Customer Reviews

A Darkness Inbred

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When I was on a recent business trip I started the short novel A

Darkness Inbred by Victor Heck. I found it as big a let down as

Nightmare's Disciple. So far I have only managed to get about half way through and may just let it lapse into permanently unread status.

For those who haven't read it some spoilers follow, but only mild ones as I don't have the gumption for a complete review of a book I disliked, and also because, well, I still don't know how it ends.

My first complaint is that the novel is puported to be a Cthulhu

mythos novel and, well, dammit, it isn't! Nyarlathotep is invoked as the source of an evil breeding program but there is nothing Lovecraftian about it! Similar to Nightmare's Disciple the name of an entity does not the mythos make. For me the mythos is all about atmosphere, a sense of otherness, dawning of terror beyond imagining lurking at the fringes of the world, comprehension that the understood natural order of the universe isn't the reality, a sudden sense of the trivial status of humanity in the universe. The inbred clan is inbred and deformed before they ever discover the floating coffin, they are

evil before corrupted by contact with an alien entity. Frankly there is nothing about the story that required using a mythos name except maybe marketing.

Some other beefs: the characters are completely disinteresting. There is nothing about them that makes you care one way or another, or even makes you bother trying to keep their names straight.

I would say this is a schlocky gorefest kind of novel, but one without a captivating plot, characters with depth, particularly catchy prose or Lovecraftian atmophere. Now please, I don't mind gore if it has a point. And well done prose that makes me shiver with disgust is always appreciated. For example, Throne of Bones, the novella that gives this story collection its name, had pages of grotesque imagery of ghoulish feasting and sex. It wasn't horrific, but a well thought out unpredictable plot, inventive prose and fun characters made it a fine read. And it is not a Lovecraftish story. Alas, for me, A Darkness Inbred did not deliver the goods.

Not a mythos novel by a longshot. What do you think makes a story Lovecraftian?

This was a terrific book very interesting and hope to find more like this. This book was not boring had a hard time putting it down.

Basically this story is about a bunch of inbred hicks stumbling across Nyarlethotep,"The Crawling Darkness" and then worshipping him as a god and kidnapping hapless tourists who pass through or by their ramshackle village somewhere in back woods of Missouri. I won't give away the particulars of the plot to ruin the experience for you but I must say that this short novel was extremely gory. It was like watching one of the Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies. This and a major figure within the Cthulhu Mythos is used. A definite must read for fans of the Cthulhu Mythos!

In the Great Midwest Flood of 1993 the small Missouri town of Hardin was completely submerged by the Mississippi River. The waters came and washed away, cars, houses, and entire family histories in a matter of a couple days. The living however weren't the only ones that affected. Graves from the local cemetery were washed away by the relentless flood waters. Caskets were carried down the river along with something log forgotten. Underneath the cemetery an ancient evil lost to history was washed down stream. It finally comes ashore in the backwoods of Missouri and was found by family of inbred hillbillies. They have survived for generations away from the outside world and years of inbreeding have left them hideously deformed. They unknowingly release the evil creature inside the coffin and their lives will never be the same.

Nate and Paige a young married couple soon find themselves prisoners of the family after their car is washed off the road and wreaked. They are at the mercy of people who have no care for human life. They are brutalized and humiliated. They can only pray for a miracle that might led to their escape, but they will soon learn that they have more to fear than just their inbred captors. The creature rules over the family and it wants to bred with any fertile human female so it can spawn a race of hideous offspring that will take over the world. Paige and Nate can only pray for salvation in this dark twisted land.

I had read Book of Legion by Mr. Heck and loved it so when I got my hands of a copy of A Darkness Inbred I knew I was in for a treat. Edward Lee who is one of my favorite authors said it was one of the most disturbing books he had ever read so I couldn't wait to tear into it. Lee wasn't kidding. A Darkness Inbred is without a doubt one of the best Hardcore Horror stories ever written. I started and finished this story in one sitting. I could not tear myself away from the dark, twisted world Mr. Heck created, but be warned, this story is not for the faint of heart. Mr. Heck pulls no punches in this book. I have read just about everything in the Hardcore Horror genre and I didn't think there was anything left out there that could shock me, but A Darkness Inbred made me think twice. This story will satisfy even the most jaded of fans. Mr. Heck has put his mark on the Horror genre and I cant wait to see what he has in store for us next.

I HIGHLY recommend A Darkness Inbred to all Horror fans who think they can handle it. Mr. Heck has written a story that will shatter your soul.

Awesome read