The Final Gate Review – Read-by-Read Updates

So I was sent The Final Gate by Wesley Southard and Lucas Mangum. Rather than reading the book and reviewing it after, I decided to post consistent updates of my review as I read the book. Enjoy! And always support indie authors!

Also, spoiler alerts will be here. Before reading this review, make sure you buy The Final Gate before reading my take, especially if you want to read an occult horror book.

Seas of Darkness, Gates to Hell – Page 32

My boyfriend and I have been busy for the past couple of days. We were preparing to stay overnight at a chalet, so I didn’t read as much as I wanted. But I got a little reading time in before we left.

The book starts with “Seas of Darkness, Gates to Hell” which is an ode to iconic Italian director Lucio Fulci. Southard and Mangum highlight Fulci’s best films and his overall status as the Godfather of Gore.

It’s crazy watching a movie versus reading a book. It could be me, but gory scenes are more intense when reading them versus watching them. Sure, I remember the eye impalement scene in Zombi, the woman’s face melted by acid in The Beyond, the brutal beating in Don’t Torture a Duckling, and so on. But reading these scenes in the detail that Southard and Mangum conveyed sent shivers down my spine. And it’s also making me want to watch some Fulci films.

The classic Italian horror films are some of my favorites, and Fulci is arguably one of the best directors. Both his giallo and crazy gore films are genius. That’s why I’m excited to see Southard and Mangum are taking a Fulci-inspired route to writing horror. While the introductory is an essential read, it’s still pretty brief. I usually get bored of introductory parts like this one, but reading this made me even more excited about what was to come.

Now let’s get to the actual story — The Final Gate. Southard and Mangum cut right to the chase, describing a terrifying scene of zombies invading a foster home. I can definitely see some of these zombies in a Fulci film. Sallow skin, covered in blood, vomiting up goo. Ah, you gotta love horror.

But this section is more than blood, guts, and scares. You see a glimpse of some of the kids in this foster home, reading about the heartbreaking reality of living without parents. The first character we meet is Bryce, one of the boys living in the foster home. He is first telling us about his friend Jake who was adopted. While all kids in this situation want to be adopted, Bryce saw Jake as his brother and his adoption hurt him. We will meet Bryce’s real brother shortly in the book, though.

This is a smart move as a writer, introducing enough about a character to where you know about them but Southard and Mangum don’t go into too much detail. Only enough to where we feel bad when the characters actually die. Especially someone as young as Bryce. Like I said, spoiler alerts. You also have to think of this scene from Bryce’s perspective. He’s a young kid, pretty much alone in this world. And now he’s forced to fight for his life. Pretty sad.

Next we meet Robert. He’s the handyman for the foster home, but we discover he grew up in a foster home, too. Otherwise, Robert is still a bit of a mystery. Nonetheless, the reader quickly sympathizes with Robert, but it doesn’t take long to put the pieces together on why he’s there and what will come next. While he’s outside, he hears Bryce screaming, and makes his way inside the house.

Southard and Mangum shift to the perspectives from a child to an adult effortlessly. When reading from Bryce’s POV, we see this scenario played out from the eyes of a scared little boy crying for his mommy. I was wondering if what was going on was even real or from the imagination of a little boy. But with Robert, it was all too real. While Southard and Mangum use the perfect amount of detail to convey Robert’s feelings, he’s still brave enough to enter the home and attempt to rescue as many people as he can. Robert puts on a brave face, since he loves the kids and knows what it’s like to be one of them. And any adult with a big enough heart would do the same. Unfortunately, Robert dies, too, and isn’t able to save anyone.

Next we meet Brandon and his girlfriend Jillian. Brandon is an ex-con who discovers his brother, Bryce, was recently adopted. We first meet him as he’s drinking. Even though he’s a recovering alcoholic, he’s upset that he can’t be the one to care for his brother (his past prison history is the reason why). His girlfriend, Jillian, is a soft and caring person. You can’t help but wonder why she’s with him. I have a feeling we’ll be learning more about the two of them as we go farther into the book.

Jillian suggests calling her ex, who’s a private detective. He’s a very unprofessional, surfer-type douche who clearly still has the hots for Jillian.

At this point, I’m thinking I put the pieces together. Bryce’s friend Jake was adopted, and turned into a zombie. Now that Bryce is adopted, he dies. To me, it seems like something sketchy is happening at this foster home.

This is where I left off, so I will update this when I get a chance to read! I will try and do some more reading in the next couple of days.