Raging Against the Machine-Things

THE HORRIBLES by Nathaniel Lambert (2010 Grindhouse Press / 114 pp. / tp)
After watching the gruesome murder of his parents by a strange creature, young Sheldon Delaney becomes an agoraphobic, afraid to go outside and encounter a similar fate.
Now, haunted by the ghosts of his parents and the continual threat of running into one of The Horribles, Shedlon is a work-at-home adult, his only friend a young neighbor named Evan. Their semi-peaceful existence turns around when their entire town recieves fliers announcing a family-fun motor parade. Sheldon knows this must be an elaborate attempt by The Horribles to get him out of the house...and despite his knowledge, he's forced to leave the safety of his home when the parade manages to kidnap all the children of Poe's Creek (including Evan) while killing all the adults; all the adults, with the exception of Sheldon.
THE HORRIBLES is a decent little horror yarn, although I couldn't see why Sheldon had become an agoraphobic; while his dad had been killed in their backyard, his mother was killed--right before his eyes--in the kitchen; why Shedlon felt safe inside OR outside is anyone's guess. But this secondary issue aside, Lambert's novella reads like a solid b-movie that manages to work, from the nifty half mechanical/half flesh creatures to the PSYCHOMANIA-esque motor cycle gang to the PINOCCHIO-type terror aimed at the town's youngsters. There's also a side-plot dealing with Sheldon and his shrink, bringing a couple other issues into question (is all this actually happening, and/or was Sheldon the one truly responsible for his parent's murders?).
Lambert's novella may be a tad off key, but horror fans will still enjoy the thrills and eat it up nice and quick.