The Asylum book 1 by James Riser

James asked me to review his coming novella, The Asylum.

I am not usually a fan of the omnipresent view point of any book, bar a couple that impressed me.
The Asylum is one of them.

The story is about Robert who is taken by a demon to hell. Where one of the best paragraphs of the book comes into play:


“You humans cease to amaze me clinging
to your petrified beliefs that you have heaven, hell,
and the afterlife all figured out, but let me tell you,
you have no idea,” It said before letting out
another deep growl of a laugh, but this time more
vicious.

“Then what is heaven like? What is hell
like?” Robert asked, trying to stall for time, to
prolong what ever torture this thing wanted to
drag Robert off to.

“Well, hell is not made up of fire and
brimstone. It is much more than that. It is not
filled with horned beasts as the bible dictates; it is
both a place of eternal torture and a place of
salvation, and as for heaven . . .,” it continued
“there is no heaven” his voice took a somber tone:
“Earth was to be your heaven, a place were you
humans would spend your lives until you were
truly judged, but you managed to ruin that with
your prejudices.” Now his voice was growing
angry. “You couldn’t put you differences aside for
one moment not even to work toward the common
good of your race. You disgust me...” there was a
long moment of silence, the echoes of Robert’s
breathing were gone now, and it seemed that the
walls were moving......



That sums up humans fairly well. The idea that there is actual Heaven and that Heaven is Earth is a good concept.

The story is about Robert, who after killing his brother and his girlfriend (who is screwing his bother) is taken to a waiting place before entering hell. And he was taken to hell for the hatred in his heart more than the actions he performed due to that controlling emotion.

Now God (who resides in hell) wants him to be a portal to reclaim Earth. Robert is to become a demon. He is one of the few humans considered a 'missing' link. Using him as a portal in a very nicely described opening of his mouth, the demons enter Earth to reclaim the world.

And that's only part one.

Part two is about Trent, who is warned of the coming end by a dream of the bastard Christ:

“Who are you?” Trent dared asked.

“I am the bastard Christ.”

Trent woke up to find himself back at his
desk surrounded by his other co-workers. The hum
of people’s voices comforted him. “Bastard Christ,”
he whispered to himself.


This book has a lot of good scenes and interesting concepts. A couple of things bugged me: The constant questions from firstly Robert and then Trent and back to Robert again while they never seemed scared of the beasts/demons at first arrival. There was very little show but I find this common in omnipresent view point books.

Book three kicked my ass.

This section is so well composed in it's imagery, it is so unlike the other 2 earlier parts. I truly believe James has a talent for first person writing. Part three really pulls the book together with Samuel and later Veronica. You can't help be pulled into these two characters. Their deaths are integral to the plot of this vicious and violent book. And yes, it is exactly that: vicious and violent.

To be published by Splatter Punk Press, this book falls well within the realm of splatter punk.

This novella was quite enjoyable. A refreshing read from the current horror on the market where all the 'good' parts are toned down for the general public, and easy to polish off in one setting.


Agramon is free.

rating: 73%

The Asylum
Book 1
by James Riser

A Review by Jeremy Seffens

80 pages
Splatter Punk Press
ISBN: 978-1-4243-3497-1
© 2007 James Riser


A tale of the apocalypse, The Asylum shows a fallen world destroyed by man. Once a paradise, the world is threatened by the unleashing of ancient demons once locked away by a secret order called The Five.

The story starts off slow with images that seem to epitomize the term Splatterpunk. The stage is set with false images that give a sense of hopelessness in the transition from a dark world to Riser's version of Hell, called the Asylum. The representation of death, decay, and an overall gothic feel is painted well, but the characters are a bit lacking.

Once making it through Part 1, the story picks up and the plot is laid down. There are some disturbing images that keep the overall feel going, but some seem a little extreme for those who might not have the stomach for gore. Trent is introduced in the story as the protagonist with great characterization. The story finally grabs hold and propels the reader onward.

By Part 4, the reader knows what is going on and what must be done under the impossible circumstances. The end creates some excellent tension, but cools down in the last scene.

James Riser demonstrates his skill at creating dark and deeply disturbing writing. One could imagine this book if they tried to think what Hellraiser would have been like if written by H.P. Lovecraft. The dark world has vivid descriptions, florid with adjectives in the tradition of Lovecraft.

The drawbacks of the story are some instances of choppy dialog and the characterization mentioned above. Overall, the story was highly imaginative, and leaves the reader craving the next installment.