Customer Reviews

Johnny Gruesome

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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

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.

As other reviewers of this book have already stated, this would make a kick ass movie. While the main character, Johnny Grissom/Gruesome, is indeed a villain, I couldn't help but root for him throughout a lot of the book, especially the part with Father Webb.

I grew up in the area this book was modeled after and it was really great to recognize the landmarks. I made the mistake of reading this book at night, after everyone else had gone to bed. It scared me more than a little, but I totally loved Johnny Gruesome, and he's the kind of guy I would have loved in high school. This book made me a Greg Lamberson fan for life!

This book really reads like a great horror film from the eighties, with author Gregory Lamberson directing it like one of the masters. While the story might seem a bit familiar, it's Lamberson's economy of words that rockets the reader forward in this classic revenge tale. There is no fat to be found in this story, anywhere. You're immediately propelled back into the good old days of high school peer pressure, only this time, you get to experience the dishing out of brutal punishment through the eyes of our villain. I enjoyed the fact that even though Johnny is hurting people, you still feel empathy for him and understand the reasons for his slaughter, twisted though they may be.

Fans of the movie Return Of The Living Dead should take note and celebrate and pick up a copy of this book fast. This is one of the most entertaining horror novels I've read in a long time. Simple yet effective, it has all the right beats and delivers all the goods. You won't be disappointed.

The main feeling I got from Johnny Gruesome was the good, slimy fun that comes with a decent revenge horror novel. And I'm pretty sure that's what Gregory Lamberson was shooting for with Johnny Gruesome. It's not literary horror, and I doubt that's what he wanted. But you do get a really good revenge novel that tips its hat to zombies and mayhem in general.

Johnny Grissom is a Heavy Metal teen (Nicknamed Gruesome) who likes to party, hang with his friends and occasionally beat up the not-so-cool jocks that plague his school. Something bad happens one night while he's out riding around with his friends, and he winds up dead, then becomes undead and out for revenge on all who did him wrong.

The interesting thing Lamberson does with the character of the undead Johnny Grissom, is that he makes his actions the kind you find yourself both rooting for and condemning. You're on his side, and at the same time you cringe at some of the stuff he does.

Alongside the main character of Johnny Gruesome is his girlfriend Karen and his best friend Eric, and another detestable character named Gary.

Murders start occurring and bodies start showing up in the most `gruesome' ways imaginable. What follows is your basic plot of a town that goes bonkers in fear of what's happening, and non-stop action the last hundred pages of the book.

This is a good, Halloween read. Lamberson makes sure all the elements of creepy, weird and gory are installed in this novel. And Medallion Press did a great job with the cover art and overall look of the book-and hey, the price is a nice one, too. With all the horror novels that come out priced way too high, you can't afford to pass this one up.

So strap yourself in for a fun, gore-filled ride to hell and back with Johnny Gruesome.

Loved this book. Couldn't put it down. I am now a huge fan of Gregory Lamberson. This is a "gotta read" book.

Although they are polar opposites Red Hill high school students John "Johnny Gruesome" Grissom and Eric Carter are best friends; at least the latter thinks they are. Also clinging to Gruesome as if they are groupies to a rock star are his girlfriend Karen Slatter and dealer Gary Belter. Whereas Gruesome is angry at the world and recently at God since his mom died, Carter is making plans to go to college.

In icy Willow Creek, Johnny is found dead inside his Death Mobile car. The townsfolk assume he drove too fast on the wintry night. However, soon after his corpse is recovered, gruesome murders by a particular vicious avenging serial killer haunts the town. With the sounds of a car engine revving and a laugh from hell, those who hurt Johnny Gruesome are being mutilated. Eric, Karen and Gary have reasons to worry that their late leader is coming for them too as they believe he knows what they did.

JOHNNY GRUESOME is a vivid horror thriller that hooks the audience from the moment John's mom waits for him with open arms at the top of a heavenly light, but the angry teen says no and with determination returns to his autopsy body. He becomes a sort of thinking doing zombie ghost who as his body rots continue his terror quest. It is the details that make Gregory Lamberson's thriller exciting and fun to read in a gruesome way.

Harriet Klausner

Want a SUPER cool book that will give you chills up the spine? Bring back memories of the GREATS of the "slasher" genre? All in the Zombie technicolor theater of your mind? Then look NO further than Johnny Gruesome by Gregory Lamberson. The product description on only the BASICS...this book is a lot more layered than just your typical slasher.....This gem will stay with you long after you finish it! Buckle up and enjoy the ride...you are in for a truly GRUESOME thrill of a ride!