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Blood Point: An Irish escape becomes a Midsummer Night's terror - Nightmare Vacations
Genres: Fantasy/SciFi/Speculative, Historical Fiction, Horror, Thriller
Formats: Ebook, Paperback, Hardback
Where to buy
When widowed father Josh takes his daughter Holly and a group of old university friends to Ireland for his 50th birthday, he hopes for laughter, memories, and a chance to heal.
But in the quiet village of Kinnitty, something ancient is stirring. Holly becomes obsessed with a mysterious pyramid and when blood is spilled on its door, a cursed spirit awakens.
One by one, the group is pulled into a nightmarish struggle against a malevolent banshee who wants revenge for her betrayal thousands of years ago — and will destroy anyone who stands in its way.
Holly slips further under the spirit’s spell and Josh faces an impossible choice as he fights to save his daughter or lose her forever to an evil from a time of legends. His only hope is a local police woman descended from witches who fought the banshee two centuries before.
Atmospheric, terrifying, and laced with Irish folklore, Blood Point is a haunting tale of grief, love, and the monstrous cost of second chances.
Reviews
Becca Reviews Books
Blood Point follows a group of old friends on a trip to a small Irish town. Among them are Josh, his daughter Holly, and his new girlfriend Meabh. The plan is to celebrate Josh’s 50th birthday with drinks and good company while staying at Kinnitty Castle, but things quickly begin to unravel.
Author, Alex Lane leans heavily into elements of Irish folklore throughout the novel. The inclusion of which had me constantly googling names and places. (Sparking this intrigue is a big thumbs up!) He includes references to places such as Kinnitty Castle and the Kinnitty Pyramid, and it was very pleasing when I found out both are real and can be found in Offaly, Ireland. These locations are well known among fans of haunted places and gothic stories, and their inclusion adds an extra layer of atmosphere and authenticity.
The novel is rich with mythological and cultural detail, drawing on lore such as fairy circles and banshees, and featuring traditions like Bealtaine, Midsummer and Samhain. These are not just passing references but are woven meaningfully into the plot, giving the story a strong sense of place and history.
The structure of the novel is distinctive and engaging. The story is presented as an account of what happened to Josh and the group, compiled from diary entries, handwritten notes, and video recordings which have been sent to his friend Alan. At the beginning of some chapters, Alan narrates what he sees in the video footage. Through these observations, we witness disturbing changes in Josh and Meabh, including references to their appearance becoming increasingly unwell and unnatural. The inclusion of the video footage, although read about on a page rather than watched on a screen, create a Blair Witch Project style documentary, or mock-umentary, feel.
The narrative shifts between the present day, with perspectives from the group and Cora, a local Garda, in the summer of 2023, and the past, told through the voice of Roisin, Cora’s great-great-great-grandmother in 1842, as recorded in ‘The Witches’ Book’. These perspective shifts are done clearly, with each being titled according to the character in questions. Additionally, some of the most revealing moments from the past come through the dreams of the characters. This can be slightly disorientating as a reader when it first happens, but then again, it reflects the experience of the characters themselves, who wake with a sense of having not only seen the past but also felt the emotions of those long dead.
Through these points of view we come to learn more about the dark history of the town and the pyramid relating to the Bernard family, specifically Thomas and his sister Marguerite. Whilst the family was also a real family, (which I think adds so much to the story telling and shows the author did some pretty mega research!) I'm not sure how accurate the events were that followed...but who knows!
The Kinnitty Pyramid is introduced early in the novel as the likely source of the group’s troubles. Meabh unaffectionately refers to it as the blood pyramid, a name which, with her Irish accent, could be taken either as a swear or as a chilling fact. Holly's connection to the pyramid quickly grows stronger. It begins to stir thoughts about death and her recently deceased mother. It is difficult to pinpoint exactly why she is more affected than the others, but it could be linked to the folklore trope of certain people being more susceptible to supernatural forces. Given Holly's recent grief and unresolved trauma, it could be argued that her emotional state leaves her more open to the influence of the pyramid. Irish tradition often speaks of certain places and times of year when the boundary between the living and the dead becomes thinner, and this idea recurs throughout the novel.
I really enjoyed Blood Point overall and it was as pleasure to read. I have only recently begun reading horror and whilst there are some gruesome and down right scary moments, I think Lane could have taken this further. My main point of reference is Grady Hendrix's books, some of which feature moments I can barely stand to read...but it in a good way! Of course, there's a fine line between good horror and outright horrible for the sake of it which often feels forced and unnecessary. I think the horror elements from Lane are executed well but for me they could be a littttle spookier. BUT that's personal preference.
Having said that I think many of Lane's spooks are woven throughout the plot in a more subtle way. Yes, there's the obvious violence and inhumane acts but what stuck with me was the aforementioned video footage that the reader only snatches insight into throughout the novel, up until the big reveal. This masterfully fits with the trope of fearing the unknown. As in classic Lovecraftian horror, a shadow, a whisper, a glowing eye, a spooky noise, a fleeting view of any monster is SCARY. However, as soon as that monster is just standing in the middle of the room letting you gawk? I'm kind of over it...
The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown. - H. P. Lovecraft
The characters are convincing and feel three-dimensional. The history between them, both good and bad, is authentic and gives meaning to some of the tough decisions they are forced to make. The modern day dialogue was fast paced and comedic. Which, in comparison made the 1800's dialogue and story telling feel a little slower and content heavy. A small moment to me that felt unclear was the interaction between Patrice and Hope that leads to a fair amount of drama. It seemed out of character and misplaced, purely added in as a plot device, but this may be because the supernatural elements had already started and I was yet to catch up!
The combination of the various Irish accents/dialects and the physical setting of Ireland solidly places the reader within the storyline and leaves them totally engrossed. The topics throughout such as grief, adultery, and finding new love later in life are dealt with sensitively and in a relatable way. These themes span genres but Lane has mindfully utilised them to carry the plot further and inform character decisions. For me there's nothing worse than a character doing something and, as a reader, thinking 'nope, they wouldn't do that...'. The back story we had of the friend group and the internal dynamics ensured this did not happen.
The pace was well balance with a clear increase in tempo towards the climax and ending of the book. Often folklore and supernatural events are used as symbols for the characters feelings figuratively rather than just being part of the plot. This may be the case here for some readers but for me I read it more as purely a solid base for storytelling and using tradition and lore to form the foundations of this novel.
Blood Point is a compelling fusion of folklore and horror, told in a fun and inventive way that makes it stand out in the genre. Fans of gothic mystery and psychological horror will likely find much to enjoy here.
AND YES - fun that the release date is Midsummer!
Horror Reads
[transcribed by YouTube]
All right, so the first book I want to talk about today is called Blood Point.
This one is excellent. It contains a lot of Irish folklore and legend. It's actually set in Ireland. Features some very memorable Irish characters and it's got a great hook, man. It's just uh fantastic. And it's about a group of friends. They were friends in college and now they're all middle-aged. They decide to go to this little town in Ireland called Kittany. Kitten, I believe it is. and uh spend a few days there celebrating one of their
50th birthdays.
Uh included is a man and his daughter. Uh their mother and wife recently passed away and they're still trying to pick up the pieces of their grief. Uh and then he has all his friends from uh the university they all went to. And we'll get to know all these characters as the book goes on. But in this town, there's a a a touristy place people go. It's a basically a weird black pyramid. Uh the pyramid isn't open for people to go
inside, but people like going there and looking at it, it has a very dark past. Uh and if rumors are to be believed, all this folklore, it uh was a scene of some horrific uh brutality way back in the past in the 1800s.
And we'll learn all about that as this book progresses. But this man's daughter kind be kind of becomes obsessed with this pyramid. She finds herself sleepwalking and waking up in front of it for some reason. Then one night they decide to go and uh have a little party in front of the pyramid. A little picnic with drinks and food and everything. And things are going to get a little out of control. Some old issues between them are going to flare up and it results in a in a physical altercation that's going to spill some blood right at the foot of this pyramid. and it opens.
It's locked. It's barred, but something inside opens it. And that's where the story really takes off because there's an ancient goddess in there that has been asleep for thousands of years. Something steeped in Irish folklore. And it's looking for a host. And it finds the perfect host it wants in this man's daughter. And under this thing's con control, she is going to commit several heinous murders and acts on different portions of their group and it is going to get terrifying and bloody.
Now the thing I really liked about this book though is that it's written in an epistlatory manner. So, we are going to find out all the events that happened through like video calls, uh, WhatsApp messages, uh, diary
entries, journal entries, and other things they can dig up from, uh, some of the local, uh, folklore around the area. And I really think that, uh, writing style works extremely well for this book. Uh because each of these characters, that's this is another thing I like about it. Each of these characters has its purpose. Like everyone has a piece of the story to tell from their perspective that brings the whole thing to light. It really fleshes it out and makes it more horrifying than just the main uh narrative. And I like books that have all these great characters, but sometimes those characters tend to uh stay in the background. they don't
really get their proper due. But in this book, they all have a pretty important part to play in the overall story and things that are happening to them and how they react to it and things like that. It's all part of uh the story and it makes it even more terrifying, you know. Yeah, I absolutely love this one.