Children of the Beast by Kevin Brown

Children of the Beast by Kevin Brown: A Horror Book Review By Calum Macleod

Self-published (Kevin Brown books)

Sometimes the old adage not to judge a book by its cover is a wise one.

The cover of Children of the Beast is a bit of a giveaway that this is a home-produced product with all the alarm bells that can set off. Though in fairness, that cover, portraying a key location from the book, does deserve credit for reflecting the actual contents instead of author Brown opting for a blandly generic photo image which would have been interchangeable with a dozen other horror-thrillers on the bookshelf.

When you get to the contents, however, there is little indication that this has not been through the hands of an established publisher. His canny investment in the services of a professional editor has paid off.

Brown knows how to string a sentence together and create characters you can relate to. When they aren’t being driven demented by supernatural interference that is.

We are in 1980s suburban America, literally on the cusp of the 1990s, as an encounter with unworldly forces means that the local teenagers must grow up quickly. If they get the chance to grow up at all.

But don’t think this is Brown riding on the coattails of the Stranger Things/It ‘80s horror nostalgia wave. Judging by the author’s pic at the back of the book, this was his teenage era and it shows in its authentic feel for a sub-culture of rock music, drink, drugs, sex and dead end jobs as its young Americans mark time until adulthood and life proper begins.

But as we join them, life is already all over for Martin James’ friend Rob, taken too soon by cancer.

Demanding answers from God and getting none, Martin treats his grief with alcohol and half-hearted flirtations with attractive young women with the biggest threat his self-destructive behaviour and apathy.

Then, one day in the school corridor, a grey-skinned entity enters his life and suddenly he has a lot more to worry about…

Brown takes his time introducing the supernatural threat, other than vague threats in Martin’s mental refuge, his imaginary “Fountain of Martin”, investing you in the characters and giving the horror a solid foundation of normalcy which is set to be severely disrupted.

But he more than makes up for the early lack of weirdness as he heads into the final chapters. By that stage, the reader might be tempted to play a game of spot the supernatural entity, with a very bold suggestion as to the identity of the chief antagonist. This was one aspect of the book where I did feel the editor could have usefully struck a pencil through the text to tone down the excesses and focus on the main threat to Martin and his friends, one that comes from within. So pity local cop Llewellyn as he tries to make sense of it all.

The action ramps up towards almost apocalyptic levels in a climax that edges towards the surreal as things get really strange, but there is a feeling that Brown is too sympathetic to his ceations to entirely let the darkness win and ensure that for at least some of them there is at least the hope of some kind of redemption. 

It makes for a fun, nostalgia tinged ride.

Children of the Beast by Kevin Brown

It’s December of 1989, and for high school senior Martin James, a self-described “long-haired heavy metal dirtbag,” all the world is endless gloom. Rob, the loudest, rudest, and most lovable of his friends, has just died from cancer, and Martin has no answers for the questions swirling around him. If a life can end so young, for no reason, then life must have no meaning at all…

Martin’s drinking is getting worse. He’s feeling cut off from his friends. He seeks help at the Fountain of Martin, a sanctuary in his imagination where he counsels himself, but the Fountain is broken, and soon Martin is hearing the whispers of a stranger…

Then one day the stranger comes calling, a gray-skinned man who orders Martin to commit an unspeakable act, and promises to destroy everything Martin loves if he doesn’t obey. As more terrifying encounters follow, and hidden worlds reveal themselves, Martin must decide if this battle is worth fighting, or if his only chance to save himself is to walk all the way into darkness…

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