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Spider Bunny
Carlton Mellick III, the godfather of bizarro fiction, is back with a tribute to the unintentionally terrifying children’s commercials of the ‘70s and ‘80s.
Only Petey remembers the Fruit Fun cereal commercials of the 1980s. He remembers how warped and disturbing they were. He remembers the lumpy-shaped cartoon children sitting around a breakfast table, eating puffy pink cereal brought to them by the distortedly animated mascot, Berry Bunny. The characters were creepier than the Sesame Street Humpty Dumpty, freakier than Mr. Noseybonk from the old BBC show Jigsaw. They used to give him nightmares as a child. Nightmares where Berry Bunny would reach out of the television and grab him, pulling him into her cereal bowl to be eaten by the demented cartoon children.
When Petey brings up Fruit Fun to his friends, none of them have any idea what he’s talking about. They’ve never heard of the cereal or seen the commercials before. And they’re not the only ones. Nobody has ever heard of it. There’s not even any information about Fruit Fun on google or wikipedia. At first, Petey thinks he’s going crazy. He wonders if all of those commercials were real or just false memories. But then he starts seeing them again. Berry Bunny appears on his television, promoting Fruit Fun cereal in her squeaky unsettling voice. And the next thing Petey knows, he and his friends are sucked into the cereal commercial and forced to survive in a surreal world populated by cartoon characters made flesh.
From the cult author of Cuddly Holocaust, Cannibals of Candyland, and I Knocked Up Satan’s Daughter, comes an absurd horror tale that pulls you in and never lets go.
Only Petey remembers the Fruit Fun cereal commercials of the 1980s. He remembers how warped and disturbing they were. He remembers the lumpy-shaped cartoon children sitting around a breakfast table, eating puffy pink cereal brought to them by the distortedly animated mascot, Berry Bunny. The characters were creepier than the Sesame Street Humpty Dumpty, freakier than Mr. Noseybonk from the old BBC show Jigsaw. They used to give him nightmares as a child. Nightmares where Berry Bunny would reach out of the television and grab him, pulling him into her cereal bowl to be eaten by the demented cartoon children.
When Petey brings up Fruit Fun to his friends, none of them have any idea what he’s talking about. They’ve never heard of the cereal or seen the commercials before. And they’re not the only ones. Nobody has ever heard of it. There’s not even any information about Fruit Fun on google or wikipedia. At first, Petey thinks he’s going crazy. He wonders if all of those commercials were real or just false memories. But then he starts seeing them again. Berry Bunny appears on his television, promoting Fruit Fun cereal in her squeaky unsettling voice. And the next thing Petey knows, he and his friends are sucked into the cereal commercial and forced to survive in a surreal world populated by cartoon characters made flesh.
From the cult author of Cuddly Holocaust, Cannibals of Candyland, and I Knocked Up Satan’s Daughter, comes an absurd horror tale that pulls you in and never lets go.
128 pages, Kindle Edition
First published April 1, 2017
11 people are currently reading
477 people want to read
About the author
Carlton Mellick III
119 books2,172 followersCarlton 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.
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.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
January 8, 2025
This was a wild ride! So I will never, ever look at children's cereal the same way ever again. Tony the Tiger will get turned off every time I see him from now on. It was absolutely terrifying to picture parts of the story and I had flashbacks of the 2002 classic (Sarcasm) Terror Tunes throughout. I liked it, but really wanted to enjoy more than I did. I just felt like it was really rushed, to a fault. A lot of character development didn't go far enough to make me want to care more about the plot. And the story was great, crazy and ugly, like Mellick's books always are (And are always appreciated!), but didn't have enough time to fully blossom. A quick, insane read nonetheless!
January 7, 2022
Petey is having nightmares and flashbacks of horrifying commercials. A cereal called Fruit Fun where the mascot is a girl bunny called Berry Bunny. He learns as a kid he saw the commercials for real. A group of kids sitting around the breakfast table slurping down Fruit Fun. However, instead of fruit flavored bits, the cereal is real miniature children. Petey's father witnesses him almost being pulled into the commercial.
Seems Fruit Fun is back along with Berry Bunny. Petey and his three friends manage to get pulled into the commercial and become trapped. Can Petey escape the bunny before he becomes breakfast fuel with 13 different vitamins in it?
I agree with Mellick on the 80s kids thing. We had weird commercials, cartoons, clothes, hairstyles, and toys. We rocked weirdness like no other decade.
Seems Fruit Fun is back along with Berry Bunny. Petey and his three friends manage to get pulled into the commercial and become trapped. Can Petey escape the bunny before he becomes breakfast fuel with 13 different vitamins in it?
I agree with Mellick on the 80s kids thing. We had weird commercials, cartoons, clothes, hairstyles, and toys. We rocked weirdness like no other decade.
April 24, 2017
Carlton is something of an enigma in fiction in that many of his books follow the same basic formula, and just as many don't. That's the thing about having approximately fifty books under your belt in just two decades. Patterns will come and go because the artist simply pays no heed to them. Carlton is a river and the things happening around him are simply stones which his stories go through or around.
My favorite Carlton books are the ones that defy the typical 'man enslaved and tortured by crazy alien bitch', i.e. the standard Carlton formula I previously mentioned. These books would include Quicksand House, Cuddly Holocaust and, most recently, Hungry Bug. Spider Bunny succeeds in taking a modern day urban legend known as Candle Cove (a 'creepypasta') and through a bit of authorial alchemy, transforms it into a tale about a cereal mascot named Berry Bunny that traps unsuspecting viewers of her insidious commercials in an alien dimension where the commercials continue indefinitely. Terrifying when you get down to it.
Carlton is getting better at delivering stories that offset dual emotions, at least in this reader. He's great at blending terror and cuteness in an age where us thirty year olds are looking back at our childhoods and realizing, perhaps for the first time, how much a random cartoons or advertising had these really sinister undertones, even in scenes intended to appear innocuous. There's an entire website devoted to this phenomenon called Kindertrauma. If I didn't know any better, I'd suspect some kind of CIA psy-op wherein they place these demented images in front of us as kids and then study how it affects our memories in adulthood. In any case, this one is a good sign for where Bizarro fiction COULD be headed. There are things I don't like about the direction in which it's headed (AT ALL), but this is not one of them.
My favorite Carlton books are the ones that defy the typical 'man enslaved and tortured by crazy alien bitch', i.e. the standard Carlton formula I previously mentioned. These books would include Quicksand House, Cuddly Holocaust and, most recently, Hungry Bug. Spider Bunny succeeds in taking a modern day urban legend known as Candle Cove (a 'creepypasta') and through a bit of authorial alchemy, transforms it into a tale about a cereal mascot named Berry Bunny that traps unsuspecting viewers of her insidious commercials in an alien dimension where the commercials continue indefinitely. Terrifying when you get down to it.
Carlton is getting better at delivering stories that offset dual emotions, at least in this reader. He's great at blending terror and cuteness in an age where us thirty year olds are looking back at our childhoods and realizing, perhaps for the first time, how much a random cartoons or advertising had these really sinister undertones, even in scenes intended to appear innocuous. There's an entire website devoted to this phenomenon called Kindertrauma. If I didn't know any better, I'd suspect some kind of CIA psy-op wherein they place these demented images in front of us as kids and then study how it affects our memories in adulthood. In any case, this one is a good sign for where Bizarro fiction COULD be headed. There are things I don't like about the direction in which it's headed (AT ALL), but this is not one of them.
December 20, 2019
Creepy and weird story. I like this author because his stories are so bonkers but they work. This isn't his best book (Egg Man is tops for me!) but still a very enjoyable read.
Keep 'em coming :D
Keep 'em coming :D
May 4, 2017
look, Mellick is awesome. this book is awesome and has everything in it one has come to expect from him at this point. it is grim. it is funny. it is ridiculous. it is weirdly scary. effective. jarring. well written. intense.
however, and this is a small however, it once again follows the same formula as previous Mellick books. this is not necessarily a bad thing, as Mellick's formula WORKS. But it is once again a doomed relationship book wherein a wimpy male character is dominated by a somewhat indifferent female character as she goes through something incredibly bizarre. again, in Mellick's hands, this totally works. i would personally just like to see him go with something else. this formula works because Mellick really makes you feel the character's frustration as he watches his girlfriend behave in the ways she does. in fact, these scenes illicit he strongest emotional reactions. for me anyway.
again, these are not necessarily criticisms. the book is great fun and very well done. I'd personally just like to see a new pattern emerge. I'd like to see a main character that knows what's going on. something different. not because his pattern or formula is bad. just because i think he is talented enough to go in another direction and I'd be very curious to see where he might take us.
however, and this is a small however, it once again follows the same formula as previous Mellick books. this is not necessarily a bad thing, as Mellick's formula WORKS. But it is once again a doomed relationship book wherein a wimpy male character is dominated by a somewhat indifferent female character as she goes through something incredibly bizarre. again, in Mellick's hands, this totally works. i would personally just like to see him go with something else. this formula works because Mellick really makes you feel the character's frustration as he watches his girlfriend behave in the ways she does. in fact, these scenes illicit he strongest emotional reactions. for me anyway.
again, these are not necessarily criticisms. the book is great fun and very well done. I'd personally just like to see a new pattern emerge. I'd like to see a main character that knows what's going on. something different. not because his pattern or formula is bad. just because i think he is talented enough to go in another direction and I'd be very curious to see where he might take us.
February 22, 2022
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day - unless you ARE breakfast!
I don't know why I keep coming back to CM3. He must have hypnotised me or something. I guess the weirdness factor drags me in, or I'm just looking for something different every so often.
This story isn't his best work BUT it's still worth a lookee look. It's not a long read either. I guarantee you'll never look at your Fruit Loops the same afterwards. I was a bit disappointed in the plot where a group of friends get sucked into television-land. It's been done before - a lot!
I know I said I wouldn't read CM3's The Baby Jesus Butt Plug...but I'm weakening!
I don't know why I keep coming back to CM3. He must have hypnotised me or something. I guess the weirdness factor drags me in, or I'm just looking for something different every so often.
This story isn't his best work BUT it's still worth a lookee look. It's not a long read either. I guarantee you'll never look at your Fruit Loops the same afterwards. I was a bit disappointed in the plot where a group of friends get sucked into television-land. It's been done before - a lot!
I know I said I wouldn't read CM3's The Baby Jesus Butt Plug...but I'm weakening!
June 1, 2019
SPIDER BUNNY is the third book by Carlton Mellick III that I read in May, and I really enjoyed it. Mellick plays around with false memories and even The Mandela Effect to a certain extent, when he creates a cereal commercial that only the protagonist, Pete, remembers.
The commercial is from Pete's childhood, and it's for a cereal called Fruit Fun. It features a pink cartoon rabbit named Berry Bunny, who hops around the breakfast table and feeds a bunch of excited children the bight pink cereal. None of Pete's friends remember the commercial, but then Pete starts to have nightmares about Berry Bunny, and he remembers an incident where he swore she tried to reach through his television and grab him to pull him into the commercial with the other children.
Pete's a bit worried that he's going crazy, especially because he can't find any information on the internet about Fruit Fun or Berry Bunny. But then Pete starts to see things. Suddenly Berry Bunny is back on his television, and she wants him to eat Fruit Fun cereal again. Before he knows it, Pete and his friends are trapped in the commercial and are being terrorized by Berry Bunny. If they don't find a way to escape, Pete worries that him and his friends could be trapped there forever.
SPIDER BUNNY is just pure Mellick fun from start to finish. For a long time I've been fascinated by false memories, and I love that Mellick used the idea as the basis for this story. Berry Bunny is creepy in her commercial world where the plump children at the breakfast table sit and endlessly eat Fruit Fun cereal. As a kid of the 80's I remember a number of weird cereal commercials, and now I'm starting to wonder if any of them are actually false memories. Human memories are so complex and odd. Regardless, this one is must-read for all Mellick fans.
The commercial is from Pete's childhood, and it's for a cereal called Fruit Fun. It features a pink cartoon rabbit named Berry Bunny, who hops around the breakfast table and feeds a bunch of excited children the bight pink cereal. None of Pete's friends remember the commercial, but then Pete starts to have nightmares about Berry Bunny, and he remembers an incident where he swore she tried to reach through his television and grab him to pull him into the commercial with the other children.
Pete's a bit worried that he's going crazy, especially because he can't find any information on the internet about Fruit Fun or Berry Bunny. But then Pete starts to see things. Suddenly Berry Bunny is back on his television, and she wants him to eat Fruit Fun cereal again. Before he knows it, Pete and his friends are trapped in the commercial and are being terrorized by Berry Bunny. If they don't find a way to escape, Pete worries that him and his friends could be trapped there forever.
SPIDER BUNNY is just pure Mellick fun from start to finish. For a long time I've been fascinated by false memories, and I love that Mellick used the idea as the basis for this story. Berry Bunny is creepy in her commercial world where the plump children at the breakfast table sit and endlessly eat Fruit Fun cereal. As a kid of the 80's I remember a number of weird cereal commercials, and now I'm starting to wonder if any of them are actually false memories. Human memories are so complex and odd. Regardless, this one is must-read for all Mellick fans.
April 21, 2021
Very fun and creative novella about a guy who gets trapped in an evil children's cereal commercial.
The book was fun, but I would've liked it if we learned a bit more about the strange pocket dimension that this guy was trapped in. Alot of questions were left unanswered (which I hate in a book) and I saw the ending coming from a mile away, so by the time the book was over I was a bit disappointed and was left wanting more.
I enjoyed every second of this novella, but I cant help but feel like it missed the mark a bit.
Im giving this book 3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
For in-depth video reviews, please subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/UptownHorrorRev...
The book was fun, but I would've liked it if we learned a bit more about the strange pocket dimension that this guy was trapped in. Alot of questions were left unanswered (which I hate in a book) and I saw the ending coming from a mile away, so by the time the book was over I was a bit disappointed and was left wanting more.
I enjoyed every second of this novella, but I cant help but feel like it missed the mark a bit.
Im giving this book 3 out of 5 stars ⭐⭐⭐
For in-depth video reviews, please subscribe to my YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/c/UptownHorrorRev...
March 25, 2025
Spider Bunny was the bizarro book by Carlton Mellick I most wanted to read, the synopsis was positively mad and sounded right up my alley. It had an old school creepypasta charm to it, and as a kid who found old cartoons oddly disturbing, it itched a very specific scratch I had. The first half drew me in, and left me wanting to get to the end. How will these characters escape the clutches of this crazy cartoon world? The maws of this messed up mascot?
Surely a furry would gladly embrace Berry Bunny with open arms?!
Which isn’t too far from what happens in the end, not exactly, but kind of close.
Surely a furry would gladly embrace Berry Bunny with open arms?!
Which isn’t too far from what happens in the end, not exactly, but kind of close.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
June 13, 2020
Short and sweet. CM3's simple writing style still bugs me but the completely unique and deliciously weird scenes burrow into your mind like sugar frosting eating away at enamel.
May 20, 2025
Entertaining story with some messed up ideas. I liked this book but it wasn't Mellick's best.
May 26, 2025
4.5 rounded down.
Pete and his friends find themselves sucked into a television commercial. It’s a commercial that has plagued Pete for most of his life, but now, he and his friends are stuck in the cartoon world fighting for their lives from Berry Bunny and her Fruit Fun cereal….Cereal that at first glance is just cereal, but it’s actually cereal made up of tiny humans that Berry Bunny makes from the kids she kidnaps from the real world.
I loved almost everything about this story. From the recurring delusions that Pete has had over the years of this commercial, to the creepy interactions he has with the tv and Berry Bunny and then everybody getting trapped in the tv set world, it was very entertaining.
Sounds terrifying to be trapped in an unknown universe and trying to escape before being eaten or killed. Would you be able to keep your wits about you to try to problem solve or go catatonic and freeze or make bad decisions costing you your life?
This was a solid 4 for me but I actually really liked the ending so I bumped it up a bit. It got a bit dark which I loved. The character relationships and interactions weren’t my favorite but that shouldn’t keep you from trying this one out. Very enjoyable read!
Pete and his friends find themselves sucked into a television commercial. It’s a commercial that has plagued Pete for most of his life, but now, he and his friends are stuck in the cartoon world fighting for their lives from Berry Bunny and her Fruit Fun cereal….Cereal that at first glance is just cereal, but it’s actually cereal made up of tiny humans that Berry Bunny makes from the kids she kidnaps from the real world.
I loved almost everything about this story. From the recurring delusions that Pete has had over the years of this commercial, to the creepy interactions he has with the tv and Berry Bunny and then everybody getting trapped in the tv set world, it was very entertaining.
Sounds terrifying to be trapped in an unknown universe and trying to escape before being eaten or killed. Would you be able to keep your wits about you to try to problem solve or go catatonic and freeze or make bad decisions costing you your life?
This was a solid 4 for me but I actually really liked the ending so I bumped it up a bit. It got a bit dark which I loved. The character relationships and interactions weren’t my favorite but that shouldn’t keep you from trying this one out. Very enjoyable read!
November 9, 2018
Spider Bunny is one of my favorite Mellick books. I especially liked how he masterfully weaves together the strange, the touching, and the outright horrifying. He truly is the Bradbury of the 21st Century.
October 11, 2019
I was already not a fan of cereal. Now, I will more than likely never be able to eat Captain Crunch again, it is just too sweet. The sweetness is going to remind me of Fruit Fun. Read this if you want a very good twist on the sexism behind cereal mascots and live food.
May 4, 2017
A dystopian sugar cereal commercial? Why not! A quick read, and a lot of gross fun. Spider Bunny nestles in where unhinged horror meets unabashed weirdness. A Saturday morning cartoon if it were directed by Takashi Miike. I gobbled this sucker down this morning, over the span of about 2 hours. It was literally part of my balanced breakfast!
July 24, 2017
SPIDER BUNNY is a lot of fun for the entire Horror family and vintage cereal enthusiast alike.
Full review can be found over at The Horror Fiction Review (link below).
https://thehorrorfictionreview.blogsp...
Full review can be found over at The Horror Fiction Review (link below).
https://thehorrorfictionreview.blogsp...
July 31, 2020
Spider Bunny is a fun, quick read that centers around false memories as well as a throwback to those nostalgic 70s/80s cereal commercials and their fun and perky mascots. Pete is our protagonist here and starts remembering this one mascot, Berry Bunny, that no one else does. Is he going crazy? Are these real memories? Is this an evil scheme? Soon Pete and his friends are transported into Berry Bunny's world/commercial and must fight to remain alive. It's a wild time surviving not being eaten by a bunch of chonker cartoon children while the cereal mascot is raving about nutrients and balanced breakfasts!
April 14, 2017
On the surface, Spider Bunny is an amazingly well told horror novel about four friends trapped inside an 80's children's cereal commercial. In the macabre world, you have two choices. One. you eat Bunny Berry's cereal and earn a permanent seat at the kitchen table, trapped forever as a horrid 3D Claymation effigy of your human self. Two, Berry Bunny catches you and you become the cereal in the bowl the kids at the table beg to eat. There is a third choice, kill Berry Bunny, but you don't wait to do that, you really don't.
There's a whole lot more going on in this book than just a great, scary read. It also works as a cautionary tale for using television as an electronic babysitter. It works as a send up of rabid consumerism where all that matters is what you want, not what you have.
What really works for me, what hit me the hardest, is how the story is a metaphor for toxic relationships. The main protagonist, Pete, is so in love with his girlfriend he allows her to use him in so many horrible ways that it breaks him down and the real him is consumed by his partner that there is no trace of his former self.
Spider Bunny provides plenty of proof that Mellick III is still at the top of his game and shows no signs of letting up any time soon.
There's a whole lot more going on in this book than just a great, scary read. It also works as a cautionary tale for using television as an electronic babysitter. It works as a send up of rabid consumerism where all that matters is what you want, not what you have.
What really works for me, what hit me the hardest, is how the story is a metaphor for toxic relationships. The main protagonist, Pete, is so in love with his girlfriend he allows her to use him in so many horrible ways that it breaks him down and the real him is consumed by his partner that there is no trace of his former self.
Spider Bunny provides plenty of proof that Mellick III is still at the top of his game and shows no signs of letting up any time soon.
November 28, 2024
I never imagined a book could be so whimsical and sad at the same time. I also never thought I’d find myself reading a book about a cannibalistic cereal mascot. The book was definitely not what I expected. It started off quite normal enough, then it transformed into a bizarre other world. This was another good book by Mellick although there are some details that I wish he would have fleshed out more. For example, who were the commercials for? What product were they actually selling to the creatures in the darkness? Who were the creatures in the darkness? Other than the unanswered questions, this was another very solid work by the author!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 13, 2025
4.5 rounded up to 5. It’s been a while since I read something by Mellick and boy did I love it! Soo damn funny!!
April 25, 2024
3.5 rounded up. This book is like a demented Goosebumps for adults but also kind of written at the same level as a Goosebumps book….🤣🤣
February 1, 2017
I was lucky enough to get my hands on an advance copy of Spider Bunny at BizarroCon. Mellick’s latest novella is his take on the well-trodden haunted media trope, like Candle Cove, but unlike many stories making use of this growing cliché, Spider Bunny tackles it in a way that feels fresh and unique.
Hanging out over drinks, Petey, his girlfriend Peri and their friends Dave and Kim, happen upon the topic of cereal mascots. For the first time in years, Petey remembers Berry Bunny, an obscure and somewhat chilling character from his childhood. None of his friends seem to know what he’s talking about, which leads Petey on a quest for answers that results in a nightmare that could only come from the mind of Carlton Mellick.
For habitual readers of Mellick’s work, Spider Bunny will probably give you a serious sense of déjà vu. There are some elements, mainly the story’s focus on a dysfunctional relationship and the inclusion of a surreal alternate world, that are reminiscent of The Haunted Vagina. However, Spider Bunny tends to gravitate more towards horror than the Bizarro romantic tragedy of The Haunted Vagina.
Several scenes in this one-sitting read are downright unsettling. Imagine animated characters coming to life, their exaggerated features transformed into flesh and blood. That’s exactly the kind of uncanny valley creepiness you can expect to find in Spider Bunny.
The characters are flawed and likeable in equal measure. Their relationships are grounded and believable. Petey is especially well sketched, an everyman whose humanity and heart makes it all too easy to root for him.
I’ve only read a handful of Mellick’s work, but I noticed something about Spider Bunny that separates it from the rest. Mellick has a talent for world building. By the end of his stories, the reader has a fairly good understanding of the world he has created. With Spider Bunny, however, he takes a more ambiguous approach. The world he created here is mysterious and unwilling to divulge its secrets. The story's antagonist is just a taste of something larger and more horrifying that’s only hinted at. In the end, Spider Bunny feels indebted to traditional weird fiction, which usually refrains from going into too much detail about its supernatural elements. And Mellick pulls this off to great effect.
Fans of his work and Bizarro fiction in general should pick up Spider Bunny as soon as it’s released.
Hanging out over drinks, Petey, his girlfriend Peri and their friends Dave and Kim, happen upon the topic of cereal mascots. For the first time in years, Petey remembers Berry Bunny, an obscure and somewhat chilling character from his childhood. None of his friends seem to know what he’s talking about, which leads Petey on a quest for answers that results in a nightmare that could only come from the mind of Carlton Mellick.
For habitual readers of Mellick’s work, Spider Bunny will probably give you a serious sense of déjà vu. There are some elements, mainly the story’s focus on a dysfunctional relationship and the inclusion of a surreal alternate world, that are reminiscent of The Haunted Vagina. However, Spider Bunny tends to gravitate more towards horror than the Bizarro romantic tragedy of The Haunted Vagina.
Several scenes in this one-sitting read are downright unsettling. Imagine animated characters coming to life, their exaggerated features transformed into flesh and blood. That’s exactly the kind of uncanny valley creepiness you can expect to find in Spider Bunny.
The characters are flawed and likeable in equal measure. Their relationships are grounded and believable. Petey is especially well sketched, an everyman whose humanity and heart makes it all too easy to root for him.
I’ve only read a handful of Mellick’s work, but I noticed something about Spider Bunny that separates it from the rest. Mellick has a talent for world building. By the end of his stories, the reader has a fairly good understanding of the world he has created. With Spider Bunny, however, he takes a more ambiguous approach. The world he created here is mysterious and unwilling to divulge its secrets. The story's antagonist is just a taste of something larger and more horrifying that’s only hinted at. In the end, Spider Bunny feels indebted to traditional weird fiction, which usually refrains from going into too much detail about its supernatural elements. And Mellick pulls this off to great effect.
Fans of his work and Bizarro fiction in general should pick up Spider Bunny as soon as it’s released.
February 17, 2018
The first few times I read a Mellick book I thought they were the most amazing things I had ever read. Now the high is wearing off and every time I finish one of his books it's like waking up with a needle in my arm and asking why I keep doing this to myself. Spider Bunny was no exception to this. It still wasn't as bad as some I've read, but it wasn't as good as some I've read either.
As a horror story it was great. It did exactly what I expect a horror story to do. And I would probably even recommend it to other horror fans. But that's kind of the problem. Its greatest strength is also its biggest weakness. Because I'm not supposed to be reading a horror novel. I'm supposed to be reading bizarro fiction. So it really SHOULDN'T be doing exactly what I expect it to do, but it did.
The book was predictable and uninspired. It was like Mellick took The Haunted Vagina and Candle Cove and just mashed the two together. Which is weird because I really liked The Haunted Vagina, and I really liked Candle Cove. So having two things I really liked put together should have been great, but it kind of wasn't... It just felt cheap and less impressive than the other two stories.
The book was still scary and disturbing and kept me interested to the very end. It was a fun read while I was reading it. But once I was done I didn't have any fond feeling left for it. Probably because I'm kind of getting tired of the same doomed relationship story repackaged over and over. If Mellick is just going to keep writing the same book with a different artificial flavoring added to it each time I'm probably not going to keep reading his stuff.
The only reason I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of lower than that is because as a horror novel it was still pretty good. If it had been marketed as horror instead of bizarro I might have actually given it a higher rating.
Great horror story. Lousy bizarro fiction...
As a horror story it was great. It did exactly what I expect a horror story to do. And I would probably even recommend it to other horror fans. But that's kind of the problem. Its greatest strength is also its biggest weakness. Because I'm not supposed to be reading a horror novel. I'm supposed to be reading bizarro fiction. So it really SHOULDN'T be doing exactly what I expect it to do, but it did.
The book was predictable and uninspired. It was like Mellick took The Haunted Vagina and Candle Cove and just mashed the two together. Which is weird because I really liked The Haunted Vagina, and I really liked Candle Cove. So having two things I really liked put together should have been great, but it kind of wasn't... It just felt cheap and less impressive than the other two stories.
The book was still scary and disturbing and kept me interested to the very end. It was a fun read while I was reading it. But once I was done I didn't have any fond feeling left for it. Probably because I'm kind of getting tired of the same doomed relationship story repackaged over and over. If Mellick is just going to keep writing the same book with a different artificial flavoring added to it each time I'm probably not going to keep reading his stuff.
The only reason I'm giving this book 3 stars instead of lower than that is because as a horror novel it was still pretty good. If it had been marketed as horror instead of bizarro I might have actually given it a higher rating.
Great horror story. Lousy bizarro fiction...
November 30, 2017
Author Carlton Mellick usually has three to five completely unique and original concepts on every page he writes. However, with his latest release, SPIDER BUNNY, he might have three to five throughout the entire book. Although I enjoyed reading it, for a Mellick book, it was a bit of a letdown. Many scenes felt repetitive and nothing really surprised me. The description on the back of the book is exactly what happens inside and, unfortunately, not much else.
For a bizarro genre book, Spider Bunny is a solid read, but coming from a grand master such as Mellick, I was underwhelmed and felt the story was uninspired. For new readers, I would recommend some of Mellick’s other titles to give them a taste test of how powerful and mind blowing this author can be. Spider Bunny is not one of them.
For a bizarro genre book, Spider Bunny is a solid read, but coming from a grand master such as Mellick, I was underwhelmed and felt the story was uninspired. For new readers, I would recommend some of Mellick’s other titles to give them a taste test of how powerful and mind blowing this author can be. Spider Bunny is not one of them.
October 15, 2019
As Mellick himself says in the intro, this one is a mashup of Creepypasta and 80es commercial imagery. And it has similarities to season one of the TV show "Channel Zero".
What can I say? This one was almost perfectly done. Very creepy, very atmospheric, and really entertaining. I loved it!
Also, it is the first novel by Carlton Mellick that does not need better proofreading (which surprised me, really).
So if the description entices you, go for it. In my opinion, this is one of Mellick's best (at least from the ones I have read, so far).
...except for the mentioning of mp3s in the beginning. That one was quite jarring...
What can I say? This one was almost perfectly done. Very creepy, very atmospheric, and really entertaining. I loved it!
Also, it is the first novel by Carlton Mellick that does not need better proofreading (which surprised me, really).
So if the description entices you, go for it. In my opinion, this is one of Mellick's best (at least from the ones I have read, so far).
...except for the mentioning of mp3s in the beginning. That one was quite jarring...
January 28, 2019
Petey was deathly afraid of the Fun Cereal commercials growing up especially Berry Bunny. Now into adulthood he recalls moments of terror. Somehow his world is turned upside down into the very commercial that tortured his sanity. Along with his friends Peri, Kim and the asshole Dave they are seeking safety from that very scary bunny that only want them to enjoy a bowel of cereal on her terms. A fun novella to occupy your time by the talented CMIII yet not as shocking or delightfully disgusting as his other tomes although still goodie mob good!!!
June 8, 2017
Little, pink, different
April 21, 2022
I guess that seals it. Me and Carlton Mellick III, we are going to go skipping into the sunset, hand in hand. That's just how I feel about him, or more precise, his work since I in fact do not know him personally. But these books, these adorably twisted books. Look at the cover, all you need to know and how would you not love that and pinch its cheeks? I can't get enough of his blend of so cute and then so strange in its ideas of Horrors. I'm not sure I'm ready yet (or ever) for his sex centered Bizarro stories including haunted vaginas or his more Splatterpunk driven tales. But I am so here for the adorable ones, and even if I would stick to only those I might have to break my only one book by one author per year rule, how else could I catch up with that backlog? At least most of them come in sweet tiny packages with perfect cover work and at a good price, hard to argue with that logic.
"Spider Bunny" is about a cereal mascot that no one but Petey remembers from his childhood days, and suddenly he starts seeing the bunny and the commercials again, on TVs that turned on by themselves... Don't think it's s spoiler to say that Berry Bunny might be up to no good and you don't want to end up in her commercial. Put simply, this is sugary cereal buckets of fun, it's an easy and quick but perfectly entertaining read. Oh my God, that sounds so bland, doesn't this sounds bland? And it's really not but I always struggle to convey pure enjoyment in a positive way in my reviews. The thing is this isn't a deep book (though there is some stuff on toxicity of relationships/ friendships that mirrors itself in the sugar-loaded addiction to cereal) and the writing is more on the easy and straightforward side: it's what I like to choose for escapism and fun reading. And the concept is just fraggeldy brilliant and I personally can thrive on that alone. Because don't tell me once you start thinking about it there is nothing creepy about cereal mascots and the acidly sweet taste of some of those abominable concoctions! I thought Mellick took the story in a great direction, reminded me a bit of a sugar version of the movie "Vivarium", just that this one also has a monster bunny and doesn't that make anything better? I'm telling you, Mellick just gets me.
Also, a great point he makes in here: why is there no female cereal mascot in our world? Not the feminist hill I'm going to die on but I am surprised to say the least.
"Spider Bunny" is about a cereal mascot that no one but Petey remembers from his childhood days, and suddenly he starts seeing the bunny and the commercials again, on TVs that turned on by themselves... Don't think it's s spoiler to say that Berry Bunny might be up to no good and you don't want to end up in her commercial. Put simply, this is sugary cereal buckets of fun, it's an easy and quick but perfectly entertaining read. Oh my God, that sounds so bland, doesn't this sounds bland? And it's really not but I always struggle to convey pure enjoyment in a positive way in my reviews. The thing is this isn't a deep book (though there is some stuff on toxicity of relationships/ friendships that mirrors itself in the sugar-loaded addiction to cereal) and the writing is more on the easy and straightforward side: it's what I like to choose for escapism and fun reading. And the concept is just fraggeldy brilliant and I personally can thrive on that alone. Because don't tell me once you start thinking about it there is nothing creepy about cereal mascots and the acidly sweet taste of some of those abominable concoctions! I thought Mellick took the story in a great direction, reminded me a bit of a sugar version of the movie "Vivarium", just that this one also has a monster bunny and doesn't that make anything better? I'm telling you, Mellick just gets me.
Also, a great point he makes in here: why is there no female cereal mascot in our world? Not the feminist hill I'm going to die on but I am surprised to say the least.
September 2, 2022
3⭐ - it was enjoyable
Weird but not hard to wrap your mind around, just like... Funny weird....
Not scary to read at all, felt like I was reading someone's nightmare.
Weird but not hard to wrap your mind around, just like... Funny weird....
Not scary to read at all, felt like I was reading someone's nightmare.
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