Ooof this book in our climate was so intense. I am becoming a huge fan of this author and will read whatever comes next.

Clay McLeod Chapman is a powerhouse when it comes to atmospheric creepiness. The story is unique and so engaging.

This is by far Clay McLeod Chapman's bleakest, darkest, and most horrifying novel. I greatly enjoyed it, but man. It's ROUGH, mostly because it's an astute satire on the way that the far right has used media to basically brainwash a huge percentage of the American population, but set to a splattergore horror story. I feel like it was somewhat cathartic, but also really, really difficult because while the extent to which this kind of damage has been done on the actual population isn't at the level of possessed zombies committing a mass act of gratuitous violence, it's still violence in this country as the Right Wing targets the marginalized and any so called enemies for vengeance, with the likes of Fox News and social media apps egging them on and indoctrinating more people, I was reading this in the aftermath of the election. While following the president elect's latest shenanigans AND yet another school shooting. Good lord. We very well may be the level of broken that Chapman was saying through satire and metaphor. Nightmarish.

My only real complaint is probably a very weird niche thing, but... were people getting possessed by demons, or turning into zombies? If it weren't for a few random mentions of the word "possession" it read very much like a zombie novel. Which is fine, nothing wrong with zombie horror, it just had a weird dissonance for me.

Anyway. Horror nerd stuff aside, this was a very uncomfortable in the best way book. Given the state of, well, everything, it's very timely. I do appreciate that it didn't come down on just conservatives/those who watch "fax" news, liberals didn't get away clean here either. And maybe all of us need to take a break from our screens for a while.

Noah Fairchild has been losing his formerly polite Southern parents to far-right cable news for years, so when his mother leaves him a voicemail warning him that the “Great Reckoning” is here, he assumes it’s related to one of the many conspiracy theories she believes in. But when his own phone calls go unanswered, Noah makes the long drive from Brooklyn to Richmond, Virginia. There, he discovers his childhood home in shambles, a fridge full of spoiled food, and his parents locked in a terrifying trance-like state in front of the TV.

This was such a weirdly fascinating, incredibly gripping read; I literally couldn't put it down and simply had to keep going. There were moments that were so incredibly uncomfortable — and I mean that both positively and not so much so; certain parts are highly disturbing in a way that feels almost unnecessary, Definitely very thought-provoking and filled with social commentary; terrifying in how very timely it is.

Many thanks to Quirk Books & NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

Told from many different character viewpoints, this book is a statement on our fractured political culture and what can happen when people spend too much time watching entertainment news. As society deteriorates into flesh eating faux news zombies, one man tries to make his way from Virginia to New York City with his orphaned nephew in tow.

Wow. By far, my fav CMC novel. I'm sure some people would say we're not far off from this fate.
Noah is living safe and sound in Brooklyn with his wife and daughter. His mother keeps calling to let him know that he needs to "Wake up and open your eyes." Times are changing. Doesn't Noah want to be safe? The Reckoning is coming. Noah mostly ignores these messages but is disturbed when his parents stop answering their phones. He drives to Richmond to check on them. And finds them completely taken over by FAX News. And when Noah tries to turn off the tv and snap his parents out of their strange stupor, they attack him. This is an apocalypse like no other. Creepy and completely bonkers as all good horror should be.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Quirk Books for this e-arc.*

Chapman pulls no punches in satirizing the state of American politics and society. This novel follows the Fairchild family in three parts as Noah, the token liberal, journeys from Brooklyn to his parents' and then brother's house in Richmond. What he finds there is twisted and demented and also humorous in a gore-filled, campy horror romp kind of way. The apocalypse is here, delivered straight to American eyeballs by any number of screens - tablets, TV, phones - broadcasting extreme wellness rituals, disinformation, and Baby Ghost doo-doo, doo-doo doo. The effects send watchers into a catatonic state, after which extreme violent behavior takes hold.

A grotesque parody of our current social mores., there were some downright horrific, blood-soaked scenes. Our main protagonist, Noah, is a stereotypical stand in for self-important liberals, who do not escape Chapman's critique. The one thing I wanted more of was a resolution, a "what happens next" in the apocalyptic scenario. However, not giving readers this neat ending might be one of Chapman's points in telling this story. Fans of Max Booth & King's The Stand will enjoy this one.

So glad that I read this one before the election. It was terrifying then but afterward I fear I would have sobbed through it. Horrifying on entirely new levels.

I can see how this book has had some controversial opinions, but I thought it was viscerally well-written, turning a gimlet eye on the state of affairs in America through some incredibly intense storytelling, particularly in the second half when the pacing and action really hit their stride, and with a gut-punch of an ending.

M-kay - this is sorta crazy, a bit of a dystopian fever dream, but so are the actual times were are living in, so... While the story itself is pretty over the top, there are some really good points here about the biased Media and how they've caused a lot of what's going on & rotted quite a few brains. I enjoyed it overall & think it's a good pre-inaugeration read for anyone not in thrall to the "Faux News". Many thanks to both the publisher & Net Galley for my advanced reader's copy, I appreciated it!

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman


Anarchy consumes the locals, spreading like wildfire. What is the cause of this outbreak? Known for his earlier novel What Kind of Mother, Clay McLeod Chapman has skillfully guided the reader into a labyrinth of utter insanity. Noah Fairchild, our main protagonist, has made fruitless attempts to contact his parents. He decides he must take a trip to his childhood home and investigate the whereabouts of his mother and father. Once there, his nightmares become reality. Echoing through the house are blaring televisions, spewing rhetoric at his zombie-like family members. The message is divisive; viewers are exhorted to open their eyes while also being bombarded with underlying messages. Political divisiveness, perhaps? Noah is completely unaware that the brainwashing is affecting not only his parents and extended family but the nation at large as well. The demon-like are bombarding individuals to spawn a reckoning. Let the blood-splattering feeding begin.


Clay McLeod Chapman’s novels have been on my radar for some time, so I pounced at the chance to finally read one. The sheer chaotic nature caught me off guard, albeit in a fantastic way. The sheer lunacy rippled my brain with intensity as I was conjuring scene after scene more loony than the last. That type of horror, while creepy and unnerving, also leaves a comedic aftertaste on the palate. An abundance of ravenous sexual acts may leave some readers displeased. However, I found that they fit the absurdity of the nature of the world Chapman created. The book is not for the squeamish, but it does have a witty underlying message about social media and its ability to influence its audience. Lastly, the book exuded a Last of Us vibe that I enjoyed. Noah must make the trek home with his nephew in tow. Can they survive the dangerous mobs along the way? Reminiscent of my times watching an episode of The Walking Dead.


Some people may ultimately find this story to be too outlandish. For others, too hideous. Did I mention the unabashed use of sexual imagery? No, it won’t be for all, but for me this was fantastic. It was a witty piece of craze that scratched my horror itch. Deep into the night, I could not stop laughing at the character's clever banter. I am giving 4.25 out of 5 stars, rounding down to 4 stars; I will certainly be reading more from the author in the future.

Many thanks to Quirk Books for the ARC through NetGalley. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion.

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is a politically driven, demonic possession, zombie apocalypse story. It is a wild ride and never hesitates to “go there”. Reading this several weeks after the US presidential election actually feels quite surreal. I found the story to be brutally honest yet surreal depiction of the media echo chamber that exists in society today. I found this book to be compelling and terrifying as well as incredibly timely at this point in history.

I gave this book over 100 pages to impress me (so over a third of the way through) despite pretty much guessing at a DNF within the first 25 or so pages. I can guarantee right now that about half the country is going to hate this book because of the subject matter, but that's not what bothered me. I think my main issue with it was the odd style of writing. It had a semi stream-of-consciousness feel to it that I just didn't care for, and after 25+ pages just got kind of old. There was also an INSANELY uncomfortable explicit scene right off the bat that I would really love to ask the author why he felt the need to include. Was it just for shock and awe? Because I feel like it was. I can't really think of any plot-related reason for it at all. It starts off almost right away with a bang, I'll give it that, but then it reels it back quite a bit and between that and everything else it just lost me. I'm sure there are going to be some people who eat it up, and that's great for them, I just obviously wasn't the target audience here, which is a shame because the idea appeared to be a promising one. As an aside the fact that the word "fam" was used multiple times by characters who were supposed to be adults bothered me to no end, but that's really just a nit-pick.

As many other reviews have stated, if you don't like politics in your horror:
A. This is not the book for you
B. You may not have a solid grasp on the history of the genre
Beyond the allusions to Fox News (so thinly veiled, the cloth will turn to dust if you touch it), there is a lot to like about this novel. Moments of gruesome horror pervade the narrative, with Chapman rarely, if ever, pulling his punches, and going toe-to-toe with Nat Cassidy for title of Bathroom Horror King. At the times, the book reads like a demonic fever dream, alternating character perspectives, tense, and narrative point-of-view in a gambit to create unease and near-constant tension. Rare is the book that lasts 384 pages and never really lets its foot off the gas, but WUAOYE hangs its hat on that rack.
Don't read Wake Up and Open Your Eyes, experience it.

I had as much fun reading this book as a person can! The gore and horror was there for sure. The obvious political, governmental, social, and psychological horror was super abundant. Basically, this was just almost perfect for me. I read some parts like “WTF did I just read?” Other times, I was just nodding and highlighting— I even giggled a few times. This was fun, disgusting, and so relevant- in the best ways. A solid 4 ⭐️!

Thank you to NetGalley and Quirk books for this ARC for my unbiased review and opinion.

One would be hard pressed to have a more perfectly timed and topical release than Clay McLeod Champan's latest. Landing in bookstores roughly two weeks prior to the inauguration of Donald Trump's second term in office, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes might be the most spot-on summation of this November's election results, in which 76 million voters chose to Make America Hate Again, and the widespread effectiveness of far-right propaganda as filtered and sanitized through mainstream media.

In the weeks following Thanksgiving, Noah's parents have grown progressively, and troublingly, more conservative thanks to their steady diet of Fax News. They've become incredibly open in their racism and transphobia, spouting conspiracy theories as facts around the dinner table, and demanding that certain segments of the population -- people like Noah's dark-skinned wife -- get the hell out of their country. It's not just Noah's parents, though. His brother and his brother's wife and children are also growing more deranged. So are an awful lot of other people in the country, as school shootings grow more and more widespread, spouses begin killing one another en masse, and neighbors attack one another. After being unable to reach his parents, and unable to rely on his brother to check on them, Noah leaves his family to check on Mom and Dad. What he finds beyond the once-safe confines of his liberal enclave is a country that has gone completely insane, driven to madness and violence, and possessed thoroughly by an almost demonic level of hate and fear.

At the center of this burgeoning American apocalypse is the right-wing news channel, Fax News, and its arrogant, blowhard anchors and commentators who spout endless litanies of grievances and all the things wrong about our country. Chapman doesn't end there, though, widening the scope of his widescreen horror show to encompass Internet influencers and clout chasers and catchy kids' songs, like the cloyingly, sweetly familiar "Baby Ghost" that has amassed billions of YouTube clicks. The end of the world as we know it has become a viral meme encouraging soft-minded viewers to wake up and open their eyes, and to do so in the deadliest ways possible.

Chapman spares no expense in plumbing the horrors here, with the entire country plunging into self-made, war-torn chaos. Impromptu mass orgies turn cannibalistic as the party of family values get their real freak on. Motor vehicles become two-ton assault carriers and battle rams, school children turn to social media to learn how to craft improvised explosives, and kitchen utensils are harnessed as gut-churningly deadly weapons as Chapman does for pizza slicers and blenders what Evil Dead Rise did for cheese graters.

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is a violent assault upon the senses, but its social themes and commentary are what really stung the most. Seeing Noah's family fall from grace rang bitingly true and familiar, as they grow overwhelmed by and fall victim to a much-too steady diet of right-wing news. Having grown up in a conservative household where Rush Limbaugh was constantly spouting off through the car's stereo speakers and Fox News was by and large the only TV station that existed in my parent's world, I couldn't help but sympathize with Noah, especially as he sees the changes in his parents begin to slowly accumulate over the years and eventually make them unrecognizable. My father, in particular, was a victim of Fox News brain rot, exacerbated further by worsening dementia, and I had to watch as he steadily grew from a Democrat to Reagan Republican to devout Limbaugh listener, becoming ever more racist and conspiracy-minded as the years went on, descending into a full-throated, Trump-worshipping fascist.

While Chapman goes to the extremes in his development of what becomes known as "Fax News Brain Rot," its real-world corollary is certainly a concern for those of us who appreciated American democracy, civility, kindness, ethics, and basic human morality, values that have apparently gone entirely by the wayside for half the country in the hopes for cheaper eggs. And while Chapman rightly, properly, and necessarily skewers right-wing politics, Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is hardly a liberal hagiography. While the right descends into chaos and murder, the left are largely depicted as selfish and clueless. Take, for instance, a small group of survivors armed with guns they have no idea how to use, and dressed in eye-achingly brightly colored hunting gear. Chapman's final denouement is about as much of downbeat beatdown of American liberals as one can conjure, not that it's exactly fair and balanced given the wider scope of the narrative at play here, nor are right-wing snowflakes likely to even make it that far before they toss this book aside and decry it for being "woke."

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is a perfectly timed takedown of right versus left politics, particularly given the disastrous election results we'll all be paying for over the next few years. Rightfully angry, violently cathartic, at times squirm-inducingly and anxiety-spikingly so, Chapman goes hard and full-speed ahead with this truly American horror story.

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is about a sort of mind-virus triggered by a right-wing media company, which creates hateful monsters out of peoples' loved ones.

I want to start this review by mentioning that I love Clary McLeod Chapman, and I think this was stylistically interesting and at times, pretty scary.

However, this one just really didn't resonate with me. I appreciate the message - I think it's timely - but at times it felt a bit on the nose in a way that made me roll my eyes. The style was really interesting, but also got a bit repetitive. I wished there was more narrative and plot and less descriptions of online videos and repetition of certain phrases. I don't doubt this was intentional - and I think it'll work for others in a way it didn't for me.

I also just couldn't really figure out the politics. I think that the "gotcha" twist just undermined the story.

“This is not our horror story. This is your fucking horror story. An American Horror Story . . . But whose America, am I right?”

Disclaimer: The plot of this book will be extremely offensive if the narrative doesn’t fit your political viewpoint.

Wake up and open your eyes…The Great Reawakening is happening on December twentieth. Noah had a disagreement about politics with his conservative parents on Thanksgiving and has since kept his distance. However, when his mother’s phone calls become increasingly incoherent and then abruptly end, he drives from New York to Virginia to check on his parents’ well-being.

When he arrives at their house, he finds his parents completely transformed into something beyond recognition. But it’s not just his parents who have been infected. It appears that all of the viewers of Fax News-Just the Facts- have been indoctrinated into a zombie cult. “Fax News Brain. It’s spreading. It’s communicable. Mad cow disease for conservatives.” Can Noah save his family?

“It’s every Democrat for themselves out here. Survival of the leftist. You know you’re next if you don’t keep running.”

Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is a political satire and social horror novel which preaches conservative politics and Fax News will turn you into a sex-crazed zombie. In this political apocalypse, Noah, a Democrat, must fight to survive. It is an uncomfortable, timely, and polarizing novel that is certain to get people talking.

Note: It was extremely difficult to read in the weeks before the U.S. presidential election.

Trigger warnings: School shooting, strong sexual content

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Expected publication date: 1/7/25

A satirical yet brazingly honest look into our very likely upcoming future, this book is destined for the banned book list.