deliver for me. I liked it well enough, but it's also fair to say there wasn't much going on. Characterizations, but they didn't really matter, so... *shrug*
The aspects of religion, and the DICHOTOMY of the religions depicted here - your standard Southern Christianity vs the cult of the Nameless God - really piqued my interest and I kept waiting for that to be relevant. I'm still waiting... because it never was. The cult literally only served to attract hardcore disciples, and as a catalyst for the story. If the cult-religion aspect was completely removed from the book after the prologue, it probably wouldn't have made much of a difference. And depending on how it was handled, it could have actually improved it quite a bit in my opinion.
So as I say, it was essentially just a catalyst for the story, which is that there's a supernatural hive-mind Lovecraftian-style "old god" entity living under Stauford, and it's hungry. It lured in a preacher who had been cast out of his Christian church and encouraged him to found a new church around it, and then proceeded to infect and corrupt and essentially eat its devotees - though it likes innocent children the best, so encourages them to breed sacrificial appetizers.
All of that makes complete sense to me. It checks out, and I can truck along with this story thus far. But when Hivey makes its move and really starts infecting and spreading and corrupting the people of the town, that's when it loses the plot for me. Because ol Hivey infects and "converts" the entire town, has them commit some fade-to-black torture in the name of "suffering" as part of the conversion of others, and then burn all their bibles, get all sexually depraved - incest, multiple mentions of sex with children, orgies, you name it - and then all of the adults just walk into a raging fire and burn to death. The corrupted kids celebrate it, and are left behind and forgotten as the story moves on.
So what was the point? We see Hivey ACTUALLY eat 3 sacrifices under Devil's Creek... why did he convert all of the people in the town, just to throw them away? They weren't used to further spread the infection, or to breed children... It was like their only purpose in the story was so that there could be lots of depravity, and lots of gross as fuck mentions of worms and fingers and black tears and people's faces and bodies splitting open as the corruption contorts them.
It really seems to me like the whole book was written around the depictions of the "suffering" and an image of an underground ocean with a sky full of eyes, rather than the story itself. In that way, I feel like this book straddled the line between torture porn and horror... but lands on the horror side simply because I don't think there was a firm commitment to the torture aspect... By which I mean that it wanted to be shocking and gory and depraved, but it flinched away from actually depicting any overt acts, and then also wanted to have its mysterious Lovecraftian 'never show the scary thing' aspect too.
This book didn't know what it wanted to be. It's supernatural, in that people come back from the dead, and apparently can float, or crawl across ceilings (but to me that's more insectile than anything), but then the resolution of the story is super mundane, in that they blow up some propane tanks... and that's that. Literally, it could have happened by accident if Zeke and his buddy fucked up their meth lab in the area.
It's religious, but that really only serves to lure people in. There's no reason for the religion of the "old god" to carry on once someone is infected. There's nothing relevant to religion in the resolution - no "True God" comes to the rescue, or faith intervenes, or someone holds a crucifix up and the banishes the devil, or whatever. There's no point or purpose at all to the idol that is stolen at great cost and effort by a side character, and is supposed to be KEY to everything. Hivey gets it back, and sacrifices 3 people in the light of its blue eyes, and nothing happens at all. There's no point to the ritual that Genie spent 30 years researching and working on in order to come back to life, because she, or literally anyone else could have fought Jacob and kept him occupied enough to blow shit up... Was she supposed to be a Christ-like savior? I just feel like there are so many holes that it doesn't work for me. The corruption/infection should have been something like the cordyceps fungus and we could have had a story that had fewer plot holes around the religion aspect, and a much better story that actually somewhat fit with the kill-it-with-lots-of-burny-burny-fire ending. Killing a supposedly ancient, immortal supernatural hive-mind that has spread to hundreds of people with one centralized explosion seems... unrealistic. There was nothing to suggest that the location was special or critical, it's just where it was. (And I'm not buying that the idol was destroyed and that is was what killed it either, because we have no proof that is what happened. Genie hit Jacob with the idol, yes, but that doesn't mean it was destroyed then, or in the explosion.)
I dunno... there's just so much that seemed built up to set a specific tone and theme, and never delivered on the implied promise. It breaks the Chekhov's Gun principle. Religion and the idol were built up as key components of the story - and neither mattered in the slightest.
All in all... I didn't hate reading it. There were a lot of quirky phrasings that bugged me ("canceling" a call instead of just hanging up, for instance), but I really liked the occult references and research aspects as they were building up. It's just after I realized that they added up to a whole lot of nada that it became frustrating. The last quarter of the book moved fast and kept me interested enough, but again was quite disappointing in the end when the implied built-up aspects came to nothing.
Oh well.
July 27, 2020
My favorite horror novel of 2020 so far, and there have been some good ones.
As a matter of practice and preparation for my own writing, I always study opening lines of stories. This one has a real hook: The sun hung low along the western horizon, painting the forest with fractured orange flames, and Imogene Tremly knew in her heart the minister would be dead before it rose again.
The short Part One: That Old-Time Religion was so powerful in its telling of the apparent end days of the sordid Lord's Church Of Holy Voices that I had to read it twice. This lays out the background perfectly in concise but cringe-inducing prose. I learned just enough about pastor Jacob Masters to despise his character. I'm ready for Part Two to learn what happened to the Stauford Six.
Part Two: Rites Of Passage flashes forward to present day, where Jack Tremly returns to Stauford to settle his recently deceased grandmother's estate. He's the only member of the Six who left town after high school graduation. This section contains a revolving door of Stauford characters, including the other member of the Six, mixes some background details amongst the introductions, and spices things up with enough scary elements to create a real sense of dread. It's fast reading, but I slowed down and read it in small doses in order to best enjoy the creepy cocktail.
Part Three: Seeds Of Babylon is appropriately subtitled, as what has been planted long ago, lying dormant for years, suddenly sprouts, grows and festers in awful ways. The method of converting unbelievers to the new faith is especially gruesome, and makes the skin crawl. By the end of this section, it doesn't seem like things will return to normal in this little town. I'm especially concerned with Jack's circle of friends: Chuck and Stephanie (both of whom share in their childhood trauma as members of The Six) plus young Riley.
After finishing Part 4: Blood And Fire I needed a pause to return my breathing to normal levels -- There is plenty of blood and fire in abundance. Black blood, of course. Things really come to a head and I'm sure Part 5, the final part, will be one that I zip through. Can't wait.
I've been enjoying some of the creative descriptions, metaphors and analogies. This one is a favorite, as the troubles in Stauford did not originate solely with the founding of the Church of Holy Voices. It's deeper than that: "They might discover the very foundations of Stauford were built upon a fragile attitude of 'them' and 'other', making a mockery of the Christian ideals they claimed to uphold. They might discover cracks in the mortar, years upon years of layered sediment, scar tissue in stone, poured with each generation's refusal to confront the blemish of truth at the core of Stauford's necrosis.
The ending chapter in Part 4 was particularly effective. I couldn't help being reminded throughout of the original Night Of The Living Dead film, with Jack's zombie-like mom tied up in the basement, while the house is besieged by converted followers outside. Many chills!
Many novels lately leave some bits unresolved or drop hints at lingering problems, leaving things open for a possible sequel. What I especially like about Devil's Creek is it's finality. Things seem resolved and in a satisfactory manner. Thanks for that, Todd!
As a matter of practice and preparation for my own writing, I always study opening lines of stories. This one has a real hook: The sun hung low along the western horizon, painting the forest with fractured orange flames, and Imogene Tremly knew in her heart the minister would be dead before it rose again.
The short Part One: That Old-Time Religion was so powerful in its telling of the apparent end days of the sordid Lord's Church Of Holy Voices that I had to read it twice. This lays out the background perfectly in concise but cringe-inducing prose. I learned just enough about pastor Jacob Masters to despise his character. I'm ready for Part Two to learn what happened to the Stauford Six.
Part Two: Rites Of Passage flashes forward to present day, where Jack Tremly returns to Stauford to settle his recently deceased grandmother's estate. He's the only member of the Six who left town after high school graduation. This section contains a revolving door of Stauford characters, including the other member of the Six, mixes some background details amongst the introductions, and spices things up with enough scary elements to create a real sense of dread. It's fast reading, but I slowed down and read it in small doses in order to best enjoy the creepy cocktail.
Part Three: Seeds Of Babylon is appropriately subtitled, as what has been planted long ago, lying dormant for years, suddenly sprouts, grows and festers in awful ways. The method of converting unbelievers to the new faith is especially gruesome, and makes the skin crawl. By the end of this section, it doesn't seem like things will return to normal in this little town. I'm especially concerned with Jack's circle of friends: Chuck and Stephanie (both of whom share in their childhood trauma as members of The Six) plus young Riley.
After finishing Part 4: Blood And Fire I needed a pause to return my breathing to normal levels -- There is plenty of blood and fire in abundance. Black blood, of course. Things really come to a head and I'm sure Part 5, the final part, will be one that I zip through. Can't wait.
I've been enjoying some of the creative descriptions, metaphors and analogies. This one is a favorite, as the troubles in Stauford did not originate solely with the founding of the Church of Holy Voices. It's deeper than that: "They might discover the very foundations of Stauford were built upon a fragile attitude of 'them' and 'other', making a mockery of the Christian ideals they claimed to uphold. They might discover cracks in the mortar, years upon years of layered sediment, scar tissue in stone, poured with each generation's refusal to confront the blemish of truth at the core of Stauford's necrosis.
The ending chapter in Part 4 was particularly effective. I couldn't help being reminded throughout of the original Night Of The Living Dead film, with Jack's zombie-like mom tied up in the basement, while the house is besieged by converted followers outside. Many chills!
Many novels lately leave some bits unresolved or drop hints at lingering problems, leaving things open for a possible sequel. What I especially like about Devil's Creek is it's finality. Things seem resolved and in a satisfactory manner. Thanks for that, Todd!
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