Review: This story's Atmosphere scored a 5 out of 5
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 07 12, 2014
Nutshell: Zombies and old people. It's Bubba Ho-Tep with less Elvis and JFK. Also, less laughs.Atmosphere: I like how slowly it builds up. Time is so important, and so inconsequential, the minutes and the seasons. Very calm and peaceful, rolling along with the apocalypse.Characters: 4 out of 5. I like how you can feel Dora's character a little even though she's dead. The "living dead" are written well as a class, as is the main character himself and his friend.Plot: 4 out of 5. This is only the third time I've seen Horrible Stuff at the Nursing Home, and the second time was one of my own stories (number one is Bubba Ho-Tep, obviously). So points for originality and being all-around well-constructed and placed on sturdy literary ground. It makes sense.Writing Style: 4 out of 5. The opening segues respectably into backstory. I don't think that I noticed any technical errors this time, for once. Also, see Atmosphere.Worldbuilding: 3 out of 5. Nothing all that unusual for a zombie fic but stuff makes sense. I don't know if I can emphasize that enough. I come across a lot of stuff that just totally and hopelessly confuses me.Details, details: [here there be spoilers]Why is martial law automatically a bad, villainous thing under these circumstances? Seems perfectly reasonable. Though I guess that this can be reasonably construed to be the character's feelings and not the author's. Isn't it funny how sometimes it's so hard to tell the difference, and how often we dislike when there is a difference?I had been wondering if McGuffrey would turn out to be a zombie.Where are they evacuating all of Britain to? Where's the power for the nursing home coming from? Would these questions be answered if I had read the books that came earlier in the series? Probably.But hey, you know what? I still understood everything.This story's Atmosphere scored a 5 out of 5. That means that, because nothing scored a 1, I think that you should read this book just on the basis of the atmosphere. Forget all the other good points. A 5 means that this story is worth the read just for the sake of that element. This story isn't all that long anyway, so go on and give it a try. If you're wondering if you'll like the rest of the series then this should help you decide.Review by R.G. for The Bookie Monster