Butchers, by Todd Sullivan is primarily the story of Sey-Mi, a young woman who is chosen to be turned into a vampire and brought into the ranks of the Gwanlyo, a secret vampire society. The story revolves around Sey-Mi's initiation, learning curve, and torture at the hands of current members. There are also elements within the order attempting to police it and others trying to bring it down.

From the word go, it is clear that Sullivan has spent a great deal of time in the far east(he is, in fact, a teacher there) and has great knowledge of and respect for the area. The story takes place in Seoul, South Korea, and the locale immediately drops most readers into unfamiliar territory. A great tactic for a horror novella.

As many successful novellas do, Butchers drops the reader directly into the action. A lot of characters are introduced right away, and I worried I'd have a hard time keeping them straight. Actually, I did for a couple chapters, but Sullivan sticks with these characters, fleshes out their motivations, and doesn't add many more people to keep track of.
As much as I don't like to suggest an author's work should have been shorter or longer, I would have liked some more information on the Gwanlyo. I understood that they were a secret society of vampires, but because they were bringing people to their ranks and offering them employment, it wasn't clear what their objective was. It would also be interesting to delve into the society's origins, but that certainly could have altered the fast-paced and linear nature of the story told.

Butchers touts itself as extreme horror. This is based in part on the action scenes revolving around unflinching vampire attacks, both on each other but also on Sey-Mi. Most of what earns it this title are the scenes involving Sey-Mi's torture. They are violent at times but the sexual nature and descriptions of other gross acts are what non-fans of extreme horror are going to want to avoid. They seemed a bit gratuitous and over-the-top to me, but then again, the author did warn me.

The strength here is in the unrelenting pacing. Todd Sullivan trimmed any fat and never lets his foot off the gas to mix metaphors. The dialogue can be a bit clunky at times and the ending is not fully resolved, leaving the door open to more stories in this world, but if breakneck vampire horror with an extreme bent sounds like your cup of tea, come grab a mug.


I was given a copy by the author for review consideration.