Mx3 Guest Review: The Red Church by Scott Nicholson

Today’s guest review comes from Kate of Ex Libris.  Kate is a new book blogger, mom of two, perpetually hopeful Cubs fan and fangirl of many things.  By day, she works in HR for a NASA contractor in Houston, TX.  By night, she reads and reads and read. Today Kate is reviewing a book by one of my favorite horror authors, Scott Nicholson:

The Red Church by Scott Nicholson
Genre: Horror
Format: ebook
Release Date: 2002

For twenty years the red church has been nothing but fodder for ghost stories and a place to store hay.  No one in the small North Carolina mountain town likes to talk about its grisly past.  When people start dying mysterious and horrific deaths, the Sherriff  suspects that it has something to do with the return of Reverend McFall .  McFall’s followers are willing to do whatever is needed, not matter how horrifying, to assure the return of the Second Son.

I don’t read a lot of books in the horror genre, and now I know why.  This book was scary.  Nicholson finds the perfect voice for the cast of characters in this small mountain town.  Since there isn’t one main protagonist, you are able to view the story from many different perspectives.  That technique is part of what makes this book so chilling.  I was drawn into the story by earning about the church’s terrible past through the eyes of long time residents, and then frightened by the creature that lurks in the bell tower as told by the viewpoint of the children. The zealots who follow McFall tell their story, as well, and you get to peek inside the mind of someone who is rationalizing death and sacrifice in the name of their  beliefs.

The church itself is a creepy and terrifying character in this story.  From the very first scene, you feel the unease that its presence causes.  As you learn its tragic history, its evil grows and becomes the setting for some of the scarier parts of the book.   The fact that there is a church that’s painted red sets the tone right away and sent chills down my spine every time I thought about it.  If you are looking for an entertaining, well written and scary book to read, this is a good choice!

Thank you, Kate, for this excellent review and accepting the challenge to review a horror novel! 

 

 

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