Black Shadows Under a Blood Moon

A Horror Short Story

By: Roma Gray

Narrated by: JD Kelly

Length: 26 mins

Publisher's summary

One by one, cities have been falling to a terrorist attack. No one can stop the terrorists or figure out where the next attack will take place. All that is known is when the attacks start, the strange gas the terrorists use turns the moon a blood red, and black shadows of men and women are seen, slinking among the buildings.

Yet, somehow, not a single survivor has managed to provide a solid description of the people attacking their towns. Most contribute this to the mysterious gas that seems to put the residence into a temporary psychotic state, but what if it’s something more than that?

©2018 Roma Gray (P)2018 Roma Gray

Another great one

I love Roma Gray's stories, and this one was no disappointment. The book has great suspense, and I found myself pausing and listening with an intent ear to see if the black shadows would be creeping in on the family. I'm glad I didn't listen to this earlier because we just had a blood moon and it would have freaked me out. A different narrator than most of her books, but JD Kelly still did an excellent job. If you're a fan of horror, you won't regret listening to this one. **I received a free review copy of this book, which in no way influenced my opinion.

Who can you trust?

Roma Gray’s imagination scares me. Not just because of the horror aspects of her stories – like the violence – but because of the psychological trauma she inflicts on her readers. The paranormal aspect of the story should help me cope with the fright – I mean, these things can’t really happen, right? Yet somehow that doesn’t help me handle the fear. In this story, the ‘terrorists’ who are taking over the world are ephemeral and hard to nail down. And, in the end, I think the truth is even scarier than the rumours and stories told by the government.

In fact, who can truly believe what the government says anyway?

JD Kelly narrates Roma’s books and he does a fabulous job of carrying the tension while maintaining the credulity of the story. He could have made the story campy, but he didn’t. The combination of Roma and JD is a great one and I hope there are more audiobooks to come.

Creepy short story!

This was a creepy read. I'd love to see longer books from this author as she has a very descriptive writing style that immediately grabs you.

The narrator, JD Kelly, was awesome. He put emotion behind the words and had a clear voice. I'll have to check out more from him.

I was given this audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review. This in no way affected nor influenced my thoughts.

Mystery, foreboding, horror

An excellent combination of mystery and foreboding, this Roma Gray story builds to a horrific climax. JD Kelly gives his usual excellent narration. If you enjoy this, try Roma Gray’s Celebration of Horror.

Roma does it again

I have loved everything I have listened to by Ms. Gray. My only complaint about this story is I WANT MORE. This would be a fantastic novel. I would love to know more about the shadows and heat how people try to outrun them, escape from them, fight them. Roma, I want more. 😢 The narration was very good. Well suited for the story. Kudos to all involved.

Ever dance with a shadow in the bloody moonlight?

The Queen of the Macabre, Roma Gray, returns with a chiller that isn't filler, but is full of creep and crawls. The story starts out with the premise that terrorists are releasing a deadly toxin in the air that turns the moon red. One inhalation and you go Apes**t crazy and run around eating and killing other people. This tends to leave the areas depopulated and void of human activity save for a few survivors who don't come across as stable.

Well, if you know Roma Gray you might start to suspect that there is a lot more to the tale, and believe me when the survivors say they've seen things in the shadows they mean it. The tale focuses on a family of three, and their next door neighbors. One thing I will say is that Gray does not shy away from doing the wrong thing, meaning the most creepy thing possible, in order to disturb her readers/listeners. The fact that she has no issues rapidly dwindling the population of the story in no time flat is testament to the fact that she likes to get to the meat of the story as well.

Her writing style is flawless, she delivers a one-two punch with a knee to the groin that you never say coming, she is descriptive, emotionally impactful, disturbing, and fun. That is a perfect combo for an awesome weaver of tales. Her narrator this go round, JD Kelly, also has the juice to pace the story and build tension almost effortlessly. I loved the way he handled the phone conversation. While it does sadden me to see Gray using different narrators rather than her original go to guy, Terry F. Self, I am glad to see her branching things out and breaking expectations. The rotation in narration is working well.

In short, I would have to say this is one of her creepier tales, and it is well worth the time and money, but you may lose a few nights sleep if you aren't careful. Sometimes, I wonder if she isn't accidentally channeling the dreams of some Lovecraftian Elder God. Even though I did receive a promo code for this review it in no way influenced my considerations of the material, and in fact, inspired me to be more honest. Getting a code generally makes me harsher as a reviewer as I am more often concerned what someone like Me will decide based on my review.

If this review helped, please press the YES below. Thank you immensely!!!

Would be interesting to read as a novel

[Received a promo code in exchange for a review]

This story brings us into the middle of the horror, as if a scene had been taken out of a bigger perspective - which is why it would be interesting to read the (yet non-existent) novel. And yet it works so well as a short.

As for the narrator, he usually changes dialects/accents as he changes between narration and dialogue. It often works really well, but occasionally he seems to slip which confuses or distracts me.

This one is for those who like zombie/supernatural threats taking over; perhaps the new “Van Helsing” series or a prequel to “I Am Legend” type stuff.

26 minutes of entertainment

This is a really creepy scary short story that has all my fear elements in it. I really don't know how I am going to go to sleep now! Perfect for a camp fire tale or save for a Halloween party. Really enjoyed this.

I'm even more afraid of the dark now!

I can deal with anything in the daylight, but when the dark comes, and there’s shapes in the darker shadows outside the circles of my feeble lights … Roma knows how to push my buttons every time. You can bet I’m only reading her stories in the daytime. This one is real primal horror for me.

Excellent!

Roma Gray is a scary one. I like to look for a message to talk about, but this one's just plain creepy. And contrary to popular belief, duct tape can't fix everything. I'm gonna go hide somewhere now!
Excellent horror short, and well-performed!