Johnny Gruesome [Paperback]

Gregory Lamberson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2008

Johnny Grissom—nicknamed "Johnny Gruesome" by his high school classmates—is a heavy metal hellion who loves to party, watch horror movies, and get into fights. One winter night, Johnny's car, The Death Mobile, is discovered submerged beneath the icy surface of Willow Creek, with Johnny's waterlogged corpse inside. The townspeople believe that his death was accidental. But soon the murders begin—horrible acts of violent vengeance that hint at a deepening mystery and terror yet to come. A headless body is discovered at the high school, a priest is forced to confront his own misdeeds, and a mortician encounters the impossible. The sound of a car engine and maniacal laughter fill the night, and one by one, Johnny's enemies meet a grisly demise. The students at Red Hill High School begin to fear for their lives—especially Johnny's closest friends, who all harbor a dark secret.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Nominated for the 2008 Black Quill Awards in the Best Small Press Chill Category

"A delicious rotting slice of living dead horror, as American as apple pie à la mode and a strong cup of Joe at the diner of the damned. . . . One of the most enjoyable scare-fests I've read this year."  —Philip Nutman, author, Wet Work, and coscreenwriter, The Girl Next Door

"This is one ride through the hell of high school and the wince-inducing gore of undead vengeance . . .  In Johnny Gruesome, horror has a new hero."  —Kealan Patrick Burke, Bram Stoker Award–winning author, Currency of Souls, The Turtle Boy, and The Hides

"A frightening sense of detail that makes it all the more horrific—it's a gruesome ride that you can't stop reading."  —Gunnar Hansen, actor, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

"[This book] spins the zombie genre into a fresh and ballsy hard-rock direction that just kills!"  —Jonathan Maberry, Bram Stoker Award–winning author, Ghost Road Blues and Dead Man's Song

"This homage to the splatter films of the 1980s . . . is a wild ride through the darker recesses of the reader's imagination. . . . Recommended to anyone who loves their horror hard, fast, and fun."  —Dave Simms, author, Hellnotes

"A loving and intelligent tribute to the classic splatter films that set the pace for modern horror. . . . Bold and trashy in all the right ways, [this] is a book (and a villain) you won't soon forget."  —Lee Thomas, author, Parish Damned and The Dust of Wonderland

"A rotting fetid romp of a novel that shows you a little of life post-mortem for your average teenage headbanger. A B-movie nightmare recreated with loving fan-boy zeal."  —Steve Vernon, author, Hard Roads

About the Author

Gregory Lamberson is the writer and director of the cult classic, Slime City, and of the features Naked Fear and Undying Love. He is the author of Personal Demons, which won the Anubis Award for Horror. He lives outside Buffalo, New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Medallion Press (October 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1934755451
• ISBN-13: 978-1934755457
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 4.9 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #498,174 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

"Gregory Lamberson is the sort of force that dark fantasy and horror are lucky to have." - FANGORIA magazine

Two-time IPPY Gold Medal winner and two-time Bram Stoker Award finalist Gregory Lamberson is an author and filmmaker who loves to scare people. Rave reviews of his work have appeared in Fangoria, Rue Morgue, and Publishers Weekly. All of his books are available in print and as e-books, and some are also available as audio books.

Lamberson's novel PERSONAL DEMONS, winner of the IPPY Gold Medal for Horror, is the first volume in the action packed occult detective series "The Jake Helman Files," published by Medallion Press. Other books in the series include the zombie novel DESPERATE SOULS, the new Cthulhu themed COSMIC FORCES, and TORTURED SPIRITS, which is scheduled for October 2012. PERSONAL DEMONS, DESPERATE SOULS, and COSMIC FORCES are also available as audio books from Audible.com.

Lamberson is also the author of "The Frenzy Wolves Cycle" for Medallion Press. This series started with THE FRENZY WAY and continues with THE FRENZY WAR in June, 2012.

Lamberson's second novel, JOHNNY GRUESOME, also won the IPPY Gold Medal for Horror and Dark Scribe Magazine's "Best Small Press Chill" Award, and was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award by the Horror Writers Association. The novel spawned a rock CD, GRUESOME, an award-winning online comic book, and a collectible mask.

Lamberson wrote and directed the 1988 cult horror film SLIME CITY, which is available on DVD as GREG LAMBERSON'S SLIME CITY GRINDHOUSE COLLECTION, a 2-disc collection which includes his vampire film UNDYING LOVE, the thriller NAKED FEAR, and GRUESOME, a short film starring "Scream Queen" Misty Mundae. His new film, SLIME CITY MASSACRE, starring horror icon Debbie Rochon, is available on DVD and the PlayStation Network.

Combining his literary and cinematic interests, Lamberson wrote the instructional filmmaking book CHEAP SCARES: LOW BUDGET FILMMKAERS SHARE THEIR SECRETS, which was nominated for a Bram Stoker Award. He also created and edited the popular horror entertainment website Fear Zone for two years, and is one of the founders of the Buffalo Screams Horror Film Festival. He is an Active member of the Horror Writers Association and International Thriller Writers, and his website is www.slimeguy.com.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not terrible, but seems a bit shallow..., March 14, 2009

By 

Weedwacker "I'd like to confuse bok choy with... (Satellite of Love, CA) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Johnny Gruesome (Paperback)

Johnny Gruesome seems as though it should be a movie rather than a book. An 80's movie. =) It is the rare case here where this would make a better movie than it does book.

In a nutshell it's about Johnny, a rebellious teenage guy who is murdered, but when he dies...he doesn't really die, he sticks around to exact revenge on those who have wronged him...and, inexplicably, even those who haven't.

My main problem with the book is that it feels a bit hollow, like an outline for a story. It's almost too organized as though the reader is reading 3 x 5 cards of the ideas the author had and descriptions of characters rather than actually getting into the characters' heads at all. There was not a character in the book I could identify with or even feel bad for or worried about. All of the events played out in a very matter of fact way.

Again, not everything has to have a "why" and a "how" but there is no explanation at all as to why or how Johnny didn't really die. Although some of his vengeful actions are justified there are some that are not and don't even really make sense. The ending was also quite anti-climactic. I trudged through hundreds of pages to reach an ending that was very run-of-the-mill and a bit dissatisfying. There wasn't much feeling behind anything any of the characters did. We read descriptions of people being killed or being scared but in my opinion the author doesn't do a good job of actually conveying feelings or emotions so that the reader feels it, too.

While it should be fun like an 80's splatter flick I just didn't feel it. And although not every story needs an actual point I suppose, I just felt like I didn't even know why I was reading this at all. I really wanted to like this book but instead I found myself getting anxious to reach the end just to be done with it.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Reviewed for Monster Librarian, December 2, 2009

By 

Michele Lee (Louisville, KY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Johnny Gruesome (Paperback)

Johnny Gruesome is what you might get if you took all the emo out of J O' Barr's The Crow and replaced it with hardcore, attitude-filled metal. Johnny Grisson is not a good person. He's your familiar wayward angry youth with an alcoholic father, a dead mother and a serious problem with the way life is treating him. So when he ends up dead Johnny's determined not to take it laying down and instead he decides to make a mark on the world by kicking the ass of the little town of Red Hill where he lived and died.
Over all the book is familiar, but too well written and enjoyable to be cliché. It's, in many ways, a classic slasher flick in book form with science and logic fudged at time for effect. But it's a fun romp through rage and blood and zombies and would be a solid addition to private and public horror collections.

Contains: Violence, drug use, sex, language

2.0 out of 5 stars A Little Disappointing, November 11, 2011

By 

Archica Tackett (Robinson Creek, KY United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Johnny Gruesome (Paperback)

As a major fan of 80's horror, slashers, gore, and zombies, I was very excited to try this book. But the more I read, the more I realized that it wasn't what I was hoping for.

The book isn't bad. The writing is fine and there's some nicely-described gore sequences. The main issue, for me, was that the writer seemed to be trying too hard to make title character Johnny seem cool. He came across as a "Gary Stu" (the male equivalent of a "Mary Sue"). He's tough, can beat up the jocks at school with little effort, has a hot girlfriend who is practically obsessed with him (and who he seems to be willing to "loan out" to his friends for sex), and can regularly rebel against every authority figure in the book without much consequence. Even death doesn't hold him down, because he's just too cool for that. I found it difficult to like, or root for, Johnny as a character because he just didn't feel genuine to me at all. He's more like a collection of things that horror/metal fans would think are awesome than an actual person.

I also found the constant need to point out and identify the various horror references to be a little tiresome. The fun of having references to other works is letting your readers recognize them on their own. Repeatedly name-dropping horror movie titles got a little annoying as well. Are horror fans really supposed to be impressed because the author knows George Romero directed "Night of the Living Dead", "Dawn of the Dead", and "Day of the Dead"? In the context of the story, there was no real reason to mention them at all (or most of the other movies/characters/etc.). It read as "Look at all these cool things I'm mentioning!" and did nothing to help the plot or character development.

Ironically, the character of Gary is the best-written and gets the best lines. Some of his dialogue had me laughing out loud. What a shame, then, that he doesn't get the attention or development he deserved, and without spoiling anything, I'll just say that his conclusion was incredibly disappointing.

It's possible that my expectations were too high, but the book let me down overall. It had some fun scenes and some fun dialogue, plus some truly fantastic death scenes, but it all feels a little flat without some great characters to hold it all together. I agree with whoever said the story would have made a better movie. I can overlook weak characterization much more easily in a fun, gory b-movie than in a full-length novel.