Member Reviews
Wow!! This book was amazing. Nordic “monsters”, town vs pipeline, survivalists, and a mothers fighting spirit. It was perfection. I loved that the bad guy got what was coming to him. I can’t wait to read more from this author.
THEY STALK THE NIGHT – by Brian Moreland
‘“A mother’s love is very powerful against evil. Gather that power.”’
That. Was. AWESOME!!! Intense action with characters you love and those you love to hate—Highly Recommend!
Thank you, NetGalley and Flame Tree Press, for providing me with an eBook of THEY STALK THE NIGHT at the request of an honest review.
My second Brian Moreland read after reading Tomb of Gods which was original and fantastic. They Stalk The Night was another original take on a Northern legend of the windigo (wendigo) and quite a roller coaster ride of a read. Plenty of action and gore galore. Highly recommended.
Winter storm, ravenous beast - what's more to know before diving into the depth of this book? The town of Hellum has a long-kept dark secret: a creature of legend and folklore that lives in the mountain forest and has an unnatural appetite. When a pipeline construction company disturbs the fragile peace, it awakens what should better be left sleeping in peace...but now the monster is on the hunt, and its hunger can never be satisfied.
Besides he obvious monster, the author creates another, which is even more scary: Kujak, an excessive man who has set his eyes on his friend's wife - and he won't take no for an answer. During the worst snow storm, Shelby not only has to defend her children from the demonic creature, but from the human monster as well.
I really loved the background story of the creature of Hellum, and how the whole town worked it out to coexist in peace. Of course, it was just a question of time before the modern world and greed for money intruded on Hellum and started to destroy not only nature, but also the sacred site that kept the creature at bay.
By comparison, Kujak was much scarier than the creature, which was somehow predictable in its natural desire to feed and survive, while Kujak had a mean streak only humans seem to be able to possess. But thankfully, in Shelby he finds not a weak damsel in distress, but a well-trained opponent who won't surrender voluntarily, but who has some really nice tricks up her sleeve to take her stand against Kujak.
Adding family drama and original folklore to the thrilling action, this is is a creature feature with a twist and depth that kept me glued to the pages. Recommended!
An old evil lurks in the dark, during a blizzard of hellish proportions a community is about to learn that this particular evil, is ravenous! The Elders have always known what lived upon the hill in the forest, they always did their best to leave well enough alone. Unfortunately, a few men have unwittingly destroyed the boundary and during this winter storm there will be hell to pay.
Horrifying, a story that brings to life Norse folklore like you've never heard before. Moreland knows how to weave such an awesome storyline and scare the living shit out of the reader. Like cold fingers slowly wrapping around your neck, this one will leave you shivering!! One of the best horror books I've read, the kind of book that makes a wicked horror flick. Definitely grabs you by the throat and eats your heart out. Intense is an understatement.
Awesome read that I really enjoyed! Highly, highly recommend for anyone who looks thrillers and being spooked! Couldn't put it down and read it so fast, which is something I really look for and value in a book.
Unfortunately this book just wasn’t working for me. I love horror stories but decided to not force it and dnf.
This story has a little bit of everything, some Viking folklore, a beastie, isolated circumstances, the cold, oh the cold and a community who want things to be how they used to be!
When I originally started to read this, I was a bit worried that I would lose interest once we discovered what the big beastie would be. I recently watched The Ritual by Adam Neville on Shudder and once I saw the beast, I rolled my eyes. However, it wasn't the same here. I couldn't clearly imagine the beast, and to be honest I am GLAD!!! This book was brutal and didn't hold back on the gore. The beginning was slow, it's setting the scene. An explosion disrupted a sacred area. The man I thought would be a big part of the book, got lost in the snow, and that's when it all went a bit Pete Tong..... and boy did it!!
Sam, what a legend he was! The rituals, the magic, the realism of him drew me in. I loved and adored all the folklore of this town. It was haunting and haunted. I loved the fact that this town had its quirky ways and people didn't laugh about Silas or Bendik and their beliefs because they were everyone's beliefs.
God, I hate hate hate Kujak! He was god-awful and I guess the outcome for him was perfection. Shelby was just kick ass and she came through in the end. I loved the growth of her character and how she evolved.
I have one complaint, that ending!! I mean it just ended! I have no idea now what's going to happen. I don't feel like the characters I care about are ok. I mean I love that I can make my ending, but that was a cliffhanger and a half, and that twist on one person, well that was the cherry on the top! I did love that bit!!
This is a slow start, but once it gets going, it gets going!! The thing is, it does get going from about 25% ish, and it just doesn't relent. I found it so intense and I just wasn't sure how the author would carry it on for the remainder of the book but once the bowling alley incident happened it was crazy! So much was going on and it was like the mist, the white mist coming right at you.
I was in the cold, snowy mountains when I read this - probably not a good thing, especially on the days when there was fog, and the mist covered the town below....not at all!
If you are a fan of folk horror this book is for you. A pipeline being built, a town keeping secrets and everything getting blasted into the open. Evil exists and it’s about to reap a special type of revenge. A gore filled story of a mountain village pillaged by a corp looking to make a buck and the townsfolk who want to stop it but afraid of the evils it’s unleashed. Brian Moreland is the new face of folk horror. Can’t wait to read more,
Thank you NetGalley for this read
I was drawn in by the comment if you liked the ritual by Adam Nevill then you will love this in the promotion for this novel and you know what they were right. It is a great creature feature and I found myself being scared by what was around the corner just like the characters themselves. I loved that it touched on the impact the western world is having on indigenous people and their lives and rituals. In fact I was willing on the monsters to fulfil their tasks. I won’t say anymore except to say you should definitely read this, you won’t be disappointed. I wasn’t anyway
During a winter storm, a ravenous beast preys upon the people of a remote town and a pipeline construction company. Among them, a predatorial psychopath welcomes a master as cold and dark as his heart.
This gave me old-school Stephen King vibes, in a good way. Very atmospheric and claustrophobic and spooky. Well done!
4 Stars!
Whenever I see a horror novel set in Minnesota, I am immediately intrigued. As a resident of the state, it just makes the story seem more relevant and I like to see how the author treats the setting. Throw in the fact that this is a Brian Moreland novel and published by Flame Tree Press, They Stalk the Night became an immediate must-read. Moreland has written many good horror novels and Flame Tree Press is the best horror publisher around right now, so I knew that I was in for a treat in this novel.
The residents of the small town in Northern Minnesota were dead set against the oil pipeline being build near their town. Even though the pipeline would bring jobs to the poor town, they knew that it would damage the environment around them that they had grown to live in harmony with. Even worse, though, would be if the pipeline were to destroy the truce between the village and the ancient demon that lives just outside the town’s border. The town had reached an agreement for the pipeline to stay away from a certain section of the woods and the sacred hut that stood there. Everything was going fine, and then it was not. The line was crossed. The sacred hut was destroyed in a blast. Now the demon was free, and there would be hell to pay.
Shelby Thornhill is struggling to keep her marriage going and this gets more difficult when one of her husband’s friends tried to sexually assault her. Unfortunately, that man is the son of the sheriff and Shelby is the daughter of Mason Thornhill, the owner of the pipeline company, so that is little sympathy coming her way. Even her husband turns against her and defends his friend. When the demon descends on the town, that friend is one of the early ones that is turned. Not only is she left to defend her young children from the demon, it is a demon with revenge and lust for her in its heart. Only a the retired sheriff, Sam, really knows what is happening as a severe winter storm sweeps the demon into town for a final confrontation. Many will not survive the night. Shelby is left with only a mother’s protective instincts to ensure that her children will be among the surviviors, even if it costs her life.
Brian Moreland is not known for pulling punches in his stories and They Stalk the Night is a prime example of this. The story did seem to wander a little at the beginning after an explosive opening and it left me wondering what direction he was going to take. This soon resolved itself, however, and it was off to the races. The Winter Demon is a unique monster, part Wendigo and part something entirely new, that Moreland hints has been a part of the land for a long time. The people of Hellum have learned to live with it and control it through Norse magic and respect for its power, but it does manage to get free sometimes. The unique thing about it is that the actual demon is just a background character in the story. It pops in now and then, but it is the people that are warped by its power that are the true monsters in the story. The demon is more of a puppet master, pulling the strings from the background while its soldiers wreak havoc, and this makes it even more sinister. It is not just evil. It is conniving as well.
They Stalk the Night is just a fun read from the beginning to the end. The story did seem to wander a little bit right after the opening, but Moreland does a good job of pulling everything together so that it makes the story better in the end. There is a lot of violence and gore in this novel, but it flows seamlessly with the story and never strays into the gratuitous. Moreland takes the mythology of the wendigo and kicks it into high gear in this novel. Once the novel reaches the second half of the story, he puts his foot on the gas and does not let up for a second. I found myself pressing forward to see what was going to happen next, and Moreland kept entertaining and shocking with every chapter. While this book may not appeal to some readers as it does border on the extreme at times, it was a very strong horror novel that kept me guessing and gasping for air as the demons swooped in on the small, Northern Minnesota town. This is very good stuff and a great way to kick off the winter horror season. Highly recommended.
I would like to thank Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for this review copy. They Stalk the Night is available now.
I really enjoyed the first half of They Stalk the Night. The atmosphere of the two small towns connected by a sinister oil pipeline was chilling. I also really loved the Norwegian folklore and the people of tge town of Hellum. They believed in the old ways and magic. Trying to protect both towns from the Winter Demon. But of course, big city oil came in and blew up that protection and set the demon lose.
I lost the thread of the story in the second half. I never really connected with one of the main characters and heroine, Shelby.
If you like folk horror this is a great read!
Trigger warnings for sexual assault and animal death.
Another stunning nightmare from one of my favorite horror writers.
Moreland's work does not get enough attention. THEY STALK THE NIGHT features another great protagonist and some horrifying scenes set against a frozen backdrop. If you read DEAD OF WINTER, you're going to love this one!
This was fantastic! It kept me hooked from beginning to end! It has a really great amount of scariness and I loved the pacing of the book. I would recommend this! Special Thank You to Brian Moreland, Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read a complimentary copy in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC.
Oh my god. I wasn’t too sure what to expect when I started this book but I was absolutely blown away.
I just couldn’t put this book down.
This book was incredibly scary and very gory, so be warned😂 I had to stop reading at night because it freaked me out so much.
I think the only bad thing I could say was that there was a few too many people. It got a little confusing at times but most of the people were fleshed out enough.
They Stalk The Night by Brian Moreland is a superb horror tale involving Nordic influences, a remote Minnesota town facing a massive threat to their existence, the love between a father and son and all the ways that relationship can fall apart. the story involves the dangers that happens when a pipeline trespasses on forbidden tribal land and releases an ancient evil that will consume everything and everyone in its path. the violence and death count rises and a retired sheriff, Sam Larsen, may be the only one who can bring an end to the terror for Larsen has a blood tie of his own to the monster.
Moreland brings the chills and action without neglecting the characters, they were fleshed out and complete. the excitement built from the first page and didn't let up till the last.
i can't recommend The Stalk The Night enough. it's a first-rate thriller that will keep you fascinated till the last drop.
5 stars out of 5.
First, I'd like to say thank you to both NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing me with an ARC of They Stalk the Night in exchange for an honest review.
Isolated town? Check. Terrible weather? Check. An evil entity hunting the residents down? Check. There's a comparison made to 30 Days of Night, and I will one hundred percent agree with that. It gives off the same vibes and I loved every second of it. Check out the blurb for more!
I put off reading this ARC for awhile and I'm not sure why. Once I started it, I couldn't put it down. The characters were well developed and I felt like I had a stake in whether or not some of them survived or met their demise.
The big bad was great and ominous and evil. What more could you ask for? There is quite a bit of gore, so if that's not your thing - then I'd steer clear.
The supernatural element was really great. They include a lot of elements of Norse mythology in the mystical explanations, which I thought added a different spin on this type of story.
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this one. I would definitely recommend, especially if you're a horror fan - even more so if you loved 30 Days of Night. I will definitely be checking out more of Brian Moreland's work!
New Brian Moreland fan here. Was this the best horror book I've read this year? The most original? No, but man, this book grabbed my attention from the beginning and took me on a ride. I cared about what happened from the first pages, and while I didn't like many of the characters, I was committed to finding out what happened to them. Thank you NetGalley for letting me read this in exchange for an honest review.
First off I want to thank Netgalley and Flame tree press for the ARC
Now let me get into this review this is horror done Right, this isn't the first book that I've read by Brian Moreland and it will definitely not be the last. This is everything that horror should be if you're looking for good characters and monsters tearing up a wintry town along with every other element that a horror book should have this is the book for you another horror book Done Right by Brian Moreland