Hell Hollow

By: Ronald Kelly

Narrated by: J. Rodney Turner

Length: 13 hrs and 18 mins

Publisher's summary

From out of a shadowy backwoods hollow echoes a dark threat from the past, nearly a century lost and forgotten.

The rural town of Harmony, Tennessee, possessed a disturbing secret; a secret so ancient that most of its residents were completely unaware of it. Even the last survivors of a vigilante raid long ago have filed the tragic events of that autumn night away, totally unaware of the evil that remains, dormant, but forever patient, among the tall pines and thick-leaved kudzu of a place known only as Hell Hollow.

There it would have remained, unrevealed, if not for a handful of unknowing participants. Four kids, bored for excitement during one of the hottest summers on record; a killer on the run, dodging his latest atrocity; and a rape victim on a deadly mission - scarred in both body and mind all have a hand in bringing forth an unspeakable evil from the dark woods of Hell Hollow.

He is a skeletal figure in top hat and tails, brandishing a handful of magical cards and a patented elixir that was brewed in the very depths of Purgatory.

©2010 Ronald Kelly (P)2014 David N. Wilson

AMAZING Southern-fried, coming-of-age horror tale

As if told by your favorite front-porch-story-tellin' Southern grandpappy, this tale will leave you breathless. The narrator is excellent for the charm of this tale, and the story is near-perfect. Ronald Kelly outdid himself. If you like this one, pick up his short story collections and The Dark'Un too. I really hope we'll be getting more of Ronald Kelly's novels on Audible soon. VERY soon.

Plot in a nutshell: Kids band together to fight an evil force.

And it's GOOD!

I recommend listening to this on your headphones while swinging on your porch swing and sipping sweet iced tea on a collection of summer evenings.

Aaahhhh, a good story.

There's such a risk in experimenting with an unfamiliar author. You don't want to leave on a long car trip only to find that your new audiobook is unreadable. Fortunately, Hell Hollow was a pleasure to read.

Two many themes

What would have made Hell Hollow better?

I got the distinct feeling this book was being written by a tag team of different writers. It shifts from young adult, to soft porn, to adult murder, and finally to supernatural. Hard to stick with.

If you like King, you'll like this!

Oh my, this was gooood! Worth your time from begining to the end. I wonder how I've never before Come to cross with this author. Well, now I have, I have to listen more!

Interesting Story

Where does Hell Hollow rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

It was a good listen. The narrator did a good enough job with everyones voice. I can't say it was my favorite but it was not the worst I've listened to either.

What was one of the most memorable moments of Hell Hollow?

The ending! I mean Really????

If you could take any character from Hell Hollow out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Grandpa. For the age of the man, he has a lot of stamina, and I love how he worked through getting to have a relationship with his grandson.

Any additional comments?

Not going to give out and spoilers but the there is a alot of promise with a story such as this, but I feel it fell a little short. Parts of the book seem to flow, while other parts felt like they were just stuck in there as a little extra.

Engrossing

What made the experience of listening to Hell Hollow the most enjoyable?

Fantastic character development and story. Loved the story-line. Ronald Kelly easily holds his own with, and even surpasses some of, the best authors in this genre. A great find and I will now be seeking out his other offerings.

Any additional comments?

J Rodney Turner was absolute perfection as the narrator.

Southern Fried Horror

Story - 4.0 Stars
Narration - 4.5 Stars

Hell Hollow by Ronald Kelly is about four kids in a small town with a 90 year old curse, a serial killer, and a Voodoo witch doctor.

I enjoyed the heck out of this one until about 75% when the story jumped the tracks and took a detour.

Recommended if you don't mind a little detour.

I didn't like it

I could not get past the reader's accent the deep voice and the slow southern drawl made it impossible to listen to. It started slow and after four or five chapters it went no where.

A different kind of horror story

If you could sum up Hell Hollow in three words, what would they be?

A different kind of horror villain.

What did you like best about this story?

The story was not as predictable as one would expect. I rather liked the simple country living and fear of the "good" doctor.

Which character – as performed by J. Rodney Turner – was your favorite?

Doctor Leach. The accent was dead on... no pun intended.

If you could take any character from Hell Hollow out to dinner, who would it be and why?

Have them all at a big table, would be interesting.

Any additional comments?

Different, moved along was entertaining.

great book

the narrator and writer are excellent combination ! great spooky story in past and modern times and easy to follow. I would recommend this to everyone!

Hellhollow

I must admit the narrator scores 10 out of 10 for this, the deep south accent just makes it and some of the phrases made me laugh out loud, but this is no comedy story, its very deep and dark these kids go on a journey from hell, the past comes creeping back to this lazy little town with a nightmare of events, this book reminded me of the nightmare on elm streets films you will see what I mean I wont give too much away, its also quite gruesome in places but I really enjoyed it.

Brilliant Southern-style Coming of Age Horror

I've only recently discovered the wonderful writing of Ronald Kelly. His novel Fear is definitely one of my top-ten favourite books of all-time. Undertaker's Moon is also fantastic.
Hell Hollow, like the aforementioned books, is dripping with pure southern style and atmosphere. The characters are brilliant and the plot moves along at the perfect pace. I was gripped throughout.
J. Rodney Turner is absolutely perfect for this type of story. His distinctive southern accent really adds to feel of the story. It's always a pleasure to listen to him.
Another quality presentation from Crossroad Press.
Highly recommended.

KAZ 😃 Bedford 🇬🇧💜 OK BOOK 🤔

After hearing this 📖 the story is ok I was hoping it would be a bit more gory I guess 😃 The narration is very good & it's got some nice character's but it just didn't grab me sadly I like my horror stories to give me a good scare maybe think about leaving the light's on lol 😂 this was to tame but that's my opinion so other people may disagree try it for yourself and see what you think 🤔 2+ ⭐ out of 5 from me