Book Title: "Darkened Hills" & “Darkened Hollows”
Author: Gary Lee Vincent
Published By: Burning Bulb Publishing
Age Recommended: 17+
Reviewed By: Kitty Bullard
Raven Rating: 3

Review: “Darkened Hills” and “Darkened Hollows” is a vampire series written by Gary Lee Vincent with scenes reminiscent of both “Dracula” and “Salem’s Lot.” While there was good action and a semi-interesting plot, I was not overly impressed as I felt the book was more the authors own rendition of two greater horror classics.

The books weren’t bad but still lacked the quality I expected from this writer. I would still recommend them if you are looking for a decent horror read related to vampires. I gave both books a 3 on the Raven Rating Scale, I have to say were these books a movie… they would be a B rated horror from the 80’s at best.

Synopsis: A tale of gripping psychological horror!

When evil descends on a small West Virginia town, who will survive?

Jonathan did not start out his life to become a rambler, it just worked out that way. William was a troubled youth with something to hide. Both were from Melas, a small town tucked away in the West Virginia hills... a town where disappearances are happening more and more frequently.

After the suicide of a wanted serial killer, the townsfolk thought the nightmare was over. But when a centuries-old vampire is discovered they find out the hard way it's just getting started. Dark secrets can only stay hidden for so long and when the devil comes to collect, there will be hell to pay. Can Jonathan and William find a way to stop the vampire before it's too late? Find out in Darkened Hills!

Darkened Hills is a gothic vampire novel written in the spirit of Dracula with much more sinister characters and eroticism then the old Victorian classic. ( )

I'm sorry that I just couldn't get into this book. I was very excited to have won it from LibraryThing and looked forward to the review. But I had several issues that kept me from enjoying the story.

First of all, the character names really threw me for a loop as they are the same from Bram Stoker's "Dracula": Jonathan Harker, Mina (Wilhelmina), Lucy and Raymond Renfield. It was distracting as I kept picturing the characters from the original vampire saga.

This is definitely NOT a book for young readers. It is very violent and gory and there are a lot of gratutious sex scenes. I'm not squeamish by any means, but there was a section regarding torturing cats that I found extremely offensive. That part pretty much overshadowed the rest of the book for me.

This is not one of the glittery, sparkly teen angst vampire novels. The storyline is a much darker, monster story that is what nightmares are made of. I think that if the author had used original character names and hadn't gone as much for the bloody shock value, his plot could have really made for a much better and longer story. The basic bones are there but I just couldn't get past the points I mentioned above.

I do want to note that I LOVE the cover and that several readers on Goodreads and LibraryThing had a completely different response to the book. This review is strictly MY personal reaction to it and I hope you'll check out what others thought of it. I appreciate the author and LibraryThing giving me a chance to read the book. ( )

I found this to be a quick read and hard to put down. It's filled with cruel vampires, lots of gore, and a bit of sex. Some scenes will have you cringing and putting the book down, but it's worth reading to the end. ( )

Gary Lee Vincent has created a vampire novel that goes against the recent trend for romanticising blood suckers and goes back to the depraved and monstrous fiends of traditional vampire legends. There’s no sexy smouldering coolness like Jean-Claude in Laurell K Hamilton’s “Anita Blake” series or soul searching teenage tenderness like Edward Cullen in Stephanie Meyer’s “Twilight” trilogy. This vampire is pure unadulterated demonic evil, from his talon like hands down to the wings on his back. This is a cold hearted creature that’s the stuff of nightmares, not fantasies!

Pure dark horror fiction at its best, the author will have you recoiling at times as the tale takes a few particularly dark turns. You’ll be kept in suspense as the story unfolds, with secrets hinted at and dark forces slowly unveiled, until the book suddenly reaches it’s awful and horrific climax. With sex thrown in for good measure, you really cannot go wrong with this read that will definitely keep you enthralled until the end (and probably make you want to keep the lights on too!).

At some points I actually found myself closing my eyes in a vain attempt to block out the images created in my mind by the words on the page. I can’t actually remember the last time a book had that effect on me. As the deathly drama unfolds, many of Vincent’s characters are transfixed by the horror they are witnessing, and believe me you will be too! ( )

Since I am from WV I always enjoy reading books written by WV authors. Gary Lee Vincent is a new to me author that in writing Darkened Hills has written one of my favorite genres vampire/horror fiction. The setting is in the great state of WV, in a tiny town called Melas, a fictionalized town that sits about two hours outside of Pittsburgh Pa, the town was once a thriving community but due to the dark forces that enveloped the community it became a ghost town, many of the residents started moving away when people started disappearing, but there are forty-three residents that are unaccounted for, including the town's doctor and his wife. What could have happened to the residents, and how can that many people disappear without a trace?

Johnathan Harker has come back to his hometown in the hopes of purchasing the Madison House for back taxes, but that doesn't happen. Even though the house appears abandoned, in truth, the person living there is the worst kind of evil there is. The vampire that lives in Madison House, had been leading a very low profile life for years, hiring a couple of townspeople to bring him people to feed on, people that wouldn't be missed and then their bodies would be disposed of. As if that's not bad enough, one night something far worse is unleashed, something that has an unquenchable thirst for blood! Can anyone put a stop to the evil that has the tiny town in its clutches, and will anyone survive?

This story grabs you and sucks you in and doesn't turn you loose. The whole town of Melas is full of weird, characters, from the guy who likes to "herd cats" to the alcoholic real estate agent who makes a deal with the devil, or the guy who donates "hamburger meat" to the church, and it really isn't hamburger meat at all! A story that never gets dull, just when you think nothing worse can happen, guess what it does. With the way the story ended it leaves its readers wanting more, and we can only hope for a sequel that gives us the story of Ralphie!

This book is a must read for anyone that loves horror, blood,dark humor, gore, and vampires from your worst nightmare! Be warned once you start reading this book, you wont be able to put it down, its just that good! ( )