‘Coffin Moon’ – By Keith Rosson (2025 – Review)

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Keith Rosson is a writer on one hell of a roll right now. Since signing a deal with Random House Publishing, he has released the critically acclaimed, Stephen King certified duology of Post-Apocalyptic / Zombie-Outbreak stories – Fever House (2023) and The Devil By Name (2024) – and has now gone and delivered one of the Horror books of 2025 in Coffin Moon.

This is his take on the Vampire sub-genre. A dark, gritty blend of Vampire mythology and Crime-Noir. A perfectly paced page-turner which deeply explores the theme of violence. Touching on domestic violence, violence fuelled by alcohol addiction. The Vietnam war. Necessary violence for survival, and sadistic violence for pure pleasure.

Rosson also explores the Human connection. Love, loss and grief in equal measures. With the overall riding theme of revenge sitting at the core of this mid-seventies set period tale. We largely follow the exploits of Vietnam veteran Duane Minor. A decent man with a dark past. A sober man who is still trying to get to grips with reality, having returned home from the war to resume a life with his wife, her parents, and his role as the manager of his in-laws bar.

He and his wife Heidi live above the bar he works in, and his sobriety is a consequence of him trying to keep his marriage together, as he had returned home from Vietnam a troubled man who used alcohol as a coping mechanism, with often disastrous effects. Their life is complicated, but also enriched by the fostering of their 13-year-old niece Julia, an also deeply troubled character by virtue of her mum having murdered her abusive step-father.

Rosson wonderfully sets the tone and 70s period aesthetic, and really builds each character rather well in the opening act … before the shit inevitably hits the fan. He foreshadows the looming evil that is about to disturb Minor’s life by way of a dream sequence which takes us back to his time in the jungles of the Vietcong. And the evil arrives for Minor by way of motorcycle gang members who try to muscle their way into his bar. Unleashing the rage that sits deep within him, and setting off a catastrophic chain of events that will forever change his life.

Coffin Moon is a real character driven piece. The love that Minor has for his wife, and the strong paternal instinct that he has for his niece is at the heart of the novel, and the catalyst for every decision he makes. It is of course no secret that this is a Vampire novel, and the way Rosson bleeds this aspect into the story and Minor’s life is executed well, dragging you along for the ride with expert precision.

As with his previous work, Rosson blends various genres within the narrative, and his story is often touching and heartfelt. But when he decides to turn on the violence and gore, he really goes for it! There are mysterious elements woven into the tale which keep you guessing as to how they’re going to play out. While Rosson also writes his own quite unique Vampire lore, as well as providing many of the warming comfort-blanket tropes you might expect.

As with Fever House and The Devil By Name, he also writes from the various points of view of different characters, and this really helps the pages fly by as you jump from one to the next. With each chapter left on a knife-edge that keeps you fully engaged. Coffin Moon is an epic tale, with flashbacks that take us back to the turn of the 20th century. It poses many questions for the reader and thematically demands much thought and reflection. If I was going to find fault, I would say it could have been double its 320 pages. For there certainly seems as if there could be much more story for Rosson to tell in this world! KZ

9/10

Words by Mark T. Bates

Keith Rosson – Fever House (2023) // The Devil By Name (2024) – (Kult-Zilla Review)

Check out series of creepy short Horror stories:

‘The Curious Dark (Vol.1)’

‘The Curious Dark (Vol.1)’ – by Mark T. Bates