It Came From The Lake is fast paced and very quick read. Don't let the short page number turn you away, because what it lacks in pages the read makes up for in atmosphere and thrills. This one is perfect for all of the fans of the creature features, making sure you never look at a lake the same way ever again. Thank you to NetGalley, Alien Agenda Publishing, and Glenn Rolfe for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review. This one is available now.

Having previously read Glenn Rolfe’s werewolf novel Blood and Rain, I was excited to see his take on a lake monster.

The book immediately drew me in with the first chapter starting with that great first line. I also love a horror novel that delivers a cold open kill and introduction of the monster in the first chapter.

Then we meet Leilani. She’s a great character and caught my interest right away. I especially loved that her foster parents deviated from the stereotype. They were good people that genuinely wanted to help Leilani. I also liked that they had tattoos–again breaking stereotypes.

After Leilani’s introduction the story began to lose me. There were too many point of view characters introduced and I cannot remember any of their names. I think I would have enjoyed the story more if it stayed with Leilani. The boy she meets wasn’t a bad character but he didn’t need his own perspective. I was not at all invested in the detective who read as a stock caricature of a film noir gumshoe. A few other characters also received chapters from their perspective that weakened the story.

Another thing that took me out of the story were the pop culture references that seemed out-of-place. References to Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, and Thor. These appeared in multiple character perspectives. This made it even more difficult to differentiate the characters. They use the same pop culture references, they swear the same, and the reacted to events in similar manners. Essentially, they were all the author. What was the point of having so many characters if none of them have anything new to add to the story.

The characters also took away from the real draw: the monster. The monster was not in the story nearly enough. When it did appear it did the same things each time. More time was spent on the crazy old Vietnam vet than on the monster. I could have done without that character too.

My final take away is that this story was too unfocused and didn’t fully deliver on the premise. Had this been about a foster kid that runs away and has to fight a lake monster, it might have been fun. Unfortunately, this story wastes it’s limited page length on also trying to be a detective story and a crazy killer in the woods story.

I’m still a fan of Rolfe and would be interested in reading more from him, but this book was not for me.

Very atmospheric & dreadful! Love his writing style, he’s so good at setting a scene that it makes you feel present in the story! This is another short fun horrific tale from this author! Definitely I’ll read anything he puts out next!

This was a new author for me, and I was pleasantly surprised that I finished it quickly during a short flight.
I was a little nervous with the pov changes as they can easily become too much, but found that it really was easy enough to keep everyone straight. Also, you were able to pick up on who was important and who was just adding a bit of action scenes.
I would call this more creature feature, but also I enjoyed the urban legend feel of it.
The gore wasn’t over the top, nor did it feel like it was used for shock factor. It felt like it fit in nicely.
I’d be interested in picking up more from this author.

Very good writing. I was worried about the introduction of a lot of characters in the beginning but it really worked and it was easy to remember who is who. I loved the twist in the end. I would definitely read more of this authors work! Thanks NetGallery!

A great short story to get your blood pumping. Nice mashup of murder mystery and creature feature. An added bonus was that location 666 on my kindle was the start of chapter 13.

This was a fast paced and quick read that was so easy to get lost and immersed into. I always love it when short books like these are so fantastically written that it feels like a full novel.

This gave me massive Stephen King vibes, particularly some of his older work and it felt quite nostalgic.

This was my first time reading from this author and I can’t wait to check out more of their work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Alien Agenda Publishing for providing me with this ARC. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of It Comes from the Lake! I had a great time reading this short book. It really reminded me of Stephen King in that every sentence oozed each individual character’s personality, which is so fun to read when done well and is necessary in a shorter-length book with many points of view. As a Mainer, I loved each little tidbit about my home state that made its way into this story. Leilani was one of my favorite characters and a nearly perfect final girl, and I honestly think I would read a book just about our short-lived characters Deana and Kevin and their story. I haven’t read much creature-horror, but this book was really fun, and delivered on the creep-factor for me! I look forward to reading more Glenn Rolfe!

This book turned out to be better than I thought it would be. I got a little confused with the first couple of chapters, but I promise the way it’s set up it does make sense. I honestly thought it was gonna be like a mix of short stories, but somehow it all came together cohesively. I very much enjoyed this book and the twist ending was just perfect!! I would be happy to let everyone know to buy this book, and to buy a copy myself for my physical shelf.

It Came From The Lake by Glenn Rolfe was a quick read and a book for a windy rainy night whilst snuggled under your quilt or sitting round a camp fire in the woods. It was a creepy and gory read. It was a quick read and once I started it I had to finish.
I really enjoyed it and will not be my last book from this author

Big Thank you to Netgalley and Alien Agenda Publishing for my Arc

It came from the lake, this is a short story. But it really packed a punch! You got in depth information about characters and a fantastic storyline! I loveeee creature features and this was right up my alley! It gave me gory adult goosebump vibes. I see others have said the same! (I hope the author was going for something like this). This was such an enjoyable read, I’ll definitely check out other titles by this author!

3.75 🌟 rounded down for Goodreads and Netgalley!

This was an entertaining and quick creature feature read. I loved the descriptions of the creature and the characters. The ending was good too and it was gory enough.
Not really much more to say about this one.
Read if you like cryptids and creepy woods settings.

Thank you Netgalley, Publishers and the author for my eARC of this book.
All opinions are my own and I'm leaving my review voluntarily.

I love a good creature feature, and this one is short, gory, and I loved it. it was very easy and fast to read.

This story reminds me of Humanoids from the Deep but less cheesy, this was more this was very atmospheric, darker, I would say it reminds me of Creature from the Black Lagoon, but I have not seen the whole movie as yet (I know. I know. It is on my to watch list)

Like any good story, It left me wanting more, maybe some background about the monster, or some more of the monster POV, but I did love the ending!

It also made me realise there is not a lot of lake monster out there these days, so this was a pleasant change from, werewolf's and vampires, (which I also love) but I always like finding new and different creatures.

All in all, if you are craving a quick easy to read creature feature, then this will hit the spot.

This is a fun little book - very Creature from the Black Lagoon-ish.

While the book is short, the author does a good job of building the characters into full and interesting people.

I was very concerned for our two kids and thoroughly enjoyed the read!

3.5 stars. This is a fun creature feature and the ending was a real surprise and cool twist. Thank you to NetGalley for a digital copy

This was a wild ride of wild creature feature gush and gore in 86 page novella! I thoroughly enjoyed it. Absolutely loved the B horror movie feel to it

It has a new type of cryptid, so strap in if you're freaked out by them. Reminded me of the horror books I read as a kid but in adult form. Which is a breath of fresh air for a change. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

“He turned and found himself in the shadow of a grotesque impossibility.”

Glenn Rolfe in his new creature feature, tells the story of a young teenager and a foster child find themselves in the woods next to a lake in Maine. For years a Vietnam vet has been protecting the secrets of this lake and unfortunately for these two they are about to come head to head with these dark secrets.

This is a short but thrilling story. It has all the quirks of a creepy creature feature film. It was as though the reader was there with these kids experiencing the horrors that were awaiting them.

The author does great work in telling the tragic back stories of the characters involved which make the reader empathise with their situation.

Combining this with the terror thats always around the corner, this story was a fun read a lot of people would enjoy.

I really enjoyed this horror novella! It Came from the Lake is a classic "creature feature", perfect for fans of campy, bloodstained B-Movies.

We follow a few different characters, a teenage runaway, a local kid visiting the lake, a traumatised veteran and a private detective. The characters were interesting, and set up ok considering the books length (although I would have been interested in a little more detail and backstory perhaps). I was very interested to see how their paths would cross as the story progressed.

Plot wise, there are a few unanswered questions for me. I'd be curious to know more about our "creature" and it's background also.

The pacing was fast, short punchy chapters that made this hard to put down. It started with a bang, and maintained it's intensity throughout. Would definitely be interested in reading from this author again!

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing a review copy of It Came from the Lake!

𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘕𝘦𝘵𝘨𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘈𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘗𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘤 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸

"ᴛʜᴇ ꜱʜʀɪʟʟ ᴋᴇᴇɴɪɴɢ ᴄᴀᴍᴇ ᴀɢᴀɪɴ, ᴇᴄʜᴏɪɴɢ ᴀ ᴛʜʀᴇᴀᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ᴛᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜʀᴏᴜɢʜ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛʀᴇᴇꜱ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ꜱᴇɴᴛɪᴇɴᴛ ᴛʜɪɴɢ."

It Came From The Lake is a creature-feature horror short from Glenn Rolfe. I got through this book easily in a day, and it is a good pick for someone just looking for a quick read!

One of the strengths of this book was the creature - it had a unique premise, and I loved some of its behaviors. It was very creepy, and it certainly gave me a sense of dread when it was described on the page.

The ending was the strongest part of this book to me, including the fun twist at the very end - it gave a payoff for the buildup!

A few things didn't hit the mark for me. Some sentences felt forced and took me out of the moment, especially in the middle of the action-packed sequences. For example, "Qᴜɪɴᴄʏ ʀᴇᴀᴄʜᴇᴅ ᴅᴏᴡɴ ᴀɴᴅ ᴄʀɪᴇᴅ ᴏᴜᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ᴀ ᴡᴀʀʀɪᴏʀ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴏʀᴅ ᴏꜰ ᴛʜᴇ ʀɪɴɢꜱ ᴍᴏᴠɪᴇꜱ ʜᴇ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ʟᴏᴠᴇ ᴡᴀᴛᴄʜɪɴɢ ᴡɪᴛʜ ʜɪꜱ ᴅᴀᴅ." It feels so out of place to be building this character during a fast-moving scene, and these moments really made me stumble during some of these critical pacing beats.

The POV jumping was fun, but I think sometimes confusing. The segments could have been longer to prevent whiplash as we were first learning about these characters. I do think Lelani's portion was the best executed in this way, where I felt like I knew her voice and background well from her first scene.

"ʟᴇɪʟᴀɴɪ ᴡᴀꜱɴ'ᴛ ᴜꜱᴇᴅ ᴛᴏ ꜰᴜᴄᴋɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ ᴀɴᴅ ɢɪᴠɪɴɢ ᴀ ꜱʜɪᴛ. ᴛʜɪꜱ ᴡᴀꜱ ɴᴇᴡ ᴛᴇʀʀɪᴛᴏʀʏ. ᴀɴᴅ ꜱʜᴇ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ʟɪᴋᴇ ɪᴛ."

A couple of things felt like misses to me - the way Leilani was portrayed racially felt out of touch, to put it lightly, and the same could be said about the mental health issues that Francis was dealing with. I know these things are less critically examined often in the Horror genre, but some moments felt really unneeded to drive the characters and their stories, even in an edgy or gritty context.

TW: Sexual Assault, Gore, Murder, Drug Mention, Abuse, Racism, PTSD

Quotes:
"ᴛʜᴇʏ ꜱᴀʏ ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʀᴇᴀᴛᴜʀᴇ ᴡᴀꜱ ʜᴇʀᴇ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴏᴡᴇɴꜱ ʙᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴏɴᴅ ᴀɴᴅ ᴀʟʟ ᴛʜᴇ ᴀᴄʀᴇᴀɢᴇ ꜱᴜʀʀᴏᴜɴᴅɪɴɢ ɪᴛ. ʟᴏᴛ ᴏꜰ ʟᴏᴄᴀʟꜱ ᴡᴏᴜʟᴅ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ʙᴇʟɪᴇᴠᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴀᴅ ꜱʜɪᴛ ꜱᴛᴀʀᴛᴇᴅ ᴡʜᴇɴ ᴛʜᴀᴛ ꜱᴄᴜᴍʙᴀɢ ʀɪᴄʜ ʙᴏʏ ᴀɴᴅ ʜɪꜱ ɢʀᴇᴇᴅʏ ᴡɪꜰᴇ ꜱᴄᴏᴏᴘᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀɴᴅ ᴜᴘ ʙᴇꜰᴏʀᴇ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴏᴡɴ ᴄᴏᴜʟᴅ ʙᴜʏ ɪᴛ ᴀɴᴅ ᴘʀᴇꜱᴇʀᴠᴇ ɪᴛ ꜰᴏʀ ꜰᴜᴛᴜʀᴇ ɢᴇɴᴇʀᴀᴛɪᴏɴꜱ, ʙᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ᴏɴʟʏ ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴏꜰ ᴡʜᴀᴛ ʜᴀᴘᴘᴇɴᴇᴅ."

"'ᴡʜᴀᴛ'ꜱ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ?' ᴍᴀᴅᴅᴏx ᴀꜱᴋᴇᴅ, ᴛʜᴇ ᴄᴏꜰꜰᴇᴇ ɪɴ ʜɪꜱ ʜᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀɢᴏᴛᴛᴇɴ.

ᴋʏʟᴇ ᴘᴜʟʟᴇᴅ ᴀ ᴄɪɢᴀʀᴇᴛᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ ᴛʜᴇ ᴘᴀᴄᴋ ᴜᴘᴏɴ ᴛʜᴇ ᴛᴀʙʟᴇ. ʜᴇ ᴛᴡɪʀʟᴇᴅ ɪᴛ ʙᴇᴛᴡᴇᴇɴ ʜɪꜱ ᴛʜᴜᴍʙ ᴀɴᴅ ꜰᴏʀᴇꜰɪɴɢᴇʀ. 'ɪᴛ ʟɪᴠᴇꜱ ʙᴇɴᴇᴀᴛʜ ᴛʜᴇ ʟᴀᴋᴇ'"

#ItCameFromTheLake #NetGalley

Somewhere in lovely Maine there is a manmade lake owned by a wealthy man who won't let anyone trespass on his property near the lake because something inhuman and hungry lives within the waters, at least that is how the local folklore has been told.

Only on this particular week there will be many unfortunate people including two young teens who will all make the grave mistake of going near the lake and they will find out there are more harrowing dangers than only the creature of legend.


This was a fun, horrific and fast paced book that you won't put down. The story grabbed my interest from the first page and the action never let up. There are a lot of different characters which made the book very entertaining and interesting.

I love creature feature books and this one didn't let me down. The ending may surprise some readers but most horror enthusiasts will. probably figure out what would happen as I did but it still made for an enticing ending. The book was the perfect length which made the story even more enjoyable.

I definitely recommend to all horror lovers who especially enjoy creature tales reminiscent of the old B movies of the 60's and 70's.

I want to thank the publisher "Alien Agenda Publishing" and Netgalley for the opportunity to read this digital copy and any thoughts or opinions expressed are unbiased and mine alone!

I have given a rating of 3 1/2 CREEPY FOLKLORIC 🌟🌟🌟🌠 STARS!!