Horror stories come in many guises and can often be more suggestive, which can be frightening in itself, or completely over the top that makes it them more comedic than horror. I was recently asked to read a horror story that is real horror; no suggestions as what might happen, but outright frightening splatterpunk horror – this book is called Slashvivor by Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas. It is a dystopian delight that will see you dive into a world of murderous madness that will shock and entertain you. You might even finish reading with a smile on your face.
In the year 1983, an accidental nuclear war was started, which decimated the United States, leaving behind just 1% of over 230 citizens. In the unhospitable Geiger Lands, serial killers known as Slashers roam, and a deadly brutal reality TV show rules the airwaves for the entertainment of the affected citizens, a show called Try Not To Die!
In this post-apocalyptic world, “contestants” are plucked from the streets at random to take part in the show, in an arena with no escape. A show that pits desperate participants against a line-up of extremely dangerous and diabolical slashers in a fight to the death. All the participants must do, is Try Not To Die!
Dawn Churchill is one of the “lucky” participants, selected to face a bizarre group of terrifying serial killers, killers ranging from a not-so-sweet 8 year old girl, the “Daughter of the Devil” Abadonna to the evil animatronic Abraham Lincoln and lots more along the way.
The Producers of the show, control the outcome of the show but when they chose Dawn to be part of it, they weren’t ready for the unimaginable outcome.
Overall, I absolutely loved reading Slashvivor! Horror and splatterpunk combine and the authors Stephen Kozeniewski and Stevie Kopas have masterfully woven a story that thrills and terrifies with some excellent characters and a bit of humour along the way. Some might think that the premise sounds ridiculous, but once you start reading it all makes sense and gels together well to create a fantastic tale that you just won’t be able to put down. With a murderous killer clown, a girl-splitting robot, a charming cannibalistic butcher, a child with murder on her mind and lots more colourful slashers, it is a fun, exciting and terrifying read. Welcome to the Carnival of Carnage!
With plenty of slashing, gory imaginative splatter murder, dark comic humour, and a stand out plot with superbly fascinating characters, this is a story that you can’t help but to carry on reading. While the story features a lot of gore that will leave you breathless, the characters are superb and the plot actually backs it all up – there is actually a good storyline that supports the madness! And a fun, brutal and very gory story filling the pages with blood, body parts and plenty of action. If you like your horror with blood and gore oozing from the pages, Slashvivor! is the perfect read! A fascinating tale that combines the combative nature of The Hunger Games and the gore of The Running Man, with a splattering of dark humour – there is even a reference to a very famous detective!
The story features an eclectic mix of characters that scare the living daylights out of you, surviving in a world of depravity and degenerates. Its dark comic humour is expertly woven into a truly horrifying story and is so well written that it all blends together extremely well, without crossing the line from horror to outright absurd humour.
If you don’t like blood and gore, then this is not the book for you. If you like blood oozing from popped eyeballs, dismembered limbs, shotgun blasts in surprising places and a story with a bite as ferocious as razor sharp teeth and nails, I can recommend Slashvivor! Splatterpunk horror at its best.
Slashvivor! is an ultra-violent adrenaline-packed rollercoaster ride through a post-apocalyptic world, which takes a satirical look at our love of reality TV mixed with good old-fashioned gladiatorial combats, and does so in an exciting way.
This book is not for the faint of heart. The madness, mayhem and murder will leave you squirming, scared and sniggering. A fantastically frighteningly fun read!
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £10.99 (Paperback) / £2.99 (Kindle)
Available to buy from Amazon here.
