Nightmares and Dreamscapes discussion

The synopsis of the story:

"It was a time for celebration. A time for the Thanksgiving day parade. A festival of tradition. A time for families to gather around platters, share laughs, regale in memories. But for one town, it became a vile nightmare of blood and unending terror."


Anyone is welcome to join us moderators as we buddy read the book Thanksgiving Day Massacre along with Guest Author, Brian G. Berry starting November 1, 2022. As we read the book, please use spoilers when necessary.

Here is the Goodreads profile of Brian G. Berry:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...

Here is the link to Amazon for the book:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09...

The book is also available on KU.

Please welcome, author Brian G. Berry! :)

Count me in! Love the blood splatter!

Sally wrote: "Count me in! Love the blood splatter!"

Thanks Sally! This is going to be a bloodbath fest! lol :)

Karla wrote: "Count me in, please!"

You are in Karla! Welcome aboard! I have a extra gore suit if you need it! :)

Count me in 😏

Hey Brian! Thanks for joining us!

Brian wrote: "Count me in 😏"

You are definitely "in"! You have been carved in stone on here.....wait ....or is that carved in blood stone? lol 😆🩸🩸

I'll join in for this one

Awesome Sea! That makes me so happy!

Sea wrote: "I'll join in for this one"

Very cool, Sea! Welcome aboard! :)

Son of a bitch…I’m in!!

Theodore wrote: "Son of a bitch…I’m in!!"

Welcome to the read! :)

I hope everyone has their gore suit ready because you are going to need it for this book! lol :)

Marie wrote: "I hope everyone has their gore suit ready because you are going to need it for this book! lol :)"

I think I bit off more than I can chew this month, Not sure if I'll be able to make it for this one

Sea wrote: "Marie wrote: "I hope everyone has their gore suit ready because you are going to need it for this book! lol :)"

I think I bit off more than I can chew this month, Not sure if I'll be able to make ..."

Bogged down with books? This one is kind of short - 125 pages. :)

I am going to jump in on this one probably Friday night. :) This is a great extreme ride. Reread for me but I loved it. :)

I started reading this today! 9% in so far.


I will throw a question out on here.

How did this story evolve, Brian?

I got the idea from the Eli Roth trailer: Thanksgiving. That trailer hit me hard, and, being a fan of slasher films of that era (meaning they are everything to me!) I wanted to do an homage to that delightfully extreme piece. I wanted something akin but not step-by-step to that trailer. I had to create my own characters, most of which are fodder, a common trope in my books. I tend to focus on the gore and kills and general atmosphere and tension and creep factor. It helps to pull my brand together.

Brian wrote: "I got the idea from the Eli Roth trailer: Thanksgiving. That trailer hit me hard, and, being a fan of slasher films of that era (meaning they are everything to me!) I wanted to do an homage to that..."

I hadn't seen that trailer so I just went and watched it! That was an extreme cool slasher trailer! I feel that all your books are homage to the slasher era and they always have that 80's vibe to them. :)

Have another question for you, Brian.

When you first wanted to be an author, what made you decide to go down the path of being an extreme horror author? Was it because of the slasher films that appeared on the big screen? Almost all of your books have some sort of slasher theme to them.

Definitely. That is what I try and capture. Call it the exploitation of that era. I love it. My favorites are Slumber Party Massacre, Blood Rage, Intruder, Silent Night Deadly Night, Prowler, and Madman--to name just a few (there are tons more!)

Marie wrote: "Have another question for you, Brian.

When you first wanted to be an author, what made you decide to go down the path of being an extreme horror author? Was it because of the slasher films that ap..."

I never really intended to go the route of 'extreme splatterpunk/horror'. But I find I have a knack for it and have now tunneled away at it long enough that it's becoming second nature to write that way. I read David Irons and Tim Curran mostly--those are the two that inspired my own writing career to take off. Tim Curran is my BIGGEST influence and David Irons' ambition for 80s-style horror books brought my mind out of a storm and I decided to follow that path. His books are beyond awesome and I love each title. I said to myself after reading a few: well, hell--I can do that shit too! So, I did it. And that's what I like doing. I like to write movies that never were. Or ones that are in honor of the movies I love; like Sleepover Massacre was a HUGE homage to my favorite slasher: Slumber Party Massacre.
But, my passion lies with the Weird Tales style of writing. I love writing in the prose of my favorite authors/writers which are Lovecraft, Robert Howard, and Clark Ashton Smith---those three are my BIGGEST. That's pretty much all I read. I can't get enough.
To extend this question, I also like to branch out into areas that generally don't get a lot of attention. Like Snow Shark, for example, that is a deviation from any slasher and I love crappy SciFi movies and figured, well, I'm writing a shark book now lol. I also have plans to write a sequel to that. And another shark book for next Halloween. (shhh)

Hey! Starting tonight, excited for some slashing!

Sally wrote: "Hey! Starting tonight, excited for some slashing!"

Awesome! Hope you enjoy! :D

Wow, that's some juxtaposition right there! (view spoiler)[ went from a graphic blow job / gore filled murder to a stunning description of a sunset (hide spoiler)] This is going to be fun!

Brian wrote: "I never really intended to go the route of 'extreme splatterpunk/horror'. But I find I have a knack for it and have now tunneled away at it long enough that it's becoming second nature to write that way. I read David Irons and Tim Curran mostly--those are the two that inspired my own writing career to take off. Tim Curran is my BIGGEST influence and David Irons' ambition for 80s-style horror books brought my mind out of a storm and I decided to follow that path...."

I haven't read David Irons - probably need to remedy that but I have stepped into Tim Curran and need to read more by him.

As far as branching out with creatures - yeah - Snow Shark was cool and also your book The Child Eater. I know you also have the book Night of the Mutants too which I need to read yet (another creature one no doubt).

Snow Shark sequel you say?! lol Cool! :) Plus a bonus - a shark book for Halloween next year?! Nice! :)

Yep! Night of the Mutants is more 'what can go wrong in the field of science. Think of the movie Re-Animator; movies that have to do with a scientist making a formula that gets terribly out of hand.
OGRE is another creature feature, as is Into The pit--that one of course is a combination. And of course, my newest, Night Weaver---all creatures.
Yes, and the Shark Halloween book is for everyone's eyes in here alone. I haven't mentioned it. But I have mentioned in overt messages that I am making a sequel to Snow Shark. Also, there's an audiobook releasing of the first very soon.

Brian wrote: "Yep! Night of the Mutants is more 'what can go wrong in the field of science. Think of the movie Re-Animator; movies that have to do with a scientist making a formula that gets terribly out of hand..."

I also know that you are releasing a sequel to this book as well - is that coming out this month or later?

Marie wrote: "Brian wrote: "Yep! Night of the Mutants is more 'what can go wrong in the field of science. Think of the movie Re-Animator; movies that have to do with a scientist making a formula that gets terrib..."

I'm struggling with that manuscript, but I'm going to try my damn best to get it out. I'm not sure if it will follow the events of this one or not--- that's what I'm struggling with. It'll be a shorter read I believe. Like Brian's Birthday Bloodbath. If I can't come up with something by the end of next week, I'll shelve it for next year, which may be beneficial. But, who knows? I work quickly and in a mysterious fashion.

I just finished reading Thanksgiving Day Massacre and I absolutely LOVED it, Brian!

You can find my review here!

I can't wait to read more from you!

Madame wrote: "I just finished reading Thanksgiving Day Massacre and I absolutely LOVED it, Brian!

You can find my review here!

I can't wait to read more from you!"

Thank you! I'm happy to hear this :)
I really appreciate you reading AND reviewing. I'll check it out. :)

Not sure when this one is to be read by but I just purchased it so I could read and join in. Since it has been a while and I have really been missing you all in here.

Steven wrote: "Not sure when this one is to be read by but I just purchased it so I could read and join in. Since it has been a while and I have really been missing you all in here."

You are more than welcome, Steven! Just jump in with both feet and we will be around on here. Brian is here all month long for comments and questions. :)

Steven wrote: "Not sure when this one is to be read by but I just purchased it so I could read and join in. Since it has been a while and I have really been missing you all in here."

Thank you, Steven!

Brian, I think this slasher is more violent than Jason Voorhees...never thought I'd say that but yep, this is one gory Thanksgiving tale so far. This book makes me want to hide a Glock inside the turkey instead of Stove Top Stuffing

Steven wrote: "Brian, I think this slasher is more violent than Jason Voorhees...never thought I'd say that but yep, this is one gory Thanksgiving tale so far. This book makes me want to hide a Glock inside the t..."

Got that right. Maybe a ball frag too lol.
Thank you for the kind words!
Stoked you're diggin' it so far.

I just finished this title and it was extremely gruesome and violent! This is the kind of story that truly make you Thankful for what you have on Thanksgiving and thankful this nightmare doesn't visit your home during the holidays! This was like The Hills Have Eyes or Texas Chainsaw Family invaded a Hallmark movie! I think this character might actually give a guy like Stephen King nightmares.

Also, this is my review for the book on Amazon and Goodreads. Plus, I went back and changed my rating from a 4 star to a 5 cause seriously, after a quick thought, Brian's book actually frightened me quite a bit...he literally took all those warm comfortable feelings out of that holiday and because he made me feel uncomfortable with his title and it did what it was ment to do, he totally earned a 5 star rating.

Steven wrote: "Also, this is my review for the book on Amazon and Goodreads. Plus, I went back and changed my rating from a 4 star to a 5 cause seriously, after a quick thought, Brian's book actually frightened m..."

Thank you, Steven! lol
I'm sorry I took those warm memories from you, but, you see, the Turkey Ripper don't like to play games and he's always so hungry.
I really appreciate you reading AND reviewing AND the support. It really makes my day to hear these things. I wanted to make a sequel but alas I don't think that's possible this year. Definitely next year though! I am destroying Christmas next month with a special one I'll announce here: Sleepover Massacre II
My first one was special to me but I need run an editor through it soon. The sequel promises to be bat shit crazy lol.
Again, thank you for reading!

Steven wrote: "I just finished this title and it was extremely gruesome and violent! This is the kind of story that truly make you Thankful for what you have on Thanksgiving and thankful this nightmare doesn't vi..."

Cool Steven! Now you can go and cruise through some more of Brian's work - he has plenty of books with all things "red" and you might need a gore suit! lol :)

Brian- You're welcome! I look forward to your Christmas title next month and will have to grab a copy of the first one. Bat shit crazy has my attention lol.
Marie- I did pick up a few other titles by Brian and plan to read those soon. Thank you for setting this read up, it's been a really twisted and intense read.

Steven wrote: "Marie- I did pick up a few other titles by Brian and plan to read those soon. Thank you for setting this read up, it's been a really twisted and intense read.."

You are welcome, Steven! I am happy that you loved Brian's work and that you found a new author to pursue. :)

I am curious Brian but are you planning on doing like a holiday series of books - you have done Thanksgiving - so will there be more in that type of theme?