Lee Mountford astounded me here. The story, the delivery, the content… of the three books I read, The Demonic, The Mark, and Forest of the Damned, the last one was amazing.
Within the pages of Forest of the Damned, we meet a team of paranormal investigators led by a man named Ken. They never found much before the opening of this book. Ken has ulterior motives for his adventures, but his team is looking to market said adventures. They travel to a mysterious place in Scotland called the Black Forest, where a village was rumored to have disappeared after their cult-like behavior got them shunned, 450 years ago. Within hours of their entrance in the dense, mysterious woods, they are greeted by the moans of a human in pain. They travel towards it for ten solid minutes, before the sound just fades out and disappears. This is small potatoes, it turns out, as a paranormal infestation grows within the mind of one of the teammates, leaving them all in danger.
I will admit, I found the premise to be the least interesting of the three books. The very idea reminded me of The Ritual. And while there did seem to be some nods to Adam Nevill's The Ritual, Forest of the Damned was inherently supernatural, where the struggles and fear factors of The Ritual were primarily physical and psychological. What pleases me about these books is the progression of development. In The Demonic, released first, Lee Mountford was getting his feet wet. The Mark was a gory bloodbath, set in an urban setting. Forest of the Damned, however, was something new. Repulsive and violent, I tore through the book in perhaps three hours.
Forest of the Damned was well-edited and well-paced. I did not find any typos, and the speed was tempered to maximize suspense and terror.
The characters were interesting and realistic, and their struggles were harrowing. None of them were likeable except Tony, but let's be honest. You don't read horror to make friends with the characters… You go in hoping that you resonate with that which threatens them. In my opinion, you don't want them to make it, and not whole if they do.
Read this book. Frizzy J highly recommends it. Brew some coffee first though. You won't wanna sleep when you’re done.
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