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Reviewed by Jamie Michele for Readers' Favorite
In Joel Hopkinson’s The Devil of Dark Dreams, book one of The Otherworld Portals series, Afghan-Australian widower Yasir Nassim owns the Dead Palomino, a Brisbane steakhouse built around his love of country music. When employee Albert arrives bruised and exhausted, he claims a creature sits on his chest and drains his life through dreams. Yasir dismisses the explanation until Ethan, the restaurant’s bouncer, brings the same supernatural presence from Albert’s apartment. The entity travels through electrical devices, leaves its victims unable to move, and gains power after every feeding. At the same time, crime boss Mr. Fuseli forces Yasir to host an illegal poker game whose prize is The Nightmare, a stolen painting of a demon crouched on a sleeping woman. Yasir must discover what has entered Brisbane before it claims everyone connected to his restaurant.
Joel Hopkinson’s The Devil of Dark Dreams follows Yasir into supernatural horror that moves from sleep paralysis into a threat beyond a Brisbane apartment. The mythology is extensive, and each manifestation has its own set of tics that make it full of twists. I loved how the entity’s relationship with electricity develops, because every attack adds to a reader's understanding of what each character faces. Teresa’s off-grid farm is a perfect example, as Yasir realizes how a creature that drains phones and power systems may be drawn into storage batteries. Hide the batteries! Yasir is a fantastic main character and, in a testament to Hopkinson’s skill as a writer, his practical mind is central to the arc instead of evaporating completely, which I have seen one too many times, even after he accepts that this is supernatural. It's not an anomaly; it is happening. Well written and imaginative, readers who enjoy horror with a fresh angle will adore this book.
