Set in a remote part of Scotland, the Ballador Country House Hotel guarantees its guests nightmares. What a delicious premise!

With an elderly magnate as the protagonist, I couldn't help but wonder how the author was going to make him come alive, but come alive he did-without being at all likable. An interesting choice for protagonist, but John McNee pulls it off.

Without going further into the plot, I can say that there are some wildly creative ideas here and the author delivers on them. Descriptions that defy reality often bother me, but here there is a good reason for them which gives the author a lot of wiggle room. Mr. McNee does not waste it. I have to give proper respect to the imaginative mind that comes up with such ideas. (Or as the kids say I give him mad respect. At least, I think that's what they say.??) Anyway, the ideas were KILLER.

I also feel I have to give an appreciative nod to the writing skills on display here. I felt this story was well written. The author found ways to describe numerous horrific incidents without being repetitive or losing my interest-something that doesn't happen very often.

I highly recommend this book to all fans of horror, but especially fans of early Clive Barker and the Splatterpunk genre! You can pre-order this book here: http://www.amazon.com/Prince-Nightmares-John-McNee-ebook/dp/B016Z8BSXS/ref=sr_1_... of nightmares

Thanks goes out to fellow Goodreader Bandit, whose review caused me to head over to Net Galley and request this book. Thanks Bandit!

*And thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for providing this book for free, in exchange for an honest review. This is it.* ( )

The premise of Prince of Nightmares really intrigued me and as an added bonus I discovered that not only is John McNee a Scottish horror author but the story is also set in Scotland. Result! Wild horses couldn't have held me back. I love all kinds of horror but being from Scotland myself it's a real treat to come across a Scottish horror author, especially one who sets their story in Scotland. Of course that doesn't mean that I am going to love it or that I'm going to give it 5 stars based on those facts alone.

Prince of Nightmares is expertly written, a pleasure to read and much more than I was expecting. At times I wasn't sure if what I was reading was real or if it was a dream but that just added to the imagery and surreal feel of the story.

I honestly don't think I could pick just one thing that stood out for me. I enjoyed everything about this one: the writing style, the imagery, the pacing, the atmosphere, and more. Fans of horror will devour the imaginative, twisted and horrific scenes within the pages of this book. I know I certainly did. It's bloody, it's gory, it's vicious and certainly not for the faint of heart and I was totally immersed and enjoyed every minute.

I would love to read a prequel set around the history behind the hotel.

Highly recommended. ( )

A creepy hotel in remote Scotland, with even creepier guests - don't check in, you will not like it! Gruesome, original and evil with plenty of shocking descriptions - a fantastic book which horrifies, scares and shocks the reader in equal measure. Read it at night when it is just beginning to get dark for an even scarier experience. Definitely an author to look out for. ( )

Having read so much mediocre horror fiction recently it has been a pleasure to read something with real originality and style and outstanding evil that resides at the Ballador House Hotel.

An eclectic mix of characters are in resident at the Ballador Hotel all hoping to encounter and meet paranormal apparitions as night approaches. One particular resident Victor Teversham is praying that the hotel will supply an answer as to why his wife Josephine booked a getaway break here before committing suicide.

We meet the mysterious and beautiful Gia, the night manager Mrs Dempsey and the loud and boisterous Heinrich Stritzel. The author accomplishes, what many writers fail to do, he makes all the players that we encounter very believable. At times I felt this was almost a modern horror remaking of Casablanca where all meet and encounter horror at a central point with no means of escape. What was extraordinary in the story telling , not only for the main antagonists but also for the reader, was the inability to distinguish between what was real and what was fiction....what was a dream and what was reality. This confusion added greatly to the constant feeling of dread and fear that permeated the unravelling of the mysterious ghostly events taking place.

There is a clever connection between Victor and his wife and a woman from the past known as Evelyn Burgess, and when the true intentions of the ghostly "residents" becomes apparent it is too late to stop the ensuing bloodbath..." The Residents are the parts of ourselves we wanted to keep hidden. The parts we didn't like. The parts we suppressed. Invasive thoughts, base urges, and hateful impulses."

So a highly original story with a gruesome and bloody conclusion, a most enjoyable treat for lovers of good horror. I received an advance copy of Prince of Nightmares for an honest review and that is what I have written. ( )

Review copy

Prince of Nightmares begins with a Traditional German charm against nightmares...

I lay me here to sleep;
No night-mare shall plague me,
Until they swim all the waters
That flow upon the earth,
And count all the stars
That appear in the firmament.
Thus help me God Father, Son, and Holy host. Amen.

Victor Teversham is worth nearly a billion dollars. It's not enough to protect him from tragedy as his wife, Josephine, takes her life shortly after booking a stay at the Ballador House Hotel. Her suicide note, scrawled in lipstick on the bathroom mirror read: God forgive me. I married an evil man.

Despite being in mourning, Victor keeps the reservation for the Ballador House. A hotel with an unusual reputation for generating nightmares. Previous guests have described their experiences as "beyond anything the conscious mind could conceive," "vivid as life," and "better than any horror film ever made or that ever could be made."

On the surface Prince of Nightmares reads like a modern day gothic horror story. A haunted hotel with a number of resident spirits, but before long the reader will realize this is much more than a run of the mill ghost story. Much like Victor, the reader is often left wondering exactly where the line is between nightmare and reality.

It wasn't until I finished reading Prince of Nightmares that I realized this is John McNee's first novel. This makes John someone to keep an eye on. Aside from a hugely entertaining story, John also is a skilled craftsman with writing conversation. Many novelists, even the most successful, seem to struggle with this aspect of their writing, but I found the dialog in John's writing to be so real and comfortable, it was worth mentioning.

At times brutally visceral, Prince of Nightmares is not for the faint of heart, but it is for any horror lover looking for something original and entertaining. This one is well worth your time and reading dollars.

Published by Blood Bound Books, Prince of Nightmares is available in both paperback and e-book formats.

My first highly recommended read of 2016.

John McNee lives in the west of Scotland, where he is employed as a magazine editor. ( )