Zola

by D.E. McCluskey

Gordon's name was a joke.

It was given to him by Anthony Zola, a controlling, and abusive father, to taunt his wife over her love of cheese, and the fact that she had been steadily gaining weight since their marriage.

Andrea was a doting mother, and maybe a little overprotective of her boy, but she didn't see that as a bad thing.

On discovering a secret, one the child had been told to keep to himself, everything changes. Now she must do whatever she needs to keep her, and her boy, alive.

Needs must.

Gordon is going to find that his love of cheese, handed down to him by his mother, and his love for the only woman in his life, is about to be taken to a whole new level.

From the dark mind of D E McCluskey, author of The Twelve, CRACK, and Cravings, Comes another addition to his limited 'Extreme Horror Series'.

Zola is about to take you into a whole new level darkness, and depravity.

"The perfect combination of extreme horror and heartfelt emotion." - R E Shambrook

"Truly, a book of absolute depravity... but with heart." - Christina Pfeiffer

Genres: Horror, Splatterpunk, Fiction, Dark, Novella, Ebooks, Abuse

143 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 25, 2021

About the author

I love horror, and I love Christmas. Some would say that the two are not mutually associated, I would tell you different.

I started writing at Christmas, back in the days of yore. I was reading The Night Before Christmas, by Clement Clarke Moore to my daughter who was too excited to sleep. But, I used my secret weapon, my boring voice she was soon catching the right amount of zzzzz's... As I tiptoed out of the room, giving Santa the space he needed to do his bit, I thought to myself, you know what? I could write something like that...

So I did...

The good Behaviour Act was written, the first story in Interesting Tymes, my very first publication.

I live in sunny Liverpool in the UK with my partner and daughters, I used to work in IT but don't anymore, and am the happier person for it. I love football, music and film... I also enjoy long walks, pretty flowers, and gratuitous violence and nudity...

I can be found mostly on Facebook @demccluskey_author
or on Twitter @dammagedpro @demccluskey1

my website is www.dammaged.com

Reviews

[MadameD · Rating 5 out of 5]

Zola by D.E McCluskey is the grossest story I have ever read. It was funny sometimes, and retch inducing most of the time.🤣🤣🤣
I thought I couldn’t finish it. I had to take several breaks. Imagine all the most disgusting things you can think of. Well, Zola is more!😜
Bravo D.E McCluskey!
If you like to challenge yourself or you aren’t afraid to read about filth in all its forms, don’t hesitate. Read Zola!
highly recommend to splatterpunk fans.

[Peter Topside · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok, that was probably the most nauseating book that I've read in quite awhile. And you all know the freaky splatterpunk and extreme horror that I frequent, so that should tell you a lot about this. There are so many incredibly disgusting moments that I can't even try to pick one out. Not sure I want to make the attempt either. So this started out with some extremely sensitive material including child trafficking, infidelity, alcohol abuse, and spousal abuse. A really great narrative surrounding the mother, Andrea, and her experiences with her abhorrent husband and his downright unforgivable behaviors. You felt so awful for her because she was trapped in this relationship, just trying to protect her son, Gordon. So things were initially a tearjerker, but then quickly pivoted into something akin to a Simon McHardy book. The second portion focused on Gordon and dealt with a lot of body horror, cannibalism, and stuff that your worst, most vomit-inducing nightmares are made of. And that's where the experience faltered for me a bit. I loved the gore, the emotionality of everything, the overarching plot, both out lead's experiences, and pretty much everything about this reading experience. But that shift in focus from Andrea to Gordon was a bit rushed, and it almost felt like two different stories, with less cohesion than I wanted. I needed to know more about Andrea before her exit from the story, and a lot more from Gordon, aside from his ignorance and violence. Just some missed opportunities and overall flow issues, but still an extremely strong showing from DE McCluskey.

[Stefanie Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is probably the worst book I have read so far (2022 isn’t over yet lmao)

Here is my review:

1. I will never EVER eat cheese or steak again
2. Some parents should never EVER have children (poor Gordon)
3. I swear I smelled this book and heard the buzzing of all the damn flies
4. I need a shower.. with lots of bleach and then a big hug..

This is my 4th book by Dave McCluskey and I love all his books. This one might need an exorcism or something though..

Thanks for all the future nightmares Dave!

Worst and best book. 5 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀 (I mean 5 stars)

Seriously, I need a hug now. Oh and a tub filled with bleach.

[Janie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't get nauseous.

[Jeffrey Caston · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is why you teach kids to cook for themselves… cuz you’ll never know when they’ll need it!!!

Okay…. So… Zola. Hmmm… what to say…

Well, if you are looking for a gross out book, look no further.

I’ve read my share of gross out stories and extreme horror. (They are not necessarily synonymous, by the way.) I’ll be candid, I went into this with not much expectation other than to read stuff that’ll make my guts churn in disgust. This book will do that for sure. High literature, this ain’t, but that’s totally okay. There room for all kinds of stories. This book is definitely what the trigger warnings and review warn you about.

That being said, I was really impressed with the introductory pages and the early chapters. It set the stage and was emotionally moving. The stuff that Andrea and her new son, Gordon, have to go through at the hands of the husband/father, Anthony. Yikes. And overall, the prose was pretty smooth. Kinda like warm, melty Velveeta. (Sorry… could not resist.)

Zola tells the tale of abused mother and son. Despite a few turns of luck and a LOT of determination, this book tells a tale of “us against the whole world” that goes horribly, disgustingly, and—at points—absurdly wrong. But you do feel for the MCs, which I know the author was at least in part going for.

I found the first part more compelling. The latter half kind of devolves into a gross out based on sticking certain things into other certain things and/or eating certain things off of other certain things. If you’ve read the book, you know what I mean. And if you haven’t, well you’ll either have to read for yourself and find out or just take my word for it. There’s a few glimmers of feeling toward the end, but the back half is, candidly, mostly just a gross-out. Which is fine. It fits the genre quite nicely.

It was entertaining and I’m glad I read Zola. It’s become one of the cornerstones of the genre and I’m not sure one can consider themselves well read in the genres of extreme horror/splatterpunk without at least trying this book.

One thing I felt was lacking was I wished it had a working TOC on the kindle file. I had no idea how many chapters there were going to be or that there were two parts to the book. They kind of sneak up on you. That may have been the intention. Don’t know. But I would have liked having a TOC that allowed me to go back to a certain section if I’d needed to. But that’s a pretty soft criticism.

[Rachel M · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cheese steaks and Gordon cakes! 😂🤮

[John The Crippledgimp · Rating 5 out of 5]

Man I don't even know what to say except if you have a cheese addiction..... You probably won't after reading this one 😆😆.....its a fucking gross, vile, depraved, disgusting all around fucked up story that will test your gag reflex but also takes you on a unexpected emotional rollercoaster. If you want a story that's just fucking gross but has heart this is for you. I highly recommend this one.

[Hail Hydra! ~Dave Anderson~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

But it evolved into something meaner, something filthier, and something that I hope my extreme horror readers will enjoy. It is also a tale of love, fear of the unknown, and a salute to the ingenuity of the human spirit in the face of adversity (what a crock of shit, it’s about cannibalism and cheese).

[Mique Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

SO GROSS! 🤮🤮🤮 I would rate this ten starts if I could.

[Meghin · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was the most UNHINGED thing I have ever read in my life 😂

[Leo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don't have much to say but this was somehow emotional about trauma and very gross. Love when horror can make you feel for the characters but at the same time get horrified with the extreme.

[Sara · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.6 rounded up!
If D.E.'s goal was to shock and disgust....you got it here. I am surprised I don't have a permanent cringe on my face. This book was absolutely disgusting. When I thought "eh no, it couldn't possibly get worse", he surpassed it.

I didn't have any expectations going into this book. Was just along for the ride with some friends in a group buddy read. So idk what I thought was going to happen in the book.. but, I couldn't have possibly imagined the words I just read. 😂

Great work!

[Lady MacDeath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Who would have known the cute author who looks as though butter wouldn’t melt, would write something so vile, putrid, gross and sickening as this...but I really liked it...in between bouts of gagging and feeling nauseous, throughout.

I can’t say too much about the book, without giving too much away, but know that this is hella EXTREME!!

Andrea is married to Tony, an abusive drunk and womaniser, who enjoys dishing out the slaps and punches to his downtrodden wife. He starts taking an interest in their 7 year old son, and treats him to days out with friends and pocket money etc..

This isn’t a story which sits well in the stomach, and I suggest anyone who reads it, doesn’t eat for a while, before or after.

5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Renée · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me: “CRAVINGS is the grossest thing I’ve read all year.”
ZOLA: “Hold my beer!”

Cheesus Christ! 🤢
David McCluskey said ZOLA isn’t as gross as his previous book CRAVINGS. He’s right. ZOLA is much, much worse! 😆 I fucking devoured every delicious, splattery morsel.

Cheese was the glue holding my life together until I read this book. Now it’s hanging by a string of mozzarella. Just when you thought it couldn’t get any worse (better), it does!

But underneath all the depravity, this is a beautifully written story of a relationship between mother and son. Just with copious amounts of cheese.

5/5 Gordon cakes. 🤮

[Leka · Rating 4 out of 5]

All I can say is wow. This book is disgusting and perfect for all you extreme horror fans. I had to grab the bucket at least 3 times. Well done!

[wormy ♡ · Rating 4 out of 5]

hii i forgot to review this book honestly but you can read my full blog review here!

nasty story about cheese, and hey, i'm from wisconsin so.. i felt a little attacked.
kidding no seriously, this was dripping with sleaziness and nastiness and i read a LOT of extreme horror. this though? this was nasty and made ME grimace and make stupid unhappy faces.
tw for everything.



-------

lol gross

review to come

[Gohnar23 (hiatus but still reading) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Books read & reviewed: 1️⃣0️⃣2️⃣🥖4️⃣0️⃣0️⃣


╔⏤⏤⏤╝❀╚⏤⏤⏤╗


3️⃣🌟, author, respectfully, stop writing puns, this book was mid tho, doesnt really have any redeeming qualities.
——————————————————————
➕➖0️⃣1️⃣2️⃣3️⃣4️⃣5️⃣6️⃣7️⃣8️⃣9️⃣🔟✖️➗

Well as of right now, this is just a typical cheesy romance extreme horror book. It has very many plot holes and very unrealistic, which is i don't think is the point of splatterpunk books, because splatterpunk books are supposed to represent and symbolize the horrible things that human beings themselves do not only to human beings themselves but also to other living being such as animals but this? This is just mid, it was pretty forgettable and boring except for the (i cut off my abusive husband's dick in half with a bread knife with a serrated edge, then proceeding to mix it with some soft cheese, cut it off and force feed it to my husband til he chokes in his own dick to death)

And i also can't with the authors obsession with 'thingus'. I feel like this needs to be studied.

I can even probably out of context called the author on his own notes at the end of the book and its:

"FULL DISCLOSURE, I hate this story.
I hate that this whole concept was developed in my brain."

If you read this book you'd know that i took this quote out of context but still i feel like this is actually true and the author just hates his own work probably is the reason why it was mid anyways

✦•······················•✦•······················•✦

Date Read: Wednesday, March 12, 2025
Book Length: 28k words: ITS STILL SHORT
Disturbingness scale: the puns are funny i guess, the torture was mid out of 1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣ potatoes 🥔: 3️⃣9️⃣

My 16th read of splatterpunk march ✨

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*Pre-Read✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

Gorgon Zola

Gorgonzola

Stauwppp with the cheese 🧀 punss its so cheesy 😫

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

HOLY FUCKING CHEESE!!! What the hell did I just read? This was one gross,sick and disgusting experience...But I loved it....It just got better and better the more I got into the book,just when I thought it couldn't make me gag anymore...then there it came again the stomach up into the mouth...Good God this was good. If you like cheese then don't read this...but...yet again if you hate cheese then don't read this!! Personally I can take or leave the stuff. This is my second book from D.E McCluskey, the first being "Cravings" and both books didn't disappoint.If you're thinking of reading this,you will need a VERY strong stomach...and NO cheese!

[Todd Love · Rating 4 out of 5]

I will be going on a cheese and steak fast for the next week. This was disturbing and disturbing.

[Melanie Bouthillette · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just like Cravings this book was awesome. I will def be reading more from him. Cheese anyone?

[Nikolas Robinson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Anthony Zola was a terrible person. One need only look at the cruel joke of a name he saddled his only son with, Gordon. Gordon Zola, a childish gag and a pointed jab at his wife's obsessive cheese consumption. Unfortunately for Andrea and Gordon Zola, that horrible appellation is the least of Anthony's transgressions against his wife and child.
Years of abuse and manipulation from her husband had compressed Andrea's life to the extent that her world revolved entirely around her monster of a husband and her socially isolated son. Just as she finally began transforming herself into a woman she could recognize when she looked in the mirror, a horrific discovery sent her life spiraling out of control. Anthony's bonding time with their son has a far more sinister purpose than Andrea could have imagined, and the only solution is a drastic one.
Unhealthy codependence and unspeakable appetites become the crux of mother and son's relationship, inexorably drawing Andrea and Gordon into further segregation from the world around them. As barbaric solutions become the only way the two of them can survive, Andrea and Gordon devolve into a bestial existence of filth and isolation that escalates until the heartbreakingly inevitable conclusion.
McCluskey provides readers with a poignant tale of family and intense psychological trauma through a medium rife with absurdity and graphic depictions of revolting inhumanity. Zola is a coming-of-age story for the perpetual adolescent; a depiction of acute arrested development in the form of Gordon Zola, a boy who grew into a man without ever having a chance to develop any life for himself under the aberrant safekeeping of his traumatized mother.
As easy as it might be to write this story off as being a steadily intensifying gross-out narrative--and there's a lot to gross the reader out--there's a whole lot of sadness and distressing truth to be found in these pages as well. McCluskey tells us the tale of a man who never had a chance to be anything but the monstrosity he became, all because of a father's cruelty and a mother's misguided love.

[Corrina Morse · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, so I originally read and reviewed this back on 19th October 2021, but for some reason my review wasn't posted here, so, here it is.... 126 weeks later! 🤦‍♀️


OK, So I had the "pleasure" of receiving an ARC of David's new book from his extreme horror collection. ZOLA! It's a book about cheese right? What could possibly be horrible about that? I ❤ cheese! Nothing could put me off my cheese, right? Right?
WRONG!!!!
HOLY SHITSTEAKS!!!!
I thought I knew what I was getting myself into with this book, something along the lines of CRAVINGS but with cheese! It was that, but it wasn't, it was SO MUCH MORE AND SO MUCH WORSE!!
This book starts off completely differently to what I expected - completely! It was shocking and absolutely heart wrenching (I may even have shed a tear or two, but don't tell anyone!) I felt every emotion, from anger to heartache, and I really felt for the characters too(Although, not the Dad - but Karmas a bitch and he got what was coming!)
This book made me sick in my mouth, cringe, shout out, hide behind my hands (Which makes reading pretty tough 😉), cry, laugh out loud(yes, really!) and I even had to stop reading a couple times to compose myself before continuing!
This book starts out one way and gets more and more depraved and vile as it goes on! But there is a real story underneath it all of a mother's love for her son and the things she will do for him!
It's split into two halves, childhood and adulthood, and if you manage to get through part 1, first of all, Well Done, and secondly, hold onto your hat because it's going to get a whole lot worse!

David McCluskey takes extreme horror to the EXTREME!!

I loved it!! 🖤🤢🖤

5/5 manky cheese from me 🧀🧀🧀🧀🧀

Gordon Cakes Anyone?? 🤢😂

[Ian · Rating 4 out of 5]

French Novelist: Zola, Emile (1840 - 1902)...would be turning in his grave!

Zola is a heady cocktail of cheese, added to human juices of all description, that blend together to produce a concoction of Extremely Horrifying proportions.

This is the sorry tale of the Zola family, Anthony, Andrea and their son Gordon, and tells how their lives, and very existence. unfold after life-changing events occur that will permanently change their lives and fortunes forever.

Disgusting, vile, obscene, depraved and...unbelievably, disturbingly good, this piece of sordid absurdity reads like a fun and filthy 'adult' fairytale which pushes past the boundaries of mainstream acceptability and far, far beyond to a 'sex and violence' fuelled distant land residing in the gruesome and grotesque black lands somewhere over a dulled and defiled darkened rainbow.

Eat, sex, eat, sex, eat, sex, eat...survive, and when taking your next selfie, don't forget to say 'CHEESE!'

Most definitely not for everyone, but I thoroughly enjoyed this extreme piece of fiction, undertaken with a great group of Gore Whore friends from the HGW reading group. Cheers, Guys - loved every minute of it - must do again, and soon!

Rating: 4.3 cheesy stars that will make you go 'crackers' - no problem, have my brain bleaching tabs on green, all ready to go.

[Sarah🥀⛓️ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recently stumbled across this author’s work & am a huge fan! His extreme novel work is something made of nightmares! lol I loved the campiness, and how it made fun of itself! If anything I got really invested into the original story unfolded, and the domestic situation. I was expecting a little more of a revenge story, which I think is where the disappointment grew. This book wasn’t a masterpiece by any means, but it had a lot of great moments & it was a fun quick read! I personally rated this one ⭐️⭐️⭐️ (3.75) on my scale, I’m a tough rater but thoroughly enjoyed this one!

[Ziyah · Rating 1 out of 5]

TRIGGER WARNINGS: Child SA in graphic detail, Domestic violence, Incest, gory descriptions, gross imagery, dirty bathrooms and bedrooms (I C A N N O T😦)

This is one of the grossest books I’ve ever read in my life🤮 I want to say this might be the first extreme horror book I’ve read and I will say NOT A FAN. I didn’t even read the book description and that was on me! Never again! I can’t give this anything but a 1/5. There were parts that just dragged on like after she killed her husband, i could’ve ended the book there. Also, I started skipping parts cuz it was doing too much. I don’t know if this is badly written or not because all I was thinking about was the cheese. By the end my stomach was churning, IS STILL CHURNING and I want it to stop!! I don’t think I want to even look at cheese anymore. If you love cheese this much please get help it’s never too late. It started off crazy and towards the end I started to get bored and was just hoping Gordon died so I could stop reading. Why did I think this man’s name was gonna be cheese 🧀 and it Gordon Zola💀 some of it was so funny(not a lot) I just had to laugh, like everytime they brought up cheese in a corny way. Am I the only one that thought he was gonna eat so much cheese he turned into cheese. I need a 30 day cleanse and bleach…LOTS OF IT!!!!!

Positives: nothing (well I guess under all that gross stuff you get a good laugh at the cheese lines), child Gordon ( I felt bad for him) , his mom (eh)

I don’t even know: somewhat easy to read

Negatives: the incest, the house, the child sa, any sa in the book, everything in the book, ever character in the book, THE HOUSE, the book cover, EVERYTHING, adult Gordon (it was too much🤧), flies, THE CHEESE STEAKS

Funniest lines in the book:

Vengeance is a dish best served cold, she thought. But I prefer mine with cheese.

A large bread knife, a sock, and a big chunk of cheese.

…all of them showering him in warm cheese sauce.

She smelt like flowers. And cheese.

[STEPH · Rating 4 out of 5]

Anyone up for Gordon Cakes, Tony Steaks and a jar of Cheese sauce? Freaking disgusting.

One of the most disgusting things I've ever read. I got itchy and scratchy because of the filth and muck I'm picturing in my head. Every dirty word in the dictionary best describes this book. Ugh, I feel like throwing up right now.

I feel bad for Gordon and Andrea. Naivety and ignorance caused them to lead an unclean life. They lived and died in a squalid environment. I could almost taste every vile thing. "retches uncontrollably."

At least the ending gave me a bit of peace. Damn this was repulsive and I loved it.

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Caution this is extreme horror.

I was so excited about Cravings that I couldn't wait to read this one. I have to say that it was stepped up a million times. I'm not sure I want to eat cheese again and it's my favourite food. Great work.

[Mary_ame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Qui m'a envoyé ? J'ai littéralement pleuré de dégoût.

(Et j'ai beaucoup de peine pour Andréa... C'est fou à quel point une décision, prise ou non, un évènement, heureux ou douloureux, peut altérer ta vie...)


(C'est aussi mon 200 ème livre lu...)

[Carrie Shields · Rating 4 out of 5]

My first read by this author, and it definitely won't be my last! 100 pages of the most vile, disgusting, yet oddly tender subject matter I've ever read.

Andrea Zola is a woman controlled by her husband Anthony. Her one solace in life is her love of cheese, so when she gives birth to her only child, a son, her husband sadistically insists on naming him Gordon Zola. Naming his son after gorgonzola cheese was the kindest thing Anthony ever did for the boy. When Andrea finds him crying in his room and bleeding, Gordon insists he can't tell the secret. But he does, and the fallout will be brutal.

Andrea is a mother who will protect her son at all costs. Gordon grows up to be overweight, odd, and completely uncaring of his hygiene. Andrea still treats him lovingly, making his beloved cheesesteaks on a regular basis, usually after she's entertained a gentleman caller.

Be forewarned, the descriptions are realistic and graphic, so much so that I could actually smell some of the scenes. Of course familiarize yourself with any trigger warnings before venturing into this world.

[Varya · Rating 4 out of 5]

You know what. I dnfed it. This is why I gave it 4 stars.
It served its purpose as a horror novel by making me afraid to turn another page!!!
Omg fucking hell, this is the sickest book I've read till date. It made me gag.
I can even read necrophilia without blinking but man, this one exceeded my "expectations" Lol.... Not that anybody could expect what's inside these pages💀💀💀

I think I'd rec it if you wanna have THIS on your tombstone... Death by Retching. Lol