This book was my first dive into this genre, and wow — what a wild ride! I absolutely loved the fresh (well, maybe not fresh) take on zombies. The story was gross in the best way… and sometimes just plain gross, which might mean this kind of book isn’t totally for me. But the characters? Fantastic. The chapters were super detailed, which I appreciated — even if a few could’ve used a mop and a trim, length-wise. Still, I had a great time and might be braver about zombie stories in the future!

3.5 stars out of 5.

I have always loved zombie stories, the good, the bad and especially the so bad its hilarious type ever since watching George A. Romero’s ‘Night of the Living Dead’ movie a long time ago, and I think George would have really liked this story, gross zombies, relatable characters, and lots of action and carnage.

So if you like a good zombie story, with lots of gory action, then check this one out.

What happens when the walking dead meet country club suburbia? Janitors vs The Living Dead is just that. Dr Reinhart has been experimenting with a parasite he uncovered in an ancient specimen. When his wife decides she’s done with the marriage and kills him, his exposure to the parasite takes hold and reanimates him as a zombie. He then sets out to turn the whole neighborhood of Serenity Canyon into his walking dead army to spread his parasite.

However, the janitorial team of the country club aren’t going to let that happen and decide to fight back.

This was one of the first ARCs I received from Netgalley and it’s been sitting since. Whoops 😅 I finally sat down and read it this week and let me tell you. This story isn’t for the feint of heart. It is gory and grotesque and graphic and is definitely for the sturdier horror readers. While I loved the story premise itself, the writing style reminded me of a B horror movie (which I love though). If the writing had been a little less campy feeling I would’ve rated it 4⭐️. It was still a decent read and is now available.

Thank you @netgalley and @deadskypub for this gifted advanced copy.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ - 5 Star Rating
Third Person POV (Stephi & Teddy)
Splatter Level: 🩸🩸🩸
Age Rating: 18+

🖤 𝓻𝓮𝓿𝓲𝓮𝔀 🖤
When I say this book takes off right from the start and doesn’t let off of the visceral bodily horrors until the end, I mean it. This is a splatterfied unique twist on the zombie genre as these ones are completely lathered in feces, which makes it even more unbearable as the innocent employees of the club have to work harder to scrub the remnants off everything.

🖤 𝓹𝓵𝓸𝓽 🖤
Stephi and her scientist husband Teddy lived in an elite gated community. Unknowingly to her, Teddy is a cheater scumbag who gets karma when he accidentally carries a virus back with him. There’s a sh!tty incident that happens that brings forth an excrement covered zombie to soon start attacking the quiet members of the community as the workers prepare for a busy season. The laboratory that accidentally unleashed the virus hurries to create a cure to contain the infected before it releases to the rest of society.

🖤 𝓬𝓱𝓪𝓻𝓪𝓬𝓽𝓮𝓻𝓼 🖤
Stephi is a loving wife who tries to make sure her husband is a happy man when he returns home from work. Teddy is a jerk face. A cheater. A scumbag who doesn’t give a crap about their relationship and ultimately gets his karma when he takes home an excrement virus from the lab, causing all the carnage around the community.

🖤 𝓽𝓻𝓲𝓰𝓰𝓮𝓻𝓼 🖤
🖤 excrement covered zombies
🖤 body horrors
🖤 grotesque imagery
🖤 infectious disease
🖤 excessive gore

🖤 𝓬𝓸𝓷𝓬𝓵𝓾𝓼𝓲𝓸𝓷 🖤
This is a must read! But there is a LOT of excrement (feces) throughout the book, so if that is not your thing, this book may not be for you. But if you’re like me and prefer the squeamish things life has to offer, then you’ll definitely enjoy this fast-paced unique take on the zombie genre.

I’ve been a zombie fan since high school and I’m always down for reading a new zombie book!

When a wealthy neighborhood falls under zombie attack, a group of maintenance workers must stand their ground if they want to survive.

Stephi is a lonely housewife that is fed up with the abuse her husband, Teddy, inflicts upon her. She ends up finding some relief after she cuts up his body and throws it in a public restroom. What she doesn’t know is that Teddy has been conducting experiments and now has a parasite that will bring him back from the dead. Only he won’t just be a huge jerk, he’ll try to get the whole neighborhood on his zombie team!

The characters are a little stereotypical and there’s a lot of profanity. I don’t usually mind that but it became redundant. The zombies reminded me of the ones in Brian Keene’s The Rising series though not as interesting.

Unfortunately , for me, I don’t think I would read any more books by the authors. The book is fine and doesn’t take itself too seriously but wasn’t the right fit for me. I really wanted more of Stephi’s story.

Thank you to NetGalley, Michelle Garza, Melissa Lason and Dead Sky Publishing for the opportunity to read it. I have written this review voluntarily and honestly.

I was very excited when I got this eArc!
However I just can't seem to get into it. I've tried so many times and I can't tell you what it is exactly that I don't like. Maybe it is taking too slow? Maybe it's the constant switching of POV's? I don't know because usually I don't mind those things..

I won't be giving it a rating for now. Perhaphs I'll pick it back up again in the future but for now it is a DNF, sadly.

Wild, gory romp combining grindhouse insanity with blue collar heroism. Soaked in several bodily fluids dusted with dark humor, there's just enough character development to make you care for the mop-wielding misfits taking down the gross-out undead. Nasty, great fun!

Filled with action from the first to the last page, and having loads of gore? Sign me up. The janitors having a fun group dynamic? Here for it!
I really enjoyed the backstory and the scientific explanations behind the outbreak. Aside from it being fun, it really puts it above a lot of zombie books that lack this element

My thoughts after reading the first chapter or so was that this book was one of my first forays into extreme horror, but the note at the end leads me to believe it is actually more splatterpunk. Not exactly sure of the difference but whatever it is, this was a wild ride I won't soon forget.

Stephi and her jerk husband Teddy live in an elite, closed-gated community outside Sedona. Teddy is a lying, cheating jerk but he is also a scientist who is working a secretive government experiment. One night he comes home but unbeknownst to him, he is carrying a lethal parasite. Something happens to Teddy which sets the parasite free and before you know it, the trusty janitors, along with a couple of governmental officials with guns and grenades, are left to clean up Serenity Canyon before it's too late. In the meanwhile, Teddy's coworkers are back at the lab trying to find a cure before the whole world goes to hell.

This book is action-packed from the first chapter and never slows down. It wasn't really a book which encourages the reader to form any emotional attachments to any of the characters, but I will say the janitorial crew really stole my heart. Speaking of hearts, this book is not for the faint of heart. There is blood, gore, feces covered zombies, body fluids being spewed everywhere and as well as limbs and other various body parts.

This book was a fun romp. I know no other real way to explain it but I think the action-lover horror fans out could really find this to be a hidden gem. My only complaint was the extremely long chapters which seemed to make the story lag just a bit, despite all the action. I will definitely look to read more from these authors in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and publisher for an advanced copy to honestly review.

In Janitors vs. The Living Dead, Michelle Garza and Melissa Lason—collectively known as the "Sisters of Slaughter"—deliver a darkly humorous and inventive take on the zombie apocalypse. Set in a world where a mysterious virus transforms society's elite into grotesque, bile-covered monsters, the narrative flips the traditional hierarchy on its head. The janitors, once belittled and overlooked, emerge as the unlikely heroes tasked with confronting the chaos and restoring order.

Spanning 284 pages, this horror-comedy blends visceral action with sharp social commentary. Garza and Lason's signature brutal storytelling is evident throughout, offering readers a fast-paced and engaging experience. Their portrayal of the janitors as resilient and resourceful protagonists adds depth to the narrative, challenging preconceived notions about heroism and societal roles. For fans of horror that doesn't shy away from gore while also providing satirical insights, Janitors vs. The Living Dead is a compelling and refreshing read.

This was such a fun and gruesome horror story! The title immediately caught my attention and the story jumped right into the action and kept me on my toes the entire time. Definitely not for the faint of heart, but fans of splatterpunk horror will enjoy this as much as I did.

3.5 rounded down to 3 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley and Death's Head Press for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

This book was fun. It reminded me of a B-horror movie, and I say that in a positive way. This book was pure chaos; it was gory and disgusting, and didn't hold back. I also thought that the zombie origin story was pretty unique/creative, which made it stand out to me. I appreciate that, as there are a lot of horror books and movies saturated with zombies. In theory, zombies are pretty basic and can be boring. The authors definitely gave it a little twist and made it memorable. This made me think of a combination of the movies Night of the Creeps for the campiness, and 28 Weeks Later with the military involvement.

This was definitely extreme horror, and the amount of blood/gore/vomit/feces were at epic levels. A lot of people might be turned off by this, but if you're not new to the genre of extreme horror and have the mind of a 12 year old boy (occasionally), then you'll enjoy this one. It was a quick, easy read, and was completely unserious and surprisingly lighthearted compared to a lot of horror I've been reading.

This book is absolutey vile in the best way possible. We hit the ground running start to finish and the pacing was great. Unfortunately, I am that person that hates long chapters, and was disappointed that this wasn't broken down a bit more considering how short the story was. However, the overall story itself was disgusting and giving plant terror.

I absolutely loved this book! It started off with a bang. The author definitely kept me interested thought this book! If you like gory and fun then this is for you!

Thank you netgalley for the Arc of this book!

This story was WILD from start to finish. I anticipated the horror aspect of it (it's zombies after all) but I didn't expect the graphic detail the book would go into. (But again, its zombies, so I feel like I should've expected that). I enjoyed how you get to see all parts of the story and all the different POV's that go with it. It was a bit confusing at times because the POV jumped so suddenly but I liked seeing the doctors side of things and all of the SCUM crew. I also loved how you get the zombies (or I guess the parasites?) POV too! This story really had it all with the guts, gore, and cool death scenes. I wished more of the SCUM crew actually survived though. I was partial to Jason and Sunny surviving but literally none of the kids survived (Idk if I can call them kids I know some of them were pretty young but a few of the SCUM crew was older). Regardless, I enjoyed the story!

I love zombies and I love gore and this book had lots of it. The zombie genre has gotten stale over the years and there's only so much you can do to add interest. Who knew all it took was throwing in some high school janitors the freshen up the zombie outbreak?

This book was not at all entertaining and there were no characters to root for,. I hated almost all of them and the rest I just didn't care about. It was disgusting. If you hate any mention of vomit, do not read this book. The only thing I liked about this was the dog.

First and foremost as always thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book. This was an incredibly good read! The story was beautifully written and the characters were flushed out really well! Definitely worth the read!

Disgustingly horrific. I loved it. Gory as hell with a twist that I've yet to see on the zombie genre.

thank you to netgalley and the publishers for the arc!

It was a good book. I really liked the story behind the virus and how they found it. My issue was with the pacing of the story. I feel like it takes a lot of pages to get to the action of the book (more than half of it) and then it goes away quickly. I also felt like the characters could have been given names more diverse since there were a lot of scenes where characters with similar names were together. As it’s a short book, I didn’t know enough about them to recognize and assimilate them. It happened a few times for me when Lalo and Larry where together or when Agent Jackson and Jason where fighting the zombies.

I was going to give this book 2,5 but honestly I found the ending so funny that made me go up to 3.