Anthony R. Miller

The Painted Darkness by Brian James Freeman will be available from Cemetery Dance in November but you don’t have to wait to read it. As I mentioned in a previous post you can download and read it now. Click here to do so.

The story runs about 185 pages in PDF form. The download includes the story, an interview with the author, a letter from the author explaining why he decided to give the book away free before it hit shelves and comments from other authors. The published version of the story will include artwork from Jill Bauman.

The Painted Darkness tells two stories. One takes place on a winter day in Henry’s life when he was a child and the other on a winter day when he was a grown man. The stories are told over alternating chapters.

As a young boy Henry had a very active imagination. When his classmates were playing together on the playground he would sit on the side and explore worlds created in his mind.  One morning young Henry wakes up to discover the world is covered in snow and waiting for him to explore it. This is the day Henry learns monsters are real.

Twenty years later Henry finds himself and his imagination painting in his attic, his wife has left with his child and the boiler demands his attention every twelve hours. This is the day Henry once again learns that the monsters are real.

 Mr. Freeman has done a wonderful job of writing a horror story that both dedicated horror fans and casual readers can enjoy. It’s an easy read and you’ll find yourself losing time as you don’t want to put the book (B&N nook in my case) down.

I don’t want to give away much of the story because I really enjoyed it and don’t want to take that sense of discovery away from you as a reader. Do yourself a favor, download the darkness. I’m looking forward to holding a printed copy from Cemetery Dance.

A note for parents: I wouldn’t recommend this for kids under thirteen. You’ll find the gore is limited and there isn’t any sex. Looking for a good first horror book for your kid? This is it.

Bonus: It doesn’t have any sparkling vampires.

Tags: Books, Review

Tony  Jul 13 Books, Review