APESHIT by Carlton Mellick III
Carlton Mellick III does it again! A warning though, this book is seriously fucked up. Ok, now onto the review. APESHIT reminded me of The Evil Dead but with all the Jason movies thrown in the backdrop of a campy 80′s slasher flick gone wrong! What I like best about Cm3′s writing is that he never lies to us. His characters go in there and face the situation and I had fun watching the carnage ensure. Is this a guilty pleasure? Yup, you bet.
I am an enormous fan of the 80′s slasher thrashers and the splatterpunk movement so I was hoping for a book translation of a B-movie, EMBASSY video tape release… I found it here. This book did not disappoint. The plot, well… the plot is not really that strong but that’s ok because the entertainment value of APESHIT was worth the price of admission alone. The characters themselves have a myriad of problems and quirks and the absurdities are numerous and fun.
The story is written in classic CM3 style, bluntly put and to the point. At some points (for readers unfamiliar with the Bizzaro movement) you might feel offended or think that this is utter crap and that the author is trying to shock you for the sake of shock. In which case I would say you’re half right. CM3 wrote this and the characters took on a life of their own! CM3 even says so in the intro. He even states that some small part of him doesn’t even want anyone to read this! But hey, it’s been released, so we deal with it. I liked it, but then again I like this author. Ape shit was never meant to be a literary work of Hemingway proportions anyways.
In the end, if you like B-movies and grind house crapfest (which I happen to adore), get APESHIT, available from Deadite Press. Just don’t read it on a full stomach.
WHARGOUL by David Brockie
WHARGOUL by David Brockie is sick, disgusting and disturbing, but in a safe way. What else would you expect from the lead front man of the metal band GWAR? All seriousness aside though, WHARGOUL is Brockie’s first literary venture into the horror genre and it is a brutal, visceral ride through the eyes of the Whargoul, an undead killing machine of unbridled rage. But don’t pass judgment so easily, after all, he is just doing his job…
The book reads like a personal diary of a remorseless terminator and will shock you if you are not acclimated to hard core horror. Brockie attempts to distance the reader from a safe reality and thrust them ass first into a world of serious destitute and chaos. The point to the book is to have fun watching WHARGOUL deal death out in classic and inventive ways. He succeeds in his goals and I honestly had a blast reading it. I heard that later this year, David Brockie and Deadite Press will be releasing a second story. I am positive that the next book will be more over the top, just the way I like it. If you love the music of David Brockie and you dig GWAR or are a hardcore horror aficionado, then this is a good buy. WHARGOUL is available exclusively from Deadite Press. Pick it up and watch the stinky trenches, they smell bad.
