Horror Books > H Horror Books > Brian A. Hopkins

Advantages: An outstanding, often heartbreaking empathy that can shake you up terribly, and reopen your humanity.
Disadvantages: There are only 200 copies in existence!

Brian A. Hopkins is simply an extraordinary writer, and 'Flesh Wounds' is a quite extraordinary book. To the writer first. A resident of Oklahoma, Hopkins (known as BAH to friends, fans, and industry professionals alike) won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in Long Fiction last year for his story 'Five Days in April. This year he's on the final ballot twice with his novel 'The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club' (reviewed elsewhere on ...
...Best Novel categories. In the history of the awards, no author has had a book in both categories simultaneously. Brian A. Hopkins then, likes to make an impact, and despite the accolades thrown at him he still does this first and foremost through his fiction. Refusing to corner himself in a specific genre, Hopkins has written science fiction, fantasy, horror, mainstream, non-fiction, and more over the nine years he has been writing. A self-proclaimed ... Read review

Advantages: Rip-roaring adventure, spledidly woven.
Disadvantages: Nothing here...

...in this case with among the worst forty-eight hours in Private Detective Martin Zolotow's life. When not being abducted in an airport or pummelled senseless with a baseball bat, he's being chased down by redneck vampires. More on that in a moment, but first some history on this, Hopkins' debut novel. Way back in the summer of 1998, this sleek tome was delivered one part at a time to a mailing list of some sixty or so fans. Martin Zolotow, co-created ...
...is flown to Oklahoma with the mission, forced upon him, to retrieve a gangster's daughter from the headquarters of his rival. The trouble is, this rival seems to believe he is a vampire, as do his followers. As Zolotow investigates, he is quickly overpowered, beaten up on numerous occasions, rescues women, is rescued by women, confront vampires, and has a generally hard time of it. 'The Licking Valley Coon Hunters Club' is a fast read, that fans ... Read review

Advantages: Well-researched, spectacularly entertaining tale of lycanthropy
Disadvantages: The length - you might feel it's too short, and start pacing for a sequel...

'Cold At Heart' is that rarest of things - an inventive and original werewolf tale. So often in horror literature we see the same tired motifs and plot lines regurgitated on the lycanthrope theme, and it often feels as though, of all horror archetypes, this is one that has had it's day. Brian A. Hopkins, winner of a Bram Stoker Award for long fiction 1999, is the man to prove us wrong. A fine writer, the money is good that he will be one of those ...
...the new century. 'Cold At Heart' is a compact case in point. When Peter Burke agrees to act as expedition photographer to father and daughter David ad Julie Snow as they journey to the Arctic Ellesmere Island to study the Arctic Wolf, he find himself wondering what he has involved himself in long before the true weirdness begins. Julie Snow is a particular enigma - a woman happy to bath nude in the sub-zero temperatures of the ocean, who keeps herself ... Read review

Advantages: An excellent & imaginative story
Disadvantages: Waiting for the next book

As a children's story this is some seriously dark writing and may not be suitable of younger readers, but for adults it's an exceptionally good read. The heroine of the story, Candy, finds herself pulled into a parallel world by a strange sea, a world that consists of 25 islands. 24 islands represent a particular hour of the day with the 25th a dark place of murder and madness. This initial volume sees Candy's travels around a selection of these ...
...trying to stay out of arms reach of the dark servants of the Lord of the 25th hour. This is a place where friend and foe are never what they seem and many are out for the capture of Candy. The illustrations included in this book give it an extra and enjoyably warped depth. Clive Barkers visual take on his fantasy world is one where even the good-guys can be seen as ugly monstrosities. You'll definitely want to read the next instalment. ... Read review

Advantages: Easy to read, hard to put down, gripping, thrilling
Disadvantages: None

...he must face the demon Lord Loss. I am probably being vague here, but I do not want to give much more away as that will spoil it for readers. At 200 or so pages this is just right. I feel there is far too much padding in adult books at the moment. And reading Lord Loss has made me feel surprised just at how good kids' fiction is. I have read the Harry Potter books, like most adults, but it did not cross my mind to read other works written for children. ...
...is quite graphic. There are no holds barred here and the author gets away with a lot of stuff. Death, blood, gore… But it is written with tongue in cheek - and with plenty of sick humour that did surprise me. The style is straight to the point. And very well written at that! Darren Shan is English born, real surname O'Shaughnessy. His first book, 'Ayuamarca,' was published in 1999, but did not sell well. This was an adult work, and it is his subsequent ... Read review