Wake Up and Open Your Eyes | 
pickMy recommendation for #hauntedshelf
This book is very poignant for American society today. I think about it constantly as I see what is happening in the news. #blackcatcrew
My sixth selection for #2025bestreads is the most unhinged horror book that I have read so far this year. This book has a very important message one that seems that to have been missed as it is currently sitting at 3.38 on Good Reads. This is is Chapman's boldest book to date. Old school Stephen King for our current dysfunctional era.
This is a wild book! I think it accomplished exactly what it set out to do. We follow a family of four as each succumbs to far right wind propaganda in different ways: news, wellness, internet chatrooms, technology. Each turns into a monster/zombie literally possessed by conservative ideology. Very violent, hints of bird box and the purge.
This is the craziest horror novel I have read all year. It is also probably the most divisive. Which is unfortunate, because it has a really important message. Wake Up & Open Your Eyes is like old school Stephen King for the social media era, I will say that at several points while reading I was like, “Wow, Clay you really went there,“...and my macabre black soul loved him for it. ☠ 💔
pickWhen your internal monologue switches to Anderson Cooper (admittedly, mine has at some points), because your family is now ‘possessed‘ to do unspeakable disgusting things based on media brain rot…well, should you think you‘re any better? Our media consumption is the downfall of society in this story. One I consider amazingly crafted and particularly disturbing. Ironically unironically sharing on social media, hashtag. 😁
so-soA horror political satire that is going to appeal to a certain demographic. A bizarre media source transforms closed-minded individuals and their audience into possessed violent zombies. Those trying to escape the chaos are pitted against this cult of monsters until society and civilization eventually deteriorate. A good premise, but the repetition of prose could have been tweaked and requires more editing.
pick4 ✨ Unsettling, Savory & Grotesque
Not my preferred sub-genre within horror but I was highly entertained from start to finish. Plethora of social commentary. Some feeling too close to home. Plenty of body horror & emphasizes on family division specifically through a political scope. Was enthralled with watching the family slowly disintegrating, not only mentally but physically. I could not help but devour the entirety.
pickOh. My. Gosh. This was such a good story. No One is safe in this expose of how media rots our brains, even the "good guys" will get called out. If you're in the mood for a poignant, political, apocalyptic horror, this one is definitely worth it. Gives a while new meaning to the term "doom scrolling."
Check trigger warnings if you're squeamish, it is horror after all.
so-soThis book was just okay. It had a great premise, but the execution is a bit lacking. The politics are too heavy-handed, and I‘m not one who minds an author being political. I don‘t get why gross sex scenes had to be used so often to denote evil. There‘s one section, where we watch a whole family fall apart, that is just too long. I did finish it though. #audiowalk
I should just listen to this as my bedtime book since I only have a little over an hour left, but I don‘t like listening to horror at night. I‘ve had bad dreams doing that before. I still can‘t say I‘m enamored with this book, but it‘s an interesting take on the end of the world. Beautiful day today. Nice temperatures and wonderful breezes. #audiowalk
My hold on this came in earlier than I expected, so I‘m back to WUaOYE for my #audiowalk earlier than I thought I‘d be. I still haven‘t decided if I like it, but I‘m determined to finish it this time. It was a lovely evening for a walk.
bailedI tried…I REALLY tried with this one but I just couldn‘t get through it. It started out great and then became a slow slog through the indoctrination/brainwashing of a family and I just couldn‘t make it through to the other side. I might try this again as audiobook but, as a physical book, it just isn‘t keeping my attention. And I‘m trying to get better at DNF‘ing books that I‘m not really enjoying.
Tammany Hall in WUaOYE = Fox News like talk show. Tammany Hall in history = associated with the extremely corrupt New York Democratic political machine of Boss Tweed. I like the reference. Chapman has taken a pretty long time to get to the action. I‘m 4 hours in with 6 hours left, and the people who are supposed to meet have yet to do so. #audiowalk
I went back to this because it‘s a library book and is due in a few days. I got past the really gross scene that made me stop before; it went on for far too long. Otherwise, I‘m liking the book. Temps were down in the 50s today. #audiowalk
pickFox News/mommy-influencer/screen zombie horror! I‘m not a horror reader, but this was so relevant to our times, I was compelled to read an outrageous take on the dangers of the “boob-tube” and the addiction we have with screens.
Noah and his nephew seem to be the only two not inflicted with a mysterious disease which has infected their entire family. Now they must retreat to the safety of liberal nyc where Facts News can‘t harm them. Right?
pick'Wake Up and Open Your Eyes' is a disturbing and thought-provoking novel that will leave you questioning the nature of truth and the dangers of our increasingly connected world.
The book cover alone deserves five stars...
“Her voicemails are digital mosquitoes buzzing about his ear at all hours of the day— and night—hungry for blood.”
-regarding his mother‘s persistent phone calls warning him of potential dangers if he doesn‘t leave the city
“It was enjoyable in a holy-shit-is-this-horror-show-for-real kinda way.You just had to see it to believe it. See it to believe.”
#horror
#IgnoranceIsBliss
