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:...

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 fu...

My review of DEVIL'S CREEK can be found at High Fever Books.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 s...

"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 Sta

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 d...

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 follower...

Childhood trauma can weigh heavy on the soul like a curse. Trauma that rests from time to time but eventually rears its ugly head when it’s not expected. Now what if that trauma truly was a curse. A curse that comes back and takes over a whole town and its inhabitants.Stauford was a quiet little town in Kentucky with a very ugly past. A past involving a secluded religious cult that worshipped a God unlike any other. A God that lived not in the sky, but underground. An evil God. But who gets to d...

⭐ 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 𝘣𝘦𝘴...

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 m...

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.

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.

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

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

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 ho...

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,

OUT NOW!!!DEVIL'S CREEK is the horror event of the decade. While reminiscent of the heyday of small-town terror, Keisling rises above his inspirations, creating lore that is far deeper than the evil coursing beneath this town. I could point to the masters of yesteryear, and compare this book to stuff you might've read, but to do so, I feel, would be to do DEVIL'S CREEK a vast disservice. The book stands on its own, and stands out in the pantheon of greats that came before it. Keisling should be

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.19...

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 religion2. Make people do weird kinky thingsThe 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,...

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.

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 lead...