“Thirty years ago, a depraved assault during a Halloween costume ball shattered a young woman’s mind, turning her into a brutal mass murderer. Dressed in her rival’s blood-soaked wedding gown, the legend of the Butcher Bride was born. Now, decades later, everyone who enters the Silas Mansion will encounter a frightening spirit ravenous to satisfy perverse appetites. Death is the only escape. Here comes The Bride…”
It was the late 70′s, early 80′s, and there was nothing better than going to the drive-in on a Saturday night with your girlfriend, your best friend and his girlfriend and a couple of 12 packs for a horror double feature. B-Movies, grindhouse, exploitation and drive-in staples like Mark Of The Devil were good for a few screams from the girls and good laughs by your bud and you.
Vince Churchill’s The Butcher Bride gave me a roller coaster ride back in time to those fondly remembered hot summer nights. It is a glorious romp of decadent sex, over the top gore and one of the most vicious ghost and haunted houses I have had the pleasure to read about in quite a while.
The haunted house/vengeful ghost story has been done many times over the years but Vince puts a gleeful manic spin on his version of the tale and pulls it off nicely.
The characters are well realized and lifelike. You grow to love or hate them and you revel in the ways Vince chooses to kill off the unsavory ones. The book has some genuinely creepy moments, and will keep you turning the pages to see what Vince’s fertile imagination can come up with next.
If I had one small complaint, it would have to be the ending. It doesn’t take away from the quality of the storyline or writing, I just think the story would have been better served to come up with something a little different.
That being said I really had a lot of fun and very much enjoyed reading The Butcher Bride and fully intend to delve into Vince’s back catalog to find some more guilty pleasures.
If you love vengeful ghosts, a haunted house on Halloween sprinkled with a liberal amount of bloodshed and sex, The Butcher Bride should be at the top of your reading list.
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