Eternal Rot and Romance

by C.M. Guidroz

In a desperate attempt to end the zombie apocalypse, a lone scientist, hunkered down in her lab, tirelessly works to find a cure. Dr. Evelyn Green has spent years alone in the decaying world, capturing and experimenting on the undead, injecting them with her experimental serums, only to face failure time and time again. Each failed trial chips away at her hope—until him.

Her latest test subject changes everything. Day by day, he begins to regain consciousness—three minutes one day, thirty the next—only to revert back into a mindless zombie. But as weeks pass, his lucidity lasts longer, and something unexpected a bond begins to form between them. A bond that becomes more than just scientific interest, far closer than she ever imagined.

In a world of death and decay, hope is dangerous—but their connection might just be deadly.

This book is intended for readers 18+. It contains extremely dark and graphic material,

Suicide and suicidal ideationAnimal death and violenceApocalypse and end-of-the-world scenariosGraphic depictions of all bodily fluids with visceral detailSexually explicit content, including extreme and violent sexual scenesIntense themes of isolation, despair, and mental anguishProceed with caution!!

Genres: Horror, Dark Romance

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 1, 2024

Reviews

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I am extremely picky with certain subgenres of horror, due to how oversaturated the markets are become with certain ideas. Zombies have been done to death (Pun intended!), so I wasn't expecting much going in. However, CM Guidroz really hit a good mark with this story. Evelyn, our lead, goes through a lot of emotional drifting during the course of this book. Flirting with suicide, optimism vs cynicism, love, etc, all played a big role and showed how difficult her situation was. But the author balanced everything out beautifully and, while didn't necessarily create anything revolutionary, used established concepts in a great way. The writing was beautiful, and the story will break you into pieces, but the entire experience was very enjoyable. I wish the beginning was a little more fleshed out, ahead of the zombie apocalypse, but that was the only thing that needed some minor tweaking. Everything else was spot on and won me over big. Horror fans, not only of zombie-related fare, will soak this up.

[Poppy || Monster Lover]

NOT A ROMANCE
I honestly don’t know what to rate this book. I thought it was gonna be a romance, but it’s not. It was disgustingly and depressing, everything I dislike about zombie horror. But I don’t think it’s fair of me to rate based on me disliking zombie horror

Triggers: just…. Don’t read this if you have any

[Ashley · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique zombie short story romance that has you hooked from page one. Eternal Rot and Romance is perfect for that spooky season of wtf with loneliness and desperation takes over a scientist trying to save the world. This is no regular zombie romance, this one is the grotesque love story of your grossest dreams.

What would you do if you were the last of us?

[Kiara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book, the writing itself was good but mainly in monologue if you’re into that.

[Paige Ray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This story absolutely destroyed me 😭 it was very well written and there was so much emotion! This story is also very different from Guidroz’ previous works. I enjoyed this take on zombies very much.

Dr. Evelyn Green is a scientist that has isolated herself ever since the zombie apocalypse and has collected zombies to study and help develop a cure. After many failed attempts she finally concocts a serum that seems to be working!

Over time her zombie man begins to become more human by the day and she quickly starts to develop feelings for him. Living in isolation for so long with no one but her experiments and her cat, Nero, who could blame the woman? From here on things start to get tricky. Evelyn must be careful because she’s still not sure how safe and effective her newly found “cure serum” is.

I’m not going to go any further into detail because I don’t want to ruin anything for future readers. I really enjoyed this story for what it was and I hope to see more stories like this from Guidroz in the future!

Thank you, for this ARC! Eternal Rot & Romance will be available on October 1st, 2024.

[Veronica ☠️ · Rating 4 out of 5]

The dead are coming back to life! It's actually happening and the zombie apocalypse is here!

Dr. Evelyn Green is a scientist living in the zombie apocalypse. A while has passed since the start of it all and now she's only left with her cat Nero. Her colleagues have ended their lives because they couldn't find a cure but she's determined to find it! After several attempts, something works but it also brings temptation. Will she be able to find a cure or are humans really doomed?

This has so many feelings and I'm feeling sad! Evelyn was living alone for so long and loneliness is a monster! I could smell the zombies' rotten skin and puss infested bodies! Candy did an excellent job at gross! Nero is such a cutie and he's the star! This was a gut punch at the very end and it's worth the read! If you love zombies, pick up this quick read!

[hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was absolutely amazing, disgusting and devastating. I cannot imagine being Evelyn and feeling so isolated and working so hard and not seeing any progress when it comes to the zombie apocalypse. And then when you finally do make a little bit of progress, it's all spirals.

Definitely check this out but check your triggers.

This was fantastic

[Stephanie Vicente · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 ⭐️
This was well written and a gross yet depressing read. It was an emotional read and yet dark too. I loved every second of reading this book

[Kimberly · Rating 1 out of 5]

BBBBBBBBBOOOORRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIINNNGGGGGG. Not to mention, and I’m finding this a common theme, there are a lot of typos. What is it with extreme horror authors and typos?

[Zombieslayer⚡Alienhunter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hallo-reads: 2024
Pub. 2024
Warm Bodies with an NC-17 rating.
TW for zombie semen, exploding, rotted bowels and maggots. So. Many. Maggots.


I asked the queen herself for a sequel to Love and Formaldehyde, which is one of my top-10 horror reads in general, and my favorite horror romance, but I got this, instead. And for a split second, even though it wasn't a sequel, I thought i had gotten my Halloween wish; a scientist in a post-apocalypse she helped cause scrounges in her former lab with her cat companion, trapping the walking dead and injecting them with a serum to try to restore their humanity. One day, one of her experiments seems to respond to the injection. She spends time trying to restore his memory, even though his physical body is shot.
But as she tries to bring him back to the world of the living, feelings begin to form between the two of them. And old habits, as they say, die hard.

This was gross, weird, and weird and gross. But even though it wasn't exactly what i wanted, it was a fun, nasty story (that makes no promise of being something else, so don't go crying to Ms. Guidroz or me about your delicate constitution being disrupted when you read this! The TWs even say 'your mental health matters'.) that has a truly bleak, depressing storyline and an ending that hurts. The ending was not unlike Love and Formaldehyde, if a bit more bleak, in all honesty. Reminding us that we can't always fix them. If you know, you know.
If shoot 'em up zombie stories are more your jam, you may not like this, but i personally found it entertaining.

Maybe editing could be improved, but it's hard enough for indie authors. I try to spare them a heavy red pen when reviewing their work; writing, publishing, advertising, managing, it's all got to be so hard to do on your own. So i will never deduct a star from C.M for editorial reasons. I love this author and will read anything by her, so i'm biased, keep that in mind.

I usually deduct a star for animal suffering and animal death, especially if it's gorey, (that's the main reason a few of my favorite horror films, The Devil All The Time and The Shed never get recommendations. They both kill an animal with little to no payoff and for no good reason) but in this case the author was upfront about it, gave a proper warning, and honestly, as sad as it was, it did serve a purpose to the story. I did want to include it in my review just because sometimes we all skip over TWs.

A short, not-so-sweet horror romance that's definitely worth your time, if you love the genre or this author.
4 🌠 /5

[alex]

This novella was so vile and featured some of the most unspeakable acts that I feel like I can't properly rate it. I literally don't know if I loved or hated it, but I'm leaning toward the latter as the days pass and I continue to reflect on what the hell this story was, lol.

SPOILERS AHEAD:

This is not a romance, but rather a quick look into a lonely (and h*rny) scientist's life during a zombie apocalypse, in which she gets boned (no pun intended) by a decaying corpse.

In all honesty, this was not what made me dislike the story. I am all for taboo plots. I liked the relationship between Evelyn and her undead friend, aside from the maggot issue (which was absolutely unforgivable and I wish it was left out of the story completely).

What made me dislike the story, and almost made me DNF it multiple times, was the writing. The only way I can describe it is that it reads like an AI Chatbot was given a prompt that said "Describe how lonely a zombie apocalypse is for a scientist." I found the writing to be dull, repetitive, and a bit meaningless to the story itself at times. I think I would've enjoyed the story more if I felt better connected to the writing.

I'm clearly in the minority here, as the reviews for this novella are quite high, which honestly makes me glad. I wish I had liked this as much as everyone else seems to.

[✟⛥☠︎︎~ Kelli ~☠︎︎⛥✟ · Rating 4 out of 5]

🤮☣️ Rotten, But Make It Romantic ☣️🤮

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Well, nothing says “true love” like the scent of decaying flesh!
Eternal Rot and Romance really hits the sweet spot between romantic and please pass the hand sanitiser! 🥴

C.M. Guidroz’s tale of love, loss, and decomposition had me laughing and heaving. She outdid herself by combining zombies and romance but also discussing loneliness and depression and for me the hidden truths depression hides - being lonely and surrounded by monsters you come to rely on for comfort. I took quite a lot from it ❤️‍🩹

The writing is sharp, the romance is surprisingly tender, and the smell of rotting flesh? Practically jumps off the page. Apparently, I like my love stories with a side of putrefaction. 🤢

You can really feel the emotion behind the words and I’ve noticed the development of Guidroz work book by book.
She has easily become one of my favourite authors.🫶🏻

The first half of the book really had me gripped but questioning if this was indeed a Guidroz book at all, but then things turned and I knew without a doubt! This got twisted and sick pretty quick, I could see where things were heading and it wasn’t good 🤮

At one point I think I threw up in my own mouth! 🧟

“𝘏𝘪𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘩, 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘬 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘭, 𝘴𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘰𝘢𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘦 - 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘤𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘥 𝘮𝘪𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘳𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘱 𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘩 - 𝘧𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘴”

Highly recommend you read this book if you’re wanting a quick gut wrenching rotting flesh binge, for 50 pages it sure does pack a punch, just remember to wear your hazmat suit. ☢️

[Becki 🤎 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.75 ⭐️

Eternal rot & Romance 🧟‍♀️

For a minute i thought I got away with the gross’ness that always comes with Candys books but nope…I should of known it was coming 🤢🐛 😭

There’s been a virus outbreak, the dead have come back, they’ve infected the world, savagely turning the living into zombies. Dr Evelyn seems to be the last living person remaining. Locked away in her lab for years working on a serum to reverse the effects and bring back humanity. After many failed attempts & on the verge of ending it all her breakthrough finally comes but what happens when the mind comes back but the body is still rotting away…

I really enjoyed this, I kept putting myself in Evelyn’s position and thinking how hard would it be to be alone for all that time then finally have someone & they’re “literally” falling apart in front of you. I am yet to read a book from CM that didn’t have me questioning everything or leaving me feeling slightly sick though 😅🤢

Another brilliant read 👌🏻🤎

[s.shadereads]

🧟‍♂️ Zombie Splatterpunk/Extreme Horror 🧟‍♂️

I don't even know what to say about this one. I think I need a bleach bath... maybe a lobotomy. 😂🤮

This book did exactly what it was supposed to do. It made me question everything. Made me uncomfortable and itchy in my own skin. It was perfectly written for its genre.

If you are sensitive to well anything at all, this one is not for you. It's so icky and triggering. I'm pretty sure I could smell, hear, see, and taste the grotesqueness that the author described in such great detail. It was pretty amazing and such great writing, even if it did make my skin crawl.

Just to clarify, this is NOT A ROMANCE. I repeat, not a romance!

This is heartbreaking. The loneliness after years of living through a zombie apocalypse. Being the only survivor and still having just enough hope to go on. To find a cure. To bring back humanity. Only for that hope to dwindle and rot right before your eyes. As I said... truly heartbreaking.

[Aria Maze · Rating 5 out of 5]

wow

I feel like my brain just decided to ignore that it’s “rot AND romance”.

For being in the POV of one woman who has against all odds survived during a zombie apocalypse this book is absolutely amazing. It’s heartbreaking to read about her loneliness and her seeking comfort in her cat.

All of her co-workers have since given up, taken a way out of the world they find themselves in. We get to see her experiment and log her findings until she finally finds one that gives her a renewed sense of hope.

However, she’s lonely. And he starts to look appealing to her after months of seclusion.

If you have a weak stomach I would recommend reading this in shifts, or maybe just in the bathroom.

[Blackclaws · Rating 4 out of 5]

This may be a short story, but I went through all sort of emotions. I was disgusted, I was horrified, I was sad, but I also laughed at times. This book is ridiculously disgusting, but terribly sad at the same time.

The descriptions are so detailed, I could pictured all the gruesome details in my head, and almost smell everything, which was awful, but the emotions were also gripping. The sadness and the loneliness were well depicted, and made this story truly heartbreaking.

It was really good, and I liked it? I don’t think this is the right word but I’ll leave it at that.

It’s a short read, but probably one of the most disgusting and sad book I’ve read in a long time. Get ready to be horrified and heartbroken.

[Darkbookghoul · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had no idea what to expect with Eternal Rot and Romance by C.M. Guidroz but what a book!!! I was expecting some kind of extreme horror but this book gives you all the feels!!

This book is about a scientist called Dr Evelyn Green and she’s lives isolated in a lab with her black cat, Nero!! 🖤 She is working to put an end to a zombie apocalypse. I won’t do any spoilers but there’s some very graphic, disturbing sex scenes so if you have triggers, I suggest that you check them before you read.

Buuut that twist at the end 💔.

Such a great read and I would definitely recommend it to some hardcore spooky friends!

[Marcia Honeycutt Roseman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Imagine if The Walking Dead occurred but one doctor remained. One doctor attempting to develop an antidote - to reverse the effects of becoming a zombie. This is the mission of Dr. Green. After a failed antidote (Eterna), Dr Green continues to catch zombies, inject them with Eterna and hope for the return of humanity.

With a tweak of the chemical compounds a slight glimmer of hope arises - but with a significant side effect. A side effect that she thought she could live with. Dr. Frankenstein gets WAY to close to the monster in this mind-bending novella that questions sanity and loneliness in a world truly gone.

[Cora S. · Rating 3 out of 5]

short - gory - disgusting

3/5 ⭐️

After reading It’s Me, Charlie, I wanted to read another book by C.M. Guidroz, so I picked this one.
I didn’t have high expectations going in, but it started off quite well.
Then—what the hell happened after two-thirds of the book?
I was completely grossed out.

The mention of rotten, moldy teeth was my breaking point—I felt physically sick.
From that moment on, everything that happened was beyond anything I could have possibly imagined.

And why was that necessary to do that to Nero in the end?
My poor little baby..

But in the end I enjoyed this book to a certain extent and I think I’ll keep reading her books or horror/gory books in the future!

[Ness · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a grotesque read and I don’t mean that in a bad way. It’s meant to be grotesque and make you feel queasy. It delivers that for sure. There were even moments where I wanted to cry for the poor zombie man and then he ruined it. 10/10 one of the more graphically gross books I’ve read but it’s incredibly well written. I was queasy when I was meant to be and rooting for the cure when I needed to be as well. Until the very bitter end. I will not forgive you for that. Nero deserved better.

4.5 ⭐️ 2 🌶️

[ChanaReadsHorror · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was so good, but it almost broke me. It had all the feels of a monster romance if it was set in the world of "I Am Legend"
As we are in the end times and the zombies have taken over, we follow Dr. Evelyn Green as she is a lone survivor doing all she can to made cure those who have fallen victim and maybe be able to save humanity. As she starts to see progress in one of the creatures she has saved, things begin to look good on an outcome, but at what cost.
This book does have some heavy triggers, so please check them out before you pick this one up.

[Alyssa Ridgell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was not what I was expecting! In a good way. C.M. Guidroz did amazing writing this. Very well written. The book takes place in an apocalyptic world of zombies but no cure exists. Well, partially one. Dr. Evelyn Green worked hard as the only scientist to find a cure. The traumatic and gross things she has to go through are yucky...but the story itself is beautiful and sad. One day she gains hope but hope only lasts for so long.
Will the cure last and cure all zombies or is this all for nothing?
You will have to read to find out

[Oceashann W · Rating 4 out of 5]

So I would say overall my feeling of the book would have to be it’s good. I did enjoy reading it. It was fun. You reminded me a little bit. The Walking Dead meets like I don’t know like wet pad and I don’t know so just something about it I liked and the only thing I would have to say really bugged me was keep in mind. I knew it was. I’m pretty sure a self published author going into it so I understand but some of the phrasing I didn’t like cause it was too repetitive and then it got boring at some point, but it was pretty good for the most part.

[Olivia · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is bleak, dark, gross, and depressing. What more could you ask for when talking about zombies? 😍 I absolutely ate it up. She took on some hard topics with this book and created a masterpiece. Overall I’d recommend this to anyone who likes horror. Even those who are normally weary of zombies due to them being kind of a cliche. This book is not that. As always tho, check your trigger warnings!

[C.J. Riggs · Rating 5 out of 5]

CM Guidroz is an auto buy author for me! Her descriptive writing is phenomenal and she always manages to immerse you into the most depraved stories in such quick succession. I enjoyed every single paragraph of this book. It’s emotional, gritty, disgusting and in some parts… deeply upsetting and heart wrenching. Her creative writing is so brilliant that I constantly find myself wanting more every single time I finish something she’s written.

[Tiffsbookcorner · Rating 5 out of 5]

😭😭 this book! Ugh deff different than her usual work but in the best way!
Zombie apocalypse, Dr Evelyn trying to find a cure with her little companion Nero.
When the only thing you have left is your work for a cure and your pet; things get weird! She had a breakthrough with one of the subjects and forms a connection but how far can that go??
So much emotion and you feel for these characters, the ending broke me 😭

[Nyx Graves · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy in return for my honest review.

Everything about this story was gross, dark, and very emotional! This masterpiece delved into some very hard topics, and I will recommend it to anyone that is a fan of horror. This story is not your typical cliche zombie cure movie. Candy’s writing is so descriptive, she really knows how to hold your attention with her stories. This is definitely different from her other works and I am here for it, I will read anything she writes!

[Sarah DeRosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As I always do with the writing of Guidroz, I appreciated the attention to detail and the care put into the main character. It is always refreshing as a reader to feel that connection. In return, it pushed me to cheer for certain events to transpire.
I am also giving high praise to how detail oriented and graphic this read was. As an Extreme Horror and Splatterpunk reader, I don’t get grossed out easily but there were definitely things in here that caught me off guard.

[chapter Kae · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idc how lonely i get during a zombie outbreak. Shorty was down bad , to fuck some zombie penis. Talking about to dont come in me…. Girl your the first and last pussy he’s gotten in his rotten state.. and since when does a nigga listen… nigga was rotten and down bad and still had the audacity to call her out her name a desperate bitch. AND SHE GAVE HIM PITTY PUSSY! Should’ve just used that finger girl… JUSTICE FOR NERO!

[Jenilee Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

This rot-filled, zombie apocalypse novel is not for the faint of heart, but I couldn't put it down. Dr. Evelyn Green's desperate search for a cure leads to an unexpected bond with a test subject, blending science, horror, and romance. Guidroz's vivid writing brings the decaying world to life, making this gruesome tale strangely captivating. Read if you dare... but don't say you weren't warned!