A review by mackenzi
Hellmouth by Giles Kristian, Giles Kristian

adventurous dark mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 This short excursion to the mouth of hell left me feeling disappointed. The story beats and pacing felt extremely familiar; the moment you would expect someone to turn around with a mouthful of maggots, they do. The moment you expect someone to see a mutilated animal corpse, they do. It is a series of very brief spooky scenes one after the other with little fanfare or atmosphere, leaving me feeling a bit like I was sitting in the spalsh zone at Sea World and I left almost completely dry. This makes perfect sense reading the author's note at the end, stating he is co-writing a screenplay, presumably on this same subject. Hellmouth definitely has the vibes of someone writing out scenes of a film. I saw another reviewer state that there is "nothing vivid" despite the explicit gore and I agree with the phrasing. Maggots, blood, entrails, naked bodies. If seeing those words in my review brings to mind some terrible, beautiful imagery in your mind you may love this novella, but if you're looking for something that actually paints a picture, builds atmosphere, or delves into dark implications, look elsewhere. Or, wait until this becomes the movie or miniseries the author is hoping for. I wish the author well in his attempts at getting this on screen, because getting more cooks in the kitchen may be just the opportunity to breathe some life and vigor into what is a pretty standard campfire story. 
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