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Erica Robyn Reads

a horror book review blog

Recent Posts

Indie Bookstore Day 2025 | Book Event

A tablet lies on dry grass and surrounded by dandelions in a natural outdoor setting. The screen displays the cover of the book Everybody Is in the Place by Emma J. Gibbon. The cover features a colorful, fantastical illustration of a female figure with glowing eyes and curved horns, holding something mysterious in her hands. Stars and swirling cosmic elements fill the background, giving the cover a magical and otherworldly feel. The title text is in bold, colorful letters across the top and middle, with the author's name at the bottom.

Everybody Is in the Place by Emma J. Gibbon | Book Review

Spider to the Fly by J.H. Markert | Book Review

[Short Story Review] The Gatekeeper by Kevin J. Kennedy

January 21, 2018      Erica Robyn      18 Comments

Short Story Review of The Gatekeeper by Kevin J. Kennedy

The Gatekeeper by Kevin J. Kennedy is an awesome short story filled with humor, darkness, and the paranormal! I would have happily read an entire book based on this short!

Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.

Let’s dive in!

My Thoughts on The Gatekeeper by Kevin J. Kennedy

I really enjoyed this short story! Like I said above, I would have happily read an entire book based on this short, but as a short story, it was perfect! I was totally captivated the whole way through and I was quite sad when it ended, simply because I didn’t want to let it go just yet.

The humor made me chuckle more than once and I really enjoyed watching the storyline play out! When the creatures began coming out of the gate, I was so excited to see what was next!

My Favorite Passages from The Gatekeeper

They call me the ‘the Gatekeeper’. Well, no, they don’t – not really. No one does. I’m the only one who calls myself ‘the Gatekeeper’ but it has a nice ring to it, don’t you think?

I was stinking drunk. I was sitting in my local bar, a bar that only people like me drank in. People who had sunk to the bottom. The dirt had dirt on it, the chairs were broken, the beer was flat and the barmaid had a face that looked like a melted-rubbery-Freddy mask, but the drink was cheap.

I’m not sure if it was the devil himself that offered me the job or one of his minions, but he certainly had the typical devil getup. Red as fuck, two big horns and cloven feet. I may not be a detective but he certainly wouldn’t have needed a passport to get into Hell.

The devil guy had called it a gate but it looked nothing like a gate, it was obviously a trap door. I know what you are thinking: I call myself the Gatekeeper. I thought about that but the Trap Door Keeper just doesn’t have the same je ne sais quoi.

My Final Thoughts on The Gatekeeper

I’d highly recommend this to fans of the paranormal as long as you don’t mind a very brief sex scene.


Snag a copy using my Amazon Affiliate link or inquire at your local indie:

Thanks for reading!

Related Reading:
Feel free to also check out my other reviews of his work below.

  • 100 Word Horrors: An Anthology of Horror Drabbles
  • 100 Word Horrors Part 2
  • Carnival of Horror
  • Collected Christmas Horror Shorts 2
  • Collected Easter Horror Shorts
  • Collected Halloween Horror Shorts: Trick ‘r Treat
  • Dark Thoughts
  • Screechers by Kevin J. Kennedy and Christina Bergling
  • You Only Get One Shot by Kevin J. Kennedy & J.C. Michael

Here are a few more recent posts you might like:

  • Indie Bookstore Day 2025 | Book Event
  • Everybody Is in the Place by Emma J. Gibbon | Book Review
  • Spider to the Fly by J.H. Markert | Book Review

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Barb says

    January 22, 2018 at 1:40 pm

    Sounds like a good solid read. I'm curious!

    Reply
    • Erica Hatch says

      January 22, 2018 at 1:53 pm

      Definitely! It was so interesting!!

      Reply

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Erica Robyn of Erica Robyn Reads
Hello! I’m Erica, a Mainer living in New Hampshire who runs on hot tea, good books, and loud music. Join me as I seek out amazing horror tales and help support the indie horror community!
 

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