In Luke Geldmacher’s “Blood on the Snow“, atmospheric horror meets oral tradition folklore and mythical creatures from days of old. Creatures that little ones are told about to keep them from misbehaving. Much like the Babayaga, sometimes keeping the children on their best behavior isn’t all they’re good for. Sometimes, they set us adults straight as well, especially where no one can hear you scream.

“Blood on the Snow” is a gruesome tale about five people on a trip that encounter a creature so angry and menacing that it takes out its vengeance on the five doomed souls who thought it was going to be a trip to hunt. They instead become the hunted.

We’re introduced to the seemingly tough Sila, an Inuit woman and guide who is all but over the trip. Marcus, the businessman who has bankrolled the trip, is insufferable along with his trip mate Reggie, an ex-football player-turned-aspiring rapper. Along with Marcus’s bunk buddy, Emily, these three inexperienced bunch are kept safe by a solid retired Special Ops named Jackson. Sila and Jackson keep the trio from shooting themselves (and each other) as they wrangle up their bait for their intended target: a polar bear. Not only do Reggie and Emily not know what a caribou is, they also show no respect for the animal chosen as their bait, Marcus shooting the animal in the head as Reggie takes a picture of his “trophy”. Sila and Jackson see the weather becoming harsher as the evening approaches, gathering the group to go back to their luxury cabin in the snowy woods.

Once inside, that’s when the story takes a dangerous turn. A creature has been watching the crew of outsiders desecrate the caribou, seeing the carelessness the humans have for the life of the animals of the land. It wants to show them just how much of a mistake they’ve made coming to Alaska.

The action picks up rather quickly, almost too quickly. The creature is known to Sila as a nantiinaq, a creature that her people spoke of through the ages as being ruthless, incredibly strong, and dangerous. She warns the trio, but they call it a fairytale, not heeding the warnings. They pay heavily for this!

The nantiinaq picks them off one by one, all in ways unimaginable and jarring. Bloody are the deaths, even when they fight back against their coming ends. The first to meet a grisly end is Reggie; foolish was his demise. He falls for the first trap of many laid by the nantiinaq, the caribou being the bait for Reggie instead of the prized polar bear. Reggie leaving the confines of the cabin read like a horror film with a predictable ending for the character, an expected sacrifice.

With Reggie eviscerated, the rest of the characters fight to stay alive, but Marcus makes it a point to make sure he gets away before anyone else, leaving both of the people who is tasked to help to fend for themselves. Jackson was the first person who was supposed to pair with and he leaves him for dead (literally), Jackson mortally wounded. The next person to pair with Marcus is Emily who gets her brain released from her skull by the nantiinaq. Marcus gets wounded but nothing more, leaving Sila to fight for her life against the creature.

The final chapters detail more heinous acts by the nantiinaq but we get moments in those chapters that show the monster’s point of view. In those chapters, we get an understanding of why the nantiinaq does what it does. It does give you a feeling of wanting to be on the nantiinaq’s side until you’re not.

Geldmacher’s “Blood on the Snow” is well done and chock-full of action. It is a quick read, and if you’re not careful, you’ll read it in one sitting! The pacing is quick, filled with gore galore, and does its best to make you feel the chill of the cold and queasy from the manner of the deaths.

“Blood on the Snow” is available on Amazon.