Blood & Mud

By: John Baltisberger

Narrated by: Sean Duregger

Austin poet and author John Baltisberger (Artifice of Flesh, The Configuration Discordant) makes his St. Rooster Books debut with a powerful kaiju novella full of Jewish mysticism, death, and destruction.

When a good man is senselessly murdered during Chicago's Gay Pride event, Satan summons a horrifying monster of old, releasing both his anger and the monster in defiance of heaven and humanity.

Blood & Mud includes an essay on Jewish occultism and mythology, revealing the rich tapestry of mystery and history that inspired Baltisberger and this harrowing novella.

©2020 John Austin Baltisberger (P)2021 John Austin Baltisberger

captivating story!

I was provided a review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

I really enjoyed this story. It was a different take on good and evil. I was drawn into the story from the start. The story is fast paced and action packed.

Narration was excellent. Kept my attention and pleasant to listen to. Overall 4 stars for me.

Angels and Action

If you enjoy religious-themed man versus monster stories, this might be right for you. Plenty of blood and guts, as well as stylish characters. It's Godzilla meets The Prophecy.

It was ok

The story was not as well developed as it could have been. If the audiobook was longer & better developed it could easily been 5 stars. Narration was excellent.

Dark Jewish-Based Horror

Blood & Mud pulls deeply from Jewish Mysticism to tell modern dark horror stories. I love the crwtivity at play here. Not being Jewish myself, I found the blending of horror and Jewish lore both intriguing and informative.
The narrator reads perfectly to the dark mood of the stories. I had a particular fondness for the Golem story.
At times, I stopped listening because some of the storylines become too soul crushing but never off-putting.
This book is a great accomplishment in horror. Perfect for horror fans of any religious persuasion.

Outstanding narration

The narrator does a fantastic job. It’s a delight listening to him voicing Satan and I highly recommend checking out more books narrated by Sean Duregger.
The story drags itself a bit even though short, and at times seems more like a lecture than prose.

Odd but entertaining

"Blood & Mud" (2020, 2021) by John Baltisberger is an odd contemporary novella about Satan, fed up with humankind’s sins, creating a giant Golem to kill and destroy everything in its path. Satan’s actions are countered by his fellow angels and independently, a Jewish soldier named Jacob. I learned a few things about Jewish culture and myths from the book while still being entertained, but making the Golem a seven-story-tall giant removed some of the meaningful drama for me. Sean Duregger’s narration held my interest. Recommended. At my request, I was given this free audiobook and have voluntarily left this review.

Kelvin L. Reed
Author of "Guilt by Association"

Interesting Take

Well written and researched. Most focused on the supernatural beings, the human characters get a bit lost and therefore hard to connect to. Interesting take on ancient beings.

Satan vs. Man's Inhumanity

Blood and Mud is a story that deals with religion, mysticism, racism, and of course humanity. Satan is tired of watching humans and their inability to be kind to one another so he sets out to do something to end it for good. Sean Duregger did a phenomenal job narrating this story bringing all the characters to life as well as this story. If you like books that deal with religion and horror this book is definitely for you. This is my honest unbiased review that I am voluntarily leaving.

Great Horror Story and Educational

This was a really interesting story. Quite unique in both the story line and the way the author tells the story. It took me a bit to get used to it and get a good understanding of what was going on, but once I did it became a really neat story that I couldn’t stop listening to. The one thing that I’m on the fence about recommending, is whether or not you should listen to the author’s notes first. It definitely provided further explanation of characters and motives, but also helped to explain the story a bit that I almost felt would have been better upfront versus at the end. Your choice.

Hands down the best aspect of this is the mythic creatures that the story revolves around. Some may sound familiar, but as we learn in the author’s notes, aren’t exactly what everyone thinks they are. They are quite dynamic characters that don’t always fit the typical role we place them into. You can tell that the author has done a lot of research into Mythic Judaism and that allows him to write such a complex story using that research. I don’t believe the point of the story was the plot at all, but more to tell a story about the characters and their interactions with both humans and other demons and angels. My only complaint about the story is that I would have liked it to be a bit longer with further explanation about the characters in the story itself. Think I will listen again after hearing the author’s notes.

Sean Duregger did, as always, an excellent job with the narration. I really enjoyed his character voices and felt that his tone and energy set the mood for the story as a whole and provided the depth needed. I think he read this book exactly as it should have been read and could have led the listener down the wrong path if he had a different tone and cadence.

I was voluntarily provided this free review copy audiobook by the author, narrator, or publisher.