At first glance, Phil Pendleton and his son Adam are just an ordinary father and son, no different from any other. They take walks in the park together, visit county fairs, museums, and zoos, and eat together overlooking the lake. Some might say the father is a little too accommodating given the lack of discipline when the child loses his temper in public. Some might say he spoils his son by allowing him to eat candy whenever he wants and set his own bedtimes. Some might say that such leniency is starting to take its toll on the father, given how his health has declined.

What no one knows is that Phil is a prisoner, and that up until a few weeks ago and a chance encounter at a grocery store, he had never seen the child before in his life.

I’ve watched over the last few years as the Bookstagram horror community has kinda helped turn Kealan Patrick Burke into the face of indie/self-published horror. He seems to engage with the community in really meaningful ways, and the reviews for all his work seem overwhelmingly positive. So I decided to finally give one of his books a whirl!

I didn’t quite realize Sour Candy was as short as it is (74 pages) when I ordered it, but goddamn…Burke manages to cram in a novel’s worth of creepiness & unsettling imagery in this very slim novella!! I really dug Sour Candy, and was more than a bit unnerved by it!!

Things start off innocently enough, with Phil Pendleton out shopping for ALL THE CHOCOLATE, so he and his girlfriend can spend a much-needed day off rotting in front of the TV & eating junk.

But then the screaming starts.

There’s a strange little boy at the Walmart, accompanied by an even stranger woman. The boy is shrieking at the top of his lungs, grabbing the attention of lots of folks in the store. Including Phil.

To give out more plot details than that is a huge disservice to anyone looking to read this book! But in some rather clever ways, Kealan Patrick Burke spins this tale into something completely subversive & insidious. Crossing paths with this boy & this woman sends Phil down a path of abject horror, which has him questioning every single aspect of his life, including his own sanity. There is some serious mind-fuckery happening in Sour Candy!!

I’m really looking forward to checking out more of Burke’s work!! His prose has a somewhat effortless flow to it, and he manages to get you invested in his characters in a very short period of time. There were definitely more than a few moments in Sour Candy where I paused for a second and was like “what in the actual fuck”. The story was vivid to the point where it was playing out right in front of me, with a sort of delirious/fever dream quality. This one has been sticking with me, well after finishing it!