Brian Keene fans have seen these characters and situations before—a blue-collar family struggling to survive in the face of a monstrous supernatural presence. Those elements, combined with Keene’s patented action-packed pacing, and B horror movie thrills, blend pleasantly in Scratch. This is a brief but engaging novella, similar in style and theme to Keene’s The Conqueror Worms. If you have a fear of snakes, Scratch will get ya!
Equally engaging is the included short story, “Halves,” which, if you’ve ever had a pet cat bring you a half-eaten “gift,” you’ll find darkly amusing and eerily familiar.