Well, let me first say that if you like horror, but you disliked Stephen King’s HOLLY for its political content…then boy, are you going to HATE this one! I, personally, thought it was really enjoyable and it’s the best thing I’ve read by Chapman.

Noah Fairchild is a progressive living with his wife a daughter in Brooklyn. From afar he sees his parents, who are from Virginia, slipping into far-right conspiracy theories; his mother is constantly calling him with the newest “information as they head on down that slippery slope of lies. When things seem to get really bad, then his parents stop answering the phone, Noah makes an emergency trip to Virginia to check things out. Big, big mistake. Humongous. Because their twenty-four hour news station has taken them over. Literally. And it’s not pretty. And they aren’t the only ones, either.

Part 2 of the book focuses on Noah’s brother Ash, his wife Devon and their sons Caleb and Marcus and their own struggles with far-right new programming, the wellness community and social media, especially Twitter (I will NEVER call it “X,” just because you want me to, Elon.). Oh, and a healthy dose of “this is…and I’m just going to say it here - this is some white people shit.” Well, I guess that’s not wrong. And we also get the crisis actors/Sandy Hook was not real/Alex Jones insanity. And speaking of insanity, it has breached this branch of the Fairchild family as well. I always thought being a right-winger might be a sickness! :)

But there are insights on why these nutjobs (sorry, am I being offensive? I will have to try to go on somehow, I guess.) believe what they do, have Fox News (here “Fax News”) on 24/7 and are willing to buy into QAnon theories (here what is going on is called “the Great ReAwakening,” Q theory has its own “Great Awakening.). “Anderson Cooper made him feel stupid. Fax didn’t make him feel stupid. Fax just made him FEEL.”

And there’s some fun, with that same Anderson Cooper as a ride-along narrator for a bit, a “Baby Shark” take off which finally made me go watch the You Tube version of the song (parents…how did you possibly stand it? I would have left my child on a street corner with absolutely no remorse, and I listened to the song ONCE.). Oh, and adrenochrome which is what the Q followers say the pedophiles steal from young bodies and Hillary Clinton and a pizza place in D.C. are both involved, I don’t know.

Like I said, I’ve read Chapman before and in my opinion this is the best thing he’s written. This is not HOLLY, don’t read it if you are a die-hard Trumper; I can guarantee you won’t like it. However, if you aren’t, and you like horror I really think you will enjoy this.

Open your eyes!

Some readers will undoubtedly be upset by this, and I'm somewhat delighted by that. Am I evil? Oh, absolutely.

The world is changing rapidly, and that isn't always a positive thing. The media inundates us with so much information that it's hard to know who to trust. Consider this – what happens when the media turns people into mindless zombies? How would you react?

If you're interested in gaining insight into the near future, hell, or even just tomorrow, then I highly recommend reading this book. It offers a disturbingly accurate portrayal of our times. It's a wild ride into the darkness that is both thrilling and unsettling. I finished this days ago and I'm still thinking about it and yes, I'm still creeped out.

Chapman brings the fun to dysfunction in this gripping body and psychological horror novel. It's a fast-paced and compelling read, quickly becoming my favorite book by this horror genius.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC!

This was too on the nose for me. Certain parts were well done and clever, but it needed some more nuance and trimming. I think the idea has potential, but it was very heavy handed in terms of the messaging. All in all, a bit clumsy

Going to start this review by being transparent: I’m a huge fan of Chapman, both as a person and as a writer. This book is probably my favorite of his work so far.

What I wanted more of or might not work for some readers: I wanted more of Noah and his family, as I felt he was the least well rounded of the characters we saw. I would have been curious to see more leading up to the situation, as the second part of the novel was the strongest element for me. Some of the carnal and physical violence might be a bit much for some readers—this is, in a lot of ways, both a psychological and body horror story. Proceed carefully.

What I liked: the characters! I found myself sucked into Asher, his family, and how they each succumbed to the pandemic through various means. I thought it was creative and addressed how we all find ourselves inundated by various ideologies, and theories. I also really appreciated the experimental choices of the novel, outside of the footage format.

What I really loved: the found footage style narrative. He experiments with the concept in a great anthology called FOUND, and this novel allows him to play with it even more. I also loved the balance of condemnation—meaning, we are all to blame for this pandemic of sorts. I will be thinking about one of the “videos”, and its commentary on responsibility. There were also images and experiences from this that will stick with me for a long while (I’ll never be able to drive in the harbor tunnel again without a certain song in my head).

All in all, a five star read for me. I’m curious to hear the audiobook in January.

A short horror focused on the ills of modern American society: twitter, beauty influencers, far right media personalities.

I picked up the book because I enjoyed Chapman's mix of scariness and empathy in his other books - unfortunately this book has none of that.

The prose also wasn't to my taste; lots of repetitive fragments and quippy one liners that prevent the reader from sitting with any of the commentary the book is gesturing towards.

The horror also goes for a more gross-out scare than anything else, which also isn't to my personal taste. If you dont mind your horror with a decent serving of goofiness and which has sat in Twitter discourse for too long, you may enjoy but this wasn't for me.