Red Inside by Bridgett Nelson
Red Inside is Bridgett Nelson’s debut extreme horror novella. Published on July 23, 2024 by Threat Pose Press, it weighs in at 195 blood-soaked pages.
I picked up an e-book copy of Red Inside before going on a trip. I had purchased Nelson’s Splatterpunk Award-winning collection A Bouquet of Viscera in October at the St. Louis Scares That Care AuthorCon 4 event. I’d planned to read it next but didn’t want to pack physical books on my trip. With March being Women in Horror month, and a deep desire to read Bridgett Nelson’s work, I decided to grab this book on a whim.
I am utterly thrilled I did. I couldn’t put it down. I’m the lone horror reader in my family, but that didn’t stop me from telling my husband and kids all the gory details. Well, I might have held back a few things—they don’t appreciate the gore and disgusting moments like I do. I had to get it out, though, and I’m glad they let me gush on and on about it.
Not only was I keen to read Nelson’s work, I couldn’t pass up the gorgeous cover. I absolutely love it. The tarantulas. The spooky girl and her creepy eyes. The color scheme. This book had me hooked before I even cracked it open. And when I did, it was a bloody, gory, awesome experience.
I enjoyed the change of POV for each chapter, allowing me to get to know each of the characters on a deeper level and make me care even more about (or despise) them. It also kept the story fresh and very much alive throughout the entire book. The quickness of each chapter hooked me and kept me turning pages, hungry for more.
There are so many gruesome and thrilling bits in the story. Yet, despite all of the blood, nothing felt overdone. It was a perfect balance of story-telling and splatter. Also, I’d like to note that having been around many hospitals and medical settings in the past for work, Nelson’s background in nursing made Red Inside believable. Her world-building accuracy, down to overbearing staff and a back-breaking workload, created a plausible rendition of a medical setting.
One of the things I love about horror is the emotional undercurrent that flows beneath and solidifies a fantastic story. This book played with my emotions, and I was cheering for some of the characters to succeed and for some to meet their demises. And, with so much action, terror, and blood, I was glued to the pages. The crazy just kept ramping up as despair and an absolute frenzy of chaotic situations propelled the plot forward. The prologue and epilogue weren’t just informative bits, either. They provided as many thrills and chills as the rest of the book.
I read a book cover to cover, so I enjoyed getting to know Nelson more through the Afterword. As a spider saver myself (despite having experienced a juvenile brown recluse bite when I lived in Tulsa) and a snake lover, I thoroughly enjoyed her tarantula and ball python discourse.
I also want to share that it was a pleasure to meet Bridgett Nelson at AuthorCon. She was both kind and encouraging. Please check out her work! I know I will be reading much more in the future.
Favorite bit from my notes:
This is the weird, creepy horror I need!!!
More books from Bridgett Nelson:
Who is Bridgett Nelson?
Once an operating room registered nurse, Bridgett Nelson so enjoyed playing with human organs, she decided to turn her macabre interest into a horror writing career. She loves bubble baths (because nothing says spooooky writer like orange-scented bubbles), hates not knowing what’s swimming in the water with her, lives for Halloween season (but loathes chainsaw-wielding dudes in haunted houses), adores her West Virginia University Mountaineers, is very pro-Oxford comma, and thinks bananas are absolutely disgusting.
Bridgett is mom to Parker and Autumn and a 2022 Michael Knost WINGS award nominee. She also won second-place in the ’22 Gross-Out contest at KillerCon in Austin, Texas, and third-place in the ’23 Gross-Out contest.
She’s a freelance editor. Audiobook proofer. Bookworm. Dog lover. Tarantula whisperer. Bra avoider. ENJF. Amaretto Sour obsessor.
Bridgett currently lives in Duluth, Minnesota, with Bram Stoker Award-winning author, Jeff Strand, and their ball python, Indie Hellspawn McFangy Serenity Strand.
***Taken from Bridgett Nelson’s website
