Over the past few years it seems that more and more niche literary genres are finding solid footing in the publishing market. More readers are willing to support and buy books from their favorite strange and niche publishers such as Strange House Books, Deadite Press, and Sinister Grinn Press.
For horror fans this is great news. Bizzaro and splatterpunk fiction are in their heyday. (And hopefully all this literature will balance out the mediocre horror films Hollywood keeps insisting on churning out.)
I--as a reader, writer, and publisher of splatter fiction--am excited to see my favorite sub-genre of horror getting so much attention. And I was very excited to get a chance to read M.P. Johnson's newest book: Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill!
Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill! follows the story of a young man named Renny. Renny is a man with a fairly dead end life. He still lives with his mom and can't afford to move out on his own. His only saving grace is his girlfriend Sera.
Sera's foster family, a group of opinionated and strong minded Wisconsin locals, don't care for Renny.
Renny and Sera leave to drive across the snowy landscape. But when a strange accident stops them in the middle of open farmland Sera is kidnapped and dragged off by strange men who wear cattle heads for masks.
Renny and Sera's family go after the cow heads to get her back. Soon, Renny and Sera's family come face to face with some of the most brutal, violent, and horrible experiences they have ever seen. It turns out these cattle heads are part of a deep rooted cult, a cult that plans on raising something so horrible.
Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill! doesn't take time to build up to the horrors it has to present. Right from the very start M.P. Johnson drops the reader right into the action of the story. And in proper horror fashion he doesn't let up on the horror until the very end.
Johnson utilizes a new character viewpoint almost every chapter throughout the book. In many ways this style has the potential to disconnect the reader from the story. It becomes easy to loose track of the flow of the narrative when it doesn't always seem like there is a main character who drives the action. However, Johnson utilizes this literary choice well. The new perspectives help tell the story as a whole, creating what feels like an entire pie instead of just one slice.
Johnson manages to make a few of his characters both relatable and hateable all at once in only a few short pages. These snippets of character give a morbid "slice of life" style to the book while still remaining true to the splatterpunk and bizarro roots of the book's concept.
Much of the violence and gore was plenty disturbing, enough to satisfy any gore hound, while still not getting to a point where I felt myself wanting to put the book down (as I have with other poorly written splatter novels in the past). However, this books is still in no way for the faint of heart. A few of the scenes--although strange and unrealistic--are very gruesome and would turn most unsuspecting readers away.
The story itself does feel choppy in parts, partially due to the shifting narrative. While it didn't break the story's tension it did make it feel a little unstructured at parts. And while the overall supernatural lore and plot structure were engaging and interesting there were moments that broke the verisimilitude.
Ultimately the story builds to a fantastical and truly strange ending in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft. The last few chapters truly made the story worthwhile, echoing themes that we've come to know and love from Lovecraft's intricate mythos. But Johnson truly makes the story, and the mythos, his own. It is original and bizarre in just the right ways.
For horror fans this is great news. Bizzaro and splatterpunk fiction are in their heyday. (And hopefully all this literature will balance out the mediocre horror films Hollywood keeps insisting on churning out.)
I--as a reader, writer, and publisher of splatter fiction--am excited to see my favorite sub-genre of horror getting so much attention. And I was very excited to get a chance to read M.P. Johnson's newest book: Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill!
Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill! follows the story of a young man named Renny. Renny is a man with a fairly dead end life. He still lives with his mom and can't afford to move out on his own. His only saving grace is his girlfriend Sera.
Sera's foster family, a group of opinionated and strong minded Wisconsin locals, don't care for Renny.
Renny and Sera leave to drive across the snowy landscape. But when a strange accident stops them in the middle of open farmland Sera is kidnapped and dragged off by strange men who wear cattle heads for masks.
Renny and Sera's family go after the cow heads to get her back. Soon, Renny and Sera's family come face to face with some of the most brutal, violent, and horrible experiences they have ever seen. It turns out these cattle heads are part of a deep rooted cult, a cult that plans on raising something so horrible.
Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill! doesn't take time to build up to the horrors it has to present. Right from the very start M.P. Johnson drops the reader right into the action of the story. And in proper horror fashion he doesn't let up on the horror until the very end.
Johnson utilizes a new character viewpoint almost every chapter throughout the book. In many ways this style has the potential to disconnect the reader from the story. It becomes easy to loose track of the flow of the narrative when it doesn't always seem like there is a main character who drives the action. However, Johnson utilizes this literary choice well. The new perspectives help tell the story as a whole, creating what feels like an entire pie instead of just one slice.
Johnson manages to make a few of his characters both relatable and hateable all at once in only a few short pages. These snippets of character give a morbid "slice of life" style to the book while still remaining true to the splatterpunk and bizarro roots of the book's concept.
Much of the violence and gore was plenty disturbing, enough to satisfy any gore hound, while still not getting to a point where I felt myself wanting to put the book down (as I have with other poorly written splatter novels in the past). However, this books is still in no way for the faint of heart. A few of the scenes--although strange and unrealistic--are very gruesome and would turn most unsuspecting readers away.
The story itself does feel choppy in parts, partially due to the shifting narrative. While it didn't break the story's tension it did make it feel a little unstructured at parts. And while the overall supernatural lore and plot structure were engaging and interesting there were moments that broke the verisimilitude.
Ultimately the story builds to a fantastical and truly strange ending in the vein of H.P. Lovecraft. The last few chapters truly made the story worthwhile, echoing themes that we've come to know and love from Lovecraft's intricate mythos. But Johnson truly makes the story, and the mythos, his own. It is original and bizarre in just the right ways.
Summing It Up
Cattle Cult! Kill! Kill! is like watching a Coen brother's film written by H.P. Lovecraft and inspired by Texas Chainsaw Massacre. It is a strange brew of various tastes and they all work very well together. The story is a quick read and will satisfy most splatterpunk fans. I enjoyed it enough that I hope to have a paper copy for myself at some point. But if you're not ready for something bizarre and gruesome I'd say steer clear of this book.
Deaths: X
Language: 5
Gore Factor: 5
Sex Factor: 5
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 3
Overall Rating: 4.5
Deaths: X
Language: 5
Gore Factor: 5
Sex Factor: 5
Scare Factor: 3
Fun Factor: 3
Overall Rating: 4.5
To learn more about my rating system click here.