Night Worms Book Party: THE NIGHT SILVER RIVER RUN RED by Christine Morgan

“This is probably my favorite of the four in the Western Splatter series so far. Christine Morgan is an author I will absolutely be keeping an eye on. There's something about the way she writes that made this such an easy novella to fly through. I did find the beginning a tad bit slow but it really ramps up page by page. While I think the gore in this is minimal compared to the first three in the series, make no mistake - there's still plenty of splatter to keep you happily bathed in blood.” -@wherethereadergrows

“I really enjoyed the different stories and scenes that this book takes you through. It really spiced things up for me in the splatterpunk western series. My favorite character was Horsecock. As funny as the name is and the bad things this character does, he pose some good questions i've never seen brought up in a book.“𝘼𝙧𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙡 𝙢𝙖𝙣?” This is the first splatterpunk western written by a woman and I want more of it! The only issue I had was the beginning was a little hard to get into because the sentence structures threw me off. I was up one night reading it and thought I was losing my mind, rereading sentences but the book quickly righted itself after about 10% in. Overall I gave this a 4 ⭐️ review.” -@n0vel.id3a

“Something about Morgan's writing style kept me in a trance. Her descriptive imagery remains fresh throughout and her engaging and wildly entertaining dialogue are just two reasons this book flew by. While there is certainly enough Western gore in this to justify it being in the Splatter series, Morgan has a different approach to where it is placed. These scenes are placed perfectly in the spots that will make your skin crawl the most. While I did not let go of the book with my fingers stained red and dripping as much as others in the series, I left more freaked out. Some of these characters are truly scary - Horace Cochran aka Horsecock is not someone I would want to be left in a room with unarmed. He is one of those people who can just get right under your skin and dig until it hurts.

The Night Silver River Run Red gets a strong 4⭐ from me! The book started out a little slow/difficult for me to get into... and by the end I definitely wanted more of these traveling carnies. I wish they had been explored more and played a more prominent role throughout the entire story.” -@findingmontauk1

“Christine Morgan’s writing is witty, electric, and appropriately descriptive where it counts—that deliciously gritty gore. Her use of Wild West type vernacular throughout the story proved effective in immersing the reader in her world of gunslinging and sharpshooting. I also loved the way Morgan introduced her colorful characters, eccentric and wicked alike. She seemed to enjoy focusing especially on the Nasty Bastards Gang, dedicating large portions of each chapter to their sadistic murder methods. I’m not gonna lie, these chapters will make you grimace. But I was completely engrossed in the grotesque details and fearing for all the townsfolk of Silver River.” -@the_wandering_reader

“Once this story gets going, it is absolutely impossible to put a bookmark in and walk away. I had to do that a few times because "life" and it always pissed me off--but I enjoyed thinking about the story and anticipating getting back into it.

Christine Morgan really brings something unique and special to this series by introducing a wildly entertaining cast of characters and some great dialog. The freakish, cult-like atmosphere of the sideshow people is delicious reading. I loved my time with some of the more disturbing scenes that make this book the perfect poster child for "Splatterpunk Westerns". It delivers on all the brutality and colorful, shocking descriptions that Wile E. Young established as the standard in Book 1. This book just totally re-energized my passion for this series. Truly a stand out. I will definitely be adding more Christine Morgan books to my shelves.” -@mother.horror

“𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘚𝘪𝘭𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘶𝘯 𝘙𝘦𝘥 by Christine Morgan is the 4th in the Splatter Western series from Death's Head Press. This series continues to be a joy to read with this installment claiming the number two spot in my personal rankings. ⁣” -@teamredmon

“This is a SPLATTER Western. It earns its title with a string of bombastic, gleeful scenes of horrific violence. I can imagine Christine Morgan sipping Whiskey from a tin cup and cackling like a mad-woman in delight as she typed each word of this novel. The enthusiasm of the author is infectious.

I've enjoyed them all, but I think this is my favorite offering so far in this series of standalone horror westerns.”-@thehorrorhypothesis

“I have to admit that I was starting to fall out of love with this splatter western series. Wile E. Young kicked off the series with an AMAZING book and then the next few kind of just fell flat for me. But this one really fanned the flames for me. Christine Morgan, an author I had not read previously, is definitely someone I'm going to be keeping my eye on.” -@pageandparlor

“I really loved the writing in this book. The narrative Christine wrote here gave the book a very distinct voice that I really enjoyed. She had me flipping through the pages ready to devour everything. There are some legitimate scary things in this book, it’s not just western bloodshed. The first few chapters set the stage and players up, where they spend time getting to know the kids before the splatter starts, and as a fan of books with kids as protagonists, it spoke to me more. I love coming of age stuff.” -@steelrainreviews

“ Y’all, I had my doubts about this one at the beginning. I even sent messages like “I’m not feeling this one too much” to my fellow Night Worms, when I was about 15% in. I mean, they can’t all be winners. BUT, Christine Morgan knocked it out of the park. I dare say that this is my favorite of the series thus far. She nailed each and every horror sensor in my body. NO HOLDS BARRED.” -@marcyreads

“Put up your boots and sit a spell. You’re definitely going to want to read this one. The pace is frenetic, frenzy-full of colorful characters and vignettes of violence. Silver River does indeed run red, and it bathes the reader in copious amounts of blood and a story they will never forget!” -@reading.vicariously

“THE NIGHT SILVER RIVER RUN RED had me engrossed with descriptive language, vivid imagery, and fun dialogue. I really enjoyed the world of sideshow characters and witty remarks. Morgan's writing style had me flipping through the pages, wholly spellbound and with several gasps in between. The shorter vignettes mixed in were unique and added to my already fantastic reading experience. Morgan brought her A-game to this series, and I will read whatever she writes next.” -@shereadswithcats

“This reading experience was exceptionally fun as we find ourselves with young adults as the main characters which always adds a different kind of reading journey filled with wholesome fun as there is still a certain level of innocence in a child coming of age. In addition to our protagonists, which were a great mix, we are also afforded a rich cast of dark carnival side characters in a time when 'Freak Show' was used to describe people less desirable or unexplainable to the "normal" folks. Haha, who am I kidding, these splatter-westerns never give us normal; anything BUT! Doctor Oddico's Carnival certainly adds a gritty, colorful spin to an often descent and boring desert landscape. Morgan definitely has a skill for creating a cast of characters that integrate and work well together to create a story that is ever turning.” -@kamis_korner

DUST by Chris Miller (Book 3 Splatter Western Series)

As promised, we have the remainder of the reviews for Dust by Chris Miller, the third book in the Death’s Head Press Splatter Western series. If you haven’t been following along, the Night Worms review team gets the ebook before we get the physical copies. Some of the team are not able to read ebooks, so we add their reviews of the physical copies to the next book party we have. The Night Worms team works really hard to be flexible with publishers and authors and this is just an example of that! You can read our first round-up of DUST book reviews HERE

“All in all, “Dust” gets a well deserved 5⭐️. Miller’s writing allowed me to go from dry heaving to ugly crying in the span of a few pages. This is not a book to read in public, even though you may want to show off the gorgeous cover. You will laugh at extremely inappropriate things, barf in your mouth and cry seemingly at random. The human characters are as wonderfully complex as the eldritch abominations. I was not only impressed with the excellent world building, but the ability of the author to make me feel all the feels when all I wanted was a little bit of blood (ok and maybe brain matter) splattering the dust.” -@mrsbeverlygibbs

“The novel starts with some rip bang bloody action and does not really let up throughout most of the book. Normally, this would be excellent for me. However, I really enjoyed the characters of James Dee and Denarius that Miller created, and I was waiting for a few chapters that were solely dialogue between the two of them.

This book had plenty of violence and gore to satisfy any horror reader that may appeal to, however, I feel like due to the time period and vernacular that comes along with that, a trigger warning is not needed. This story definitely made me appreciate the word "splat" far more than I ever thought I would.” -@keelyfuse85

Our friend Brad Proctor reviews The Splatter Western series too. You should give him a like & subscribe on BookTube!