How to Use Meth to Hunt a Vampire: The Haint book review

*SPOILER WARNING*

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Kindle Unlimited has been pivotal in rekindling my love for reading. It provides a nearly infinite number of worlds & themes to explore with a never-ending selection of books. The Haint by Samuel Brower is one of those gems I would've passed over had it not been for it being available on Kindle Unlimited.

Written by Samuel Brower; Haint: A Dark Vampire Horror Novel (The Gallowglass Files, Tales of Appalachian Horror Book 1) follows Appalachian native and sheriff, Hunter Gallogly as he investigates a string of strange murders and disappearances following a catastrophic mine collapse that takes the lives of 8 miners as well as the 10-man rescue team tasked with finding and recovering any survivors.

The global mining conglomerate Track Resources considered the death of the 18 men as an unfortunate risk of the trade. Sheriff Gallogly is inclined to agree with the mining company until some local children explore an alternate entrance to the collapsed portion of the mine and stumble upon the gruesome remains of the miners and the rescue team. The remains of the missing men don't correlate to a mine collapse. Things begin spiral and mysterious disappearances and murders begin to plague the town of Haint Hollow. These murders are eerily similar to events that occurred in Haint Hollow in the 1800's. Is it mere coincidence or is the legend of the Haint not quite just a story? Hunter Gallogly alongside his drug peddling cousins need to work together and walk a fine line between reality and superstition as they try to put a stop the serial killer terrorizing their Appalachian town.

I read this book over the holiday, and it was just what I needed to counteract all that Christmas cheer. Hunter Gallogly was an easy character to relate to, he's levelheaded, cares for his community and knows it's history. The deep Gallogly family roots and Hunter Gallogly's relationship with his outlaw family help to set the scene and breathe real life into the town of Haint Hollow. Growing up in a small town in Hawaii it was very believable to have the same family operating on both sides of the law and having to find a way to coexist. There are things that need to happen in order for a small town to survive (regardless of legality) and this book does a good job of building that tension and showing how all parties are just trying to survive.

I've never thought how interesting a Vampire story could be in this Appalachian setting and I'm not sure why. The lore of the Appalachian area is pretty prolific, so it makes such a great place for a more realistic supernatural story. While it's no Bram Stoker's Dracula, The Haint offers a fresh take on the Vampire genre. The vampire in the novel is treated not just as a supernatural creature but as an addict that is slowly driven into madness by their addiction. I feel that Brower related the drug addiction that was a normal part of life in town to the withdrawal like symptoms the vampire infected killer suffered.

Now let's get to the goofy (and slightly endearing) part of the book...The way they flushed out the vampire to ultimately kill it and save their town. After nearly 300 pages I didn't see this coming. The Haint was defeated with the assistance of meth. That's right, the vampire was flushed out of hiding and forced to it's demise by a meth'd out Popeye the Sailor man (not my words the book references Popeye and his spinach) and he then lights up the meth lab they used to create their product in order to smoke the vampire out. To my surprise the shit worked, and Sheriff and his outlaw family proceed to push the vampire in to the sunlight the good ol' fashion American way...they dumped a bunch of bullets into it until it was forced out of its cave and into the sunlight.

While the death of the vampire left much to be desired, this book was much more about the journey than the ending. Seeing the conflict between the Gallogly's as well as them coming to terms of their family lineage being tied directly to the vampire was an extremely fun read. It really setup a whole world of supernatural creatures with an Appalachian twist just waiting to be explored. I'm invested and look forward to what the Gallowglass files have in store for us next.

I typically don't like to use a number or star system to rate the media I consume. So, for this review and all future reviews I'll simple stick to whether I'd recommend it or not. If you're a fan of supernatural horror rooted in reality, then I fully recommend giving The Haint by Samuel Brower a read.

The Haint is currently available on Kindle Unlimited free of charge at the time of this review (1/3/2024).