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LOONEY!
When beloved cartoon characters come crawling out of her TV, army recruiter Gabriella Harman expects a zany romp instead of the hellish nightmare that follows.
One night, haunted by her memories of Iraq, Gabriella downs a stomachful of pills and booze. When her favorite cartoon characters, the Kooky Toons, start crawling out of the TV, she assumes she is hallucinating.
But soon Gabriella finds herself locked in a battle of wits and wills with Herman Hyrax, the world-famous, wise-cracking mascot of the Kooky Korporation. Herman is more than just a stinker, though. He may be a monster, a demon, a god, or something entirely more unwholesome.
Is Gabriella’s descent into a world of cartoonish violence and psychological torment real? Or has she simply gone…
LOONEY!?
One night, haunted by her memories of Iraq, Gabriella downs a stomachful of pills and booze. When her favorite cartoon characters, the Kooky Toons, start crawling out of the TV, she assumes she is hallucinating.
But soon Gabriella finds herself locked in a battle of wits and wills with Herman Hyrax, the world-famous, wise-cracking mascot of the Kooky Korporation. Herman is more than just a stinker, though. He may be a monster, a demon, a god, or something entirely more unwholesome.
Is Gabriella’s descent into a world of cartoonish violence and psychological torment real? Or has she simply gone…
LOONEY!?
450 pages, Paperback
Published April 7, 2025
3 people are currently reading
20 people want to read
About the author
Stephen Kozeniewski
46 books436 followersStephen Kozeniewski (pronounced "causin' ooze key") is a Splatterpunk Award-winning author and two-time World Horror Grossout Contest champion. His published work has also been nominated for the Voice Arts and Indie Horror Book Awards, among other honors. He lives in Pennsylvania with his fiancée and their two cats above a fanciful balloon studio.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 14, 2025
A very unique and entertaining thrillride through animation, interdimensional realities, and one woman’s blistering trauma. It’s been a long time since I read a story quite like this. Cartoons coming out of your television and reeking havoc? Terrifying! The authors did a wonderful job fully exploring all the plot points and characters, especially our lead, Gabriella, who was the heart of the story. And they made the most of the cartoon reality, akin to a horrific reimagining of Roger Rabbit. However, that was also the biggest critique I had here. In the earlier portion of the book, the interactions between Gabriella and the toons felt extremely repetitive. And it dragged on for quite awhile, making me very fatigued, especially knowing of the remaining bulk of the story left to explore. If that aspect was reduced and tightened up, it would have made this go from a very good experience to a great one. I also wanted more violence. Not sure why, but I just expected more here from that, too. Still a fantastic story that showcased Stephen Kozeniewski and Gavin Dillinger’s talents.
June 18, 2025
Ever been watching a kids' cartoon and thought, "You know what this needs? Murder! Revolution! A maniacal psychopath (that's also a beloved cartoon character)!" A good pick for comedy horror fans!
May 16, 2025
review to come.
April 28, 2025
Loved it
I loved the mix of cartoon violence and serious theological discussion on the pantheon of ancient gods. The story is interesting unique and unputdownable . I found myself still awake at 3 am with work in two hours because I just couldn't stop reading.
I loved the mix of cartoon violence and serious theological discussion on the pantheon of ancient gods. The story is interesting unique and unputdownable . I found myself still awake at 3 am with work in two hours because I just couldn't stop reading.
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July 1, 2025Oh no. Oh no no no no no! Oh maaan. This one just wasn’t for me. I made it about 100 pages in before I had to tap out.
I’ve adored Stephen’s past work—Braineater Jones and The Perfectly Fine House are both absolute gems, and I recommend them to anyone who’ll listen. But this one? It felt like it got body-snatched. Was it the co-author? A cursed manuscript? Some unholy genre mash that defies the natural order? I don’t know. The voice felt off, like it had been diluted or pulled in too many directions.
I kept thinking, “I can’t do this for 300 more pages" and eventually I just noped out.
And it pains me to say it because I adore Stephen and love featuring him on my blog. I had such high hopes—Roger Rabbit meets horror? Yes, please. But it just didn’t click for me.
I wanted to love it. I really did. And the publisher even sent me a pretty print copy for review. I feel like I owe someone an apology fruit basket. Instead, I’m crawling into my little reader's remorse cave for some quiet reflection (and maybe snacks).
I’ve adored Stephen’s past work—Braineater Jones and The Perfectly Fine House are both absolute gems, and I recommend them to anyone who’ll listen. But this one? It felt like it got body-snatched. Was it the co-author? A cursed manuscript? Some unholy genre mash that defies the natural order? I don’t know. The voice felt off, like it had been diluted or pulled in too many directions.
I kept thinking, “I can’t do this for 300 more pages" and eventually I just noped out.
And it pains me to say it because I adore Stephen and love featuring him on my blog. I had such high hopes—Roger Rabbit meets horror? Yes, please. But it just didn’t click for me.
I wanted to love it. I really did. And the publisher even sent me a pretty print copy for review. I feel like I owe someone an apology fruit basket. Instead, I’m crawling into my little reader's remorse cave for some quiet reflection (and maybe snacks).
June 6, 2025
Gabriella has a soft spot in her heart for the Kooky Toonz. Her grandpa and her would watch old VHS tapes of this classic cartoon when she was younger and they bring her comfort as an adult.
This story is conceptually brilliant, lots of fun, and plenty of room for zaniness. Dillinger and Koz brought a cool idea to life with this story. This one could benefit greatly from a proofread and edit, as I found myself being ripped out of any immersive opportunities by a litany of small errors, and the occasional big error.
Despite that, the story takes some wild swings and has great upside.
This story is conceptually brilliant, lots of fun, and plenty of room for zaniness. Dillinger and Koz brought a cool idea to life with this story. This one could benefit greatly from a proofread and edit, as I found myself being ripped out of any immersive opportunities by a litany of small errors, and the occasional big error.
Despite that, the story takes some wild swings and has great upside.
June 18, 2025
Kids' cartoons meet the woodland critters from South Park, and cosmic horror in this absolutely bananas, comically slapstick but also "oh god, this IS a horror story" story. If you like comedy horror, you might like this!
June 27, 2025
Gabriella’s military family background sent her down a path that has left her scarred psychologically. She medicates with pills, vodka and chases it with her favourite cartoons: Kooky Toons.
Jimi Kuki is the creator behind Kooky toons and its “unhinged” characters. Herman Hyrax - a rat-like creatures is pretty violent and yet, was always popular with the kiddos.
The white of her Gabriella’s VCR machine keeps her company while she sprawls on the couch and tries to drown out the PTSD that is keeping her in a holding pattern of torment and insomnia.
One night, she pops too many pills.. and then things take a dark turn. An ambiance fueled nightmare of a ride happens as Gabrielle engages with the cartoon’s that were once so beloved to her.
There’s quite a bit on the menu in this one. There are violent and chaotic cartoon characters. There’s also a lot of serious things covered. Dare I say deities? Philosophy? And definitely violence.
At its heart…this book is a game of mind-bending horror-twister parked full of warped cartoon adversaries who may be harbouring something thing even darker than expected.
Very creative! Unexpected! And that is always good. If you’ve ever wanted a read that’s completely outside-the-box then this may be the one you’ve been waiting for.
It reminded me a lot of the bizarro movement and the fiction of one of my faves: Carlton Mellick III.
Read on brave folks! A horror with a lot of twists and creative as hell! Great book by Stephen Kozeniewski and Gavin Dillinger!
Jimi Kuki is the creator behind Kooky toons and its “unhinged” characters. Herman Hyrax - a rat-like creatures is pretty violent and yet, was always popular with the kiddos.
The white of her Gabriella’s VCR machine keeps her company while she sprawls on the couch and tries to drown out the PTSD that is keeping her in a holding pattern of torment and insomnia.
One night, she pops too many pills.. and then things take a dark turn. An ambiance fueled nightmare of a ride happens as Gabrielle engages with the cartoon’s that were once so beloved to her.
There’s quite a bit on the menu in this one. There are violent and chaotic cartoon characters. There’s also a lot of serious things covered. Dare I say deities? Philosophy? And definitely violence.
At its heart…this book is a game of mind-bending horror-twister parked full of warped cartoon adversaries who may be harbouring something thing even darker than expected.
Very creative! Unexpected! And that is always good. If you’ve ever wanted a read that’s completely outside-the-box then this may be the one you’ve been waiting for.
It reminded me a lot of the bizarro movement and the fiction of one of my faves: Carlton Mellick III.
Read on brave folks! A horror with a lot of twists and creative as hell! Great book by Stephen Kozeniewski and Gavin Dillinger!
June 17, 2025
I liked this book. I had a hard time following it at times, but I still liked it. It has an interesting concept with the cartoon characters coming out of the screen. One thing I thought was neat was one part of the book has different types of font and slanted words. That was fun.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews