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Book Review: EVIL by Wol-vriey

EVIL,  by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2019

ISBN: 978-0-9977-7304-0

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Wol-vriey’s latest, EVIL, reads like a pastiche of 80’s horror films and 70’s creature features: all the elements are there.  Creepy farmhouse in the middle of nowhere?  Check.  Protagonists who do dumb things?  Check.  Freaky monsters from Hell?  Check.  Drinking, drugs, graphic violence and graphic, needless sex?  Check, check, check, and check.   It’s not to say that combining tried and true elements like the above is a bad thing– it can still be fun.  This story is entertaining, but it does feel a little predictable at times.  It’s a decent effort from a splatter-specialist author that his fans will probably enjoy; it just isn’t quite up to the level of his best works.

Ronan Higgins is the classic “farmer in the middle of nowhere”, which, in this case, is western Massachusetts.  When his 19-year-old daughter dies in a farming accident, Fate intervenes in the form of a tall man who appears from nowhere, known as the Bargainer. Ronan cuts a deal with him to get his daughter back, but Ronan’s end of it involves planting special seeds the Bargainer gives him, which need to grow in human flesh.  Lots and lots, of torn up, bloody human flesh.  Ronan conveniently has a large outdoor birthday party planned for his 29-year-old niece Sylvia the next weekend, so there’s your victim supply.  You can guess the rest; it’s a late night drink, drug and sex party, and most of the people are quickly disposed of in messy fashion, either by Ronan or the demons from Hell that show up.   The rest of the story concerns those plucky few survivors who endeavor to avoid becoming exotic fertilizer for the Bargainer and Ronan’s seeds.

This is a nice, simple story with some creative ideas, and enough blood and entrails to keep the gorehounds happy.  There are axes, chainsaws, and someone getting nailed to a pallet while still alive, plus demons burning people to death– enough to satisfy the hardcore readers.  The story moves at a quick pace;  it just feels a bit light and predictable in places.  The demons in the story add a new dimension to the narrative, but they get very minimal page time, and little is given to explaining the Bargainer or his minions.  The characters behave in foolish ways, like they do in any 80’s cinema splatfest, so you can usually predict what’s going to happen to them, which takes away from some of the fun.  The end does toss in a little twist, but overall, the reader will be able to guess what will happen a few pages in advance.  It’s still fun, but the predictability does flatten out the excitement somewhat.

If you liked Wol-vriey’s writing before, EVIL probably won’t change your opinion.  It’s entertaining, but you might feel like it was a good idea that could have been a bit better.  If you haven’t read him before, you might want to start with one of his other books.

 

Contains: graphic violence, graphic sex, drug use, rape.

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on June 29, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Brainchew by Wol-vriey

Brainchew by Wol-vriey

Burning Bulb Publishing, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-9977-7304-0

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

With Brainchew, Nigerian horror author Wol-vriey has really hit his stride.  He’s toned down the sometimes excessive levels of blood and pain that could be found in his other horror fiction, created a new monster that fans will enjoy, and kept his dark sense of humor intact.  With Brainchew, he’s created his most memorable creature to date : this is an excellent read, and one that should be on the shelves of any horror fan who delights in campiness and carnage.

The plot: four small-time crooks who specialize in safecracking descend upon eastern Massachusetts with a deal for the “big score.” Their assignment: break into a mansion, crack the safe, steal two specific diamonds, then meet their employer at the Sunflower Motel in Raynham, Massachusetts, for the drop. One of the robbers gets killed during the heist, so his partners dump the body in a Raynham cemetery and then go to the hotel to wait to for the drop.  Unfortunately for them, the hotel owners are sleazebags who have figured out what is going on, and have their own designs on the loot.

Up to that point, the story is pretty standard.  But then it takes a very different turn, and the fun really begins.  Brainchew is a monster that somewhat resembles the creatures from the Alien series, minus the stinging tail.   Awakened from slumber in the cemetery by blood leaking into the ground from the dumped body, Brainchew is hungry for…brains, of course!  Naturally, Brainchew proceeds to the Sunflower Motel to wreak havoc in the goriest method possible, throwing the plans of both the motel owners and the robbers into disarray.

The story moves quickly, without wasting time on lengthy expositions or deep conversations.  There is just enough backstory given on the protagonists to make them seem like more than cardboard cutouts. You might find yourself disliking many of them, as they have few redeeming qualities.  That’s what makes this such fun: you might find yourself rooting for Brainchew as he chews human genital regions, gulps urine, crushes skulls, and flings cranial carnage everywhere.   All of this is done with Wol-vriey’s usual messy intensity, although it is toned down a bit from his previous books.  There’s enough bloodshed to keep gorehound readers happy, but not enough to enter the realm of excess that so many hardcore horror authors today seem to delight in.  The real delight in the book is when Raynham’s residents see Brainchew.  They know who he is already: he is a secret that the town tried to bury years ago.  Their reactions are priceless: it’s not “oh my god, what is THAT?”  but “oh no, that damn thing is awake and at it again!”  It’s nice to have a book where the characters don’t react in the same fashion as usual when a monster is encountered.

Brainchew is a fast, messy, wild ride, with an entertaining and original monster.  The only thing that may put some readers off is the graphic sex does seem excessive at times, and pulls away from the overall story thread.  If you can overlook that, this is a story that most gorehound horror fans will enjoy.  Recommended.

Contains: graphic violence, graphic sex

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on February 25, 2019 by , Reply

Book Review: Siphon by A.A. Medina

Siphon by A. A. Medina

Hindered Souls Press, 2018

ISBN-13: 978-06980217

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

 

Siphon by A. A. Medina describes an unhappy nebbish who becomes possessed, and, eventually, controlled, by an urge to drink blood and act out his sexual fantasies.  Dr. Gary Phillips is a hematopathologist, orphaned as a child and raised by an abusive grandfather.  He is tortured by unfulfilled sexual fantasies and dotes on a sexy phlebotomist whom he follows on Facebook.

Dr. Phillips’ compulsion to drink blood (hematophagia or Renfield’s syndrome) arises from his own psychosis, not from vampirism or a supernatural entity.  When he “blanks out”, his “God” takes more and more control of his thoughts and actions.  His mania increases from sneaking sips of lab blood, to drinking menstrual blood, to siphoning blood from living humans.

Siphon is a horror story, but not a fantasy.  Although the plot is shocking, it is not altogether unbelievable.  I wish the author had delved more into the origin and power of Dr. Phillips’ psychosis.  His duties in the laboratory are those of a hospital lab technologist, rather than that of a hematopathologist.  The book contains profanity and intense sexual scenes.

 

Contains: profanity, graphic sex, gore

Reviewed by Robert D. Yee

Posted on January 15, 2018 by , Reply
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