The Final Gate

Encyclopocalypse Publications offers a tantalizing assortment of cult cinema novelizations or film tie-in books. But, the publisher also sports a robust catalog of original novels featuring horror, action, and science-fiction themes. I stumbled upon their 2021 horror publication The Final Gate in the Kindle store. The book is authored by Wesley Southard (Cruel Summer, Try Again) and Lucas Mangum (Saint Sadist, Gods of the Dark Web) and remains in both ebook and paperback editions. 

The book opens with an introduction, “Seas of Darkness, Gates of Hell”, written by Ryan Harding (The Night Stockers, Sixty-Five Stirrup Iron Road) explaining that The Final Gate is a type of homage or continuation of Lucio Fulci's iconic 1970s and 80s Italian cinematic horror. He cites influences like Zombi 2, City of the Living Dead, and The Beyond as catalysts for both authors to achieve cinematic horror on the written page. This introduction serves as a hellish welcome to what awaits readers in The Final Gate. 

This 136-page novel mostly takes place in an eerie orphanage called St. Lukes. The facility, in need of serious funding, sits above a fiery chasm that serves as one of a handful of global doorways to hell. One of the facility's managers (no spoilers!) is sacrificing children in an effort to unleash an apocalypse of the undead. As bodies are ripped and torn they become eyeless lifeless killing machines that vomit black bile while feasting on human flesh. There's even some references to the George Romero/Dario Argento co-production Dawn of the Dead as if those events actually occurred. 

The main character is a girl named Jillian who ends up at the orphanage searching for her boyfriend. He went missing while searching for the whereabouts of his younger brother. The search leads to a conspiracy regarding the orphanage leaders, human trafficking, and the obligatory sacrifices to the flame-broiled behemoth slithering in the bowels of Earth. It isn't overly complicated, cosmic, or labor intensive in storytelling. See zombies? Run. Shoot. Fight. Survive.

If you enjoy the retroactive horror scene – the authors and books that pay tribute to 70s, 80s, and even 90s horror and fantasy cinema – then The Final Gate is another solid entry. I enjoyed the fast pace, the assortment of characters, and the lack of any real plot entanglements. This is popcorn fun that never pretends to be anything else. Recommended. Get it HERE.