Fun but Familiar

THE LATE NIGHT HORROR SHOW by Bryan Smith (to be released 3/13 by Samhain Publishing / 266 pp / tp & eBook)

A bunch of twenty-somethings living in a small town go to a horror film festival at a run-down multiplex. The festival features low budget, independent films of all types, and when they arrive they've already decided which ones they want to start with. One couple goes to a vampire film, one girl goes to see a Chainsaw Massacre rip-off, and most of them go to an apocalyptic zombie movie. When they arrive at the theater, they notice everyone working there looks similar and acts with no sense of humor.

As each film begins, a bright light flashes. Each person then finds themselves living inside the film they had gone to see. Hordes of zombies attack the tough Brix and her friends, while Lashon is chased through the woods by a chainsaw weilding maniac. Meanwhile, Kira and Monroe find themselves captive at the castle of a powerful vampire, and each one of them becomes a member of the living dead. However, one guy, Greg, is left behind in the theater, and he eventually meets with the strange Dr. Ominous, who he learns created the weird situation he and his friends are now in.

Like all Smith novels, this one's packed to the gills with gruesome violence and plenty of excitement, and I like how--when the cast realizes what's happening to them--they use the horror film cliches they're now a part of to expect what's going to happen next (although they're not always right).

When we finally learn who (or what) is fully responsible for exactly what is going on, we hit familiar territory, but thankfully the author throws in a bit more than what many may be suspecting. While this idea has been done several times as of late, Smith blends things and gives it a bit of his own spin.

Arguably the first novel to cite the obscure 80s band 'Shriekback,' and with characters sleazier than those in your typical Richard Laymon novel, this ode to b-movie horror movie-going is a lot of fun. Just don't expect too many surprises.