I mouthed WTF to myself multiple times while reading this book. Wake Up and Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman is sociopolitical horror on steroids—a no-holds-barred, blood-soaked nightmare that doesn’t let up from start to finish.
Let me be honest: this book is for true fans of body horror and speculative horror. If you’re a horror lightweight, this might not be for you. But if you’re ready for a violent, visceral ride, buckle up.
The story follows Noah, a Brooklyn resident with old-fashioned Southern parents who are devout followers of “Fax News” (yes, you read that right). His parents, still living in Virginia, start spouting conspiracy theories about immigrants and “those people,” and Noah tries to brush it off at first. But as his mother becomes increasingly unhinged, he considers deprogramming her. When he can no longer reach his parents and his brother Ash shows no interest in checking on them, Noah decides to leave his liberal bubble and head south to confront them.
The nightmare begins about 20 pages in and never lets go. Noah finds his parents beyond saving—their house is a cesspool of neglect, with the same news channel blaring from every TV. After a horrifying, violent confrontation, Noah flees to his brother’s house for help, only to find the nightmare has spread there too.
Ash, his wife Devon, and their teenage son Caleb are all infected by the media plague in different ways. Ash is glued to Fax News, Devon has turned into a “hun” (IYKYK), and Caleb is obsessed with gaining social media followers. Meanwhile, their younger son Marcus—unaffected and untouched by the internet—is trapped in a living hell as his family falls apart around him. It moves from neglect to unmitigated horror as they all fall deeper and deeper down their own rabbit holes being led by media friends.
Noah and Marcus eventually make a break for New York, but they’re pursued and blocked by a horde of media-infected zombies. The “Great Reawakening” has turned people into a cross between fast zombies and the deranged family from Deliverance. Will they make it back to their liberal haven in Brooklyn? And what will they learn about themselves along the way?
My Thoughts (and Trigger Warnings):
Okay, let’s talk about this book. While it takes obvious jabs at the right with Fax News and political rhetoric, it’s really about all of us. I saw bits of myself and my friends in Devon, and I recognized the TikTok-obsessed kids I know in Caleb. Chapman takes our current media landscape and twists it into a D.C. Universe-level Bizarro World. It’s a story about self-destruction, paranoia, and escapism—about what happens when we buy into the “us vs. them” mentality. If you don’t see something of yourself in this book that makes you pause and reflect, you might need to read it again.
Trigger Warnings: Violence against children and animals, graphic body horror, gore, perverse sexual scenes, and sexual assault.
Clay McLeod Chapman is a master of exploring human behavior through a twisted, supernatural lens. His stories aren’t about simple slashers or vampires—they’re about mental health, addiction, and the monsters we become. He holds up a mirror to our frailties, and you’ll see yourself and people you know in his characters.
I’m in a lot of bookish groups, and many readers are already calling this one of their top books of the year and it is only February. If you can stomach it, you should absolutely read it. Just… maybe don’t eat while you do.