The Dark'Un

by Ronald Kelly

It was passed down from generation to generation. The legend of The Dark'Un, the strange beast that roamed Pale Dove Mountain. The dark monster that no one had ever seen — at least not and lived to tell about it — except, so it was said, old Fletcher Brice who lived at the foot of the mountain.

No one really believed in The Dark'Un. It was just a story to make a child's flesh crawl.

Until Old Man Brice died.

Now, the people of Tucker's Mill, Tennessee, would be forced to believe.

Genres: Horror

388 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1991

About the author

Ronald Kelly was born and raised in the hills and hollows of Middle Tennessee. He became interested in horror as a child, watching the local "Creature Feature" on Saturday nights and "The Big Show"---a Nashville-based TV show that presented every old monster movie ever made ---in the afternoons after school. In high school, his interest turned to horror literature and he read such writers as Poe, Lovecraft, Matheson, and King. He originally had dreams of becoming a comic book artist and created many of his own superheroes. But during his junior year, the writing bug bit him and he focused his attention on penning short stories and full-length novels. To date, he has had thirteen novels and twelve short fiction collections published. In 2021, his extreme horror collection, THE ESSENTIAL SICK STUFF, won a Splatterpunk Award for Best Collection.

He currently lives in Brush Creek, Tennessee with his wife, young'uns, and an ultra-hyper Jack Russel named Toby.

Reviews

[Badseedgirl · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ronald Kelly is getting to be one of my favorite regional writers of horror fiction. Mr. Kelly tends to set his novels and stories in the appalachian south, specifically the Tennessee region, which is my adopted home state.

This was a 3.5 star book for me. I loved the idea of the Dark Un and the Albinos and the fact that they were not the stupid beasts in need of saving. That made this a unique and interesting read. My one critique would be that because the Dark Un was so smart and powerful there did not seem like there was a point where the mountain and the creatures on it were in much jeopardy.

[Niko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ronald Kelly has such a wonderful way of weaving a southern horror story that just works for me. He always manages to make me forget that I'm reading a book and become so immersed in his stories.

[Joshua · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ronald Kelly never fails to impress me with his imaginative plotting. Each of his books is markedly different than those that came before, which is no mean feat in the mass market horror Lists of the early 90's (when he did most of his writing).

He also continues to strike true with his evocative narratives pertaining to rural Tennessee, which he conveys with visceral earnestness and legitimacy. The exposition surrounding his settings is often a hallmark of his work.

Alas, as with each of his books I have previously read, The Dark'Un cannot quite seem to populate the gorgeous setting with meaningful, earnest characters. Though they are colorful, his expansive cast (with more redundant principals than a unified school district in the suburbs) are ultimately shallow and paper thin. Their dialogue comes off as childish and stilted and their motivations tend towards one of three directions: honor, greed, or stupidity. This seems to be a trend with all of Kelly's novels and I continue to find it disheartening, given his remarkable creative potential.

But when shape-shifting, albino dinosaurs dwelling in the heart of a mountain in rural Tennessee are the MOST plausible aspect of the novel (somehow being more believable than the motivations and relationships and dialogue of most of the characters), then the book has regrettably missed its mark.

A fun, silly story elevated by its creativity and rural exposition, but then torpedoed by an over-abundance of stupid characters with bland motivations and implausible relationships.

I keep on reading Ronald Kelly and keep on hoping that I'll eventually be able to give him the 5-star review that I want to, but this one is another mediocre sigh of unrealized potential.

[Katy · Rating 4 out of 5]

No time for a full review, but wanted to put something, since this doesn't have much yet. While there were some things that bothered me, like unnecessary exposition to allow the author to educate the reader through dialog and the extreme stereotypes of the mercenaries, I enjoyed the book. I liked the critters and most of the characters and am in the process of looking for more of this author's books. Nice thing about anthologies, it lets one discover new stuff to read.

I hope to someday go through the hundreds of books I've read the past year plus and will hopefully update this review to my normal template. Until then... I have posted a few reviews on Amazon, you can go read those.

[Nicholas Gray · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an amazing story.

Master story teller Ronald Kelly has done it again! I never seem to be let down by Ron’s writing and this book was no different.

The story is about this mountain man who is under pressure to sell his land to a city man that just wants to tear it all apart, but the mountain won’t budge. Eventually, something happens, and the bad guy gets a hold of the deed, and what he plans do to is cruel.

I loved this story a lot. It had a teary eyed ending, like most Ronald Kelly books, and I loved it so much.

Overall, five out of five stars!

[Paul Preston · Rating 4 out of 5]

One person knows the secret of the mountain and it’s inhabitants. The inhabitants that have become somewhat of a myth or legend.
When unscrupulous business men have bad intentions on the mountain they find out the creatures only give a couple warnings.
Sorry, super obscure review but this has some or the coolest monsters ever and I don’t want to risk spoiling anything.

[Sonora Taylor · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. You're always in for a good time with Ronald Kelly's stories.

[Squire · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars for this one.

This a slam-bang fun horror adventure. It's starts out really well. Part One is suspenseful and well done, with a couple of standout characterizations (though the villain is disappointingly of the cardboard variety)--exactly what I expect from a Kelly book. The middle section is full of gross-out scenes that intensify the proceedings. A possible chink in the Dark'Un's armor is tossed out, but then dropped. It was the third part that fell flat for me. Cinematic and gory, it never really takes off as the Dark'Un prepares to defend its territory. What I wanted was for one of the teams to discover how to exploit the weakness of the Dark'Un that was mentioned in Part Two. Make it look as if the Dark'Un might be in a little trouble. But the final resolution of the matter was quite satisfying.

The short story "Of Crows and Pale Doves" was quite good and added some context to some of the action of the novel. One aspect of Kelly's works I've always enjoyed is that he always sends a protector for the innocent children in his stories. And that protector always brings depth to the proceedings.

[Brennan LaFaro · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Dark’un combines dark folklore with imagination incarnate, throwing the whole kitchen sink into the Tennessee hills that Ronald Kelly so comfortably inhabits.
It’s a wild and unexpected ride that potentially boasts as Kelly’s most immediate works I’ve read to date. Every chapter drags you like a fishhook to the mouth to your next destination, with a bated-breath desire to know what happens next.
There’s plenty of gore and vengeance, without ever sacrificing the fun that I love in a good horror story.

[Bryn Grover · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent. Ronald Kelly weaves a great tale of horror from the mountains of Tennessee. I couldn't put this one down ... and I am a slow and methodical reader. This one grabbed me fast, held me, slapped me around a little bit, and left me wanting more on one of the characters -- which was in an epilogue of sorts at the end of the book.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Mommacat · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 stars for the story, but the short story that followed raised it to 4 stars.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

🤷‍♀️😄

[RosaneC · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is an imaginative story, but the book is rather childish. Some characters are simply stupid.
And no, this is not a horror story, not scary at all. Just dumb.