What do you think?
Apocalypse Trilogy #1
When Graveyards Yawn
When the Change came, people stopped aging, the dead rose from their graves, it started raining and it’s been raining ever since. But a guy's still got to make a living doesn't he? MURDER IS STILL MURDER IN GREASETOWN - A dead lawyer enters the office of Wildclown Investigations and hires the detective to find his killer. Wildclown and his dead sidekick Elmo soon find themselves entangled in a battle for control of a secret that offers either hope or doom for humanity. WHEN GRAVEYARDS YAWN takes the reader to a unique setting that mixes gothic horror with the two-fisted pragmatism of a hard-boiled detective novel.
295 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 21, 2002
About the author
G. Wells Taylor
33 books45 followers
RAID ON THE BARTER DIAMOND
by G. Wells Taylor is NOW AVAILABLE. Visit
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ZONE BETWEEN
SCIFI/HORROR and continuation of
THE VARIANT EFFECT SERIES
for just $3.99 or order the paperback.
Download FREE updated editions of Taylor’s popular Horror titles: When Graveyards Yawn (A Wildclown Origin Novel), SKIN EATERS (The Variant Effect Series Book One), PAINKILLER (A Variant Effect Novella), and The Urn (Dracula of the Apes Trilogy Book One).
G. Wells Taylor was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1962, but spent most of his early life north of there in Owen Sound where he went on to study Design Arts at a local college. He later traveled to North Bay, Ontario to complete Canadore College's Journalism program before receiving a degree in English from Nipissing University. Taylor worked as a freelance writer for small market newspapers and later wrote, designed and edited for several Canadian niche magazines.
He joined the digital publishing revolution early with an eBook version of his first novel When Graveyards Yawn that has been available FREE online since 2000. Taylor published and edited the Wildclown Chronicle e-zine from 2001-2003 that showcased his novels, book trailer animations and illustrations, short story writing and book reviews alongside titles from other up-and-coming horror, fantasy and science fiction writers.
Still based in Canada, Taylor continues with his publishing plans that include additions to the Wildclown Mysteries and sequels to the popular Variant Effect series .
He lists Raymond Chandler, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Mary Shelley, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jane Goodall, Jack L. Chalker, and Vladimir Nabokov among his inspirations.
Taylor's list of titles is available at Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and more.
Download FREE updated editions of Taylor’s popular Horror titles: When Graveyards Yawn (A Wildclown Origin Novel), SKIN EATERS (The Variant Effect Series Book One), PAINKILLER (A Variant Effect Novella), and The Urn (Dracula of the Apes Trilogy Book One).
G. Wells Taylor was born in Oakville, Ontario, Canada in 1962, but spent most of his early life north of there in Owen Sound where he went on to study Design Arts at a local college. He later traveled to North Bay, Ontario to complete Canadore College's Journalism program before receiving a degree in English from Nipissing University. Taylor worked as a freelance writer for small market newspapers and later wrote, designed and edited for several Canadian niche magazines.
He joined the digital publishing revolution early with an eBook version of his first novel When Graveyards Yawn that has been available FREE online since 2000. Taylor published and edited the Wildclown Chronicle e-zine from 2001-2003 that showcased his novels, book trailer animations and illustrations, short story writing and book reviews alongside titles from other up-and-coming horror, fantasy and science fiction writers.
Still based in Canada, Taylor continues with his publishing plans that include additions to the Wildclown Mysteries and sequels to the popular Variant Effect series .
He lists Raymond Chandler, Stephen King, Kurt Vonnegut, Mary Shelley, J. R. R. Tolkien, Jane Goodall, Jack L. Chalker, and Vladimir Nabokov among his inspirations.
Taylor's list of titles is available at Amazon, Apple Books, Google Play, Barnes&Noble, Kobo, Smashwords and more.
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Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews
August 22, 2022
I initially read this book almost exactly 10 years ago, at the time I fell in love with Tommy and subsequently both with the noir genre and Mr. Wells Taylor's writing in general. Here's my chaotic take on it now that I read it again:
I initially came across this book in a list of zombie books and while there are unquestionably undead characters in this book it really isn't a classic zombie novel nor would I even call it a different take on the zombie genre, it's one of these books that I consider to be entirely its own thing. There are horror elements, but this is by far more a detection story. It's part of a series but you can absolutely enjoy it as a stand alone story.
It's grim and funny, endearing at times and repulsive at others. The main character has that brand of hopeful cynicism that evokes the unintentional revolutionary who knows that they do not belong in the world they want to create or maybe more precisely in the world they hope will rise from the ashes of the one they will burn down and go down with, his existence seems fleeting even in a world where death has taken a leave of absence something that is oddly relatable in this day and age.
Rereading this I had a realization, thanks to a possibly throwaway line, the odds are that the reason I liked detection stories so much is because a lot the detectives' behaviours are very autistic in nature; pattern recognition, quiet observation, rigid internal moral code and sense of right and wrong (which is not to say that autistic people are inherently good your morals can be rigid without being RIGHT), appearing unfeeling...
I initially came across this book in a list of zombie books and while there are unquestionably undead characters in this book it really isn't a classic zombie novel nor would I even call it a different take on the zombie genre, it's one of these books that I consider to be entirely its own thing. There are horror elements, but this is by far more a detection story. It's part of a series but you can absolutely enjoy it as a stand alone story.
It's grim and funny, endearing at times and repulsive at others. The main character has that brand of hopeful cynicism that evokes the unintentional revolutionary who knows that they do not belong in the world they want to create or maybe more precisely in the world they hope will rise from the ashes of the one they will burn down and go down with, his existence seems fleeting even in a world where death has taken a leave of absence something that is oddly relatable in this day and age.
Rereading this I had a realization, thanks to a possibly throwaway line, the odds are that the reason I liked detection stories so much is because a lot the detectives' behaviours are very autistic in nature; pattern recognition, quiet observation, rigid internal moral code and sense of right and wrong (which is not to say that autistic people are inherently good your morals can be rigid without being RIGHT), appearing unfeeling...
October 16, 2011
This book is really, really weird. It is also fantastic. I found a new author! Yea!
March 16, 2017
Review: When Graveyards Yawn by G. Wells Taylor. 3.5★'s 03/15/2017
This was an interesting and intriguing mystery with a twist. The characters were remarkable developed Zombie’s. The author did a unique job mixing gothic rising with an unsentimental detective mystery using common sense. The Apocalypse has brought change and stopped all aging to the few living and no babies could be born and dead people started rising from their graves and became a community called Greasetown. It was a visual rainy day from page one to the last page. However, that didn’t stop business owners from moving on with making a living.
Most of the zombie’s are intelligent and have retained their former mental capabilities and the ones who didn’t resent them. There is a few ways to end the dead lives completely. The ones who don’t make it are delivered to the town’s body junk yard. If some one needs a body part they retrieve it at that place.
Wildclown Investigations was open for business and Tommy Wildclown and his best friends a corpse name Fat Elmo and they soon find themselves involved in an encounter for control that will either offer them hope or doom for humanity. Wildclown doesn’t believe he’s doomed because he doesn’t have a body and doesn’t really know who he is. He is a disembodied spirit who hovers over people and after many tries he finally was able to possess Tommy Wildclown’s body from time to time. Elmo takes whatever Wildclown dishes out and survives being abuse by this new inner person that Tommy Wildclown has become. Tommy drinks to much, smokes, and wears clown makeup to keep people from seeing who he really is.
The first customer of the day walks into Wildclown’s office who is a dead lawyer who wants to hire a detective to find his killer. One thing the dead man claims that when he began to animate, he heard a baby crying…. This claim brings more to the investigation because now they need to find the phantom baby who was conceived and was delivered and breathing as a live human being. The town doesn’t want Tommy investigating and looking for a baby and his life is threatened from the skeletal mob boss or the Authority. It’s really the inner spirit invading Tommy’s body that is more determined to find the mother and baby. There have been no new births for fifty years….
Wells creates a brilliant and unique bunch of zombie’s and some humor weaves throughout the story. I’m probably making the story sound confusing but it flowed smoothly to the end.
This was an interesting and intriguing mystery with a twist. The characters were remarkable developed Zombie’s. The author did a unique job mixing gothic rising with an unsentimental detective mystery using common sense. The Apocalypse has brought change and stopped all aging to the few living and no babies could be born and dead people started rising from their graves and became a community called Greasetown. It was a visual rainy day from page one to the last page. However, that didn’t stop business owners from moving on with making a living.
Most of the zombie’s are intelligent and have retained their former mental capabilities and the ones who didn’t resent them. There is a few ways to end the dead lives completely. The ones who don’t make it are delivered to the town’s body junk yard. If some one needs a body part they retrieve it at that place.
Wildclown Investigations was open for business and Tommy Wildclown and his best friends a corpse name Fat Elmo and they soon find themselves involved in an encounter for control that will either offer them hope or doom for humanity. Wildclown doesn’t believe he’s doomed because he doesn’t have a body and doesn’t really know who he is. He is a disembodied spirit who hovers over people and after many tries he finally was able to possess Tommy Wildclown’s body from time to time. Elmo takes whatever Wildclown dishes out and survives being abuse by this new inner person that Tommy Wildclown has become. Tommy drinks to much, smokes, and wears clown makeup to keep people from seeing who he really is.
The first customer of the day walks into Wildclown’s office who is a dead lawyer who wants to hire a detective to find his killer. One thing the dead man claims that when he began to animate, he heard a baby crying…. This claim brings more to the investigation because now they need to find the phantom baby who was conceived and was delivered and breathing as a live human being. The town doesn’t want Tommy investigating and looking for a baby and his life is threatened from the skeletal mob boss or the Authority. It’s really the inner spirit invading Tommy’s body that is more determined to find the mother and baby. There have been no new births for fifty years….
Wells creates a brilliant and unique bunch of zombie’s and some humor weaves throughout the story. I’m probably making the story sound confusing but it flowed smoothly to the end.
December 29, 2011
This book is messed up... and I absolutely loved it. A world where the undead live among us, a private detective clown, a noir plot and just enough random strangeness to keep me enthralled. Thank you G. Wells Taylor. Thank you very much.
September 11, 2020
The atmosphere is gritty and greasy. You almost feel dirty reading it but not smut dirty. Just like you're walking through a smoke-filled bingo hall on Bourbon Street during Mardi Gras. Tommy Wildclown is a wild animal, scary when cornered. Our protagonist is still a mystery by book's end. The story was told well and the author has a few small areas of reflection on society and Creation that make you feel more cynical than anything. Though I want to know more about the mysteries to come and at least one left unanswered (), I'm not sure how far I'll go into the multiple books available.
July 10, 2016
The Apocalypse realized, the dead and the living, and a mystery involving the most endangered of creatures. A baby
What can you say about a detective who is using a time share body after the rapture? Who can you trust when everyone is either one step away from going insane e already being there
What can you say about a detective who is using a time share body after the rapture? Who can you trust when everyone is either one step away from going insane e already being there
May 14, 2017
New take on zombie stories
This was a unique take on what might happen after an apocalypse and it was pretty darn nteresting. The characters are well developed and there is some humor included in this undead detective story. Good read.
This was a unique take on what might happen after an apocalypse and it was pretty darn nteresting. The characters are well developed and there is some humor included in this undead detective story. Good read.
December 18, 2016
When Graveyards Yawn
This is the very best post apocalyptic dystopian tale I have every read it actually is a "believable" scenario of what could happen.
This is the very best post apocalyptic dystopian tale I have every read it actually is a "believable" scenario of what could happen.
Read
February 14, 2017I've been telling myself to finish this but to be honest the clown thing put me off. I don't know if this book is good or bad I just couldn't finish it.
May 11, 2012
This is the book that started my love affair with Tommy Wildclown. :) Dark, witty, mysterious and minus most trite detective clichés, Tommy is my favorite literary detective of all time. Yeah Yeah, he drinks like a fish, but surf and turf is more scarce than a virgin in Vegas and likely to walk off the plate if you can find it and afford it, and you're practically immortal, {among many other delightful things} can ya blaim a guy? No ex-wives to soil his soul though, just the constant grime and crime of Greasetown after The Change. Sit back, relax, and be ready for horror, intrigue, and humor drier than toast. Yup folks! It's that good.
**P.S. I know its usually best to read a trilogy in order, but to better appreciate book 2, you really need to read Menagerie, then go onto
The Forsaken. **
**P.S. I know its usually best to read a trilogy in order, but to better appreciate book 2, you really need to read Menagerie, then go onto
The Forsaken. **
May 16, 2012
I found this book to be a difficult read. It was jerky in places and and just jumped completely in others.
It definitely picked up towards the end and became a bit harder to put down but the first 95% of this book left me flat.
There are two other books, so I'm sure it was deliberate, but this book left off with some serious questions as to what happened to Wildclown and how he hooked up with the ghost that possesses him so frequently.
I downloaded this book because it was free. I don't think I will be downloading the other books in this trilogy as I'm curious but not curious enough to spend my money on books when the first one left me dreading to pick it up.
It definitely picked up towards the end and became a bit harder to put down but the first 95% of this book left me flat.
There are two other books, so I'm sure it was deliberate, but this book left off with some serious questions as to what happened to Wildclown and how he hooked up with the ghost that possesses him so frequently.
I downloaded this book because it was free. I don't think I will be downloading the other books in this trilogy as I'm curious but not curious enough to spend my money on books when the first one left me dreading to pick it up.
March 10, 2011
It took awhile to get into this book but I am glad I stuck with it. It gets more like a 3.5. Its pretty far fetched in some ways but I think it makes the story that much more interesting. If the setting was more like our modern age and not set in the future I do not think I would have stuck with it. There are 2 more in the series and Im not too quick to pick them up but I wouldnt be against reading them.
August 11, 2011
that only took 6 weeks to read. I only read it at night after going to bed but still found myself lost from time to time. Not so much in the story but trying to remember details. The story was a good one but it seemed like it should be 2 books at least, particularly since there was resolution around 30% in to the book. I may eventually get to the rest of the trilogy but I just can't commit to it right now.
March 25, 2012
Horror is not my 1st pick for books to read, but this one caught my attention and I'm glad it did. Very different twist on the dead coming back to life and becoming members of society. Tommy the clown detective being possessed was complicated and interesting to say the least. And, I absolutely loved his side-kick, Elmo. Enough twists and turns in this story to keep it intriguing. I will be reading the other books in this trilogy.
November 18, 2012
At first, you can't help but think that G. Wells Taylor might be overreaching. After all, a tale of possession, police corruption and the undead set in a grim, post apocalyptic world while being heavily flavored with high-octane, hard boiled noir? That's too much for most of us to even take in much less write about! But G. Wells Taylor pulls off this tall order perfectly, creating a protagonist in Wildclown that will leave readers cursing him on one page then cheering him on in the next!
October 18, 2011
I enjoyed this book alot more than I thought I would... It is way outside of what I normally read, but the story was interesting if a little confusing at times. I enjoyed the detective story mixed with the end of the world, dead walk around aspect. I also enjoyed the split main chacter. Ok overall read, but I am not upset I picked it up!
August 18, 2012
It wasn't a bad read but the 'no one dies anymore' explainations was a bit tiresome. Other than that, good detective story with a enough twists to have taking notes to make sure you have all the players in order. Set in a very dark world with some really wild, dark characters, it a wonderful ride. I think I'll enjoy the next 2 books.
February 5, 2013
Post what? My first reaction to the book. Have to admit, the abundant positive and few negative reviews prompted me to start reading. Surprisingly I enjoyed the book. It had enough page-turning qualities to keep me up later than usual and I was truly sorry when the book ended. If you are into post apocalyptic mysteries, this one is for you.
April 15, 2013
I stopped reading at 5%. It's all over the place. Clown detective who is taken over by another person when he has a case. Dead people walk & talk like the living because no one really dies , no one ages or gives birth, Queens(drag queens) attacking for no apparent reason. Way too much going on for one story. Just not for me.
June 16, 2012
I wasn't expecting this book to be as good as it was, considering that it was free for the Kindle when I got it. The characters are interesting, memorable, and the take on the post-apocalyptic world is unique. I enjoyed reading it!
May 4, 2009
another freeby downloadable book. Another book that's not my usual read.
March 16, 2011
Not sure why I read this as I like crime novels, but not stories involving the walking dead. However I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the writing and I enjoyed the author's style.
July 18, 2012
DFN at 4 % ! It was so overwhelmed with Similes I just couldn't continue it. I keep going back over the same lines trying to figure out WTH the author was saying.
March 23, 2013
For a freebie on Amazon, this is a fantastic book. If you're into zombie apocalypse type books, this isn't quite the same flavor - but it's a surprisingly believable world. Couldn't put it down.
June 17, 2013
I did my best to keep reading, but it didn't keep my interest. It was a freebie on Amazon.
August 17, 2013
Super hard to read. I gave up :(
October 6, 2014
It took me a while to get used to the protagonist dressing as a clown. Old noir detective story meets zombies. Different, but not bad.
Read
July 27, 2011inevitable that i compare it to Simon Green's Nightside series and found it lacking.
Read
December 26, 2017Not my thing...
Displaying 1 - 29 of 29 reviews