Kentucky Dragon was such a wild ride of a book. The first half didn't quite grasp me until it was nearing it's end, but from then the pace picked up and everything felt so adventurous and Stephen King-like. I loved the obscure premise, which felt like a fever-dream when I explained it to my friends but the delivery made it so smooth and interesting. The care that went into this really shines through, while dealing with Nazi-ism (especially reading during the current political climate) there felt like there was always a level of grace applied with thorough research and the right word choice. I only wish the ending had felt more satisfying, although I imagine it's being set up for a sequel, it would be good to feel that there was some minimal form of closure to what happened to Mark, our main character, rather than a lackluster almost cliffhanger. Overall, I really enjoyed reading this! Even with its rocky start and less than perfect ending, I have no regrets over time possibly wasted.

Kentucky Dragon by Michael Park is a gripping blend of horror and Southern gothic, offering a fresh twist on the monster tale. Park takes the familiar small-town setting and injects it with creeping dread as the dragon becomes not just a creature, but a symbol of deeper fears lurking beneath the surface.

The atmosphere is one of the book’s strongest elements — Park builds tension masterfully, using the eerie isolation of rural Kentucky to full effect. The dragon itself is terrifying, not just for its physical presence but for the way it preys on the characters' personal demons. The horror is both visceral and psychological, creating an unsettling sense of dread throughout.

Some minor pacing issues and a few underdeveloped side characters hold it back from a perfect score, but overall, Kentucky Dragon is an inventive and chilling read. Horror fans looking for something different will find plenty to enjoy.

If you enjoy Faustian bargains, you may enjoy Kentucky Dragon.

The writer has a knack for disturbing imagery and visceral gore as well as bringing some interesting horror concepts like the chicken man and disappearing spaces to life.

This one starts out rather interesting and turns into somewhat of a mess. Developmentally, I had difficulty with the story. It’s a strange story in terms of structure and storylines. The start is compelling, yet lacks enough information, muddying the waters. Then, a time jump occurs and there’s suddenly way too much information. Then there’s a brief time where the story seems quite fine, as you see the future characters, their lives, their lingering issues—this was the part of the story I actually began to really enjoy, feeling quite hopeful as I was beginning to understand the first part of the story better and it left me intrigued and uneasy.

After which, the storyline swerves, runs out of control with some events (such as when he travels — this just didn’t execute well for me, specifically the package and what it required for transport).

The subsequent unraveling of information and background context in the German village made me lose all patience as a reader. Then it all came to an abrupt end.

I also didn’t care for the context of the latter part of the story. However I didn’t factor this into my rating, because the author has his story to tell regardless of how I feel about it. As a reader, it was much too convenient to try to explain away true human evil when the truth is much more terrifying. There were also missed opportunities with the sins of the father(s), returning to haunt the sons on several emotional levels.

Where did the dog go? This doesn’t haunt the reader as intended. One line would have created greater unease rather than annoyance. One line of connection to something, anything. It frustrated me and not in the right way.

However, many, many of the author’s depictions were genuinely effective horror—both gross and disturbing.

3/5

There was wayyy too much going on here sadly :(
In the beginning I was sold! Folklore, family curses etc YES PLEASE! The twists were getting me! Until NO ONE was communicating, like cmon! So frustrating! & then BAM Mark is an adult, huh what!? I didn’t get it! Not sure if it’s a me problem but I feel like if it was simplified down a little it would be much more enjoyable!

A 2 star horror book.

Thank you Netgalley for this e-arc!

If I had to rate this book on just the first 40% it would've been a near perfect book. It had just enough mystery and excitement to make it a good horror book. It was dark and gritty and yeah, a little confusing at times, but it was really great even when a minor character disappeared without a proper explanation.

Usually I adore the trope of the big, bad thing from childhood coming back to find us once we're adults. When it's done well, I absolutely eat it up. It's a trope that makes all of our childish fears feel vindicated but in this book, it wasn't pulled off. We're dropped into the middle of Mark's grown up life with very little explanation. Sure, his brother and his mom are sort of around and we're suddenly supposed to care about his wife because of course we're dropped in just about the time they've conceived their first child. The plot sort of circles around on itself until it feels like it's spiraling down the drain - it's asking questions of the readers it never answers. At the end, I didn't have that great horror book feeling of 'what was that?' that avid horror readers know. Unfortunately, it was more, why did I read that? At times it felt like everything was thrown at the plot like someone cooking pasta.

The thing that rubbed me the most wrong about Kentucky Dragon was it felt like it wanted to imply the Nazis and others did horrible things because of an evil influence. I hate that. I hate it because it gives an excuse to people to do horrible things. No evil forces are making anyone do anything.

At the end of the day, it's just a book, but one I wish I would've skipped. 2 stars because the first 40% of the book had me hooked.

I appreciate the ARC of this book.

I’m giving it three stars because the first half of the book was great and really strong. However, the second half, when we jump ahead 18 years just got messy and confusing. If it had stayed consistent with the first half, this easily would have been a 5 star read.

This book was epic. I loved the horror theme that was always there, in the background. The twists and turns are keeping me engaged throughout the whole process. This is an epos!

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the eArc in exchange for my honest opinions.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Victory Editing for providing me with a free e-ARC of Kentucky Dragon.

What drew me to this novel the most was the premise. I love folk horror, and I love weird and unusual stories and books. The first half of Kentucky Dragon definitely met my expectations, but the second half that takes place 18 years later was just terrible.

Mark is 11 years old when his family is visited by the chicken man – a strange and creepy man. He tries to figure out who the man is with the help of his older brother. They get close to uncovering the truth, but then a tragedy strikes that leaves both Mark and his brother traumatised for life.

Eighteen years later, the chicken man comes back, demanding the debt be paid. Mark struggles to figure out how to proceed and how to get rid of the mysterious man for good. In hopes of breaking the family curse, he ends up travelling to Germany, where he hopes lies the answer to everything. Unfortunately, the chicken man is only half a step behind him. Will Mark be able to save himself and his family?

The novel starts off pretty strong – the pace is steady and quite fast, and the story flows almost seamlessly. The mystery of the chicken man and the dark and creepy atmosphere kept me on my toes. So many things are happening all at once, but it is not hard to keep track and follow everything.

The first part of the book ends with The Incident That Changed Everything. Without spoiling anything, I will just say that Mark and his family went through something incredibly traumatic. So traumatic, in fact, that Mark tries to forget everything that he witnessed, and his memories do not come back for 18 years. Until the chicken man returns.

After we are transported to Mark's adulthood, Kentucky Dragon loses the spark that kept me hooked. The story starts to drag, the plot does not exactly make sense (to me, at least), and once things finally start picking up again, it is an unfortunate chaos.

The ending was incredibly rushed and so underwhelming. It was also very open, and it hints towards a possible sequel, but I genuinely cannot imagine what that would be about.

Now, along the way, the author introduces German Nazis to the story. I genuinely cannot think of a single reason why that was necessary. The story itself could have been a folk horror based on ancient myths and gods or on mediaeval legends or witches. That would have been perfect, and it would fit right into the story. But Nazis? Give me a break.

This book not only contained the suffering of people during WWII; it also contained a whole lot of pointless female suffering. All of it to just advance the plot, somehow. Yes, undeniably, there is a lot of suffering of men too, but it is never as brutal and painful. I just want to ask what the reason behind that was. Because I cannot come up with an answer myself.

The characters are not likeable, and I could not connect with any of them. At all. Mark is just an overall terrible human, a selfish manchild who does not give a crap about anyone around him. I genuinely hoped he would die at the end.

For a while I did hope we would witness some growth or change in him or others, but unfortunately the second part of the novel pretty much just repeated what had happened in the first.

As I have mentioned already, the first part of this novel was quite good. I also loved the folklore aspects that pop up throughout the whole novel. I wish the author leaned into that aspect more and tried to explore the mysteries in more detail.

I absolutely enjoyes reading this. Will definitely be recommending. Kept me really hooked I'll love to reread again

Michael Park has written a great suspenseful novel with a strong horror background, it is a totally surreal rollercoaster of a ride that spans the generations and a family curse where the first born child is taken by the mysterious Chicken man, Mark is haunted by his traumatic childhood and now he is determined to find out how to put a stop to the horror that has been following his family since the second world war.
Kentucky dragon has a good strong back story and isn't just about the shocks and gore and as its been left a bit open ended maybe a sequel is in the pipe line.

Kentucky Dragon by Michael Park is an absolutely wild ride of discovering the dark parts of one's history and second guessing your own reality. Park does a great job throwing curveball after curveball to keep readers questioning what in the world is happening and engaged--making this book hard to put down. The only downside to that is the plot came across sometimes overly convoluted and slightly confusing, but not to its own detriment. Our main character, Mark, has relatable inner dialogue that is gripping point to keep us planted despite the chaos that surrounds him.

My only other small gripe is I was dying for a more satisfying ending. With a plot so wrapped in detail and depth, I wished that it had tied up more loose ends and gave us to more answers. Who really is the Kentucky dragon? Though I can suppose this can be inferred to be the devil. Is Mark and his family free? What is the fate of his grandfather and the goddess? Little details like this could have sent this book over the top and tipped it to five stars for me.

This was horribly half-baked. Up until the time jump, I was intrigued at least but after that I just couldn’t get myself to care. The characters have about as much personality as a white drywall, the plot was non-sensical and all over the place. The author clearly tried to fit a pretty long list of elements into the supernatural events of the plot but bit off more than he could chew along the way as it just ended up further dampening my enjoyment of this book. It also didn’t help that I myself am German and absolutely cannot stand trivialisation of nazi crimes against humanity as some sort of gimmick (which I really hope only came across that way accidentally due to the book in general not being nearly fleshed out enough).

A fast-paced, genre-blending ride that fuses gritty Southern noir with urban fantasy in a way that feels fresh and bold. The world-building is vivid, the dialogue crackles, and the dragon lore is grounded in a uniquely Appalachian setting that gives it real texture.

Some plot threads move a bit quickly, but the momentum never lets up, making it hard to put down. If you enjoy magic with bite and flawed, magnetic protagonists, this one’s for you.

A chicken man? Bedrooms that disappear? A terrified father? This book pulled me so easily in from the first chapters seeped with pure suspense.

Following Mark, we take a look into how far a man would go to protect his family, as a child, Mark experiences a traumatic experience that he just can’t remember, all he knows is it started with the chicken man, and ended with his brother tongue-less and his dad dead in four buckets surrounding them.
Jumping to him as an adult, Mark is yet again plagued by the thoughts of the chicken man, and the demonic entity that’s calling him to Germany.

I recieved an ARC of this book through NetGalley, this review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.

Thank you so much to Netgalley and the publisher for the chance to read this arc


This started really high and very much fizzled out. The ending was super rushed and slightly confusing lots to take in at the end and left a few unanswered questions which was disappointing.
I had really high expectations for this as it seems so far up my street, it was however a super quick and easy read even when in a reading slump and it was definitely entertaining either way.

Writing was super easy to read but the ending makes me think we have to have a sequel.

The first chapter had me hooked, who was the chicken man? What was in his duffle bag? and why did Don and Mark's Father keep the Whisky Lamp lit in the window? There was so much keeping you on tenterhooks in just the first few pages, I was definitely intrigued. The bond between the brothers read like a good 80's adventure movie and even included the token pet dog Calvin. The weird visit by the so called 'Chicken Man' in the middle of the night all really set the scene in the first half. Eerie and unsettling with not many answers keeping you as a reader wondering what in the heck was going on. I found the writing style very immersive as you're pacing yourself along with the boys, determined to uncover some of the hidden truths.
Sadly I just found that in the second half of the book when we jump to 18 years later and adulthood i still felt the same feeling of confusion and non the wiser about what I was actually reading. It was packed with folklore and references to Nazi Germany and dark times however I just felt as though the story lost its way slightly and was left feeling unsatisfied with the ending.

Kentucky Dragon (out 30/09/25) pulled me in straight away with its eerie atmosphere, strong pacing, and well-written violence. The chicken man was a great concept and made for an unsettling start. Around the halfway point, though, the story started to lose its way. The family’s refusal to face what was happening felt frustrating, and the chicken man didn’t quite live up to his early promise. The ending felt abrupt and left me a bit confused. Overall, a strong beginning that didn’t fully deliver by the end.

Review available on now Goodreads, StoryGraph, Fable and Instagram.

I just finished this book, and wow—what a wild, eerie ride. It starts off strong with this super unsettling character called the chicken man (yes, really), who shows up when Mark is just eleven and says some pretty disturbing stuff about “making people happy” with an icepick. From there, it dives into this mix of childhood trauma, buried secrets, and a family debt that’s way darker than it first seems.

The writing is haunting in a really poetic way—like, the imagery of the mine fire burning underground and the snow melting in Kentucky was so vivid it almost felt symbolic of everything Mark was trying to forget. And for a while, the story really pulls you in, especially as Mark tries to move on with his life. You’re rooting for him… until the past inevitably catches up.

That said, the time jump threw me off a bit. It skips ahead eighteen years, and while that makes sense for the plot, it felt a little jarring. The pacing shifted, and I found myself a little confused trying to figure out where we were and what had actually happened in the gap. It didn’t totally ruin anything, but it did break the flow for me.

Still, once the chicken man reappears and things start unfolding across Kentucky, New York, and even a creepy village in Germany, the story picks back up and delivers some seriously intense moments. If you’re into dark, psychological stories with a touch of surreal horror, it’s definitely worth the read—just be ready for a few timeline hiccups along the way.

A haunting Ride That Refuses to Let Go

Kentucky Dragon is not for the faint of heart—and that’s exactly what makes it unforgettable. Michael Park crafts a story that is as gory and bleak as it is compelling, plunging readers into a world drenched in dread and tension. From the first few pages, the anxiety hits like a gut punch, and it rarely lets up.

I’ll be honest: I found parts of the book confusing. The plot twists and shifting perspectives can leave you feeling disoriented, like you’ve wandered into a nightmare with no clear way out. But somehow, that disorientation only adds to the experience. It creeped me out in the best way—dark, unsettling, and laced with something primal that crawls under your skin.

And yet, despite (or maybe because of) all that, Kentucky Dragon sunk its claws into me and never let go. Even when I wasn’t sure where it was leading, I had to keep reading. Park knows how to build tension like a slow-burning fuse, and the payoff is as disturbing as it is satisfying.

If you’re looking for a clean, linear story, this might not be it. But if you crave horror that’s messy, visceral, and absolutely unshakable, Kentucky Dragon delivers. It’s confusing, it’s creepy—and it’s damn good.

This was not what I expected. I was hoping I would have enjoyed it more. To me, the end felt really confusing and kind of messily wrapped up and I feel like I still have a bunch of unanswered questions. I don't like when I feel like there is no conclusion to a book.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley.