From the director of really decent Cabinet of Curiosities’ Pickman’s Model and a rather abysmal Firefighter remake (and The Vigil – one I haven’t seen), comes this nightmarish tale or rage personified.
Turns out this guy is a multi-media creator, and sure enough, the novella does have a certain cinematic quality to it, in imagery and pacing. But also, it’s fun, and genuinely creepy.
A story of a young boy coming face to face with his grandpa’s nightmarish secret over the course of a short but categorically memorable stay at his house.
Genre-wise this likely falls into folk. The novella is meant to be the first in series of stories based on English-Scottish folklore. Fun concept, and based on this, might be well executed too. Certainly, a nice quick read for genre fans. Thanks Netgalley.

I was so excited to read this because I've liked the author's films. However , I was a bit disappointed. The story was too short, underdeveloped and lacking. It was a fun tale but predictable and a little unoriginal.

3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Asher is a twelve year-old boy, who visits his grandfather along with his mum. Grandpa was an angry man, having hurt his daughter (actually, he has two) in the past. Nowadays, he's suffering from dementia and his character has mellowed into a rather easy-going old man. Asher finds him different than he remembers, and slowly he realizes that something bizarre is going on in the house. Enter the Dunnie, a strange entity living in the vents of the house. Asher meets Goat, something of a local shaman or warlock; Goat explains what's been going on with Asher's Grandpa and from then on, the story gets creepier and creepier, until it all blows up into a classic American movie-type horror, with chases, sacrifices, and great emotional tension.

The Dunnie is a strange book to review. According to the author's afterword, it belongs to a new series of novellas of his, based on English-Scottish lore, all taking place in the same town. Perhaps this is why a lot remains unexplained and does not feel like a fully realized story. It felt like an episode. On the other hand, 'The Dunnie' works fine as a folk horror tale, with interesting characters, a spooky setting, and an intriguing threat. Some more flashbacks would have fleshed out better the relationship of the father with his daughters (there's only one flashback, unrelated), since it plays such a large role in the actions of the father; as it is, I confess I didn't really get a deep sense of the tension among them, nor did I understand what was the big deal. To be frank, the father did act and appear rather ordinary (the dementia excepted), and his involvement with the supernatural felt out of character. Additionally, we only meet one figure from the town (the mysterious Goat), which turns the place into a movie setting.

However, the writing is great, cinematic, taking care of all the features of a story to be enjoyed by a horror fan. I read the entire thing in a couple of hours.

Thank you to NetGalley for an advanced copy of the Dunnie, giving me the chance to post an honest review.

I didn't know what to expect going into this one. I'm glad i checked it out.
Very nice set up, making the reader have a little sympathy.
And things go sideways, quick.
Enjoyable read, Eerie at times.

The #Dunnie by #KeithThomas was #CREEPY Asher and his family are visiting his Pa when Asher learns about the Dunnie, a terrifying creature that came out of Pa. The rest of the story is what happens after his family learns of the Dunnie and must do what it takes to survive. This novella is fast paced, creepy to the max, and one you’ll finish in one sitting! It’s not often a book creeps me out, but this one did! 4.5⭐️ #thedunnie #keiththomas #netgalleybook #netgalleyauthor #netgalleypublishing #horror #graphic #novella #dark #thriller #netgalleyreviewer #fastpacedbooks

Wow. This was legit creepy. A wonderful magical folklore based horror. Of entities and creatures, what you believe and what you don't. I love how off the bat this already had a good eerie vibe and it was gripping throughout even till the end. That end, WHAT is that end? Ugh. Now i need for Keith Thomas to churn out the rest of the novellas asap!

That was horrifying to say the least. A quick, jarring story of a fathers struggle with anger and the impossible lengths he’ll go to contain it. When he starts to lose his mind his grandson must try to fix the past. A quick creepy read.

Thank you NetGalley for this arc

It is 2008, and Franklin Arceneaux is not a good man. He is verbally, psychologically and occasionally physically abusive to his wife and daughters - an alcoholic misanthrope who has turned their house into his own personal museum.

Fast forward to 2008, and Frank’s daughter Beth and her son Asher are heading back to her childhood home to move Frank into aged care. He has dementia, and Beth warns Asher that he may no longer be the Pa he remembers.

Asher has only ever known Frank to be the epitome of a wonderful grandfather, but after they break the news of his imminent move into a nursing home, Asher begins to see flashes of the angry, sad man his mother grew up with, and it scares him. What scares him more though, is Pa’s revelation that a terrifying creature known as The Dunnie also inhabits the house, and it won’t be happy that he is leaving.

Keith Thomas is an acclaimed director of horror films, and this is apparent in the way he sets scene and tone. He is excellent at establishing a sense of place and unease, which is essential in horror fiction.

While reading, I was reminded of the ‘kids-on-bikes’ films that were prevalent during the 1980s (e.g. E.T., The Goonies) about child heroes saving the day and coming of age through a terrifying ordeal (although replace 1982 with 2022 and a pushbike with a motorcycle). Having grown up in this era, any media that invokes this feeling automatically gives me a pleasant sense of nostalgia.

One of my criticisms is addressed by the author in his afterword-in Australia, dunny is a slang term for toilet, so off the bat the name didn’t instil fear in me (but the descriptions of the Dunnie definitely made up for that, pure nightmare fuel). In the same vein, ‘The ‘Chundering’ is the name the procedure that Goat undertakes on Frank- I realise it was probably intentional as chunder is also a colloquial term for vomiting, however I found that it detracted from the horror of the situation because it sounded kind of silly. But I also wouldn’t be surprised if it had been done on purpose as tongue-in-cheek by the author in reference to the dunny synonym.

Some things were left unexplained (e.g. the Straw Man), but I think this is because this is the first in a series of connected novellas, but even if it isn’t, it didn’t detract from the story, because it added to the fear of the unknown.

In saying that, the Dunnie freaked me out enough that when we had a power outage while I was reading the book at night, I ran as fast as I could outside to check the switchboard! I was a quick and enjoyable read, and I look forward to the rest of the series.

Thank you to NetGalley and Night Platform the ARC

Firstly – huge thank you to Keith Thomas, Night Platform Book Company and Netgalley for the digital ARC!

Ok, I’m so very confused.

About a few things actually.

But – A) Keith Thomas. Director of The Vigil, Firestarter and most recently an episode of Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities wrote this. B) LOOK AT THAT COVER!! I actually messaged Trevor Henderson to ask if he did it (he didn’t) but even he was raving about it. C) This novella is so amazing YET I’M NOT SEEING ANYONE RAVING ABOUT IT!

So, I’m confused.

I’ve heard of the Dunnie before – in a mythology book we got for my son – where it takes the shape of a horse to trick a rider into riding it, only for the horse to ride into the water, drowning the rider and eating them after. I wasn’t sure if that was what we would be getting here, but I didn’t care. I was hooked and intrigued when I read the synopsis – a grandfather in the grips of dementia has a secret within the house. Sign me up.

What I liked: The story follows Asher, a teenaged boy who is struggling at school following the death of his father. His mother takes him with her to his grandpa’s, there to let him know he needs to move into an extended living home as his dementia is progressing and it’s no longer safe for him to live on his own. What they don’t know, is that he made a deal many years ago, and now the results of that deal has grown, and is hungry.

Thomas does a phenomenal job with Asher’s character, at once a kid who you root for and want to see him succeed, but also seeing how he’s holding onto his imagination and not letting the world entirely get to him. This novella had elements that made me feel like I was reading a Gaiman book, or something the Henson Company was producing. The pacing and quick, snappy chapters worked incredibly well to pull this reader along and there wasn’t a moment where the tension wasn’t subtly being increased.

The ending was really well done and I was so excited to see in the afterword that there will be more coming in this world. Thomas really knocked this one out of the park. I’m not sure if this started as a Screenplay and was adapted or how it came to be but this read very cinematically and the locations we got worked perfectly, especially when we were dealing with the character known as Goat.

What I didn’t like: I personally loved everything about this one. So, if I stick to my format/formula of how I lay my reviews out, I think the only thing some folks reading this might not like, is that it is a novella, so some moments and events do come and go quickly. I loved how it read and flowed, but some readers may wish for expansion in some spots.

Why you should buy this: At the moment this appears to be a ebook only, so for paperback lovers, you’ll need to wait. For those who read digitally, this novella has shades of Adam Nevill, Tim Lebbon and Laurel Hightower thrown in. It rips along, our characters are really well done and the relationship between Asher and Pa was really a joy to see how it ebbed and flowed, especially through moments when Pa’s dementia reared up.

This was an outstanding read – one I’ve already added to my ‘Best-Of’ list I have – and I hope more and more people discover this one. Now, I wait for Keith’s next release!

** This review was posted here - https://stevestredauthor.wordpress.com/2022/11/07/book-review-the-dunnie-by-keith-thomas/ - as well as on Twitter/IG and FB. It has also been submitted to Amazon CA and will be added to Goodreads and Bookbub if/when the book is added there!

The Dunnie is a horror novella that uses old legends and lores to create a terrifying story. Although I would have loved to have more or this to read, it was still perfect. I can’t wait to read more in this series.

I received this ebook from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Keith Thomas and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this gem of a novella! I hadn’t heard of Keith Thomas before reading this story, but somewhere around the 40% mark I decided to do some research. Keith is screenwriter, producer and director who has done amazing work with horror films. Which makes sense, because this story felt like a suspense filled horror movie the entire time I was reading it. The writing was great, the characters (especially Pa and Asher) were interesting and the story was not only well developed for it length but super creepy and tense. It was such a fun read, and thank you again for letting me enjoy it!

[Blurb goes here]

This is the debut Novella from Keith Thomas. You might not be familiar with the author, so just a couple of tidbits: He's the writer/director of the film "The Vigil", 91% fresh, audience score 51%, on Rotten Tomatoes. He's also credited as director of the "Pickman's Model" episode from "Gulliermo del Toro's Cabinet of Curiosities" (now on Netflix), one of the great episodes in Del Toro's anthology. With these credentials, it's hard to look away from this book.

The Dunnie is loosely based in English-Scottish lore.

Asher, a problematic boy (twelve), travels with his mom to his grandfathers house. His 'Pa', as he calls him, used to be an ill tempered man, age and the apparent wisdom that comes with it, changed him. Unfortunately, he's starting to suffer from dementia. His two daughters agree that he has to go to a retirement home. While lucid, Pa tells his grandson that he can't leave his house, he has to stay there to feed the Dunnie. His grandson thinks that this is all part of his onset dementia and ignores him...that is, until he listens to a ragged breathing coming from the vents inside his grandfather's home.

When trying to feed the Dunnie with a sheep, Pa gets stopped by his daughter. He argues with Asher that it's been two weeks since he last feed the creature. That's when everything goes sideways.

The author crafts a compelling and eerie tale. No if and buts there. While Asher, his mom and Pa get a wonderful treatment and are perfectly fleshed out, this is not the case for the rest of the cast. Those are underdeveloped: one put into the situation, solely to get hurt by the creature. Funny how, as soon as that character makes an entrance, you'll know what awaits.

The writing is great. The atmosphere gets into scary territory, and fast! I mean, the Dunnie alone is terrifying! I truly recommend this one to horror fans, you won't be disappointed!

Thank you for the advanced copy!

The Dunnie 
by Keith Thompson
4 stars

This book was so out there and odd I feel like it was trying to send a different message but Ummm......
I have never read anything by Keith and it was exciting and intense. Keith's writing style is on point and has excellent visuals. The cover describes what the Dunnie looked like perfectly.
Horror creepy book definitely a must-read for any horror fans, I usually enjoy some horror but the only downfall was I couldn't connect with the characters.

Thank you, Net Galley, and Night Platform Book Company

4 stars
This was a fantastic novella. It was extremely well written, and had great visuals. it was able to be a fully developed story in such a short amount of time. I loved it.
That cover is terrifying too 😳🫣

An excellent folktale/horror story rooted in English-Scottish mythology. I understand that the author has done some directing (Guillermo del Toro’s Cabinet of Curiosities), and I can see this going from book to screen.. It was that visual while I was reading. The author has suggested that this might be the first of a series of related tales, and I certainly hope that’s the case.

that was the perfect cover for a horror novel, and I'm glad I read this. It was what I was hoping for from the cover and the description. Keith Thomas has a great writing style and it works so well in the horror genre. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters and does a great job in telling a story. I really enjoyed getting to know the characters in this story and what was going on. It does a great job as a horror story and I'm glad I read this.

"They reached the bottom of the stairs and Asher stopped, desperate to tell his aunt about the Dunnie, to get her panicked, but after peering into her sleep-bleary eyes, he wasn’t sure it would work. Asher knew Zoe would be too concerned about Pa to listen to his blathering about a monster in the vents."