Apeship

Apeshit

by Carlton Mellick III

For over 20 years, Carlton Mellick III has been writing some of the strangest and most compelling novels the bizarro fiction genre has to offer. Described as one of the top 40 genre fiction writers under the age of 40 by The Guardian and “one of the most original novelists working today” by extreme horror legend Edward Lee, Mellick returns with a splatterpunk satire set in the world of Apeshit and Clusterfuck.

An intolerable prick takes his weird daughter, his college-aged girlfriend, her douchey brother and her awkward best friend on a boating trip to show off his new yacht. But when they come across an abandoned cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, they find themselves hunted by a group of sadistic mutant killers hell-bent on keeping them as their immortal playthings for all eternity.

As violent as it is hilarious, APESHIP is Hellraiser meets The Love Boat with all the camp and gore of a Troma movie

Genres: Bizarro Fiction, Horror

172 pages, Paperback

First published April 18, 2024

About the author

Carlton Mellick III (July 2, 1977, Phoenix, Arizona) is an American author currently residing in Portland, Oregon. He calls his style of writing "avant-punk," and is currently one of the leading authors in the recent 'Bizarro' movement in underground literature[citation needed] with Steve Aylett, Chris Genoa and D. Harlan Wilson.

Mellick's work has been described as a combination of trashy schlock sci-fi/horror and postmodern literary art. His novels explore surreal versions of earth in contemporary society and imagined futures, commonly focusing on social absurdities and satire.

Carlton Mellick III started writing at the age of ten and completed twelve novels by the age of eighteen. Only one of these early novels, "Electric Jesus Corpse", ever made it to print.

He is best known for his first novel Satan Burger and its sequel Punk Land. Satan Burger was translated into Russian and published by Ultra Culture in 2005. It was part of a four book series called Brave New World, which also featured Virtual Light by William Gibson, City Come A Walkin by John Shirley, and Tea from an Empty Cup by Pat Cadigan.

In the late 90's, he formed a collective for offbeat authors which included D. Harlan Wilson, Kevin L. Donihe, Vincent Sakowski, among others, and the publishing company Eraserhead Press. This scene evolved into the Bizarro fiction movement in 2005.

In addition to writing, Mellick is an artist and musician.

Reviews

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review to come.

[Alex | | findingmontauk1 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I need a baptism after reading this... lmao

With a long awaited sequel to the Apeshit series, CM3 has delivered unto us APESHIP! And... it is totally b-a-n-a-n-a-s BANANAS! Only CM3 could take some mutant zombie Love Boat (literally) with a character who has an obsession with playing with raw ground meat, a character who has a parasite obsession and has one of the nastiest, grossest s3x scenes I have ever read, and a character who has a penis that can hold silverware. WTF!?! Intestinal s3x and m*sturbation, too?! I think this book actually broke me.

I was totally entertained throughout this book, even if I did stifle back vomit more than once. This book is absolutely under no circumstances for the squeamish LMAO but it sure is fun if you can handle it all! I... I ... I feel like my brain was just tossed around inside a Gravitron ride at the county fair and stabbed with THC. I may never recover, but... well.... <>

But... bring on book 4, Spaceshit! (Please be real!)

[Angus McKeogh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Absolute garbage. Billed as a sequel to Apeshit & Clusterfuck, this book had nothing to do with either of them. And I understand it’s bizarro fiction, but it was so ridiculously nonsensical that it presented as just stupid and not remotely entertaining. Numerous occurrences in the novel were pointless and did not function in the plot at all. The harpoon accident, the multiple personalities issue, & the Love Boat narrative. The stupid incidents were too numerous to count. And while the previous books contained much of the same, they ended up being fun reads on a nearly campy level. But not this one. Think this might’ve been a cash grab, and it obviously grabbed my cash.

[Shevek · Rating 4 out of 5]

A juzgar por la sinopsis, la premisa me interesaba menos que la de otras obras del autor, pero la lectura ha sido más que satisfactoria. Eso sí, mantengo que el concepto del libro es mucho más convencional. En este caso, la gracia reside claramente en los personajes y los rasgos de caracterización absolutamente marcianos que Mellick introduce a cada un@. No sé el número exactamente, pero he leído más de 10 novelas de este autor y siempre, siempre consigue sorprenderme lo que hay en ese cerebro. Maravilloso.

[Clayton Gallaway · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love all his work, this one was crazy and ridiculous way different then apeshit and clusterfuck. But still strange and fucked up nonetheless, a little more horroresque I felt then some of his usual work, but strange and bizarro through and through.

[Mark Alexander · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

[Berenice A. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Only Mellick can write the same book three times and completely different each time.

[Travis Yannell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not as good as Apeshit, but a worthy follow-up. I wish it had been a bit longer. The ending was too abrupt, but it still resolved everything at least.

[Ralph Carlson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Strange!

[Readerstein13 · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s classic Mellick on the seas, full of mutants, parasite fetishes, raw meat molding, gore, and over the top characters. It’s good, not great, but worth at least a read.