2019 Top Shelf Book Awards Suspense First Place Winner and Horror FinalistAncient, insidious evils have overrun the small town of Oneka Falls, NY, and they’re hungry.Only three children have encountered the worst the town has to offer and lived, and each of them paid a terrible price. Psyches fractured, each child survived to adulthood as best they could—wrapped in fantasy, the comfort of … adulthood as best they could—wrapped in fantasy, the comfort of amnesia, or the silence of isolation. When the town’s evil intrudes on their lives a second time, it draws them home, setting in motion a chain of events that can only end in destruction.
Who will be destroyed, the survivors or the monsters that plague the town?
Please note: this is a horror collection of the novels: Nightmare and Blackened, books 1 and 2 of The Bloodletter Saga
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This was my first experience with the up-and-coming writer Erik Henry Vick, and I can tell you…
He’s breathing new air into the Horror genre.
Demon King feels like an old school Stephen King novel, particularly with influences of “It ” and maybe a dash or two of “’Salem’s Lot”.
All I’ll tell you from there is that it has demons, and takes place in two eras that switch back and forth, but I’m a firm believer that some stories are more fun if you walk into it blind.
I went into Demon King not really knowing what to expect, and I definitely recommend it.
Reminiscent of a cross between IT and Koontz’s Twilight Eyes. Demon King just missed being a 5 star book by a hair, only becuase it could use one last edit to get rid of the occasional repetitive word and extraneous witty banter. I was very impressed and I certainly hope Mr. Vick continues to write in the horror genre.
What do you get when you mix elements of fear, mystery, suspense, foreshadowing and a perfectly gripping plot? Give up? Well… if all of these elements are woven together in a seamless piece of writing, you will end up with one fantastic horror story! This is exactly the case with Erik Henry Vick’s novel, Demon King. This is one intense book you will just not be able to put down as it will captivate, engross and horrify you from start to finish.
The story begins in 1979 in a tiny town by the name of Oneka Falls. Everything there may look peaceful and serene, but it is anything but normal. After an 11-year old boy by the name of Toby Burton virtually disappears into thin air, his friend Benny begins to snoop around. His hope is to find his friend, or at the very least discover what happened to him. This quest takes Benny down the exact same path as his friend and he narrowly escapes a similar fate. It also sets forth a series of horrific events which sees a variety of deaths and disappearing children as Oneka Falls is brought to its knees by a sadistic and perverse demon. Fast forward 28 years later to the year 2007 and Oneka Falls exists as a town which is entirely overrun by demons. How did this come to be? What actually took place, and what happened to all those people from 1997? The answers to these questions are methodically and brutally revealed as the future confronts the past and an epic battle ensues!
The chronological back and forth nature between 1979 and 2007 had the potential to confuse the reader. However, in this novel that simply did not happen. The two eras are tied together very nicely and do an excellent job of adding tenison and an almost unbearable suspense to the plot. It is one of the reasons that it is so hard to stop reading and actually put this book down! Also, the theme of good versus evil is supported by some very vivid and gruesome scenes. These are not done simply for the sake of adding gore and superficiality to the novel. They are an integral part of the plot as they reveal the intense level of depravity which exists. As the plot unfolds the reader feels they have become part of the story and will acutely feel the psychological turmoil and suffering which the characters must endure.
It is very difficult for an author to have the readers empathize with characters to such an intense degree. For this to happen, they have to be fully developed and believable characters who the reader can identify with. Once again, Erik Vick does a masterful job in this regard. This is no easy feat as there are numerous characters in this story who are living in two different and distinct time periods. Nevertheless, almost all of them are developed to such an extent that the reader easily becomes engaged in their dilemmas. For instance, the presentation of Toby and Benny 28 years later not only reveals significant development, but a very interesting and intriguing twist as well. Further, Owen can easily be identified as one of the most vile and despicable characters I have encountered in quite some time. To be able to draw out such emotions from the reader in regards to his characters is a gift which this author holds.
If you are a fan of perfectly executed horror, then I would highly recommend this book! Be forewarned however as there are some particularly gruesome and disturbing scenes. For this reason, and due to some sexual content, it is recommended for adult readers and up.
5 out of 5 Demonic Stars for this one! *****
First loved this book. When it started out it reminded me of two different Stephen King books, I throught just a copy cat trying to make a cheep buck. But I read on and I was so wrong. This books jumps from two different time periods and does not loose a beat. The characters are the same people at different ages in different times in their lives. No time travel, just straight well done writing. It starts with what seems as one demon with a hand full of daughters to years later a town full of deamons that is trying to start, off shoot take over of other towns. They look like us, hold the same jobs as us. The children who survived, become adults who come back together as messed up adults with special abilities due to their past. These abilities are feasible. The end of this page turner leaves a opening for a book two.
This was an OK read. I felt like the homage to Stephen King’s It was more distracting than intriguing. It also had some over-the-top parts that could have been polished out, in my opinion. But it was an easy read, especially for how long it was, and I think I’d like this author as he grows and comes up with fresher ideas.
I read a lot, and it is hard to find a book that sets itself apart. This book absolutely did that! I couldn’t put it down. Definitely recommend this, it’s a great read!!
Demon King by Erik Henry Vick.
A brilliant read with some good characters. I do like this author’s books. 5*.
This was another great book by Erik Henry Vick. Very well written and kept me interested throughout. I highly recommend reading Erik Henry Vick’s books.
I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.
Demon King, book one of The Bloodletter Collections, brings us to a scary, dark place where monsters are not only real, but they come back to haunt you long after you thought they were a distant, bad memory. Toggling between 1979 and 2007, Demon King tells the tale of the initial kidnappings then jumps forward 28 years to tell the horrific tale of the present. Each childhood victim is dealing with the past in their own way, while desparately tryng to stay in the present and help everyone. This is truly a tale of terror; physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. The mind can only take so much–the body even less. Will they come out on top of this war that started 28 years ao? If so, what will be left?
Wonderful book, stay with it and you will have a great time.
Didn’t care for at all. Stories bounce around and hard to follow. Not my personal taste.
If you`re a fan of Stephen King, you will love this story. I will definitely be reading more of this author`s work.
This was an ok book. A little too long, but interesting.
Demon King by Erik Henry Vick should be a favorite for readers in the horror and fantasy genres. Vick created so many demons they would not fit into one category. There were traditional demons, “biblical, with leathery wings, horns, fangs, and whatever” (p.63). “Others had black, rotting skin that hung from them like clothing three sizes too big. Those he called “undead” demons.” (p. 63). And then there were the demons that didn’t fit into the two categories. They were just weird. Teleports don’t count as demons. All the above information is in Chapter Two which takes place in 2007. Books don’t generally start with Chapter Two. Chapter One takes place in 1979 when several children had near experiences with demons. It was a time when Toby disappeared. Close friend Benny went to find him at an abandoned, some considered haunted house. Adults became involved when Benny told his dad, the town manager, where he had been. Then police became involved in a search for Bobby, a super psycho (later to be known as O. G.) was discovered and the journey began.
This is a page-turner, a very fast-paced action novel of horror. I took two days to read the 652-page novel because I found it too intense to read in one day. Chapters alternate between 1979 and 2007 and readers can have fun seeing how the children develop, travel, grow, leave from and return to Oneka Falls. The first few chapter shifts between 1979 and 2007 can be a bit confusing for readers because of character relationships but after the first two temporal shifts, readers will have a handle on what is going on. At a later point, perhaps 70% into the novel there are familiar characters that do tricky name changes, but I felt the challenge appealing and the pages turned faster.
One weird thing about demons is that they change shape and appearance to conform to human expectations. They can do this at the drop of a skin and take delight into suddenly appearing in their actual demon shape. This demon practice had caused more than one death by fright. Children; our heroes Toby, Bobby, and later Shannon, do not accept the demon shapes when they are in various phases of capture and detention, but they are more easily resigned to them as they make escape attempts. Adults face problems with belief until it becomes, literally, in-your-face confrontation.
Oneka Falls is small with a population of under 1500. Three other similar sized communities are nearby, each one with a police force. Oneka Falls will be the center point for this novel. Oneka Falls has the most recent disappearances in 1979 when the novel opens. There have been occasional previous disappearances in the other communities, a subject discussed by periodic meetings of small-town police chiefs and the county sheriff. In a 1979 meeting, the five officials are meeting about Toby, a child missing for four days. Toby is a child that falls of the grid. He takes days off from school to recover from his mom’s beatings. They are not as bad as the beatings given by Randy, Candy’s live-in boyfriend. If it wasn’t for Benny’s initiative, the police would have never visited Toby’s house. When they did, they met Candy, an alcoholic part-time prostitute. They met Randy, who delighted in baiting and insulting police officers. Small town police officers have their own system of justice and they decided to instruct Randy in some realities of life. Big mistake. They didn’t know who they were dealing with. And his name was not really Randy. (Nope, he is not a demon).
In 2007 a Professor and, unknown to others, professional demon killer Andrew Reid returns to Oneka Falls. Somewhere in the interim between the two key years, Drew has developed an ability to see demons. Other humans see the disguise, Drew sees the reality. And whenever Drew detects a demon, he tries to kill it. If he were ever caught, he would be tried and convicted of murder. Drew is a careful man as far as disguises and deception. He has developed or discovered a chemical compound that disassembles the demons. Traditional guns and bullets (the police) have little effect. In an investigation led by the State, two Troopers visit Drew in his university office. One of them is a demon and he recognized that Drew could see the true demon shape. Once the Trooper/Demon and Drew spotted each other in Oneka Falls, the battle was on.
There are graphic descriptions of violence as demons rent humans asunder, people are shot, and there is a lot of torture. Big Important Point (BIP) and something central to everything that happens. Demons get their energy from the fear and suffering of their victim. They grow in strength based on the amount of pain inflicted. (For some reason, and I would like to hear from the author on this, when Vick presents a list of tortures, mayhem, and bad things, he includes orgasms.)
This is a very well-done novel as far as world creation. The Demon world is very descriptively rendered. The novel has well-developed characters. Inevitably, a lot of these characters need mental help with their several personalities (the humans, not the demons). I found I liked lots of the characters and felt sad as several of my favorite ones didn’t make it. There are lots of surprises in the end. There is little sexually explicit language but lots of violence. I felt this a five-star Amazon read which I read on Kindle Unlimited. I highly recommend it in its genre due to its complexity and the ability to sustain my reader interest (I bore easily) over many pages. It sells for USD 3.99.
Don’t forget to read the author’s biography. My background has some weird, unusual, and unique job titles but I think Erik Henry Vick has me beat.
I enjoyed this book. I couldn’t predict what would happen next or the ending. That made it fun for me.
I just finished the Audible book. What a great story. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I listen to audio books while I commute. I found myself sitting in the garage listening to this one after I got home.
Eric creates a world that we sort of know, then turns it 180 degrees, into the world we fear and that lurks in our dreams. A new author that I recommend.
I thought this was pretty freaky. Reminded me of Stephen King’s IT with a twist. I was actually surprised to find that it wasn’t Co- written by King, seems like a story right out of his universe. Definitely a page turner.
Wonderful book, could not put it down. I read it in one sitting!
Very scary. Couldn’t stop reading it.