I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
The Night Silver River Run Red by Christine MorganPublished by Death's Head Press on August 7 2020
Genres: Horror, Western, Splatter
Pages: 143
Source: Publisher
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Some things, according to Cody McCall, are worth risking a whipping. Such as, sneaking out with your friends after dark for a peek at the traveling show setting up just outside of town. Oddities, the signs promise. Marvels. Grotesqueries. Exotic attractions and mysterious magics.
Not as if they'd be allowed to attend otherwise, not with parents and preacher and schoolmarm all disapproving. But how often does a chance like this come along? There isn't much else by way of excitement in quiet, peaceful Silver River, a once-prosperous boom town slowly gone bust.
Worth risking a whipping, sure. Worth risking life and limb, and maybe more? Worth risking being ripped to pieces by ravenous, inhuman brutes? Worth crossing paths with those strange, silent cult-folk from the high valley? Worth all the fire and bloodshed and horror and death?
Because something far worse than any ordinary traveling show has come to town, and one thing is for certain: those who survive, if any, will never forget The Night Silver River Run Red.
Fourth in the Splatter Western series from Death's Head Press.
Oh, holy hell, The Night Silver River Run Red has been the cataclysmic explosion of me falling into a Western Splatter rabbit hole! I’ve written in a previous review that women authors are writing the gory and dark with abandon. It’s in your face, it’s messy and it is completely unapologetic. Surely some things are worth a whipping, right? The opportunity to see the marvels of a travelling show is too much to bypass. Is it worth much more? Being torn to shreds, witnessing bloodshed beyond all their worst nightmares, a sleepy hollow of a town, ran red the gore as much of their history as anything that came before.
The child protagonists immediately from the bat cut a hole that much deeper within my psyche and within my soul. There is just something much more horrifying and painful to witness than children undergoing trauma that will haunt them for years to come. Silver River is a quiet town, nothing much happens so when the carnival arrives the children are intrigued, and they just can’t help but get a closer look. With parents that have forbidden them going near it and some offering some physical punishment, they take a risk…what’s the worst that can happen?
If you think this is all gore and bloodshed, you’d be sorely mistaken. Christine Morgan has nailed the support beams of the story. At every corner of family life is the propensity of humanity. The back stories, the cruelty. The events of this one night will rock the community and shake its lives foundation. Morgan has an innate ability of breathing life into her characters, a pulsing strength, that age old reflex, to fight or flight. They have spunk and gall, and boy are you left gripping onto the edge of your seat.
Watching it all unravel was both thrilling and awful to experience. I wanted to find a way to transport myself into the story. I wanted to pick up the nearest weapon and get right into the guts of the story…pardon the pun. I wanted to see the town fighting back, taking cover from the massacre, I wanted it all. If you want one takeaway point from this review, it is that Morgan creates characters that you will become instantly invested in. You really feel like you are nearing the edge of life with Morgan’s tighter than two coats of paint narrative. The night is dark, and your senses have left you but Christine Morgan has you in her care.
Rarely have I read such a fully immersive, compelling and eye popping read such as The Night Silver River Run Read.
The Night Silver River Run Red is a tightly weaved plot that could cut your oxygen. Be prepared to be catapulted into a lake of ice you will need to navigate the thin ice without falling into the cold depths below.
ABOUT CHRISTINE MORGAN
Christine Morgan grew up in the high deserts of southern California and headed north as soon as she was able, in search of water and trees. She found both in the foggy coastal redwoods, attending Humboldt State University. Five years later, plus a Bachelor of Arts degree (psychology) and minus a thyroid (cancer), she moved further north yet and settled in the Seattle area.
That shiny new degree landed her a night shift entry level job in a residential psychiatric treatment facility. After twenty-odd — very odd! — years, she’s still doing pretty much the same job, just at a different facility, and as of late 2015, in a different city and state.
The long overnights play havoc with her sleep schedule, but they offer her ample time to write on the company clock. So, in a sense, her hourly rate is not too shabby when you think about it.
Her daughter Rebecca (aka Becca and sometimes Bex) sold her own first story at the age of fourteen. She recently graduated from college, having majored in stage management and dramatic writing.
Christine’s current household consists mostly of books and cats. Viewing habits include documentaries (history, travel, nature), cooking shows, disaster movies, and British comedy. Christine has also been known to make weird crafts with her hot glue gun.
Contact Christine via email: christinemariemorgan@gmail.com
Sabledrake’s Lair / Christine’s Personal Facebook / Christine’s Author Facebook
