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Vampires in Devil Town #1
Vampires in Devil Town
One evening Rachel Stokes is yanked from her bed and dragged into a black van by two young abductors. They refer to her as a chosen sacrifice and her mind races, wondering where they might be taking her. She thinks she knows. There's a house located in a hollow of rural Lynchville. It's called the Sad House, a place of legend. Rumors say it appears and disappears. Even worse than the house are the people who live in it. They could be vampires. They could just be ghosts with teeth. They've come after Rachel before and she narrowly escaped. And now they've come back to finish what they started in this horrifying and suspenseful novel by first time author Wayne Hixon.
376 pages, Paperback
First published August 7, 2010
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461 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews
September 23, 2010
Great authors know how to use a economy of words to convey a feeling. They construct carefully in both words and plots. Less is more is their mantra. Logic and believability is their goal even in the most fantastic of ideas.
Then there is Wayne Hixon.
Mr. Hixon wallows in the excess. Why have one devil when you can populate the whole town? And the town? That would be Lynchville, not to be confused with Lynchburg, Tennessee; the home of a certain alcoholic beverage the author was undoubtedly drinking while he wrote this. Don't just make it creepy. Let the locals get their morning coffee at a place called the Wake Up Screaming Cafe and buy their books in The Den of Iniquity. There is dialogue where the hero says things like "Isn't a tire iron a cool weapon?". Dismemberment, demon possession, torture, kinky sex? It's all there with a amazing lack of subtlety.
In other words, Wayne Hixon rulez.
This may be a guilty pleasure but it is one hell (no pun intended) of a guilty pleasure. The author has written a rickety roller coaster of a horror novel that doesn't stop until all the passengers are tossed out into the dark. The characters, while certainly not of Pride and Prejudice quality, are sympathetic when they need to be or delightfully villainous when they need to be. What the action lacks in control it makes up with pure imagination. I wish more horror novelists just went with the flow as Hixon clearly does in this avalanche of supernatural terrors. I haven't had such a "WTF?" reaction while reading a book since I first read Jack Ketchum's Off Season in the early 70s. And that is a big compliment. I'm already in line for Wayne Hixon's next opus.
Then there is Wayne Hixon.
Mr. Hixon wallows in the excess. Why have one devil when you can populate the whole town? And the town? That would be Lynchville, not to be confused with Lynchburg, Tennessee; the home of a certain alcoholic beverage the author was undoubtedly drinking while he wrote this. Don't just make it creepy. Let the locals get their morning coffee at a place called the Wake Up Screaming Cafe and buy their books in The Den of Iniquity. There is dialogue where the hero says things like "Isn't a tire iron a cool weapon?". Dismemberment, demon possession, torture, kinky sex? It's all there with a amazing lack of subtlety.
In other words, Wayne Hixon rulez.
This may be a guilty pleasure but it is one hell (no pun intended) of a guilty pleasure. The author has written a rickety roller coaster of a horror novel that doesn't stop until all the passengers are tossed out into the dark. The characters, while certainly not of Pride and Prejudice quality, are sympathetic when they need to be or delightfully villainous when they need to be. What the action lacks in control it makes up with pure imagination. I wish more horror novelists just went with the flow as Hixon clearly does in this avalanche of supernatural terrors. I haven't had such a "WTF?" reaction while reading a book since I first read Jack Ketchum's Off Season in the early 70s. And that is a big compliment. I'm already in line for Wayne Hixon's next opus.
August 5, 2010
WARNING: DO NOT READ THIS BOOK AT NIGHT. IT WILL GIVE YOU NIGHTMARES.
Trust me I know from experience. Consider yourself warned.
This isn't your typical vampire story. It has a lot of really bizarre twists and turns. I really liked the fact that I could never tell where the author was going with the story until I got there. It's like walking through a haunted house and not knowing what horrors will show themselves to you, until they show up, which I absolutely loved.
I was surprised to learn that this is Wayne Hixon's first novel. It was very well put together. I liked that in the beginning chapters, the reader is introduced one by one to all the main characters. Then in the middle, all the characters worlds collide and that's where all the creepy and strange things happen. And then at the end, the reader gets the conclusion from each of the characters viewpoints again. Really unique way of styling a story in a relatable fashion and I kind of dug that. I will be keeping my eye on you Wayne. I can't wait to see what you'll come up with next! Also, many thanks for letting me download the e-book to preview the terror!
P.S. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping to win one of the ten books that's being given away via first-reads, since this is one I'd love to add to my permanent collection and when I'm in the mood to be terrified, I'd pick this one up again for sure, like around Halloween, my most favorite time of the year. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Trust me I know from experience. Consider yourself warned.
This isn't your typical vampire story. It has a lot of really bizarre twists and turns. I really liked the fact that I could never tell where the author was going with the story until I got there. It's like walking through a haunted house and not knowing what horrors will show themselves to you, until they show up, which I absolutely loved.
I was surprised to learn that this is Wayne Hixon's first novel. It was very well put together. I liked that in the beginning chapters, the reader is introduced one by one to all the main characters. Then in the middle, all the characters worlds collide and that's where all the creepy and strange things happen. And then at the end, the reader gets the conclusion from each of the characters viewpoints again. Really unique way of styling a story in a relatable fashion and I kind of dug that. I will be keeping my eye on you Wayne. I can't wait to see what you'll come up with next! Also, many thanks for letting me download the e-book to preview the terror!
P.S. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, hoping to win one of the ten books that's being given away via first-reads, since this is one I'd love to add to my permanent collection and when I'm in the mood to be terrified, I'd pick this one up again for sure, like around Halloween, my most favorite time of the year. MWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
September 12, 2020
A decent, if clunky and sometimes tonally uneven. I'd be interested to see where Hixon goes in his other works. There was a solid idea here and some really good work on it.
September 20, 2012
It's not well written (but, really, what did I expect?) and that really got in the way of my enjoying it. It is so full of little inconsistencies and fallacies, which greatly annoyed me.
I was never frightened in the least by anything in this book, despite the fact that it contains several elements that are almost guaranteed to creep me out. The writing is entirely emotionless, he was simply conveying the events. The characters hardly seemed frightened themselves; bantering while escaping, or just having escaped, these atrocities. The author may have said they were scared a few times, but it never felt like the were.
Something would happen, with no explanation, and I would have NO idea what that was about. Until, a few pages later, it spelled everything out. It never really alludes to these things, it never lets you figure out anything for yourself, it just tells you. I don't like that.
At the very end it does leave you with something to think on, and that is good. The last sentence I like, but not a lot more. There were a few points where I started to kind of like it, but they ended quickly.
I was never frightened in the least by anything in this book, despite the fact that it contains several elements that are almost guaranteed to creep me out. The writing is entirely emotionless, he was simply conveying the events. The characters hardly seemed frightened themselves; bantering while escaping, or just having escaped, these atrocities. The author may have said they were scared a few times, but it never felt like the were.
Something would happen, with no explanation, and I would have NO idea what that was about. Until, a few pages later, it spelled everything out. It never really alludes to these things, it never lets you figure out anything for yourself, it just tells you. I don't like that.
At the very end it does leave you with something to think on, and that is good. The last sentence I like, but not a lot more. There were a few points where I started to kind of like it, but they ended quickly.
August 25, 2010
Like many readers I love a vampire book. Therefore, when I won Vampires in Devil Town, from Goodreads.com, I couldn't wait to sink my teeth into this read. And then I read it... It's a horror story, or so I'm told. I wasn't horrified. Sadly, I wasn't really entertained.
Right from the get, I felt I was missing something - that possibly this book was a sequel. In the long run you get spinets of the main characters past filling in the blanks. Although, for me it didn't draw me into the story devouring the writers words, as I'm assuming he envisioned.
All in all, the book was amateurish. With the excessive use of pronouns you tend to forget who the chapters were focused on. The lack of feeling behind the dialogue left the characters blank. It was a book I didn't look forward to reading.
I did like a few chapters and the story idea was a little on the "Buffy" side (that's a good thing).
Overall, I rated the book as "it was OK," however, a 1 1/2 star rating would be more appropriate. I'd rate this as an "Eh".
Right from the get, I felt I was missing something - that possibly this book was a sequel. In the long run you get spinets of the main characters past filling in the blanks. Although, for me it didn't draw me into the story devouring the writers words, as I'm assuming he envisioned.
All in all, the book was amateurish. With the excessive use of pronouns you tend to forget who the chapters were focused on. The lack of feeling behind the dialogue left the characters blank. It was a book I didn't look forward to reading.
I did like a few chapters and the story idea was a little on the "Buffy" side (that's a good thing).
Overall, I rated the book as "it was OK," however, a 1 1/2 star rating would be more appropriate. I'd rate this as an "Eh".
September 1, 2010
Overall I enjoyed reading this book. It has a creepy feel to it and the author's descriptions really drew me into this creepy, weird little town. It has enough gore and blood to satisfy most horror fans. This book is a quick read and moves from weirdness to more weirdness fast enough to be quite entertaining. There were a few spots where the characters made what I thought would be unnatural or unusual decisions as well as a few places where the story seemed to skip ahead a paragraph or maybe a sentence inexplicably, causing me to re-read that part and wonder what I had missed. Despite these occasional odditys I really liked this book and am looking forward to reading more from this author. Good job Mr. Hixon and keep them coming.
August 8, 2011
I honestly didn't finish this book, but I was thoroughly interested in what I did read. It creeped me out too much for me to continue. It's categorized as Romance on amazon ... this is NO romance. I stopped half way through and nothing I read could be categorized as a romance. I was very interested in the story and the writing was good. I would recommend reading the other reviews on goodreads before deciding to read it.
dnf
August 10, 2011I agree with Jamie's review.
I'm not in to horror, so I didn't finish it. But I can't say it's bad: it creeped me out :)
I'm not in to horror, so I didn't finish it. But I can't say it's bad: it creeped me out :)
March 7, 2013
I'm at 23% & just cant seem to get any further...
January 13, 2018
It's missing a large chunk of cohesive mythology/background about the devils, story and characters could've been fleshed out more. Some gruesome descriptions would've worked really well if only they were anchored by a good story and characters. Otherwise, not going to continue this series.
November 29, 2010
I downloaded this book (PDF) for free after reading some of the reviews for the book. Remembering that this is a first time writer, the story wasn't awfully bad. There were some dark spots along the way and the ending was kind of strange.
The story is about Rachel Stokes and Jacob Riley, two individuals who two years previously, stopped the Demons from taking Rachel on Halloween night. Rachel was somehow given the ability to heal people, which comes in handy at the end of the story.
Flash forward two years later, and Rachel is once again in the path of the Demons. She is taken from her home through the back of her own closet. Rachel, it seems, has been chosen a replacement for one of the Devils or Vampires, as you like. The other replacement, Zack Corbin, has been working hard to lure Charlotte into their lair.
Ilya and Ernst, the vampires, send a pair of losers, Bones and Rain, to grab her and bring her back to their house. Rachel is to be Ilya's replacement. Zack, Ernsts.
After escaping, with Rain's help, they arrive at Jacob's house to find he has destroyed his TV due to Ernsts attempts at driving him over the edge of sanity. Rain, joins Rachel and Jacob in plotting to eliminate the evil that resides within Sad House.
I wasn't too shocked to see Rain and Charlotte die, but dragging Autumn into the mess and then killing her off, was a bit on the Dean Koontz side of story telling. The torture that was done to Jacob was truly disgusting as well.
I would only recommend this book if you are a die hard Koontz, or Stephen King fan. The blood and gore are not for the faint at heart.
The story is about Rachel Stokes and Jacob Riley, two individuals who two years previously, stopped the Demons from taking Rachel on Halloween night. Rachel was somehow given the ability to heal people, which comes in handy at the end of the story.
Flash forward two years later, and Rachel is once again in the path of the Demons. She is taken from her home through the back of her own closet. Rachel, it seems, has been chosen a replacement for one of the Devils or Vampires, as you like. The other replacement, Zack Corbin, has been working hard to lure Charlotte into their lair.
Ilya and Ernst, the vampires, send a pair of losers, Bones and Rain, to grab her and bring her back to their house. Rachel is to be Ilya's replacement. Zack, Ernsts.
After escaping, with Rain's help, they arrive at Jacob's house to find he has destroyed his TV due to Ernsts attempts at driving him over the edge of sanity. Rain, joins Rachel and Jacob in plotting to eliminate the evil that resides within Sad House.
I wasn't too shocked to see Rain and Charlotte die, but dragging Autumn into the mess and then killing her off, was a bit on the Dean Koontz side of story telling. The torture that was done to Jacob was truly disgusting as well.
I would only recommend this book if you are a die hard Koontz, or Stephen King fan. The blood and gore are not for the faint at heart.
December 14, 2011
Ok, let me start out by saying that 4 stars is probably too high for this book-it's a low 4 stars-now, the reason it gets 4 stars is this:
It was the writer's first novel, it was self published for only for e-book as far as I can tell, and when I put it in those categories, it was way better than most the other self published e-books I've read for free on my Kindle. There have been plenty of those that I gave 3 stars, and, this deserves just a little more than average for me.
The writing wasn't all that great, and the characters were just OK. But, the plot was good, and the "horror" factors were great. Few books actually take the amount of risks this one did as far as "oh, he might have just crossed the line" moments. While some people might think that's bad, to someone who's read and watched a lot of horror, it's refreshing to really get some nitty gritty horror instead of main-stream treading the water. I thought the plot and horror elements were edgy and daring, and they kept me interested and surprised. Quick story on this one: Basically, the town of Lynchville has been plagued with more murders, disappearances, etc., than your average town, and there are a lot of rumors of "devils" in the town that encompass ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and vampires! This story explores the reasons behind why this town is a little odd.
It was the writer's first novel, it was self published for only for e-book as far as I can tell, and when I put it in those categories, it was way better than most the other self published e-books I've read for free on my Kindle. There have been plenty of those that I gave 3 stars, and, this deserves just a little more than average for me.
The writing wasn't all that great, and the characters were just OK. But, the plot was good, and the "horror" factors were great. Few books actually take the amount of risks this one did as far as "oh, he might have just crossed the line" moments. While some people might think that's bad, to someone who's read and watched a lot of horror, it's refreshing to really get some nitty gritty horror instead of main-stream treading the water. I thought the plot and horror elements were edgy and daring, and they kept me interested and surprised. Quick story on this one: Basically, the town of Lynchville has been plagued with more murders, disappearances, etc., than your average town, and there are a lot of rumors of "devils" in the town that encompass ghosts, zombies, werewolves, and vampires! This story explores the reasons behind why this town is a little odd.
March 13, 2013
Vampires In Devil Town is the debut of Wayne Hixon but it doesn't have that clunky awkward feel like a lot of debut novels have. The first half is comprised of the setup and the introduction of the characters. There's also an interlude that explains what happened to Sarah and Jacob.
The devils are comprised of demons, werewolves, and even ghosts. When you combine all of these elements together it sometimes falls apart but in Vampires it ties together nicely. You can tell that the author spent a large amount of time not only developing these characters but the story as well.
This is a well written horror novel. There's something here for everyone but there was one dark spot. The ending. I hated the ending and was surprised. It was almost as if the author ran out of ideas. This is still one of my favorite books but I wish it had ended differently.
The devils are comprised of demons, werewolves, and even ghosts. When you combine all of these elements together it sometimes falls apart but in Vampires it ties together nicely. You can tell that the author spent a large amount of time not only developing these characters but the story as well.
This is a well written horror novel. There's something here for everyone but there was one dark spot. The ending. I hated the ending and was surprised. It was almost as if the author ran out of ideas. This is still one of my favorite books but I wish it had ended differently.
January 22, 2014
This was a silly unbelievable and lame book. I got it from ebubbooks (or something like that) for free. It's the authors first book and maybe he'll go back to his day job. However, it did have a very few redeeming qualities like the name for the elusive house where the vampires (who did a lot of 'tearing out of throats') lived. He called it the Sad House and the story behind it was interesting. The characters were mostly unlikeable, some of them who had powers were never explained as to why or how they came about them and the ending was abrupt and just as unbelievable. I'll never get this time back. What I want is A REALLY GOOD VAMPIRE BOOK (that is not Anne Rice because I've read that one).
August 26, 2010
I found the story interesting. Some parts of the diolog irritated me but other parts are funny and things I could see people really saying in situations like that. I enjoyed the fact that this book did not focus on the myth of vampires. I feel it is important to mention that the title is misleading. The town is not called Devil Town and the "bad people" are not just vampires. I was left with questions at the end of the book. I am wondering if there is going to be another book or if the reader has to speculate what happens next. I would say the intended audience for this book are adults.
September 5, 2010
This is one of the best and creepiest "ghost" stories I have read in a long time! The author was able to really build upon characters that we could both love and some we really want to hate. Even though this book is written with young adults as the main characters it is suprisingly very adult thinking and approaches to the dangers that stalk this town and their lives. This book really takes you on a deep descent into a heart-stopping nightmare!
August 14, 2011
This book is an easy read about strange happenings in a small town. It was ok but I would have liked to see the characters expanded a bit. There is an ongoing reference in the book about something that happened 2 years ago and it would have been nice if more info was provided on that. But overall it was entertaining & easy even if it wasn't the best book ever.
December 31, 2013
A complete page-turner. I enjoyed the fast paced, yet understandable plot line. It was great to see a different spin put on the vampires. This had the enough character development to know who was who but not so many details as to bog the story down. I felt fullfilled at the end and that it came to a good close.
August 5, 2011
Freebie !! Was a good book, enjoyed the action, a quick read, unusual vampire book not even sure if they were vampires or just very strange people, not too sure I liked vampires being the badies as I have come to love them (well most of them) lol !!!
May 16, 2013
For a first time novel, this book was very good. The torturing scene was actually really goring and descriptive, although I was really mad that almost every character died and it became predictable. I agree that if your a horror fan or a stephen king fan, you will enjoy this book.
November 10, 2015
Solid horror that was well paced and well written. As the tale unfolded, it had just the right amount of surprises and kept me interested all of the way through. I am looking forward to the other two in the trilogy.
August 18, 2010
My reviews are typically pretty concise, but I've managed to condense this one to two words:
Team Hixon.
Team Hixon.
Want to read
July 28, 2010Grindhouse look great so far...this should be no exception!
October 23, 2010
Definitely not my thing, but it's quite well told.
January 4, 2011
It was definitely a dark book. There were parts that dragged on a bit but overall it was ok.
August 9, 2011
Very weird book...almost seemed like it was a sequel, too much backstory had to be filled in.
September 1, 2011
really creepy...
May 12, 2012
has david lynch/quentin tarantino qualities: over-the-top, grind house, pulp fiction icky weirdness that entertains, repels & amuses all at the same time.
August 15, 2012
Delightfully creepy, but it must be a 2nd (or later) in a series, and I felt lost quite a bit... whatever I missed wasn't very clearly explained. Otherwise it'd get a 4th star. :D
August 21, 2012
a bit too much erotica, I think it distracted from the plot
Displaying 1 - 30 of 34 reviews