As an avid horror reader....and HUGE Ronald Kelly fan.... I'm ashamed to admit this is my first time reading this book...I think....there were parts that rang a bell, seemed familiar, almost deja-vu like ...I may have read this years ago when it was released by Zebra....but, I digress....it was exceptional!!

I now realize that "Under the branches"....which is included here.....but also in RKs Christmas anthology, where I read it .. was a sequel of sorts to Fear. I love this. RKs Fear county has earned its ranks in the horror genre mythos.

As usual, RK has created characters in Fear that stick with you long after the final page....character creation is where he shines.

After reading this masterpiece, I completely understand the praise its gotten throughout the years.....while I can't agree with others that Fear is the best book he's ever written....I happen to love his others equally.....it has earned its spot among my favorites.....and is definitely one of my top 3 favorite coming of age novels ....along with McCammons "Boys life", Bradburys "Something wicked this way comes", and Salingers "Catcher in the Rye".

I also deeply appreciate the intro by Brian Keene....another of my favorite writers.

I am highly anticipating.....anxiously awaiting ....chomping at the bits.....for "Fear eternal"....it can't come fast enough!! ( )

Welcome to Fear County!

A backstory without giving away spoilers:

Fear county is home to a creature that goes on a feasting fest that sends the citizens of the county running in "fear" for their lives. Ten year old Jeb Sweeney finally realizes that all the rumors and legends of what resides in Fear county is really true as events start happening that make him a believer when animals and people start disappearing.

Jeb decides to take it upon himself to finding out how he can stop the creature which he ends up meeting some friends along the way to help him on his journey which leads him to an old woman who might be able to whip up a potion that takes out the creature.

What is the creature? Where did it come from? Does Jeb have what it takes to stop the creature? No spoilers here as you will just have to read the book!

Thoughts:

The story takes off right away in the first chapter with some creature action and from there is a slow build up of momentum of the story progressing along with introducing the characters that take part in this book.

It is more or less considered a coming of age story for the character Jeb Sweeney with the story going deep into his family life and how he ends up coping with learning what he needs to do to not only take care of his family but all the citizens that need help battling this creature. Five "Slithering" stars! ( )

This was my first novel by Ronald Kelly and I liked it. The story was solid and enjoyable with good characters that were very easy to picture and imagine.

The story focuses on Jeb Sweeny, a ten-year-old boy who is forced to take adult actions in order to solve the problems in his life. His father is shell-shocked and doesn't remember who he is. His grandma is dying of cancer. And Jeb's crush turn girlfriend has been kidnapped by a snake-dog creature that nearly embodies evil. Jeb starts on a journey to solve his problems by going into the heart of Fear County and facing any demons he finds along the way.

As I mentioned, one of the things that I really like about the story was the great characters. I could very easily picture them in my mind. This was probably helped along because I listened to the audiobook and J. Rodney Turner did a great job of narrating the tale. His voice for each character helped make them clear in my mind. On the other hand, one of the things that got repetitive was the different creatures or weird being that the characters kept running into on their journey. As they were on their quest for the cures to solve Jeb's problems, they would run into one batch of weirdness after another. It was repetitive but at the same time it wasn't a big deal. If the journey had been easier or shorter, it would have seemed too easy. From a narrative perspective, it did turn into a "what problem are they going to run into next?" type of thing. Switching back to the positive, the story was set shortly after World War II. I've been so used to stories being set in the 80s lately that this was a welcome change. And a very believable one. Kelly made the feel of the 40s in Tennessee come across easily in the story. Or at least what I would believe it would be like living in Tennessee in the 1940s. Big picture, the story is good, enjoyable, and something I would recommend. It might be a tad predictable at times but that doesn't mean you should avoid it. Because you'll regret it if you do. ( )

4.5/5*

FEAR was a crazy mixture of: creature feature/coming of age/evil in a small town horror. It just doesn't get much more fun than that!

In the backwoods of Tennessee, young Jeb Sweeney is fighting for his family. His farmer father has been turned into a simpleton, thanks to a war injury. His mother is gone and his grandmother is gravely ill. There are bullies around their small town and on top of that, some kind of creature has arrived and it's killing anything it can get its hands on. What is a young man supposed to do about all this? You'll have to read FEAR to find out!

I have to admit that this book brought me back to the old days when I first started reading horror. (For me, those old days are in the late 70's, early 80's.) Back then, there were a lot of tales like this and they were beefy ones too-500 pages or more. You really would settle in with a book and it would go everywhere with you until you finished it. Coming of age tales were especially popular during that time, but not all of them were great. FEAR was though and I'll tell you why.

We have a family we can care for, more than one antagonist, a compelling setting, and best of all? A creature that can only be described as....SCARY. Sprinkle in some older women busy working their mojo, a traveling blues-man and an entire county of scary creatures, and you have the recipe for F-U-N!

This tale did start out slowly as we got to know everyone, the town, and the stories surrounding Fear County. Around about the halfway point, things ramped up and then the pace flew through the second half- I had a very hard time putting it down. I suspect that these days, an editor would have cut down the word count a bit, and even though I enjoyed the slower pace of the beginning, I can't deny that a few words could have been cut without hurting the book overall. For that I deducted half a star.

FEAR is exactly the type of book that inspired in me a love of horror fiction and dark fiction in general. We have a dirt poor family, a young man to root for, a setting of the small town, and nearby? A place so haunted and scary that no one ever goes there. I mean, really, for a horror fan-what's not to like? I highly recommend this book, especially to fans of coming of age horror and creature features.

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/2F7eSYa

*I purchased my copy with my hard earned cash back in 2014. I'm so glad I finally read this book!*

**Ronald Kelly was kind enough to join the Horror Aficionados Group for a group read of this story. Thank you, Mr. Kelly! I had a great time!** ( )

I read this years and years ago...most books not long after I read them, even if I really loved them during the read. I read so many books, they become like broken records after awhile. Fear, however, always stayed with me. I loved it then, and after I found another copy recently, I love it now just as much.

It reads almost like an adult fairy tale type. Young adults could read and enjoy this one as much as adults, but that shouldn't put off the 'grown up' readers. It almost seems like Kelly took every horrible thing he could think of out of his brain and placed it in this book. There’s not just one monster there’s this one, that one, and even that one over there. The atmosphere in different areas of the county the woods, or the water, or the cabin all were amazing.

Much of the beginning is focused on the internal issues Jeb has, so some may feel impatient to get the action moving, but while there isn't as much action present, it was all interesting and fun. I really felt drawn to the characters in a real, emotional way, cheering them on the whole time.

Dialogue is told through a small-town, hickish type dialect, with words such as "'ol," "how're," "gonna," and "dangrum." Surprisingly this doesn't get annoying. The style of writing is easily comprehended, straightforward, and consistent. The ending was one that was happy and miserable at the same time. Kelly relies on as much internal dialogue as external. "Fear" is written in multiple POV viewpoints, mainly third person flexible, but the majority is seen through the eyes of the child 'Jeb.'

I heard from somewhere that Kelly hasn’t been writing anymore; if this is true, it’s a shame, because he has talent. ( )