This didn't quite work for me - I like my horror atmospheric, and this was brisk and to-the-point, the monster readily dispatched with fire and ingenuity. It's an interesting twist in the setup, to be sure, but that doesn't carry the whole novella for me.

Isn't the cover absolutely ominously stunning? I have to admit that part of the reasons for me to want to read this book was the cover and of course the fascinating blurb. Who doesn't love a devil child, and brutally murders? Well, not everyone perhaps, but I love horror books like this.

I especially liked the historical part of this story, when Maggie, Russell, and Henry learn more about the horned child skeleton that they found when they started to dig around the house in the woods. What I felt the story lacked, however, was a chilling vibe. The story is definitely interesting and well-written. I just felt that it never really hooked me or got my pulse racing, in the way I want when I read a horror tale. I was fascinated, but I also felt a bit disconnected with the characters, which can be because of the shortness of the tale. I was never really worried about them, they never got under my skin. They are not flat, but neither do they flesh out properly. The same problem did I have with the victims in this story if there had been more interactions, then I would have felt more for them. With other words, if the story had been longer, then perhaps it would have gotten to me more.

Nevertheless, it's definitely is a story I would recommend and I do want to read more books by Jeffrey Ford.