Review: Great writing but a little hard for me to stomach.
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 18, 2013
I have such mixed emotions about this anthology. I am not a zombie fan OR a horror fan... so why did I read this one? I'll tell you why: T.J. Klune. That's it. I couldn't resist trying a story that has him collaborating with his boyfriend, Eric Arvin, who is extremely talented in his own right. I also was excited to read more Ethan Day and try out some other authors that I haven't read before.I'll do a brief sum up of each story- my emotions mostly and my ratings:1) "Guess Who's Coming at Dinner"Rating: 4 stars for quality, 4 stars for enjoyment.If I had to pick my type of zombie story, this would be it. I like my zombies kind of lovable and extra extra horny. Minimal guts and gore and lots of awkwardness and laughs. This was most most "enjoyable" out of the bunch.2) "Surviving Sin City"Rating: 4 stars for quality, 3 stars for enjoyment.Now we are kind of creeping into horror territory and my comfort level goes way down. A real, down and dirty zombie apocalypse story with some hot sex thrown in to boot. I liked the MCs and their chemistry and really dug the shifting POVs. Well down all around here!3) "Ghoul's Gym"Rating: 5 stars for quality, 2.5 stars for enjoyment.This one is the one that I had the hardest time with. By far. It is gory, so much so that I had to skim very very often. This is probably the reason my enjoyment level is so low, that and the fact that this story is a real tear-jerker. However, the collaboration between Eric and TJ? Just beautiful. The writing was fabulous- seamless and filled with emotion. I think these two men together are a force to be reckoned with. However, I think I'm going to stick with their non-rip-your-face-off fare from now on.