Briana Morgan is a queer disabled Georgia-based horror author with talent and drive in equal measure. She’s currently raising funds to turn her latest book, The Reyes Incident, into a full cast audiobook. You can view the Kickstarter here. The goal is just over $6,000 and is two-thirds funded as of right now. Extremely used to self-marketing, Briana offers a detailed breakdown of where each dime goes and the preliminary research serves to keep the cost manageable. Rewards range from signed bookplates, behind-the-scenes access, e-books, signed paperbacks, to the finished audiobook. Higher pledges can even earn one-on-one access to Briana’s expertise.
The source material for the audiobook is an adult horror novella that contains the criminally underused trope of mermaid/siren horror while also serving as a love letter to found footage. Morgan develops two fully-fleshed out female leads, characters that are given more backstory and depth than is sometimes found in a novella-length work. And all without disrupting the momentum of the story.
The Reyes Incident uncovers Liv Reyes’ terrifying story during a police interrogation conducted by Andie McCollum. What starts as a professional encounter turns into so much more as McCollum’s life turns upside down. The addition of police reports and emails add more layers to an already compelling story and showcase Morgan’s love of, and understanding of how to employ, the found footage trope.
The scenes involving the mermaids in the bunkers are tense and terrifying, with Morgan putting her own unique spin on these mythical monsters that turns them into cunning bloodthirsty beasts. Branded as an adult horror novella, the graphic descriptions are vicious and vivid, striking the reader one after another, barely leaving any time to recover.
The strongest part of the book is the mystery that the author sprinkles in throughout. Some readers believe the writer’s job is to spell everything out in a story, to utilize their imagination to draw in the reader, and that’s valid. However, if the writer trusts me to be paying attention, put the pieces together, and decides what happens after the last page is turned, they’ve won me over. Reyes is a very strong example of this method employed the right way.
The found footage devices as well as the narrative Morgan uses to tell the story make The Reyes Incident perfectly suited to the type of full cast audiobook Briana Morgan has planned out. If you can, please consider donating to bring this project to life.
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