The Devil Behind Me - Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes

THE DEVIL BEHIND ME is a new horror novella from Christopher Fulbright and Angeline Hawkes, and it's a good, gory yarn. In an opening scene set in Germany that reminded me a little of Robert E. Howard's "The Black Stone", young Alex Brandt and three of his friends spy on Alex's older sister, who is bent on some secretive mission in the woods. When Ilona Brandt winds up in a clearing complete with sinister alter and robed, chanting acolytes of the demon Krampus (the German anti-Santa who punishes bad boys and girls on Christmas Eve), you just know something terrible is going to happen, and boy, does it.

From there the story jumps forward to when Alex is grown and living in Dallas, far from Germany but still haunted by what happened there on that night so long ago. He decides he has to go back to his hometown and put all those old memories to rest, and his girlfriend comes with him so they can make a vacation of it. I don't think it'll come as a surprise to anyone that the trip doesn't quite go the way Alex intended.

Fulbright and Hawkes add murder to the mix, along with an old witch, some kinky sex, and ultimately a dramatic confrontation with evil itself. THE DEVIL BEHIND ME races along at a very satisfying pace, and it's creepy enough to satisfy any fan of horror fiction. I enjoyed it and think it's well worth reading.