“I’m only fifteen, but I’m pretty confident there ain’t nothing easy about this world.”-Forest
HOLY GHOST ROAD by John Mantooth
When Forest sees something that she shouldn’t, she runs away heading to her Granny’s house across the county. On the run from Nesmith the minister of his church, the First Assembly of the Lord’s Ordained Prophet, Forest finds lots of trouble as well as herself along the way.
Strong Southern gothic feel, religious cult, supernatural demon ghost, psychological head games, and natural magic all combine to make this a tense, cinematic, on-the-run thriller. There is so much packed into this book but what really comes out is the heart (sometimes literally), but really, there were so many times that I had to pause and just appreciate the sentiment of the lines. I wanted to fill this review with all the thought provoking quotes from this book but I didn’t want to give everything away.
I have seen several comparisons to Robert McCammon and I completely agree.
“the most sacred magic there is in the world, the magic of empathy, even for those people who you understand the least.”

Holy Ghost Road ~ John Mantooth

Net Galley arc
Cemetery Dance Publications
Release date: 20th Dec 2022

4⭐️

“When she discovers Pastor Nesmith praying to a demonic entity in her family’s barn, Forest knows she must run. Enraged at the possibility of having his true allegiance exposed, Nesmith pursues Forest as she flees on foot, hoping to reach the one person who will believe her—her grandmother. Unfortunately, Granny is forty miles away, and Forest has no car, no phone, and no friends. To reach her, Forest will have to learn to see the world true, even as the demonic and the sacred wage war for her soul.”


I struggled with this book for the first 20%. I felt like I was thrown in at the deep end and desperate for something to cling to in the story to help me gain a sense of place and purpose. I really had to force myself to keep going.

However this soon changed! Forest’s journey takes places on so many levels, the physical, mental and spiritual. Every single one is nurtured throughout and the “down-time” in the book is absolutely essential to this. I loved the development of her relationship with Elijah - and the example of a love and bond between a teenage girl and a man that is pure and platonic.

This book is definitely more thriller than chiller - and this is 100% down to the bravery shown by our main character Forest.

I highly recommend this book.

Some books take their time in establishing a setting and the characters and the plot will slowly develop as the location etc become clearer.

This doesn't. we're plunged into the action on page one and it never lets up.

When we meet our central character Forest, she's on the run. She needs to get to her Gran's house. her Gran can help her, she always has done in the past. Surely her dreamwalking powers will save Forest now. What is she running from? She's not sure herself. It's scary though. It has something to do with the strange preacher Nesmith who has an uncanny influence on everyone in the county, and indeed has shacked up with Forest's mother.

The only thing worse than Nesmith, is his sister Ruby Jewel, a blind old woman who still seems more alert and aware than any human should be. Or maybe the goat-headed thing that is following Nesmith as he searches for Forest to deliver her into a fate possibly worse than death.

Together with a friend she meets on her dangerous run, Forest must travel the Holy Ghost Road to her Granny's house and her only hope of salvation.

This is gorgeously written southern-gothic horror. The atmosphere of dread and mystery is sustained through every word of the book.

There are familiar elements to the story but they feel fresh under Mantooth's restrained prose and perfectly nuanced storytelling.

There are layers upon layers to the story and this will certainly reward a reread sometime. There are dark themes running through the book, loss and grief, the negative side of family, the power of belief vs logic. These make for a compelling coming of age story as Forest travels her own spiritual journey as well as the grueling physical trek down the eponymous highway. All the while she needs to avoid the grasps of one of the villainous trio who dog her footsteps the whole distance.

I will certainly be buying a physical copy of this for my reread, whenever that might happen. Mantooth is a major talent. By all the gods and demons, he can spin a damned scary yarn.

Thanks to Cemetery Dance and Netgalley for the chance to read and review John Mantooth's 'Holy Ghost Road.'

I almost made the mistake of judging this book by its cover! I didn't think it was a very strong one and almost didn't request it on that basis but I'm glad I did.

It turned out to be a very enjoyable mix of horror, Southern Gothic, the supernatural, and a grandmother somewhat reminiscent of Mother Abigail in Stephen King's 'The Stand.' Mantooth is very good at establishing the atmosphere of the setting, especially when the two main characters - Forest and Elijah - find themselves on an island full of Forest's kin.

It's a road novel, a quest novel, a battle between good and evil novel with some very effective dashes of real world social and familial problems mixed in to ground it.

I would describe this novel as southern horror-fantasy. Such a good read with a compelling main character, written in first person. The way this is written makes it so easy to picture and feel everything that is happening, which leaves such an emotional impact. Loved it!

Thank you @netgalley for the ARC of Holy Ghost Road. This is a wild ride of a book that keeps you on the edge of your seat. This book combines horror and fantasy along with survival, a little bit of everything for the horror lover, but done in a way that it all melts together perfectly.

Forest discovers her pastor praying to a demon in her barn. She knows she is in danger and has to get to her granny's house 40 miles away on foot. She is being chased by her pastor and his crew and must get to her destination to save herself.

Fifteen year old Forest is on the run from her abusive step father, coming across many obstacles and challenges in the road along the way. She meets Elijah along the way who is helping her get to her grandmother’s house, helping her through those obstacles as well. In its essence, Holy Ghost Road was a coming of age novel about finding power within yourself.

Holy Ghost Road is less horror and more cat and mouse chase thriller, haunted by pacing problems. It's a tale that could have been much better than the sum of its parts and ends up getting stuck in somewhat of a repetitive rut. While the latter chapters do go some way to remedy that, with a quicker pace and some exciting set pieces, the journey there does require a good deal of patience.

The story centers on Forest, a girl who stumbles upon a deep, dark secret. Something that immediately puts her in danger. She stumbles upon Pastor Nesmith praying to a demon inside her family's barn. When she's spotted, Forest knows she has to run away. Her safe haven happens to be her Granny's house, given she could have the magic needed to hold off Nesmith, who's in quick pursuit with his cronies - and the demon itself.

With no car, friends or phone, Forest's journey is a perilous one and as she sets off, Forest soon realizes that there are other horrors out in the world, ones that could be worse than the monstrous demon after her.

While the narrative has a few neat twists and turns, including a particularly stomach-churning game of Truth or Dare on a boat midway through, the story regularly gets stuck spinning its wheels, repeating the same "run, hide, get ready, run" motif numerous times as the story heads toward its ultimate conclusion.

Where Holy Ghost Road does well though is with its characterization for Forest. Seeing the world through her eyes is certainly a welcome inclusion and it helps that the dialogue and descriptions accompany her world view, with plenty of colloquialisms and specific language you can really see this teen using.

You can tell that this story has a lot of folk horror and southern Gothic influences too, and there are a few occasions that feel reminiscent of horrors like Jeepers Creepers (the first one, not the terrible sequences), especially for the chase elements.

But these chase sequences soon run out of stamina and you may find your initial excitement quelling to finger-tapping impatience. The book does manage pull off a pretty decent conclusion, but in order to reach that point the middle chapters sag under the weight of mediocrity. Holy Ghost Road isn't a bad read and you can see glimmers of greatness in this. Unfortunately, it ends up feeling more mediocre than it perhaps should, especially as the story shows so much promise.

5.5/10

This didn't feel like a horror story. It just felt too unrealistic to me. I couldn't really get attached or invested in any of the characters.

Holy Ghost Road by John Mantooth is a great coming of age supernatural horror.
15-year-old Forest is on the run from her soon to be stepfather, Nesmith, after seeing him with a demon goat in the barn. She heads to her grandmothers house that is 40 miles away. She has to be careful with who she can trust along the way.
Thank you Cemetery Dance and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

what a great book! I held my breath until the end! gory at times and then seemingly impossible at others! gripping and breathtaking!

When Forrest wakes up in a hazy stupor and sees her new stepfather communing with a demonic goat creature she knows her only time to get away is now and so she does. While on the run she Meet Isaac and before it’s over they will become the caretaker to Lil Edie. They must be careful who they trust because although it’s only 30 miles to the safety of her grandmother‘s home those miles are populated with her step for those believers. He is the new sensational pastor who people believe performed miracles in the name of God, but Boris knows what gives him the power to do such things and it isn’t our Lord and Savior. She also knows the only person that can help her defeat him is her grandmother but she needs her dream stone but she has no clue where it’s at. Can she find the Dreamstone and make it to her grandmothers house before he finds her and this time she can’t get away? this is a great book about good and evil and it plays off of the goat man urban legend. It’s well written fast paced midpoints it’s on the edge of your seat reading a truly great story. If you love the paranormal, good against evil Then you Will love Holy Ghost Road by John Mantooth I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review..

I really didn’t like this book. The story was nothing like I thought it was going to be. I couldn’t stay interested at all. I kept having to put it down because I just couldn’t get into it. I hate having to write these kind of reviews because I really wanted to like this book but I just couldn’t power through anymore. It just wasn’t for me. Thank you for the opportunity to read this even though I didn’t like the book

From the start this book had me hooked. Such a brilliant way to start it off had me nervous and wondering what could be in store for the rest. And it absolutely did not disappoint! I loved that the book was mostly about her escape and her running from them in the woods! The only thing I wasn’t a huge fan of was the ending with the goat I wanted a little bit more from their interaction with each other. But over I loved this book and 100% would recommend!

Thanks for the arc to the publisher and the author. I enjoyed the book but it wasn't all that I hoped for.

Touted as a coming-of-age horror tale with the tagline, "Some roads are haunted by the past. Some by ghosts. Some are even haunted by demons. The one Forest must travel is haunted by all three," HOLY GHOST ROAD was indeed an immersive creepy read.

This book was an exploration of good vs. evil and will make the reader question everything they thought they knew about each.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for this early read. This book will publish December 20, 2022.

DNF at 53%. Holy Ghost Road is styled like a chase thriller, but feels a lot like just running in place. The characters don’t really go anywhere and they do a lot of it, getting nowhere fast. They run, they rest, they get chased again, they run some more. They run across land, down the road, through the woods, swim across a lake to an island, then leave by boat to get back to land, to flee through the woods again, to get to the road, to escape again, to be chased again, and on and on and on. The plot moves with the ease of convenience heaped upon convenience, and the whole damn thing is just tiring as all get out. I’m not feeling this one at all…

Wow. This is a can't miss book. Combines Gothic and horror perfectly. My review is simple...Read This Book.

2,5 stars rounded up to 3.

I had really high expectations for this book, the plot seemed intriguing and scary. Unfortunately, I'm really sorry to say, this wasn't the case for me: the plot is dull, chapter after chapter, it seems something really big and unexpected you didn't see it was coming is about to happen but the end was quite foreseeable, no plot twists, a lot of unclear and unexplained details. A few passages were indeed quite nice and gripping but they didn't lead to anything jaw-dropping.

Coming December 20, 2022 from Cemetery Dance Publications, Holy Ghost Road by John Mantooth is perhaps the most uncanny coming-of-age tale since a small band of children battled an evil cosmic horror buried deep beneath Derry, Maine.

Some roads are haunted by the past. Some by ghosts. Some are even haunted by demons. The one Forest must travel is haunted by all three.

Forest discovers Pastor Nesmith praying to a demonic entity in her family’s barn, and knows she must run. Enraged at the possibility of having his true allegiance exposed, Nesmith pursues Forest as she flees on foot, hoping to reach the one person who will believe her - her grandmother.

Unfortunately, Granny is forty miles away, and Forest has no car, no phone, and no friends. To reach her, Forest will have to learn to see the world true, even as the demonic and the sacred wage war for her soul.

John Mantooth masters the deep point of view first-person narrative in this tale. The strong and unique voice of Forest is honest. The voice of a teenage girl beset on all sides by horrors intent on her destruction.

Throughout the work, religious themes blend with the magic of nature and creatures to guide and teach Forest along her journey. There are plenty of unsettling, and scary scenes with an evil, twisted preacher and his band of acolytes. As well as an evil goat demon connected to Forest in suprising ways!

Mantooth layers imagery and symbolism from the first page to the last - imbuing the story with meaning and purpose. Forest has an important lesson to learn, one she teaches her companion in the novel, and one readers will walk away with as well.

John Mantooth is the award-winning author of two novels and a short story collection. His first novel, The Year of the Storm, was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. He has also published three crime novels under the pseudonym Hank Early. Heaven’s Crooked Finger (written as Hank Early) was a Next Generation Indie Book award winner and 2017 Foreword Indies Award Finalist. He lives in Alabama with his wife and two children.