Nobody said being a parent was easy. But it’s significantly less easy when you’re forced to deal with a pair of hungry vampires to protect your only daughter. Red Walls by Christina Bergling is a monster horror novella that will keep you young at heart (without having to eat any young hearts). Let’s dive in!
What Is Red Walls About?
Autumn and Colin are barely holding it together. After losing one daughter to a drunk driver, it’s taking everything for them to keep their remaining family together. So when their remaining daughter, Talia, comes home bloody, bruised, and with her jeans ripped, they know what they need to do. They’re parents who want revenge. They’ve prepared for this. They’ve planned for this— or so they think.
When they finally break into Red Wall house, they find something beyond their worst nightmares. The creatures in the house are hungry, and the only thing that has a chance of saving them is the strength only a parent knows.
Talia knows her parents have gone to avenge her, and when Talia returns to the monster house, the story really takes off. Can this family survive a night within the Red Walls? And can these things even be killed?
What I liked…
I need to start off by saying this book is exactly what I needed, which might explain the five-star rating. It was fun, gory, and had just enough depth to keep me pulled in. The speed and length were perfect for a summer afternoon, and I binged this one in a weekend. The writing is clear, none of the chapters are too long, and the monsters were done really well. But I think my love for Red Walls goes a little beyond that. This book is not just a great creature feature. There’s family trauma, self-doubt, and unconditional love lurking in Red Walls house, and if you’ve been needing a break from the extreme horror scene, this is the perfect read.
It is absolutely no secret that I love a good familial horror story. There’s something that makes stories significantly scarier when it’s your child’s life on the line, or a sibling that’s missing, or a curse on your parent. Familial bonds make up some of my favourite horror movies, and they’re created and explored so beautifully in this book. Years before the start of Red Walls, Autumn, Colin, and Talia’s family is rocked to its core when Autumn and Colin’s first daughter is killed tragically by a drunk driver. The story is based on this underlying hurt that motivates every one of them a little differently. It’s this hurt that pushes Colin and Autumn to break into Red Wall house in the first place, desperate to seek the revenge that they didn’t find with their first daughter. And when Talia realizes that she’s about to lose yet another member of her family to a monster, it’s that pain that pushes to return to Red Walls house to save her parents. This horrible emotional loss underscores every event in the book, and at some point, it’s hard to tell whether the characters are more scared of the man-eating beasts chasing them through the house or the haunting pain of losing a loved one. It is amazingly well done, and I thought this was such a great take on the theme.
You also need to give credit where it’s due: these monsters are fantastic! The story contains two vampire-like creatures who, after making one of poor Talia’s organs an appetizer, are hungry for a proper feast. These things are fast, smart, and seemingly have zero sympathy for this family. And while I normally struggle with the feeling of hopelessness that comes with these kind of stories (I wanna be able to root for someone), I thought Red Walls was just plain fun. These monsters were creepy, and I never knew whether these poor people even stood a chance.
… And What I Didn’t
Even great books have some hang-ups. The only issue I ran into is one that I’m not even sure the author should have changed/did differently. I had a very difficult time getting started in this book. The first few chapters jumps around between the past and the present. First, Talia comes home and there’s a strong implication that she’s been raped at a high school party. As Autumn and Colin prep their murder kit and head out to the house, we get to see a glimpse of Talia’s day leading up to the attack. And while I think it paid off in the end (the reveal that these things are actually flesh-eating monsters and not date-rapists), it felt like it took a long time to get there. This is one of those books where I had to really hang on in order to get to the good stuff, but at the end, I do think it was worth it.
Final Thoughts
I absolutely adored this book! For the first 25%, the book jumps around in the timeline, switching between Talia’s moments leading to her attack and Autumn storming the house. And while I found this sort of annoying at first, it completely pays off. Talia’s reveal of what really happened and Autumn’s gruesome discovery of the things inside the house is done perfectly. The pacing in the book is perfect, the characters are fleshed out, and the monsters are absolutely horrifying. This creature feature will show you what hopelessness feels like, and you’ll be screaming at your Kindle the entire time. Easy 5/5 read for me, and perfect for a creepy summer afternoon.
Have you read Red Walls? Got any other monster books to recommend before the summer ends? Let me know below!