A super fun , dark and twisty novella that keep me on the edge of my toes .

Thank you for the eArc.

Such a fun concept for this story. I enjoyed the writing style and how the story played out. I highly recommend!

Earworms in real life are bad enough when the songs get stuck in your head and won't leave. If they were an actual parasite, though, that occupies your brain and has an ulterior motive? That would be nightmarish.

This is a bitter, sardonic narrative about a man pursuing sobriety and encountering something far worse while doing pest control. The Toy Story theme gets stuck in his head, and he can't explain why. Then an Earworm named Bogart introduces itself, saying that he and Ripley have work to do. Seems that music can have power to save the human race, and maybe give Ripley a more redeeming life.

I admit the story is hard to read because we have a cynical narrator who admits he's down on his luck and has a negative view of the world. Bogart does lighten the story, and gives a reason to keep reading.

Well, that was odd and I mean that tin a good way. Im still not sure how I feel but I enjoyed the writing style fo Mistead. I will read more.

After being diagnosed with a terminal brain disease, and then separating from his wife, Ripley feels he's hit rock bottom. However, a voice in his head has other plans for him when it tells him about a race of ancient parasites that use humans as hosts. Has Ripley gone crazy or is the voice telling the truth?

This book had the feel of The Troop by Nick Cutter and a more adult version of The Host by Stephanie Meyer. There's some minor body horror but i didn't find it disturbing. Ripley is a pop culture geek so there are a lot of references to movies, video games, and television throughout the book. He's very quirky and I loved his inner monologue. At only 222 pages this was a quick read that I got through in 2 sittings. Thoroughly entertaining and a fun read for those into the creature feature genre.

This was a DNF at 24% - you lost me at the toilet scene. This book was definitely not meant for me! But thanks anyways, it seems you have a weird cult classic on your hands going by others reviews!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Blood Bound Books for providing me with an eARC of Earworm in exchange for my honest review!

What a bizarrely amusing and charming blend of cosmic horror and dark comedy this book is. It sets up its lens of black humor right from the grisly opening scene, then pulls me into the strange and endearing dynamic that builds up between Ripley and his new earworm buddy Bogart. This could have been quite a cringey experience, considering how much of an obnoxious, covertly bigoted, and cynical human being Ripley can be. But I end up getting invested in him and Bogart as they embark on the twists and turns of their ridiculous and vulgar tale. The banter elicits plenty of laughter from me, too. And when this reaches its third act, I'm able to click with its satisfyingly bittersweet conclusion.

Overall, I'm officially rating Earworm four out of five stars, and I'd love to explore more of Aaron Thomas Milstead's work.

Thank you to NetGalley and Blood Bound Books for the e-copy. This review is my honest opinion.

Well this was a ride. An enjoyable one but I can see this is not for everybody.
One thing that I'm going to say immediately is that this is stockfull of pop culture references, especially in the first half. So many actor names referenced with other pop culture icons such as Sauron. There are also snippets of songs present - not surprising considering the earworm theme.
Now this is a dark comedy with its crass moments and the protagonist is not the most... sensitive in his choice of words. In fact, the first few chapters I was getting disappointed and not enjoying it that much but it got better. Though the descriptions... look I'm just going to quote one or two that I think exemplified exactly what we are dealing with:
«She stared at me and her fat, wrinkled face contorted like an elephant's prolapsed anus and I saw something that will haunt me until the day I die.
My mother-in-law smiled.
The mighty eye of Sauron would have wept.»
And another:
«Clearly, he was still very, very dead, but somehow he's had the decency to put on pants." The whole book is written like this, full of unexpected humorous sentences to contrast with what's truly happening. And stereotypes if you can't tell by the MIL section.
Don't expect character development out of anyone but the main character (mostly because it's forced) as the rest of the characters are essentially shallow pieces there for the plot. Nothing wrong with it, this is not the type of book where the characters are supposed to be fully developed - though it would help in certain scenes a bit more as the author wants us the reader to go "aww they care" but gave us barely anything but a few words said between them.
Also remember when I said dark? Yes, despite the comedic there are scenes that have body horror. Also the whole parasite that controls humans situation is central to the plot - I do wish there had been more space to explore the concept though, more fleshed out.

All in all though I liked it, worth a read and, if you are like me and didn't appreciate the first couple of chapters, it's worth to prevail for a few more but if you read those sections and dislike them, this book is not for you.

This book has a particular audience. It is gross and nostalgic, a horror comedy with pop culture references and hilarious honesty around familial difficulties. If all of those bits sound good to you, check it. i quite enjoyed it and will be getting it for a friend I know will love it.

The only thing I like better than horror is comedy horror. This book was hilarious, gross, and scary at times. I liked the protagonist a lot, and I loved his relationship with his daughter. Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this

This story was a hilarious and wild ride. It's laugh-out-loud funny and ohhhhh so gross.
10/10 no notes

It was solid, I guess. Not a book I'll remember for years to come but pretty entertaining in places. Not everywhere and not always, mind; some descriptions felt not fully adequate for modern sensibilities. Perhaps on purpose, perhaps not. I'm not sure. Anyway, a solid piece of fiction.

I LOVED THIS BOOK!!

I went into this one not knowing much, so I wasn't entirely sure what to expect, but BOY did this one deliver!! The whole story felt like you were listening to someone telling you a story of all these crazy things that happened to them. So well written!!

The story itself was super fun! It felt like a mix of sci-fi vibes, a little humor, a little gore... all blended together seamlessly! The writing was great, I loved the MC and his 'passenger', I loved the ending! There is nothing about this book that I didn't enjoy! Highly recommend to anyone who loves the slightly weird stuff like I do!

It's definitely my favorite read of the month!!

This was a unique concept for a horror noveli like the idea of an earworm and have it worked in the story. It had a unique concept for an alien story and I enjoyed how different everything was. The characters were perfect for the story and I was glad I read this. Aaron Thomas Milstead has a great writing style and I'm glad I got to read this.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC, in exchange for an honest review!

This book was very weird, but in a good way. It reminded me a lot of ‘Liarmouth’ by John Waters; if you liked that one chances are high that you’ll like this one! It kept my interest throughout and I was very entertained. The one downside was that some parts seemed rushed. I would’ve liked a bit more detail or story at these parts. The ending also seemed abrupt, but overall I’m happy that I gave it a short! It was a short, fun read.

“To a hammer, everything looks like a nail.”

I’m not exactly sure wtf happened here. For a while it was a pleasant experience and then I really didn’t know what the hell was going on and then I sort of did and then it came back around a bit. Several laugh out loud moments and some amusing goings on but still felt a wee scattered in parts.

Dr. Phil and Freud puffing on penis cigars, sexy sweet and sour chicken farts, brain raping alien spider-roaches, watertight dolphin butthole, massive deuce drops, raw oyster polish sausage death and running backward through a field full of dicks.

This one had a bit of everything and I dug that about it. I’d give a better synopsis, but I would either screw it up or get too spoilery. Or both. So…

“Pineapple!”

Thank you to Netgalley and Blood Bound Books for providing me a digital review copy.

Weird fiction can be a hard pill to swallow. The strangeness has to be balanced out with some very human emotions or else the oddity of the story can overtake the reader.

Earworm does not have this problem. It's a kinda gross, kinda odd, but very endearing book about a man who's down on his luck and the alien brain worm who bonds with him. Truly a tale as old as time. This is a quick read, but the humor is expertly balanced with the cosmic horror elements and Ripley's voice was a constant joy throughout.

I can get a little weary of "is this real vs is it all in their head" stories," but Milstead expertly balanced that question as we bowl through a fun, madcap adventure I truly enjoyed.

I… have mixed feeling about this book.

On one hand, the plot was entertaining at times and the characters were all flawed in a “love to hate them” sort of way. Sort of like watching a collision: you know what's going to happen and you know you can't stop it, but you're shocked and disappointed when it does happen all the same. 

On the other, it read like a novel written two decades ago that did not age well. Like, I could not get over the over-use of the word “rape” in a colloquial context. What is this, an elementary schoolyard in 2003? 

Overall, I didn't hate it and I didn't love it, and I don't think I'd recommend it to others.

Unfortunately, this one wasn't for me. I loved the concept and felt that there was a lot of potential here, but the execution felt very lackluster. I didn't enjoy spending time with the narrator. It's certainly possible to create an unlikable protagonist people still want to read about, but this wasn't an example of it. It felt like the author was trying to satire the type of person the protagonist was, but the whole thing just felt needlessly sexist and uncomfortable. I also felt that there was room for improvement in the writing; there were fairly significant errors throughout the text with things like tense changing in the middle of sentences.

This actually exceeded expectations! I was curious based on the cover and brief description, but I found it to be surprisingly heartwarming and funny. Though, be warned, it's also pretty gross at times.

Thanks to #NetGalley for the ARC!