Reviews

Apeshit by Carlton Mellick III

liamunderwood's review against another edition

3.0

After reading HELP! A Bear is Eating Me! by Mykle Hansen (my first bizarro book) I was still quite eager to sample what else this movement had to offer, despite my lukewarm feelings towards that book. I'd read that Carlton Mellick III was one of the most prolific authors in this movement, and the description of Apeshit - Friday the 13th (Cunningham, 1980) meets Visitor Q (Miike, 2001) - certainly piqued my interest. Those are two films I somewhat like and it's rare to see Visitor Q referenced. Reading Apeshit was a whole lot of fun and i devoured the book in a single day. At times certain things are pushed a little too far unnecessarily - and whilst Carlton Mellick III does attempt to sidestep any criticism of this with his foreword where he namedrops Chuck Palahniuk, I don't quite buy that instead of being shocking for the sake of shocking he's trying to be "interesting for the sake of interesting". However, I should point out that for me these moments of unnecessary extremities were pretty minor distractions from an otherwise solidly entertaining read.

3/5

acknud's review against another edition

5.0

Crazy....I read this book in one setting. A group of teenagers go camping to a remote area. Sure enough, people start getting killed (or should be dead), lots of sex ensues, etc. This book has all the stuff to make it good...violence, sex, danger.

jordaline's review against another edition

3.0

3

mzzmia's review against another edition

If you're the type of reader that doesn't need a plot, a connection to the characters or seamless transitions then this is your book. It's exactly what you'd get if you merged every pointless 80's slasher flick with a side of grindhouse. I don't mind either genre but I do prefer some rhyme and reason in the midst of the carnage. However if this is your cup of tea, drink up.

readbyashleyd's review

4.0

Before I even start my review, this book gets ALL the trigger warnings, from rape to abortion and everything in between. So be VERY aware of that before you even consider picking it up. I’m not someone who is easily disturbed, I have a very very dark and morbid sense of humour and this book managed to make me need to take a pause and a depth breath before being able to continue. It’s so far beyond disturbing at some places that I don’t even have the words to describe it. It is truly indescribable. I don’t know what it says about me that I enjoyed the fuck out of it despite being so disturbed by it. (I feel like I’m using disturbed too much but that’s just what this damn book is, DISTURBING!!!) Now that I’ve exhausted the use of the word disturbing, let’s move on. This was quite different than the other Mellick’s I’ve read so far, they’ve all been weird as fuck but this one had more of a serious bent to it whereas the others had a humorous side to them. This one was just weird and gory as fuck with no humour, just insanity. My only complaint is the ending, I thought it stretched things too far and didn’t feel right for the story. I would have preferred it ended in a different way, the way it seemed to be going right up until the last pages but you can’t always have your cake and eat it too.

omgreading's review

3.0

Another great one. I love gory horror films and I am devout in my love for Evil Dead, so this book just combined all of my favorite things in a nice little package. I would read this again. And I am now a definite fan of Bizarro books.

geraldthebookworm's review

1.0

This is Apeshit, but the ape is silent.

This book is just so fucking weird!!!!! I mean, yes, the ending and the reason why the characters are experiencing what they are experiencing is kinda interesting, BUT THIS WHOLE BOOK IS JUST FUCKING WEIRD!!!! HAHAHA.

It's like a fever dream! Alam mo yung mga weird na panaginip mo na hindi mo alam kung paanong nangyayari bukod sa dahilan na panaginip sila? Anyway, may abortion fetish dito, may mga deregatory terms, and mga characters na buhay at nakakatakbo pa rin kahit labas na ang bituka o butas na ang ulo.

THIS IS JUST WEIRD AND GOREY AND FUNNY AND ABSURD AND CRAZY!!!!!

I READ THIS FOR A VIDEO (I READ 3 BIZZARRO BOOKS and now I am TRAUMATIZED and... SURPRISED - https://youtu.be/nNq0gfFfzKI)

twistedstardom's review

2.5

It's fine. There are some eye rolling moments, not because it's gross but you can tell Mellick was thinking "What will get the people going? THIS!!! " It was a quick read and the ending did get an "Ooooh." from me. 

zrj's review

4.0

Extremely graphic and offensive. So if you're into that sort of thing, go for it. But don't say I didn't warn you.

ghost_name's review

1.0

Way more gross than bizarre. Stayed gross until the end. Lost interest. Glad the ending at least gave some explanation of the plot.