Bark at the Ghouls

I’ve read a few books by author Michaelbrent Collings and they have all been solid horror stories as well as excellent character studies and as reader who loves a good character driven story, I really appreciate the deep dive into their psyches. I like knowing what makes people tick because I am nosy and also because so many authors don’t do it. They allow the action to take over the entire show and that’s when they usually lose me. If you’re the same type of reader, you should check out this guy’s work. 

Several people awaiting a bus find themselves trapped within the bus terminal when a creepy fog rolls in. The fog brings with it death and dire warnings “if you leave, you die” and they soon realize via a text message that they’re all trapped inside of some sort of sadistic game, trick, or alien invasion and that only one of them will survive. If they don’t choose a survivor within the specified time frame they’re all going to die!

So guess what happens when you put a gang member, a junkie, a lazy good-for-nothing jerky security officer, a drug dealer, a Mary Kay pusher and a few decent people (with secrets – yes, that is my catnip and there are plenty of them here) under intense pressure like this? TERRIBLE THINGS, bloody things, messy and gory things, heehee! The intense situation brings out the best and the worst in these people and it expertly shows all of the intricate facets that make them both awful and human. And, also, what the heck is out there lurking in the fog?!

Terminal is a weird, sinister story that kept me guessing and, even though I’ve read probably too many horror stories for most sane people, I did not figure out that ending and I appreciated that. There were plenty of clues but I apparently missed them all until the reveal and then I was all “ahh, you dummy it was all there right in front of you!” I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys getting to know a cast of characters and watching them get picked off in terrible ways, one by one!