Devil's Hill: Stories

By: E. Reyes, Velox Books

Narrated by: Sean 'DrC' Cordry

Length: 8 hrs and 9 mins

Publisher's summary

Stephen King has Castle Rock. R. L. Stine has Fear Street. E. Reyes has Devil’s Hill.

Welcome to Devil’s Hill, Arizona, a place that runs rampant with the occult, paranormal, and supernatural. As Halloween approaches and a group of teenage witches inadvertently summon an ancient deity into a scarecrow, they set off a chain of events that unleashes true evil upon the town.

In these interconnected stories, you’ll encounter ghostly spirits, killers, malevolent deities, and other unexplainable horrors as the town of Devil’s Hill is plunged into darkness.

Don’t miss out on the terror that awaits in Devil’s Hill!

Praise for Devil’s Hill:

“Where do fans of R.L. Stine's Goosebumps go when we grow up? There's plenty of room in Devil's Hill, Arizona...if you dare.” (Julia DeBarrioz, author of Cazadora)

“Absolutely worth reading.” (Heather Miller, author of One Night Stand at the End of the World)

“I would for sure recommend this book to horror lovers and horror newbies alike, and I will certainly be looking for more E. Reyes in the future!” (Spooky Octopus Reads)

©2023 E. Reyes (P)2023 Velox Books

Narrator absolutely made this a good listen

This is a new author for me and I enjoyed his writing. I also enjoyed the "bite sized" length of the stories and how they were about the same area. The narrator, DrC, has a unique style of storytelling which I enjoyed thoroughly. Overall, I recommend these tales for anyone who is a fan of horror.

Devil of a good time

I love anthologies and collections. Sometimes the best stories are the shortest ones because they distill a concept down into its essentials and boils away the unnecessary fat, leaving a gem of a story. Personally, I think this works the best for horror more than anything,

This collection proves the point. There are tales that stick to your ribs, meaning that you just can't seem to get away from the idea of it happening, and then there are some that hit you in the face like a brick. It's a solid collection that is dark enough that you won't feel comfortable sitting alone in the night, and realistic enough that you might have actually heard that whisper that you wrote of as a bit of your imagination.

DrC kicks this book into a higher elevation with his readings. He completely sets the tone and plays each part to perfection. You want atmosphere? Hell, he's up in the stratosphere! He creates the mood, sets the table, and serves up each story raw and fresh. Dig it, it is one hell of a ride.

Mixed bag of stories with wonderful narration.

Any fan of a Halloween story anthology in the vein of Trick R Treat will get a kick out of this collection. Some of the stories are incredibly unique while others delight in wearing nods to popular Halloween movies/shows of new and old on their sleeve. All in all, the narration sells that Halloween feeling and the sum of it's parts feels like a triple feature of fun.

Intense, horrific, and fun

* narration is pretty enjoyable, but there are a few shorts with some questionable Hispanic accents for sure.


I grabbed this one during the Velox Books rerelease, but decided to also grab the audio so that I’d have time to get through it for Hispanic Heritage Month. Horror anthologies are my jam and this one didn’t disappoint.

Reyes puts some fun, some horrific, and some really unique ideas into this one. I definitely imagined that some of these could have been longer, or later adapted out into full length works. There are just a couple that mesh a few things in a new way, and that would be cool to see it explored further. Not that the short form isn’t good too!

A lot of these take place on Halloween night, or close to it, and it definitely works as I personally tend to pick up horror short story collections around Spooky Season.

Also shoutout to Jack Forest making an appearance, I will definitely be reading that novelette soon too.

I was lucky enough to be an ARC reader for Devil’s Hill II, so it was cool to step back and see where it all started.

Personally a 4/5*. House of Souls and The Monster Slash were my favorites.

Spooky Good Time !!!

Extremely enjoyed all the mixed spooky stories
perfect for Halloween season
Narrator was excellent easy to follow
Highly Recommend !!!

enjoyable

good stories. good book. I'd listen to more by the same author. thank you very much

Great stories

I enjoyed this book with short, sometimes scary stories. Good written story and good narration.

Not a Fan

DNF

I received a free audiobook copy in exchange for a review.

I like that the author used the same town for all the stories. There were times when I wondered if this collection of stories, or certain specific stories, were written for the younger crowds (teenagers/kids) because they seemed a little childish to me (I’m 42). Or maybe I’ve just seen and read too many “scary” movies/stories, so that’s why most in this collection didn’t do anything for me. I’m not sure if it’s just because these were short stories or because I’m not a youngin’, but I didn’t feel a connection to any of the characters, so I didn’t care what happened to them. I just went from one story to the next.

Going from the present to the future, back to the present, at times, was a little confusing. As others have mentioned, some wording could have been written differently/better, but, overall, I think his writing skills are pretty good. This just wasn’t a batch of stories for me.

The narrator did a good job in that he did different voices and spoke naturally. My only complaint was that his tone would change, sometimes getting quieter. But there were also times when the characters sounded younger/stupider. I’m not sure if that’s his fault, per se, or what, but…

If I didn’t rate a story, it’s because I wasn’t a fan.

“Satan’s Tree”
This story was boring because the author just told the reader what happened as opposed to letting them experience it.


“The Scarecrow”
Unfortunately, this story was kind of boring, too, because a bunch of stories have already been written relating to scarecrows coming to life and killing people and whatnot.

I’ve never heard the stereotype of Walmart employees wearing muumuus, and I’ve been to many in many states.

If Haley was bleeding into a bowl for several days to get a significant amount for the ritual, how would her sister not have known until she was handed the bowl? Sorry, but period blood stinks. She and whoever else used that bathroom (if the bowl was left there) would have noticed the smell.

Mess-up: The scarecrow’s hand was decapitated. Nope, decapitation relates only to the head.

“Clowns” 3/5
This was an okay story. I’ve never had a fear of clowns, but even I would know to run if I stumbled across some in the woods, especially if they were acting weird.


“Serial Killers” 3/5
This was okay. I couldn’t help but notice that it seemed the longest story out of the bunch.

Mess-ups: First, Instagram doesn’t allow pictures relating to death scenes, blood, gore, etc. Secondly, if these women were killed recently and no killer was found yet, there’s no way in the world pictures of their corpses would be online, especially that soon. Nope, sorry. Try again.


“Cats of Friday the Thirteenth”
Agnes, the witch, wants protection from the cat people. So what does she do? She kills cats. How would that not have been an insult to them?

Mess-up: At one point, Michael’s throat and mouth are as dry as the “Sonoran” desert.

“Groceries”
Mess-ups: First, Amber is wearing shorts. I can’t remember if the material was mentioned. Either way, her phone gets knocked out of her hand, knocked to the ground, and breaks. Yet, some of the “tiny pieces of glass” end up stabbing through the material into her butt cheek. I consider this a mess-up because the pieces were described as “tiny” and should have been flat on the ground, especially considering the glass came from a phone. Secondly, when the killer picks her up, her phone suddenly falls from her pocket. … It was still on the ground, though.

Goodreads says the author lives in Arizona. I’m curious if he’s always lived in the US because he uses “floor” multiple times when referring to the ground outside. That’s not a common US reference.

Overall, I feel like there wasn’t much to this story. I mean, it would have been one thing if Liz had gotten away at the end, but nope. The killer kidnapped girls, killed them, and was that. He doesn’t get caught. I wasn’t looking for a happy ending, either. Like have her escape from the van and a town person see her/what’s going on.


“The Worst Hangover” 2/5
I got excited when zombies were mentioned, but that excitement fizzled. What was the point of this one?


“La Llorona Returns” 2/5
How the ghost came about was interesting and creepy.

I’m curious why Maria and Mark’s mom took so long to help them.


“The House of Souls”
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