Title: The Portal
Author: Craig Conrad
Publisher: Conrad Press
ISBN: 978-1953904843
Pages: 420
Genre: Genre Fiction
Reviewed by: Anthony Avina

Read Book Review

One of the things used to divide humanity since the dawn of time is the notion of good vs evil. While many consider the concept of “evil” to be entirely manmade and not necessarily a natural aspect of life, some people have chosen to embody evil in our lives, and the study of that evil has been a driving force in many people’s lives over the years. As legendary filmmaker John Carpenter once said, “There are two different stories in horror: internal and external. In external horror films, the evil comes from the outside, the other tribe, this thing in the darkness that we don’t understand. Internal is the human heart.”

In author Craig Conrad’s The Portal, the author explores the concept of evil on a personal scale for one group of people. Vietnam vet and boyfriend Paul Rice accompanies his girlfriend Linda on a week-long trip to meet her family at their grand home. Dealing with a gruff and negative father and the haunting memories of his past, Paul soon discovers that there is far more going on in this town than he could have ever known. Mysterious disappearances and murders, a putrid smell emanating from a closet in the family home, and strange figures lurking the shadows begin to haunt Paul as he delves deeper and deeper into the city, until finally he must confront the evil gathering in this place.

The author did a fantastic job of balancing the character growth and interactions with one another along with the horror and thriller genres which the author infused into the narrative. The setting was absolutely perfect, for the horrors and terror that many vets suffered from witnessing during the Vietnam War was the perfect mirror of the horrors residing within this town. The tone and atmosphere the author created really highlighted the exploration of darkness and evil, and how our actions and our pasts can often overshadow the path we hope to be on, never realizing we’ve gone in the complete opposite direction.

This would be the perfect read for those who enjoy supernatural and horror-themed genre fiction, especially with a thriller twist and a historic setting. As a fan of these genres, I was amazed at the author’s mythology building and the realism which went into the characters and their relationship with one another. Especially early on, I could feel the tension between the father and many members of his own family, let alone Paul, and seeing the different aspects and personal struggles of each of these characters really brought to mind the atmospheric storytelling of a gothic horror story.

A mesmerizing, haunting, and chillingly entertaining horror thriller, author Craig Conrad’s The Portal is a must-read novel! The shocking twists and turns the narrative takes will keep readers on the edge of their seats and their hearts pumping as the final confrontation boils over, and by the book’s end, readers will be delighted to see a cliffhanger ending which leaves room for more storytelling – should the author return to the narrative, and yet leaves it ominous enough to be a satisfactory horror ending all the same.