We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk is a Unique Addition To The Asylum Sub Genre
Some doctors are sicker than their patients.
I got the chance to read We Are Monsters by Brian Kirk (sent to me by Flame Tree Press for review) and it was a whirlwind of AHS Asylum meets Grave Encounters serving insanity realness.
Alex Drexler works for Sugar Hill asylum as a Doctor but wants to cure mental illness. He’s developed a serum that he believes can fix a patient’s brain. Only problem is, every time he tries, something weird happens and the patient doesn’t get any better. Also, his boss Doctor Eli Alpert is a big believer in healing people with respect, kindness, and love. So, a magical serum and testing patients? No way honey.
Alex’s brother Jerry is a patient at Sugar Hill after being diagnosed when he was in college. Their father and mother never got over it and wish it was Alex who had been diagnosed instead. Alex has a lot he’s fighting for. But he’s also created a life around himself that is above his means, and his ego has gotten out of control. When his investors drop out, and he owes a lot of money, Alex gets desperate. Then when Jerry has a relapse, Alex decides to use his serum on his brother. Except, this time it works. Problem solved right? Nah.
Meanwhile, at Sugar Hill, social worker Angela is dealing with a new patient – the Apocalypse Killer; Crosby Nelson. Crosby is certified insane and incredibly violent. Eli believes in working with him to heal him, while the board members think doping him up with as much medicine as possible is what’s best. And after a riot at Sugar Hill our three characters; Angela, Alex, and Eli find themselves at a crossroads.
Here’s what I loved: (SPOILERSSSS)
book mood board
They’re just walls, Alex. Inside, outside, it’s all the same. These are not a different breed of people. They just have different problems.
This is a true story of morality. Alex has turned into a pretty bad person because of how life treated him. He’s become hyper obsessed and vain. But through the horrific nightmares that come from his own serum in Sugar Hill, he’s forced to face the man he’s become. Angela, a party animal who lets men walk all over her, while she’s not a bad person, she feels like she is. The compassion she shows for patients, she can’t seem to show herself. But through the cathartic and terrifying visions she’s given through the serum she’s able to face her own demons and come out happier and clearer on the other side. Eli, a goodhearted man who does whatever he can for his patients, doesn’t do the same for himself. He’s scared, he won’t take risks, he’s stuck in place. He’s had a lot of trauma in his life and career but ultimately, he manages to find his courage and saves the entire asylum.
It’s a refreshing take on the asylum genre because we’re not focused on “crazy people doing craaaAAzzzy things”. We’re focused on the people that take care of those with mental illness and the strain it can take. Ultimately, the novel is showing you that we’re all the same, we’re human but with “different problems.”
I also loved the world that gets created once the serum is put into Crosby. He basically breaks the world and lets his inner demons out. He creates these almost parallel dream like realities. It’s such a cool idea and I had no idea it was coming. Each world that our main character has to make their way through is absolutely terrifying and this is where the true horror shines through. Crosby himself is stuck in a sort of religious Garden of Eden horror story and it gave me the ultimate chills.
The relationships in this book though are the most important factor I think. Kirk has a beautiful way of winding relationships through the characters and setting up all this emotional history. Eli with his patient Miranda is a beautiful but heartbreaking story, the same with Lacy his fiance. Her untimely death of cancer breaks Eli, and breaks you as you’re reading it.
Angela’s relationship with herself is something a lot of people can relate to. The damage we inflict on ourselves because we feel we should be punished for something that’s not our fault. Everyone can see a little bit of themselves in Angela which makes her feel that much more real.
And, of course, Alex. His strained relationship with his parents – never being the favorite child and having to grow up that way. The relationship with his brother – once strong and idolized, now Alex is Jerry’s carer.
The horror is great, but the relationships are even greater.
Overall, We Are Monsters, is an incredible read that is true horror with a lot of heart and thought.
We Are Monsters was originally released in 2015 and was Brian Kirk’s debut novel. It was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award in Superior Achievement in a First Novel. It has now been re-released through Flame Tree Press as of January 2020.
You can check out Flame Tree Press for yourself HERE.
Want to keep up to date on the site? Just subscribe to our newsletter HERE
Want more spooky reads? Just search below:
