I’m not going to start this review with the inevitable ‘These SSS! releases keep getting better and better’ blah blah blah. 

Oh dear.

Scrap that idea then! Wow, this was one crazy ride. If you need convincing then let me just give you the briefest of synopses.

Serge has a genetic muscle wasting disease. The prognosis is not good so Serge decides to self-medicate. And how does he do this, exactly? He injects himself with a serum containing properties of a self-replicating starfish.

What could possibly go wrong? Well, lots of things. And then a whole lot more.

The story races along with lots of gore and icky moments, as well as tentacled monsters and fantastic over-the-top body horrors, all rounded off with a really slick sense of humour. One moment it was all ‘ha-ha-ha,’ the next, ‘ewww!’

The banter between Serge and his brother was great, and even when things turn out to be humungously bad, they keep the chuckles a-flowing. But none of this takes away from the shocking horror moments, of which there are many.

If you want to laugh and be grossed out in equal measure then this is a great story to satisfy your needs. Zachary Ashford has a good habit of kicking the arses of his readers, and he’s just savagely kicked mine, and not for the first time!

Categories: book review

Tags: autotomy cocktail, body horror, book review, demain publishing, gore, horror, monsters, short sharp shocks!, tentacles, zachary ashford