Todd Keisling

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". Like most legends, there’s some truth buried among its roots and bones
If you like "cult horror" you sure won’t go wrong with this one. The writing is more than engaging and the setting of the small Kentucky town, stuck in the past, is show more perfectly portrayed. Jacob is a charismatic and totally terrifying character as the head of a death cult and is intent on spreading his influence. His whispered voice reaches his devoted followers from the "beyond", and it is nothing short of creepy and terrifying. Be aware that this is a no holds barred, super dark read. The characters engage in occult and Satanic rituals. Child abuse, sexual depravity, and incest all make an appearance. The story itself does have a tad of humor, believe it or not, and some heart as well. Just enough to allow the characters to leave a lasting impression.

The theme of fatherhood also is big, and important, to the storyline. "The Stauford Six", as they call themselves, all share the same father, Jacob. However, they all have different mothers. The six struggle to come to terms with where they come from, and who they are. Jack takes the lead, and we meet the others...Steph: the owner of a hard rock radio station, Chuck: a lawyer, Bobby: a pastor, Susan: who is estranged with plans all her own, and Zeke: who is most of the time, high on drugs. Bobby is also the father of a rebellious teenage son, Riley, who is pulled into his father’s past when his friends go missing. In addition, Jack’s late grandmother, Imogene, plays a large part in bringing the entire story together through notes that she left behind...hoping to end Jacob Masters’s "unholy reign" once and for all. I was rooting for Jack and the good guys just to make it out alive and in one piece.

"The Lords's Church" in the story is of course fictional; but like all fiction, there is usually a base somewhere in reality...and some similar religions do exist. They aren't always "this in your face" as the one in this story...but they are out there, and they have followers just as faithful and willing as this fictional one did.

The history of the founding of the "Lord’s Church" was interesting. The book touches some of the town's racist past and how they had hidden it like a "dirty little secret". I also wished that we could get a better idea of how that little secret had affected Jacob. We needed more information about his childhood and his turn to "the dark side". The book was a bit repetitive at times, and I wanted the ending to be a little "more" after we were let in on so much. I could, however, definitely understand how and why the story ended the way it did.

Overall, I really, really enjoyed this book...and believe me, it will kill any desires you might EVER have had, to join any cult of any kind. show less

Cold, Black, & Infinite was a terrifying, mesmerizing assortment bite sized terrors without a single dud in the line up.

Short story collections, especially in the horror genre, are something of a favorite of mine at this point, I've read several such collections but this one had a little something extra that set it apart. I was continually impressed with just how good these stories were; the ideas were extremely clever, the execution was adept, and the writing style was equal parts show more evocative and chilling. Usually in short story collections I'll find there are one or two tales I don't really connect with or flat out don't like. However, this was not the case here. Sure, I had favorites, (Y2K, The Happytown Yuletide Massacre, and Annie's Heart is a Haunted House) but every single story was a pleasure to read, a twisted, chilling little tale to enjoy, oozing with style and atmosphere. This book reminded me of being a kid and coming across my first Goosebumps, or Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark in the school library, each story was that good and that frightening.

I'd recommend this to just about anyone who likes horror fiction or short stories, it's an exemplary model of both. There are some pretty heavy topics and themes however, but the author has kindly added a list of content warnings in the back of the book for readers who may want to use it. show less

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 show more 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!* show less

Destined to make Todd Keisling a household name in horror fiction.

I have read so many fictional books about cults but this one is definitely in the top 10 for me. I had never heard of the author before when I requested this book and had expected it to be a typical run of the mill evil cult story. Boy was I wrong.
Todd Keisling has a way of weaving a story that has been told so many times and giving it new life. He sets the background so exquisitely and the character development is very well show more done. So many horror novels rely on sex and gore to fill a storyline but Keisling rises above that. Make no mistake. There is sex, blood and gore BUT it is only part and parcel of the story itself. The book is so very rich and just so much "more". It was definitely a treat to read. show less