Book Review: Marinara by Mr. & Mrs. Post

So first off...that's a pretty sketchy pseudonym - either this is a famous writer slumming it, or the author is in the witness protection program.

Anywho, "Marinara" is a story set in the 80s where a group of high school kids celebrate graduation by going after-hours to a knock-off Chucky Cheese and getting wasted. From there, things get dicey, as Meaty and the Toppings go from animatronics to killer robots (or are they?!?!).

First thing any Gen Xer will notice: Either the author(s) was not an 80s kid, or they are losing their memory of the decade. There were a few too many 90s or even aughts sayings that jumped off the page - probably wouldn't bother everyone, but it sure stood out to me!

Other than that, the story itself was good. I mean, for the most part it goes like you would expect - meet kids, watch them make bad decisions, watch them run from killer drum-playing gorilla. That's not a complaint - that's pretty much what I was reading for! It does get a little "Tales From the Darkside"ish (now THERE"S an 80s reference!), as besides the main action something is happening with time, plus the killer robots may be something else entirely, plus the ending has that "we didn't know how to end the episode" scent that all good 80s horror anthologies had. Also, I feel like there is supposed to be some mystery in the book where you can search for clues that would tie up the loose ends? If there was one I don't know what it was. I hope it wasn't that the restaurant was inhabited by the souls of prisoners - because that is MASSIVELY obvious from the first chapter. Anyway, even without this supposed mystery the book stands on its own as a fun horror romp.

And I like a good horror romp around Halloween time! Six out of ten hot dogs.