Southern Gods

Apr 10, 2013 Dan Schwent rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Bull Ingram is hired by Helios records head Scott Phelps to find two men: Earl Freeman, a missing employee, and Ramblin' John Hastur, a mysterious bluesman whose music can drive men mad. But what does Bull's job have to do with Sarah Williams, a woman who just fled her husband and fled back to Gethsemane, Arkansas with her daughter?

Sometimes, you read a first novel and pray the writer doesn't try for a second. This is not one of those novels. Southern Gods is a whole other animal. It's actually...more Bull Ingram is hired by Helios records head Scott Phelps to find two men: Earl Freeman, a missing employee, and Ramblin' John Hastur, a mysterious bluesman whose music can drive men mad. But what does Bull's job have to do with Sarah Williams, a woman who just fled her husband and fled back to Gethsemane, Arkansas with her daughter?

Sometimes, you read a first novel and pray the writer doesn't try for a second. This is not one of those novels. Southern Gods is a whole other animal. It's actually hard to describe. The closest comparison I could make would be to say it's like H.P. Lovecraft tried writing Gone with the Wind. It's mythos fiction but written in a more literary style with a Southern flair.

Bull Ingram is a brute of a man, a WWII vet who saw more than he wanted to overseas. He's a heavy for a small time mobster when he gets the call from Phelps. Sarah Williams is a woman tired of watching her husband drinking himself to death. I knew from the parallel nature of the story that they would eventually meet but the way they did wasn't something I would have guessed.

The Southern flavor is what makes the novel for me. Scott Phelps and Helios records seems to be a direct analogue of Scott Phillips and Sun Records, right down to the logo and the Memphis headquarters. JHJ makes good use of the 1951 Arkansas setting, from the peafowl to the segregation.

I have to admit, I wasn't completely sold on Southern Gods at first. It seemed to be moving too slowly for the first 40 or 50 pages. Then Ingram started getting closer to Ramblin' John Hastur and things kicked into high gear.

Much like Edward M. Erdelac's Merkabah Rider series, JHJ tries to fit H.P. Lovecraft's mythos into the same cosmology as the Judeo-Christian God, as well as many other pagan gods. I'd say he does a great job.

This is the point of the review where I justify not giving Southern Gods a five. Aside from the slow start I mentioned, it felt like the book had an identity crisis at times. While it was all tied together nicely at the end, I sometimes felt like JHJ wasn't sure what kind of story he wanted to tell. Is it Southern Gothic? Is it Mythos fiction? The end result was an inside the park home run for me but didn't quite manage to clear the fences.

The fact that he is able to tell an effective story about Hastur in 1951 Arkansas leads me to believe that JHJ is the real deal. I'll be ready when his next book hits the stands.

Also posted at Shelf Inflicted (less)

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Sep 13, 2011 Stephen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, ebooks, horror, audiobook, weird-and-new-weird, cthulhu-worship

A wonderful and disturbing blend of genre-warping originality...

Southern Gothic meets Cthulhu Mythos…
Hard-boiled noir meets new weird horror…
Dark and gritty meets gruesome and gore...

Fresh, unique story-telling meets the writing talent to do it right.

This is a debut novel? Shut the front door! No way. You might as well dial in the Bram Stoker Award for Best First Novel as this is an easy win. Tightly plotted with great characters and a back-story/mythology that will glue you to the page. This...more

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Jul 03, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, april-2012, other-beings, supernatural

There is a music that once heard has an effect upon the listener and also there are books out there filled with pages that once glanced at have an effect upon the reader. Occult books that document other gods, worlds, and evil forces some may see them as Humbug and false but other know too well of their power over the reader and the deadly consequences of its recitation. Evil calls to itself and many characters in this story are to be caught in its path, an evil plan, a plan that only certain po...more There is a music that once heard has an effect upon the listener and also there are books out there filled with pages that once glanced at have an effect upon the reader. Occult books that document other gods, worlds, and evil forces some may see them as Humbug and false but other know too well of their power over the reader and the deadly consequences of its recitation. Evil calls to itself and many characters in this story are to be caught in its path, an evil plan, a plan that only certain powers could destine for its subjects. One man Ingram, the main protagonist, an ex-marine nicknamed Bull due to his largeness, has been hired to track down some missing people. He finds himself in search of a mysterious musician and a music that stirs very obscure and Ill feelings within, destruction seems to be left in the path of the music. He is by trade a man for hire and has killed many, he will not hesitate to kill his enemy and deliver a blow with a sharp delivery of efficiency. Ingram finds himself caught in a web of a secret world filled with murder and vile acts perpetrated by the most darkest forces possible. This story brings me back to darkness present in stories written by H.P Lovecraft (by way of Robert Chambers) and Hjortsberg's Falling Angel.
Fate delivers him to the doorstep of a woman and her children, they will discover that they need him more than ever as they too find themselves part of a bloody ill fate to come.

The author has successfully written a dark arcane story of blues and murder, he lays out the story well and really immerses you in an original story that deals with secret powers and books, all things dark and evil. He has conjured up characters that you will remember and keeps you wanting more to come in the story. A southern story with all things southern the landscape and the people but with a Lovecraftian twist of gothic horror. I am really looking forward to his next noir story of the arcane. He is a writer to watch out for and has already for his first novel be nominated for the Bram Stoker Award for superior achievement in a a first novel. A winner of the Darrell Award for best novel.

"Ingram heard this new dark music and felt moved and upset and aroused all at once. The deep beats and rhythms, the mournful wails from Negro mouths singing such plain rhymes so heartfelt, so stark and true, they struck him powerfully. For a moment he felt like he had never really heard music before, like he had been missing some component of his soul that had not come shipped in the original package."

"The strange, high-pitched sound ripped at his mind again, and his sanity skittered away like butter on a hot pan. He keeled over into the grass and ripped at his eyes, his ears; anything to stop the sound, stop the darkness. Blackness pushed in form all sides, invading his body, and he knew no more."

"Baal, Cybele. Mithras. Hastur. Chernobog. Rakshaa. Ahriman."

Check out the review and Book trailer of his novel This Dark Earth @ my webpage: http://more2read.com/review/this-dark-earth-by-john-hornor-jacobs/

Read an excerpt from his forthcoming novel This Dark Earth out July 3rd 2012: Excerpt @http://www.johnhornorjacobs.com/this-dark-earth-excerpt/(less)

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Mar 03, 2012 Bill Kerwin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: gothic, weird-fiction, detective-mystery, weird-detectives

I admire the way John Hornor Jacobs' first novel combines different genres--private eye and hillbilly noir, Stephen King horror and H.P. Lovecraft terror, with a bit of "Gone With the Wind" and the Robert Johnson blues myth thrown in for good measure--into a coherent unity. Unlike many first novels--or perhaps I should just say "novels"?--its conclusion not only fulfills its conception, but deepens and enriches the tale.

A few words about about why I like the ending. (Pardon my vagueness, but I...more

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Oct 09, 2011 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, horror, e-books

As a first book, Southern Gods is an outstanding achievement. When I first read the outline for the story, involving music, noir, the deep south, and Lovecraftian horror, I had my doubts. I feared name dropping on the music end, and been-there, done-that, on the Horror end. Not so, at least not until the end. When it comes to Horror, Jacobs isn't doing anything new. Where he succeeds is with his craftsmanship. He spends a great deal of time developing character and establishing atmosphere, time,...more As a first book, Southern Gods is an outstanding achievement. When I first read the outline for the story, involving music, noir, the deep south, and Lovecraftian horror, I had my doubts. I feared name dropping on the music end, and been-there, done-that, on the Horror end. Not so, at least not until the end. When it comes to Horror, Jacobs isn't doing anything new. Where he succeeds is with his craftsmanship. He spends a great deal of time developing character and establishing atmosphere, time, and place. This is foundational stuff for good Horror, and is rightly pointed out as being the reason for Stephen King's ongoing popularity.

The fast coming music scene in the South (1951) is the launch pad for Jacobs' story, and it's introduction of Horror (here, it's truly Devil's music) is seamless. The main character, former Marine, and current muscle, is Bull Ingram (better pay your debts). He kind of reminds me a bit, at least physically, of a nicer version of Robert Mitchum's bad ass from Cape Fear. (Jacobs does a great job with his post war noir here, showing the sense of dislocation and overall meaninglessness of life for returning veterans.) Bull is sent on a seek-and-find mission by a slick, tough talking music producer (very well done). One of this producers payola guys has gone missing in Arkansas (bad shit happens in Arkansas). At the heart of this is the mysterious blues man, John Hastur, who is heard from time to time on an unpredictable pirate radio show. His music truly drives you mad. The search through freak-zone Arkansas is the best part of the book. Living dead, bad bars, black figures in the woods (very Hawthorne with that, and very effective). Note; My wife and I spent some time at school in Arkansas, and we really liked it. Wonderful people, some good friends.

Paralleling Bull's search is the story of Sarah Williams, recently separated from her abusive husband. She returns home with her daughter to the Big House, which seemed a bit Gone With the Wind hokey to me, but it turns out to be a good setting for future horrors (evil books -- I love evil books). Nevertheless, Sarah's part of the story is somewhat less interesting, but eventually the two threads (Bull and Sarah's) intertwine (literally). It's at that point, about two thirds of the way through the novel, that the spell was broken. Events speeded up, chapters grew shorter, characters flattened out. Not closing the deal story-wise had me thinking about rating Southern Gods 3 stars, but the writing for most of this book is terrific, and Jacobs shows such promise, that 4 stars (for a first novel) seems appropriate. As a reviewer, I want you to read the book. I definitely want to read more from Jacobs. He has a bright future in Dark fiction.

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May 13, 2012 Marvin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror

Flannery O'Connor marries H. P. Lovecraft.

Now that's a wedding I would love to attend. OK, so I might be stretching the point here but John Hornor Jacobs has managed to write an intriguing marriage of Southern Gothic and Lovecraftian horror. The plot of Southern Gods evolves around an ex-veteran knuckle breaker in the early 50s who is paid to find a record company promo man and a mysterious blues singer called Rambling John Hastur. The bluesman's music is rumored to send people into uncontrolled...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Chance Maree rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle, fantasy, horror

This is more than a 3 star read, but not quite enough to round up to 4 stars. The potential for a fabulous story carried me through until a sudden shift in point of view. The main character, Bull, seemed to take a back seat to Sarah and the action became hers, with Bull fading into the background like a supporting actor. I lost a bit of interest at that point. Bull's character and background were more interesting, and though I was sympathetic to Sarah, she would have been better as a support to...more

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Jan 13, 2012 Ala rated it 2 of 5 stars

For some reason, I was dying to read this book. From when I first heard of it, it just stuck in the back of my mind. I think I was expecting something along the lines of the old Gabriel Knight games, only set in post-war era. What I got instead was, well, this book.

The story of Bull Ingram, a veteran of the pacific theater of WWII, as he attempts to find a missing person. The mystery of the disappearance, and the reasons behind it, are pretty intriguing and kept the pages turning. Bull himself,...more

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Jan 14, 2012 ☠The Dread Pirate Grant☠ rated it 2 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book. It was recommended to me by my pseudo-brother and I'd long since had it on my tbr list via the 5 star review of one of my favorite reviewers on Goodreads. Seriously, really thought I would like it.

Fail.

Epic, epic fail.

I've read quite a few reviews for this novel and the majority of them are overwhelmingly positive. More power to those folks. I just didn't see it. I found both the characters and the storyline rather predictable though I will admit that the ending caug...more

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Sep 04, 2011 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: horror, ebook, fantasy-dark, fantasy, fantasy-contemporary, southern-fiction, gods, gothic, american-fantasy, lovecraftian, violent-and-gory, 1950s

If you like the horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft or any of the authors influenced by him (which is pretty much anyone who has written a horror novel in the last century) then you should definitely read this. It's a horror story set in the 1950s South, mixing Elder Gods with the blues, full of gibbering, ichor-spewing corpses, mad cultists, twisting, writhing, tentacled abominations, and a final confrontation on a riverboat (of course). John Hornor Jacobs renders a loving, gory tribute to Lovecra...more If you like the horror stories of H.P. Lovecraft or any of the authors influenced by him (which is pretty much anyone who has written a horror novel in the last century) then you should definitely read this. It's a horror story set in the 1950s South, mixing Elder Gods with the blues, full of gibbering, ichor-spewing corpses, mad cultists, twisting, writhing, tentacled abominations, and a final confrontation on a riverboat (of course). John Hornor Jacobs renders a loving, gory tribute to Lovecraft, moving a typical Cthulhu mythos tale from the chilly coast of New England to the backwoods of Arkansas.

The story starts with Bull Ingram, a WWII vet who now works as hired muscle, being sent to Arkansas to find a man named Early Freeman and a pirate radio station that broadcasts songs that drive men insane. Bull, who as his nickname implies, is very, very big (a fact that gets emphasized in just about every single chapter, including the chapter with the sex scene in which yes, we learn that Bull is very, very big ifyouknowwhatImean) soon finds that he has bitten off more than even he can chew when he is attacked by a dead man and nearly driven insane by an encounter with a dark god. Of course he doesn't know it's a god, but with what's left of his sanity, he makes his way to a riverside honky tonk and witnesses a bloodbath of an orgy from which he barely escapes alive. Washing up on the shore of an estate downriver, he meets Sarah Williams, a one-time college girl now raising her daughter alone on her family's ancestral estate. This estate happens to be a place where 75 years ago, one of Sarah's ancestors got up from his deathbed and hacked his mother and his brother to death before walking into the woods and disappearing, never to be seen again.

Throw in a Catholic priest, a copy of the Necronomicon, a spiteful bitch of a mother who you already know is going to turn out to be a minion of the forces of evil even before you meet her, and an innocent little girl with "Sacrificial Victim" practically written on her forehead, and you've got everything you need for a horror thriller. The author ups the stakes by making it not just about saving Sarah's daughter, but also saving the world. (If you involve Elder Gods, of course you have to save the world.)

Southern Gods is John Hornor Jacobs's debut novel, and it's a darn sight better than most debut novels. The writing, the plot, and the characters are all solid, and since it hit every high point in a good adventure-horror novel, I give it 4.5 stars; half a star deducted because some of the characters were not quite as fully fleshed out as I would have liked, and the ending was a bit pat and predictable. Nonetheless, full marks for a fantastic adventure that isn't shy about spilling blood and guts. You'll probably guess who will survive and who won't long before the final scene, but you'll want to keep reading anyway, and the climax is intense and not just a little horrifying.(less)

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Aug 02, 2011 Jesse Bullington rated it 4 of 5 stars

Still reading, still reading--Blues man named Ramblin John Hastur is stirring up trouble in 1950s Arkansas, and it's up to Bull Ingram to track'em down. Most excellent so far...

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Jul 01, 2012 Douglas Wynne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Southern Gods is the debut horror novel by John Hornor Jacobs. It’s also a well crafted piece of historical fiction set in the 1950s, and it was recently in the running for the 2011 Stoker award for best first horror novel. Part Lovecraft, part noir, the story centers on Bull Ingram, a WWII veteran haunted by the war who finds work as a private investigator and muscle man for hire.

The writing is sharp, the historical era, southern gothic setting, and characters all gracefully drawn with detail a...more Southern Gods is the debut horror novel by John Hornor Jacobs. It’s also a well crafted piece of historical fiction set in the 1950s, and it was recently in the running for the 2011 Stoker award for best first horror novel. Part Lovecraft, part noir, the story centers on Bull Ingram, a WWII veteran haunted by the war who finds work as a private investigator and muscle man for hire.

The writing is sharp, the historical era, southern gothic setting, and characters all gracefully drawn with detail and atmosphere that never feels overburdened with description, even though one of the things I enjoyed about Jacobs’ prose is the touch of poetry that suffuses the narrative.

The tale moves along at a brisk pace with a gripping opening section, and it didn’t take long for me to care about the characters. As Bull pursues Ramblin’ John Hastur, a mysterious Blues Man, into the delta swamps we are with him on the trail of a singer whose music has the power to drive people insane with murderous rage. It’s a wonderfully harrowing premise that leads to some great scenes of confrontation with zombies who have been victims of the hellish music, and Hornor (also a guitarist) writes about music with authenticity and passion.

As the plot develops, an Elder Gods mythos comes into play. For me this cranked up the cool factor at first, but when these elements are explored in a couple of dialogue scenes with a priest, the story lapses into a bit of info dump. Nothing wrong with a nod to Lovecraft in my opinion, but I ultimately felt that the story could have been told without borrowing anything. At times the Lovecraft references feel like little more than atmospheric name dropping mingled with historical mythology. That said, I do love the way Jacobs handles the Necronomicon, and how Bull Ingram is tied to the bull god Mithras in some wonderfully magical scenes.

Jacobs is especially gifted with dialogue. The voices, wit and grit of his characters often carry the story, and you never have to go for long without good line.

It’s a little daunting that this is a first novel when you consider how good the writing is. It’s clear that the author has read a lot of great southern authors, and is to some extent paying tribute to them here as well as to Lovecraft. I suspect that as Jacobs develops his style in future books, he will only improve with greater use of subtlety.

But this is a horror novel and there are places where it should be anything but subtle. Southern Gods delivers some real shocks, especially in the climax.

I will avoid spoilers here, but I have to say that long after finishing the book, I still don’t know how I feel about the ending. In fact, I’ve put off writing this review hoping that my feelings about it would cohere, but I still have strong mixed reactions. Maybe that’s a good thing. On the one hand it feels like the author wants to have his cake and eat it too, but on the other, he does stay true to the rules established at the outset. There’s some truly horrific stuff at the climax, enough to make me a little uncomfortable, but it is a horror novel, and Southern Gods, like its protagonist, pulls no punches.(less)

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Jun 14, 2012 Benjamin added it

Shelves: audiobook, lovecraftiana

Smart, promising, but ultimately failed novel, situating Lovecraft's cosmic horror in the 1950s American South.

Taking Lovecraftian horror and putting it in different times and places is a long tradition in the Cthulhu stories, as in the Severn Valley stories of Ramsey Campbell or the Texan horror of Robert E. Howard. John Hornor Jacobs is not the first writer to put Cthulhu in the South--that honor probably goes to Lovecraft, whose "Call of Cthulhu" partly takes place in the swamps in Louisiana-...more

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Jessikah Man, the premise sounds cool though. I think Call of Cthulu is by far my favorite table top RPG too. Even if it fails I think I want to check it out.
Jun 14, 2012 12:41pm

Benjamin Jessikah wrote: "Man, the premise sounds cool though. I think Call of Cthulu is by far my favorite table top RPG too. Even if it fails I think I want...more
Jun 14, 2012 12:58pm

Nicole I LOVED "Call of Cthulhu" and I only read it a year or two ago. So I can't say I'm a Cthulhu-head, but your review of this story made me want to rerea...more
Jan 22, 2013 09:16pm

May 21, 2012 Hal Bodner rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book was another very credible contender for the 2011 Bram Stoker award for first novel and, had it won, would easily have been worthy of the award.

As I may have mentioned in other reviews, I cannot abide Lovecraft. To date, I've only managed to slog my way through two of his short stories and that was only after succumbing to a tremendous amount of pressure from some of my colleagues. Thus, I generally don't care for books that use the "Old Gods" and other Lovecraftian trappings unless the...more This book was another very credible contender for the 2011 Bram Stoker award for first novel and, had it won, would easily have been worthy of the award.

As I may have mentioned in other reviews, I cannot abide Lovecraft. To date, I've only managed to slog my way through two of his short stories and that was only after succumbing to a tremendous amount of pressure from some of my colleagues. Thus, I generally don't care for books that use the "Old Gods" and other Lovecraftian trappings unless they are VERY well done. Far too often, they are merely rehashes of riffs we've seen before and, even more often, they're poorly done.

SOUTHERN GODS is one of the few of this genre that, not only succeeds, but rather uses the Lovecraft "base" as a starting point and then takes off under it's own steam. Moreover, though the Old Gods theme runs through the story from very early on, it is by no means overwhelming, not does the story require that the reader be intimately familiar with the Lovecraft mythos in order for the book to be an enjoyable one.

You can get an idea of the plot details from some of the other reviews or from the back-of-cover sell copy; I won't go into it at length here. Suffice it to say that Jacobs adroitly captures the Southern Gothic style in a way which is both creepy and enticing; one can almost smell the moss dripping from the Cypress trees as one reads. He also adds a thin veneer of ambiance stemming from the early days of Black music in a way that intensifies the general unease that permeates the novel. Jacobs characters are also extremely well executed, not in small part because of his skilled handling of the dialogue. The regional quality of the speech is authentic and organic, not at all precious or contrived, and draws the reader effortlessly into Jacobs' fictional world.

This is not an "I couldn't put it down" read. There's a languid quality to the prose that infects the reader. You'll want to take your time with this one and savor it. And, finally, be warned -- Jacobs has written a couple of scenes that are quite brutal and not for the faint of heart, not so much due to graphic descriptions, but rather due to what happens within them and who it happens to.

All in all, a well crafted novel, greatly enjoyable and one which horror fans of the Southern Gothic style will adore.
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Apr 05, 2012 Daniel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror-dark-fantasy

The reviews for this book have been over-whelmingly positive and I was looking forward to reading it. But I should admit that it's been a very long time since I've read much horror/dark fantasy. A very long time. And maybe the genre has changed some, or maybe my memory of the genre has clouded a bit.

But I was bored by the book, for the most part.

When there was action happening, or something leading up to the action, I was totally enthralled. But too often there was not much action, and I wanted...more

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Jan 17, 2012 Chris King Elfland's 2nd Cousin rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of the Cthulhu Mythos, Lovecraft Fans, Southern Gothic Fans

NOTE: This review first appeared at The King of Elfland's 2nd Cousin on January 17th, 2012. If you like it, please check out the web site!

Fiction has been mining myth since the first storyteller hushed a campfire crowd. Myths are - at some level - the foundation of every story, and in speculative fiction we often rely on them to shortcut the audience's emotional response: to get the reader "in the mood". In doing so, we rely on the oldest, most primal images: eyes glowing red in the night, foot...more

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Sep 28, 2011 Doug rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Bull Ingram is sent into Arkansas to find a man, a salesman of sorts that sells blues and rock music, at that time considered "Negro Music" to white radio stations that play it, profit from it, but still consider it something of a novelty. And to find a radio station that broadcasts strange music that mentally effects the listener. This double quests bring him face to face with the Pale Man, and Ramblin' John Hastur, whispered legends in the backwoods and the whisperings aren't. Parallel to Bull...more Bull Ingram is sent into Arkansas to find a man, a salesman of sorts that sells blues and rock music, at that time considered "Negro Music" to white radio stations that play it, profit from it, but still consider it something of a novelty. And to find a radio station that broadcasts strange music that mentally effects the listener. This double quests bring him face to face with the Pale Man, and Ramblin' John Hastur, whispered legends in the backwoods and the whisperings aren't. Parallel to Bull's story is Sarah's, a battered wife who flees home to Arkansas from an abusive marriage. Her and her daughter try to find a new life, a pursuit that leads her to look into her family tree and the strange mysteries within.

A review in four caveats.

Caveat the First. This book is a Mythos-esque story, but like much of contemporary horror/fantasy, it busies itself a good deal with re-invention of the legends that make up its backend. Think not of Lovecraft or Chambers, the two key writers whose works have been diffused through it, but more of Brian Lumley and his Titus Crow novels. In fact, though I have no idea if Jacobs has read them, they are the closest thing I would compare: creatures of the mythos reconfigured as something like flesh and blood entities that can be faced off through various means [in other words, Lumley by way of Derleth], and how interact with the world in a fairly tangible way. Other elements that come to mind are American Gods (book) and Angel Heart (movie). Depending on the flavor you like your Mythos stories, this can be either a +1 or a -1. For me it was more a minus than a plus, but I saw what Jacobs was going for and appreciate it of a kind. Only go into it if you are ok with variations on classic mythos themes, especially the ubiquitous Necronomicon and what it is really on about, being nearly restitched whole cloth.

Caveat the Second. This book is set in the 1950s, and Arkansas. Has shout outs to Southern Noir. A little bit of Lansdale, a little bit of Woodrell. The problem is that after the first third or so, maybe the first half, the setting and time period take such a backseat that it becomes all too easy to lose them. The Delta as a character reaches its peak about the time Bull Ingram comes to an old radio station in the woods and, shortly after, follows a club to a dockside bar with a one-off performance. After this point, the book might as well be contemporary New England for all the consistency of setting it maintains. Having read this book right after reading The Sound and the Fury, it might be that my tastebuds for Southern culture infusing a work were dimmed and so I needed it to be more stark (and for others, discussions of vines and river-side bathing might be enough), but I would have loved to see more. Also, while this book does have Southern Noir tendencies, it is probably better to think of it more like a Fantasy novel set in relatively modern times. In fact, towards the end, it becomes quite literally a sword and sorcery tale and Bull becomes more Conan than not.

Caveat the Third. This book is not subtle. In fact, when a coworker spotted me reading, his second sentence about it, after saying, "I just finished it and liked it..." was, "It's not subtle." He tells the truth. It tells much more than shows. Even though the telling is interesting there are those that will not like this. There are section that make Zadok Allen look like a man of little words. As a longer novel with the legends more spread out, it might have been a little less like a brick smashing into your reading time, but as is it mostly just states the stakes, places the bets quite openly, and then rolls the dice. At least, in a couple of instances, it is fairly unfliching.

Caveat the Fourth. The book's two greatest pleasures - music in both the sense of the mystery, horrific radio station and in other brief references, as well as tapping into old legends and fairy tales - are woefully underused.

Fair to good book. Not a long read. Outside of completely underusing Hastur and his/its/etc long history of mythos (He Who Should Not Be Named gets named a hell of a lot, just saying, and the King of Yellow is woefully absent) it is mostly ok, give or take a few sections.(less)

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Aug 15, 2011 Tim Niland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

WWII veteran Lewis "Bull" Ingram is a fixer and a hard man, when somebody owes a Memphis underworld figure money, they send the Bull to collect. He is offered an unusual job, tracking down a missing record promoter (the novel is set in the Payola days of the early 1950's) and to see if he can locate a pirate radio station that plays the music of bluesman Ramblin' John Hastur, a man whose very voice can drive normally sane men to commit adultery, murder... and raise the dead. The other thread of...more

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Aug 04, 2011 Ginger Nuts rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the...more Recent World War II veteran Bull Ingram is working as muscle when a Memphis DJ hires him to find Ramblin' John Hastur. The mysterious blues man's dark, driving music - broadcast at ever-shifting frequencies by a phantom radio station - is said to make living men insane and dead men rise. Disturbed and enraged by the bootleg recording the DJ plays for him, Ingram follows Hastur's trail into the strange, uncivilized backwoods of Arkansas, where he hears rumors the musician has sold his soul to the Devil. But as Ingram closes in on Hastur and those who have crossed his path, he'll learn there are forces much more malevolent than the Devil and reckonings more painful than Hell...
In a masterful debut of Lovecraftian horror and Southern gothic menace, John Hornor Jacobs reveals the fragility of free will, the dangerous power of sacrifice, and the insidious strength of blood.

For about about the last year or so I have been hearing talk of this book from some of my favourite horror review sites, from reviewers who I reckon are among the most insightful and whose taste overlaps much of mine. These guys loved this novel, they raved about just how excellent it was. Now normally when things get hyped like this I tend to think yeah all right but it wasn't that good. So when I finally got my hands on an ARC of Southern Gods, I was a bit apprehensive about starting it. Not only has it been hyped, but it was also John's début novel. It can sometimes take one or two goes for me to get into a new author, sometimes never.

Thank the Gods that John has created one hell of a novel. Southern Gods is a wonderful mix of Southern Noir, and horror. Don't go into this expecting a Jim Butcher type novel, this is well crafted novel that easily surpasses the sum of it's parts. One of the major problems I have with Horror Noir, is that the vast majority of it reads as though it has been written for a young adult market. This is most definitely not the case here, Jacob's has managed to keep the novel firmly rooted in the adult field, you'll not find any slapstick sidekicks here. What you will find here is one hell of well crafted tale, Jacobs hasn't wasted one single word in telling this story. From the very first page you are thrown into the hazy streets of the South, where you are drawn into the tale, a tale that is so tight it will will draw you in and twist you into knots of pure tension that John will then use to beat beat you about the head and body until the climax of the novel.

Jacob's has not forgotten that the heart of a good novel is a good story, and the story presented here is one worthy of high praise indeed. Too often a good story is swamped by unnecessary writting, writing that is just trying to be literate for the sake of it. Jacob's has struck the balance between strong assured, and powerful writting, and one hell of a good narrative.

Even though, I have never been to the South, hell I've never been to the US, the sub genre of Southern Horror has always been one of my favourite, authors such as Ron Kelly, and Scott Nicholson, have through their writing always ignited a passion for visiting the South. Jacob's has managed to create a fully realised world that flows of the page and immerses the reader in a bygone age, Abliet an age of blues filled zombies, and here's me saying I'll never read another zombie novel again.

Southern Gods is a novel that you have to buy, based on this effort John Hornor Jacobs is a name to watch, has been blessed with a great gift, get on the band wagon, before it's too late folks.(less)

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Jul 30, 2011 Julie Summerell rated it 5 of 5 stars

There is a great deal of beauty in this book about a mysterious musician who might or might not be channeling the Devil.

The first thing I noticed upon cracking open SOUTHERN GODS was that if you were to lift the prologue from the pages and place it in an anthology of short fiction it could stand on its own in a very satisfying fashion. At that point I knew I was in for a hell of a story.

John Hornor Jacobs has crafted characters that will grab your emotions and take them whizzing through the st...more

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May 09, 2011 Ed Kurtz rated it 5 of 5 stars

Southern Gods is a terrific novel. It is Southern Gothic, noir crime thriller and intense Lovecraftian terror rolled into one marvelous story of bad blood, demons both personal and real, and hard-earned redemption. And Jacobs writes with such a sure hand you’d swear he’d sold his soul to the devil just like the folks in 1951 rural Arkansas whisper about Ramblin’ John Hastur in the novel. Of course, Ramblin’ John’s story is a great deal more complex—and more sinister—than that, but I have no inte...more

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Jun 07, 2012 Zack Olson rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: supernatural, horror, zombies, bram-stoker-award-nominees, reviewed

I have seen this book referred to in other reviews as the child of Flannery O'Connor and H. P. Lovecraft. This is true only if that child is one that misguidedly tries to recreate the legacy of its parentage and fails significantly. Sorry folks, this is one you should pick up at the library or at a garage sale for a buck rather than paying full price for.

I will give Jacobs his due; the book has an intriguing premise and it starts well, but it devolves into pop-fiction cliches and hackneyed horro...more

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Nov 11, 2011 William Thomas rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: all-american, cthulu-worship, horror

In the TV show Supernatural, these guys are always selling their souls to crossroads demons. Just like blues man Robert Johnson. In one episode, they talk about Johnson and his music, using all of the markers in the lyrics to prove he did make a deal with the devil to become the greatest blues man on earth. I'd say that if that were the case, it was one fairly powerless demon he dealt with because by rights he should have died rich and famous and not have been found out about years later when pe...more

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Oct 15, 2012 Ted rated it 3 of 5 stars

I feel I have read enough stories in the Cthulhu Mythos to comment on the genre. I was very pleased to pick up a new novel and see those familiar traces, the sinister names and the mysterious happenings in the bayou, the titles of familiar books found on a bookshelf. In this case the Mythos is mixed into an interesting story about music and radio in the post-WWII years, the start of the baby boom and the economy of the old South.

I think the story about music, the evolution of R&B into Rock'n...more

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May 20, 2013 Algernon rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

One of those impulse buys I picked up based on the cover, and that turns out to be better than expected. Horror is not my favorite genre, I am either turned off by extreme gore or I start giggling if the vampires start to sparkle or the action goes over the top with ridiculous odds. The main appeal for 'southern Gods was initially the music: although I have a really big blues collection on cd's, I have not often found bluesmen as literary protagonists (there's one in The Lust Lizard of Melanchol ...more
One of those impulse buys I picked up based on the cover, and that turns out to be better than expected. Horror is not my favorite genre, I am either turned off by extreme gore or I start giggling if the vampires start to sparkle or the action goes over the top with ridiculous odds. The main appeal for 'southern Gods was initially the music: although I have a really big blues collection on cd's, I have not often found bluesmen as literary protagonists (there's one in The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove). Ramblin' John Hastur is one of those mythical musicians that folks say made a deal with the devil and sold his soul in exchange for the power to create magic with his guitar (Robert Johnson?). This being a horror novel, listening to Hastur's music drive people into a killing rage, and even worse.

I'll stop here and mention that the blues angle turned out to be misleading, a red herring that is useful to push the plot forward in the first half of the novel, and is largely abandoned in the later stages. The real focus is on a hardboiled private investigator from Memphis, Lewis 'Bull' Ingram, sent to find the bluesman and another missing person in Arkansas. A parallel story follows Sarah Williams Reichardt, a young mother retreating to Arkansas with her daughter after one to many punches from her drunken husband. The period is the early 1950's, right after World War II, with Ingram trying to live by his wits and his huge fists. The two stories come together in the opulent plantation mansion of the Reichardt family, the focal point of supernatural manifestations that may be associated with events from a previous generation (already hinted at in the prologue in the prologue).

John Hornor Jacobs is a good storyteller, with a knack for snappy dialogue and gloomy atmosphere, a natural feel for pacing and characterization without getting bogged down in descriptions or overanalysis of motivations and morality. For me, the first half of the novel worked best, with its noir style of the hardboiled gumshoe trying to do his job even when he realizes he is in way over his head. The highpoint of the action is reached at a roadhouse blues concert that would translate very well as a movie, something like From Dusk Till Dawn or Planet Terror . The story in fact doesn't stop here, but the Reichardt mansion chapters, while keeping true to the positives aspects I've mentioned, show some hesitations and miscalculations, as in trying to explain too much about the gods and the mythology, forcing a largely unnecessary sex encounter and rushing the most important scene at the end.

A solid three star, that gets an extra for being a debut novel and an easy read. (less)

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Sep 07, 2011 Tony rated it 5 of 5 stars

I kept on seeing people on twitter raving about this book. I have no willpower so I had to buy this book. I’m bloody glad I did.

This book is set in 1950′s Arkansas, a time and place that I had no relation to at all before I read this book. Now I feel like I should be upping sticks and moving to Gethsemane. Yes I found it that evocative. The racial and gender tensions are strong enough to make you uncomfortable but without overpowering the story.

The story starts out with Bull Ingram who is a mix...more

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Sep 03, 2012 Brett Talley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, lovecraftian, cthulhu

Whenever you read a book that’s received nearly universal praise, it’s always hard not to assume the hype will outpace reality. Not so with Southern Gods. In this homage to Lovecraftian fiction, John Jacob Horner has smashed a homerun and served notice to all who are paying attention that his is a talent to be reckoned with.

Bull Ingram is the kind of guy you seek out when you have a job that needs doing, no matter what it takes to get it done. Hired by a Memphis DJ to hunt down a missing employ...more

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Aug 08, 2011 Steve Weddle rated it 5 of 5 stars

Alright, I don't know Cthulu from Gesundheit so all of this "Lovecraft-infused Faulkner" talk about this novel just breezed right by me.

After the ghost/horror story prologue, the book moves like a well crafted PI novel -- the search for the missing person. Of course, like all good PI search books before it, the searcher ends up unraveling more than he'd bargained for and turns to a new search.

What's magnificent about this particular novel is the way it stays true to this form, then expands and...more

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Feb 19, 2013 Clint rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2013

The story was actually good, minor evil god Hastur goes undercover as a blues singer that drives people crazy when they hear his nutty music, and he broadcasts himself on a pirate radio station run from a river boat. A tough-guy claims collector type goes down to Arkansas to find a missing record company guy and locate the mysterious Hastur while he's at it. Shit falls apart and there's lots of blood and corpses.

I could have done without the romance between Sarah and Bull, I could have done wit...more

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Sep 15, 2011 Justin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: audio, own, horror, fantasy

Bull Ingram is a very big fellow. He’s a former Marine who is still a little raw from the war like most men in the early 1950s. Bull works as paid muscle and his primary job is finding people who owe his employers money. When he finds them, he “convinces” them to pay back their debts. He is very good at his job. A folk music dealer wants Bull to locate a mysterious blues man by the name of Ramblin’ John Hastur. Hastur’s music has strange effects on those who listen to it, and Bull’s new employer...more Bull Ingram is a very big fellow. He’s a former Marine who is still a little raw from the war like most men in the early 1950s. Bull works as paid muscle and his primary job is finding people who owe his employers money. When he finds them, he “convinces” them to pay back their debts. He is very good at his job. A folk music dealer wants Bull to locate a mysterious blues man by the name of Ramblin’ John Hastur. Hastur’s music has strange effects on those who listen to it, and Bull’s new employer wants him found. The job leads Bull down a strange and violent path through the underbelly of the 1950’s American South.

John Hornor Jacobs sets a furious pace in Southern Gods. It doesn’t let up till you hit the epilogue. I was sent an audio copy of this from Brilliance Audio, and I was so desperate to keep reading the story that I actually purchased the Kindle version to read on my phone when I was not able to listen to the audio. While reading this book I ran a gamut of emotions. I was excited, amused, scared, and also totally disturbed. I’ve read some messed-up stuff, and Southern Gods was the first to give me serious nightmares.

The heroes of the story battle evil foes and make the occasional bad joke in classic urban fantasy style. The story also contains some truly horrific scenes of violence. Some of it was hard for me to handle — and I’m an avid Joe Abercrombie fan. The frightening and disturbing parts fall well within the horror category of fiction, but the campy urban fantasy moments didn’t always mesh with the disturbing horror, thus creating a kind of identity crisis.

I recommend Southern Gods to fans of both horror and dark fantasy. At 300 pages it is a bit short. With some more space I believe Jacobs would have made the story flow even more smoothly. I would also recommend the audiobook version published by Brilliance Audio. The story is read by Eric Dove, and he is amazing. A voice actor can make or break a story, and Eric made this book a thrill to listen to. I will certainly look into other books he’s voiced. —Justin Blazier at FantaslyLiterature.com(less)

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