another great job in the rewind or die series, the story was well done and I enjoyed going through it. The characters were interesting and it had what I was looking for in a horror novel.

The main idea for this story was a good one but unfortunately it ended up being full of clichés and brought really nothing new to the table.

I had the feeling towards the middle that the author was trying to incorporate so many elements and tell us so many things but we only have such limited time for this short novella that it ended up being a bit chaotic.

There was also no emotional connection with any of the characters and it was difficult to fully get invested in the story.

Thank you to Unnerving & Netgalley for providing me with a copy of City of the Creeps in exchange for an honest review!

DNF @ 43%.

I typically would not DNF anything this short -- but, I started this a few weeks ago, had absolutely zero interest in it & forgot to go back. I can't even remember what happened during the 43% that I did read.

City of Creeps by Ernie Kaltenbrunner Jr. claims to be like George Romero movies filled with apocalyptic, horde-infested streets and people surviving amongst virus-infected living dead. I was excited going in on this premise, as it’s been a bit of time since I’ve read any post-apocalyptic, zombie-esque horror books.

While I think the action was really well-written in this book and the gore was fun to witness, I really struggled to get through this book. A couple of things held it back, which are interrelated. One, there were far too many characters to follow with no discernible emotional attachment to the any of them. It’s probably not easy to follow a group of survivors on the page, as there’s a lot world-building and visuals your mind is always creating, but it was really difficult to remember who was who, what their traits were, what their goals were, etc.

Furthermore, I didn’t feel much emotional attachment to any of the characters. Because there were so many characters and a focus on action, I didn’t really care what happened to any characters so the action felt moot—just for the sake of action.

If you’re looking for a fast-paced action book in a survival setting, you’ll enjoy the book. It’s a quick read, a short dive into a different world, so it’s not a horrible afternoon read. But if you’re looking for anything to dig your teeth deeper into this may not be the book for you. I wish there was more purpose to the story, but perhaps it just wasn’t for me.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy for review.

I liked the idea of the story, it has a few elements that I have not come across before, and the action scenes were good but brief .

I found the writing style clunky, and lacked emotion, and the flow of the story seemed off, which made it difficult to get fully invested.

I would have liked more tension and build up in the story.

I wanted to like this book. But I didn't. It was not written very well, it was a little redundant and there seemed to be a lack of plot development that was filled in with unnecessary Gore.

Spoiler alert! Who the hell kills the hero in a book?

City of the Creeps by Ernie Kattenbrunner Jr was received directly from the publisher and I chose to review it. The book was accurately billed as a throwback to the movies The Crazies and the Romero classic Night of the Living Dead. just what we all needed was a novella, making for a quick read, revolving around a dreaded virus. Be prepared for a lot of characters, a lot of gore, not much development of said characters but a story that is not boring. If you or someone you buy gifts for thinks this novella sounds enjoyable, certainly give it a read.

4 Stars

Cityof the creeps by Ernie Kattenbrunner Jr was a throwback to the movies Crazies and Night of the living dead with a few interesting twists. All in all an enjoyable read,

It’s very difficult to write a really good zombie apocalypse story, and this particular attempt does not even come close to accomplishing that. The characters were bland, the gore was just meh and more gross than anything else, and frankly I found it difficult to stay engaged.

Hugo and Carlos are waiting for their mom to come home from work. They’re worried because their mom is late.. when they look out the window they see something strange. What is it? People kissing each other. Then they see see people drooling with black stuff coming out of their mouths and acting funny. Why? When they look out the window again, they see their mom being kissed by another woman. They don’t know what to do. They are glad when their mom is in their home. She goes to bed. She has Hugo get Carlos fed and ready to go to school. When they arrive at school, they see kids and teachers acting funny. They go to class. When they are told over the p.a. system to go to the gymnasium, Hugo tells Carlos that they’re going home. As they try to go home, they are grabbed by a teacher (Mrs. Morgan) they know. While they are walking to an exit, a police officer is told to go to that same school. Wayne, the police officer gets mixed messages because he is told not to bother as they don’t need him. He is at the school, when he sees Mrs. Morgan and the kids running from the school to get in Mrs. Morgan’s car. They are fighting classmates and teachers to get to the car. Wayne helps them escape in his police car. The go to Hugo’s home to get his mom. They will eat and then will decide what to do. They talk about what the virus is doing to people. They hear on the radio to go to the airport and the soldiers will keep them safe. Will they make it?

Today we have the COVID-19 virus to deal with so reading this story was actually more scary than it normally would be. It’s an appropriate story to read in these times. However we don’t try to spread the virus as they do in the story. I was impressed with the police officer doing his best to keep his group alive and virus free. It’s an excellent story with creepiness that made me wonder if they would survive. It is definitely a horror story.
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Billed as The Crazies meets Dawn of the Dead is a novella that doesn’t mess around when getting down to the nitty gritty.

Author Ernie Kaltenbrunner Jr. feels like he skips the exposition part of the story and fills in the blanks as he goes along.

When a deadly virus infects residents of a small american town they are pitted in a fight for survival whilst also trying to figure out its origin and how to stop it.

Kaltenbrunner does a good job at world building enough to keep the story flowing well and leaving the reader intrigued where this story could go next.

At a brisk 70 or so pages this is a fast read, but certainly enjoyable for fans of zombie and contagion movies.

“...one of those horrid screams filled the world with shivers. Those milling around, those walking leisurely, those running looking to spread the goodness within, all stopped, stiffened, and began metamorphosis. Butterflies into slugs.”*

CITY OF CREEPS is like a George Romero zombie movie on acid. The story mostly follows a rag tag group consisting of a pair of young brothers, a teacher, and a police officer who navigate a city filled with zombie-like nightmare creatures, both of human and animal origin.

This book is a full on gross out of gore in the best possible way. This plague affects everyone differently, creating multiple monstrosities. The gruesome Itchy sisters are so horribly awesome that I wanted a whole book devoted to them.

The thing that makes CITY OF CREEPS so wonderful also makes it problematic. There’s so much packed in these pages. So many different horrors and characters and complications that at times things get a bit muddled. As a point of view purist, I felt the perspective was a little too diluted by the large cast. However, I was pretty impressed with the scope of the story as well as the world building. The different ways the disease affected people was awesome and don’t get me stared on the affected animals. My favorite of the key characters was the teacher, Sonia Morgan, who kept going like the energizer bunny from hell.

This work would translate nicely into a first person shooter game like the old school House of the Dead arcade games.

The Rewind or Die books are a blood-splattered oasis in these turbulent times. I am a huge fan of the series, which invokes the spirit of horror movies watched on videotape.

I voluntarily read and reviewed an advanced copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Thanks to NetGalley and Unnerving for providing an Advance Reader Copy.

*Please note that my review is based on uncorrected text.