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Pandemonium
A stranger in a mask walks through Philadelphia, handing out tickets to an underground wrestling show promising a level of violence, unlike anything fans, have seen before. The card features a mix of legends and hot up-and-comers. Most intriguing, it will mark the debut of the enigmatic, hammer-wielding Crimson Executioner, a monster of a man whose promo videos look like something out of Saw or Hostel. The crowd enters past masked guards who don’t speak. Even the talent doesn’t know who funded the show or why; they’re happy just so long as the checks clear. None of them know the diabolical plot behind it all. When the Executioner murders his opponent in the ring, it soon becomes clear the show is a ritual to open the gates of Hell and unleash PANDEMONIUM. Demons rise throughout the venue, using the bodies of the dead as vessels to wreak all manner of brutal carnage. Audience members and performers alike must now fight for survival as the contagion spreads all around them, inside the arena and out into the city.
In the tradition of Dario Argento’s Demons franchise and set in the world of hardcore wrestling, Pandemonium is a hyper-violent tale of demonic possession, ancient evil gods, and bleeding the hard way.
In the tradition of Dario Argento’s Demons franchise and set in the world of hardcore wrestling, Pandemonium is a hyper-violent tale of demonic possession, ancient evil gods, and bleeding the hard way.
7 pages, Audiobook
First published December 7, 2020
17 people are currently reading
165 people want to read
About the author
Ryan Harding
37 books171 followersRyan Harding is the four-time Splatterpunk Award-winning author of books like Transcendental Mutilation, Genital Grinder, and collaborations with Jason Taverner (Reincursion, Reincarnage), Kristopher Triana (The Night Stockers), Lucas Mangum (Pandemonium), and Edward Lee (Header 3). He wrote the novella The Profile for the all Me Hoop anthology, and wrote guest scenes in Jonathan Butcher's Your Loved Ones Will Die First and Matt Shaw's The Devil's Guests. His short stories have appeared in the anthologies Y'All Ain't Right: Southern Extreme Horror Brewtality, The Big Book of Blasphemy, The New Flesh: A Literary Tribute to David Cronenberg, Splatterpunk Forever, Past Indiscretions, Masters of Horror, Battered Broken Bodies, Into Painfreak, DOA 3, and The Year's Best Hardcore Horror Vol. 3. His work has also been published in German, Italian, and Polish. Upcoming projects include a collaboration with Bryan Smith and the 3rd Agent Orange book with Jason Taverner.
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Displaying 1 - 27 of 27 reviews
January 23, 2021
Ohhhhhhhhh Yeah, Brother! Shut your mouth and know your place. Sit those candy-asses down, grab your popcorn and 3-D glasses, and let’s watch some rasslin’! Wooooooooo!!
I’ve had my eyes on both these authors for a while, but this is the first thing I’ve read by either. And, yes, professional wrestling plays a huge part in this story, so let’s address it first.
It is fake. Sure. The story lines are worked out and everything gets practiced before the show. However, when they go live, anything can go wrong during their antics – it is dangerous and injuries occur regularly. And, before we go on, if you watch a movie or TV show, the people don’t really get killed or injured, either. It’s all in the name of entertainment.
Now, you get two kinds of wrestling fans.
The first appreciates it for the art and athleticism, and sometimes even the storyline.
The second, however, wants to see blood and carnage. And there are wrestlers who caters for their taste. In fact, the term the use in the wrestling world is ‘giving it color’. Yes, some of these guys actually cut themselves with a razor before a show so they can bleed quicker. I don’t understand them or their psyche, because my pain tolerance is low since I was brought up to believe pain is a BAD thing.
Now, while I can respect these guys for doing what they do – willingly – the inevitable question has come up before:
Has it ever gone too far?
Well, ECW had a non-televised show where things did go very wrong – though nobody was killed, it was fairly serious. It became known as “The Mass Transit Incident”: Look it up if you want to know more.
Back to the story –
There will be an underground wrestling show which promises a level of violence never seen before. Naturally, the place was packed.
The main attraction was a wrestler called Crimson Executioner – nobody knew anything about him other than some brutal promo clips.
But, it turns out, this guy is actually there to begin a ritual to open the Gates of Hell. And Pandemonium breaks out when the spectators find themselves trapped inside the venue. To give you a mental image:
Imagine Carly Rae Jepsen doing a song at a Slipknot concert…
Okay, in all honesty, this story felt very much like a testosterone driven horror story, but I will be damned if I didn’t enjoy it.
Let’s get ready to rumbllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeee!
*Originally reviewed at IndieMuse
* https://www.myindiemuse.com/author/mo...
I’ve had my eyes on both these authors for a while, but this is the first thing I’ve read by either. And, yes, professional wrestling plays a huge part in this story, so let’s address it first.
It is fake. Sure. The story lines are worked out and everything gets practiced before the show. However, when they go live, anything can go wrong during their antics – it is dangerous and injuries occur regularly. And, before we go on, if you watch a movie or TV show, the people don’t really get killed or injured, either. It’s all in the name of entertainment.
Now, you get two kinds of wrestling fans.
The first appreciates it for the art and athleticism, and sometimes even the storyline.
The second, however, wants to see blood and carnage. And there are wrestlers who caters for their taste. In fact, the term the use in the wrestling world is ‘giving it color’. Yes, some of these guys actually cut themselves with a razor before a show so they can bleed quicker. I don’t understand them or their psyche, because my pain tolerance is low since I was brought up to believe pain is a BAD thing.
Now, while I can respect these guys for doing what they do – willingly – the inevitable question has come up before:
Has it ever gone too far?
Well, ECW had a non-televised show where things did go very wrong – though nobody was killed, it was fairly serious. It became known as “The Mass Transit Incident”: Look it up if you want to know more.
Back to the story –
There will be an underground wrestling show which promises a level of violence never seen before. Naturally, the place was packed.
The main attraction was a wrestler called Crimson Executioner – nobody knew anything about him other than some brutal promo clips.
But, it turns out, this guy is actually there to begin a ritual to open the Gates of Hell. And Pandemonium breaks out when the spectators find themselves trapped inside the venue. To give you a mental image:
Imagine Carly Rae Jepsen doing a song at a Slipknot concert…
Okay, in all honesty, this story felt very much like a testosterone driven horror story, but I will be damned if I didn’t enjoy it.
Let’s get ready to rumbllllllllllllllleeeeeeeeeeeee!
*Originally reviewed at IndieMuse
* https://www.myindiemuse.com/author/mo...
January 30, 2025
I’ve watched professional wrestling for almost 25 years. It’s the only sport/sports entertainment that I truly enjoy. I like Lucas Mangum, and despite my hesitation on this book, gave it a shot. So the first 25% of the book is a barrage of characters, which get convoluted with wrester’s names, ring aliases, wrestling terms, and some very awkward verbal exchanges. It was very hard to keep track of anyone, and again, I’m saying this as someone who follows the sport. For anyone who does not, they’d be completely lost early on. The next 50% of the book reminded me of From Dusk ‘Til Dawn, when the vampires attacked everyone in the bar. There is a high body count, absolute chaos, and there are creatures all over. Unfortunately, the plot here is totally lost among the gigantic cast of characters that the authors try to balance, and there are a ton more wrestling references stuck in. Even the violence seemed to be breezed over, just to insert more wrestling tidbits. I think back to Adam Howe’s One Tough Bastard, which leaned hard on action movie references, but they didn’t interrupt or blunt the plot points. It was just very well done, but in this story, the wrestling stuff was absolute overkill and did very little to benefit the book. It could have all been toned down a lot, and the plot could have been beefed up, which would have made this an entirely different reading experience. The last portion of the book had a little more focus, but still relied heavily on the survivors getting past the demons and escaping the arena. The ending was also left wide open, which after going through almost 300 pages of a lot of fluff, really frustrated me, too.
February 22, 2021
This was a bloodbath plain and simple. Harding and Mangum teamed to create a story that was just a great time. This book centers around an underground wrestling show. It starts out in a traditional sense, but there's an underlying feeling of dread. Shortly after the show begins, all hell breaks loose (you see what I did there 😉 ). This book has a ton of characters, but each are well defined and individual. Great book and it's easy to see why this was nominated for the 2020 splatterpunk awards.
February 17, 2021
PANDEMONIUM by Lucas Mangum and Ryan Harding is aptly titled. It's packed with killer elements to make for a memorable extreme horror story, namely demons, gore and professional wrestlers. It was written as an homage to both profession wrestling and Italian gore horror films. In that way, PANDEMONIUM succeeds.
The big draw for me going into this book was the promise of an over-the-top body count (somewhere in excess of 200 kills.) It took some time for the bodies to start piling up, but once they do, they pile up faster than a port-o-john at an all-you-can-eat burrito festival. That's where the fun of the book lies. If you're all about the kill scenes in a slasher this is going to be Carnivale for you.
However, I found the body count a bit distracting. You see, I was really into the story happening among the slaughter. And, for me, I found the pre-occupation with filling body bags took away from a great storyline. So as fun as all the killing is, I think it became too much in the thick of the action and a lot of it read like fluff to me.
That's not to say this isn't a memorable extreme horror book, because it is. PANDEMONIUM has gotten plenty of great reception. People love kill scenes and this book plays to that audience in droves. So if that's you, this book is a 5 star masterpiece. For me, it was a good book. 3 stars.
Kill me.
The big draw for me going into this book was the promise of an over-the-top body count (somewhere in excess of 200 kills.) It took some time for the bodies to start piling up, but once they do, they pile up faster than a port-o-john at an all-you-can-eat burrito festival. That's where the fun of the book lies. If you're all about the kill scenes in a slasher this is going to be Carnivale for you.
However, I found the body count a bit distracting. You see, I was really into the story happening among the slaughter. And, for me, I found the pre-occupation with filling body bags took away from a great storyline. So as fun as all the killing is, I think it became too much in the thick of the action and a lot of it read like fluff to me.
That's not to say this isn't a memorable extreme horror book, because it is. PANDEMONIUM has gotten plenty of great reception. People love kill scenes and this book plays to that audience in droves. So if that's you, this book is a 5 star masterpiece. For me, it was a good book. 3 stars.
Kill me.
April 16, 2021
Tickets have been given away to the most popular event in town, The BPHW (Bloody Pit of Horror Wrestling Show). This extreme competition features hardcore wrestling legends along with the mysterious underground sensation The Crimson Executioner. As the show begins, an unnatural menace looms among the contenders as well as the audience. This pending doom leads to a struggle for all participants and attendees to survive an onslaught of pure Hell.
Ryan Harding & Lucas Mangum have cultivated a wrestling stage of nightmares called Pandemonium. This blood frenzy is cranked to eleven as these Splatterpunk authors create an alternative throw down involving soulless spawns of the damned.
Having a select group of people trapped within four walls while evading roaming entities will undoubtedly cause a sensation of claustrophobia for the reader. Balanced with the screams of the infected and the bloody carnage of human flesh, the overall vibe of this book is as devastating as The Flying Abortion...a torturous signature maneuver.
It’s always great to see two of your favorite authors pair up with the anticipation of what has been accomplished between the two. In this case the result is an example of Splatterpunk at its best. Fueled by plenty of satanic energy this unearthly work of fiction grabs relentlessly with dagger-like teeth and never lets go.
Donning luchador masks and capes, these two authors tag-team their way to combining ancient prophecies with modern day wrestling entertainment. So grab your steel chairs, barbed wire, ladders and this 2021 Splatterpunk Award Nominee for Best Novel. You will need them all to survive the night.
Ryan Harding & Lucas Mangum have cultivated a wrestling stage of nightmares called Pandemonium. This blood frenzy is cranked to eleven as these Splatterpunk authors create an alternative throw down involving soulless spawns of the damned.
Having a select group of people trapped within four walls while evading roaming entities will undoubtedly cause a sensation of claustrophobia for the reader. Balanced with the screams of the infected and the bloody carnage of human flesh, the overall vibe of this book is as devastating as The Flying Abortion...a torturous signature maneuver.
It’s always great to see two of your favorite authors pair up with the anticipation of what has been accomplished between the two. In this case the result is an example of Splatterpunk at its best. Fueled by plenty of satanic energy this unearthly work of fiction grabs relentlessly with dagger-like teeth and never lets go.
Donning luchador masks and capes, these two authors tag-team their way to combining ancient prophecies with modern day wrestling entertainment. So grab your steel chairs, barbed wire, ladders and this 2021 Splatterpunk Award Nominee for Best Novel. You will need them all to survive the night.
March 13, 2021
Wow!! Talk about a bloody fun read. This is what would have happened if ECW Era Paul Heyman was allowed to include homicide into the art of Wrestling. And then hiring Dario Argento to be the Head Booker.
This is a story that will resonate both with hardcore wrestling fans, and fans of the depravity of extreme horror and splatter punk. There's a new Federation called BPHW (Bloody Pit of Horror Wrestling) that is about to launch it's first Event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This Event will feature a combination of up and coming Superstars, as well as Legends of the past. However, there is one name that is being tossed around a lot more than anybody else. The Trailers for the BPHW Show features vignettes from somebody known as the Crimson Executioner. Nobody has ever heard of him before, and are completely baffled as to who is under the mask. However, the big budget production of his vignettes where he's beating Luchador Jobbers to pulp look a little bit too real. This is wrestling, right? Everybody knows it's fake!
Except, when the Crimson Executioner actually makes his Debut, the fans start to realize that they need to accept that the carnage that has spilled into the audience is anything but fake. Soon, the fans are all subjected to a battle against demons. And once the demons cut or scratch you, then you join their ranks. These are not like the slow, brainless zombies from Night, Dawn, and Day of the Dead. Or even their faster counterparts such as in 28 days / weeks later. These are monsters with super human strength that won't stop coming for you until their human bodies are completely destroyed.
Once the carnage starts in this one, it doesn't let up till the last paragraph. You will find it hard to tear your eyes away from the pages. Even though the level of depravity detailed here will have you wishing that you could. This is definitely in my Top 5 Books of 2020.
This is a story that will resonate both with hardcore wrestling fans, and fans of the depravity of extreme horror and splatter punk. There's a new Federation called BPHW (Bloody Pit of Horror Wrestling) that is about to launch it's first Event in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. This Event will feature a combination of up and coming Superstars, as well as Legends of the past. However, there is one name that is being tossed around a lot more than anybody else. The Trailers for the BPHW Show features vignettes from somebody known as the Crimson Executioner. Nobody has ever heard of him before, and are completely baffled as to who is under the mask. However, the big budget production of his vignettes where he's beating Luchador Jobbers to pulp look a little bit too real. This is wrestling, right? Everybody knows it's fake!
Except, when the Crimson Executioner actually makes his Debut, the fans start to realize that they need to accept that the carnage that has spilled into the audience is anything but fake. Soon, the fans are all subjected to a battle against demons. And once the demons cut or scratch you, then you join their ranks. These are not like the slow, brainless zombies from Night, Dawn, and Day of the Dead. Or even their faster counterparts such as in 28 days / weeks later. These are monsters with super human strength that won't stop coming for you until their human bodies are completely destroyed.
Once the carnage starts in this one, it doesn't let up till the last paragraph. You will find it hard to tear your eyes away from the pages. Even though the level of depravity detailed here will have you wishing that you could. This is definitely in my Top 5 Books of 2020.
October 11, 2022
Turned from The Wrestler to Nightmare City in the blink of an eye and absolutely loved it for it. Wild book with buckets upon buckets of gore and demons and puke and piss and everything else you need in a good splattepunk. Great unrelenting fun and nothing less than I expect from Ryan Harding. Is my first Lucas Mangum novel and I've added added another two on to the to read list. Highly recommend this one for wrestling fan and gore fans a like.
February 22, 2021
Pandaemonium is the capital of Hell in Milton’s “Paradise Lost,” and pandemonium is currently defined as wild uproar or unrestrained disorder, synonymous with chaos. Given that, Pandemonium is the perfect title for this brutal and gripping novel by Ryan Harding and Lucas Mangum.
Fans of Harding and Mangum know they both are expert at bringing characters to vivid life and weaving tales both enthralling and impactful. In Pandemonium we also have the flawless combining of Mangum’s depth and Harding’s masterful dark humor for a story like no other. This is the book all Extreme Horror fans need.
Extreme Horror is a major keyword here. This story is brutal and violent and graphic in addition to the evocative characters and subplots. And don’t overthink the wrestling aspect. All stories have settings, and being a wrestling fan is not necessary to enjoy Pandemonium. It’s a fun read, a dark and gruesome read, a perfect extreme horror read.
Additional note: Pandemonium is said to be a tribute to Argento’s Demons franchise. I will admit I am not familiar with that. So, if you aren’t familiar with it either, don’t worry about it, the story stands on its own merits.
Fans of Harding and Mangum know they both are expert at bringing characters to vivid life and weaving tales both enthralling and impactful. In Pandemonium we also have the flawless combining of Mangum’s depth and Harding’s masterful dark humor for a story like no other. This is the book all Extreme Horror fans need.
Extreme Horror is a major keyword here. This story is brutal and violent and graphic in addition to the evocative characters and subplots. And don’t overthink the wrestling aspect. All stories have settings, and being a wrestling fan is not necessary to enjoy Pandemonium. It’s a fun read, a dark and gruesome read, a perfect extreme horror read.
Additional note: Pandemonium is said to be a tribute to Argento’s Demons franchise. I will admit I am not familiar with that. So, if you aren’t familiar with it either, don’t worry about it, the story stands on its own merits.
January 20, 2021
A must for fans of extreme horror.....and extreme wrestling!
ECW meets From Dusk Till Dawn meets Demons
What starts off as another night of independent wrestling in the birthplace of extreme turns into a nightmarish night of unspeakable horrors and gore!!! Lucas and Ryan bring the wrestling and the horror! The second half is absolutely insane!
ECW meets From Dusk Till Dawn meets Demons
What starts off as another night of independent wrestling in the birthplace of extreme turns into a nightmarish night of unspeakable horrors and gore!!! Lucas and Ryan bring the wrestling and the horror! The second half is absolutely insane!
June 7, 2022
Review to come.
June 29, 2021
Maybe a four but some of the side stories are hard to follow. This book earns stars for not being afraid to kill off characters. Don’t get too attached. Would have liked to see more of the fight between Heathen and Dresden. The levitating guy didn’t make much sense, did he?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 6, 2021
PanDEMONium 4 Life
Do you like Lambert Bava’s Demons? Do you like pro wrestling? Did you answer yes to either of those questions? Then why are you read my review buy this novel ASAP!!! Ryan and Lucas have crafted an outstanding tribute to Bava’s Demons.
Do you like Lambert Bava’s Demons? Do you like pro wrestling? Did you answer yes to either of those questions? Then why are you read my review buy this novel ASAP!!! Ryan and Lucas have crafted an outstanding tribute to Bava’s Demons.
December 30, 2020
Pure brutal Gore!
Fun,crazy,gory,read. I'm not huge fan of wrestling but with this book you don't need to be. It just kept getting better with each chapter.
Fun,crazy,gory,read. I'm not huge fan of wrestling but with this book you don't need to be. It just kept getting better with each chapter.
July 14, 2022
The best damn book in demonic possession entertainment!
I reviewed this back in 2021 but I did a new review. This is one of a handful of horror titles I am super passionate about, so to whatever little degree I can help, I’m going back to reviews to try and be a better reviewer to get more eyeballs on the works.
This is a fantastic book that jumps off the top rope turnbuckle to deliver a cavalcade of violence to the reader. It has a strong pro wrestling angle. For those who do not necessarily care for wrestling, do not fret. It is the setting and it informs many of the characters, but you can still enjoy it. At least one main character actually does not even want to be at the event.
However, the true ties of this book go to Demons and Demons II, the highly praised 80s Italian horror films. Do you like zombies, but think demons are even better? Those films and this book are basically demonic contagions. I think this genre is not explored enough. The closest you get other than these . . . would be the Evil Dead franchise. Maybe there are others, I haven’t seen stuff like Rec.
In Demons, there is a masked stranger handing out tickets to a movie at a theater. The attendees become trapped inside as one by one they succumb to the demons. In Pandemonium, tickets are being handed out to an underground pro wrestling event. Ryan Harding and Lucas Mangum evolve the formula a bit beyond the movies, but I won’t spoil any surprises. Let’s just say you get some answers to the whys and hows that are not in the movies.
There are many POV characters, but ten times plus the number of character deaths. This is an extreme tale of violence, but it never dwells too long on any specific death in any sort of torture fashion. As the demons begin to spread, people flee to take refuge in futility and hide, while many others begin to band together against the threat and try to escape.
There is a specific POV character that wrestling fans will be able to tell was modeled in the Mick Foley/Jake the Snake hardcore wrestler archetype. He is a fun character. There are other archetypes you’ll recognize.
If you like tales about desperate fights for survival against zombielike threats, buy the dang book!
I would also seriously love a sequel, completely detached just like Demons II to Demons, with a different setting. Get those sales figures up! (A cruise ship would for sure be an awesome setting, maybe crashing into a Bahaman like island! No credit due if such a thing were to occur.).
I reviewed this back in 2021 but I did a new review. This is one of a handful of horror titles I am super passionate about, so to whatever little degree I can help, I’m going back to reviews to try and be a better reviewer to get more eyeballs on the works.
This is a fantastic book that jumps off the top rope turnbuckle to deliver a cavalcade of violence to the reader. It has a strong pro wrestling angle. For those who do not necessarily care for wrestling, do not fret. It is the setting and it informs many of the characters, but you can still enjoy it. At least one main character actually does not even want to be at the event.
However, the true ties of this book go to Demons and Demons II, the highly praised 80s Italian horror films. Do you like zombies, but think demons are even better? Those films and this book are basically demonic contagions. I think this genre is not explored enough. The closest you get other than these . . . would be the Evil Dead franchise. Maybe there are others, I haven’t seen stuff like Rec.
In Demons, there is a masked stranger handing out tickets to a movie at a theater. The attendees become trapped inside as one by one they succumb to the demons. In Pandemonium, tickets are being handed out to an underground pro wrestling event. Ryan Harding and Lucas Mangum evolve the formula a bit beyond the movies, but I won’t spoil any surprises. Let’s just say you get some answers to the whys and hows that are not in the movies.
There are many POV characters, but ten times plus the number of character deaths. This is an extreme tale of violence, but it never dwells too long on any specific death in any sort of torture fashion. As the demons begin to spread, people flee to take refuge in futility and hide, while many others begin to band together against the threat and try to escape.
There is a specific POV character that wrestling fans will be able to tell was modeled in the Mick Foley/Jake the Snake hardcore wrestler archetype. He is a fun character. There are other archetypes you’ll recognize.
If you like tales about desperate fights for survival against zombielike threats, buy the dang book!
I would also seriously love a sequel, completely detached just like Demons II to Demons, with a different setting. Get those sales figures up! (A cruise ship would for sure be an awesome setting, maybe crashing into a Bahaman like island! No credit due if such a thing were to occur.).
January 31, 2023
Lamberto Bava's "Demons" movies (particularly the first) are pure awesome 80's horror. It melds body horror, slasher, supernatural, possession and probably a dozen other horror subgenres together with a heaping helping of grue. There are good, creepy moments along with fun crowd-pleasing moments and good old-fashioned dark humor.
Professional wrestling, at it's best is a soap opera being carried out by some of the most well trained physical specimens. Characters are over-the-top and scenarios aren't far behind. It also is built on crowd-pleasing moments and humor.
It's kind of amazing that it took this long to meld the two together, but credit to Ryan Harding and Lucas Magnum for doing so. I am unfamiliar with the works of Lucas Magnum, but I've read a few of Ryan Harding's books, so I had an idea of what was coming. And it was all that I expected.
If you're a fan of Italian splatter movies and 'rassling, run, don't walk, to get this book. It melds the two seamlessly. Granted, a good knowledge of Demons may cause you to see some of the plot arcs coming from a distance, but I don't think this is the kind of book that necessarily relies on the story alone to entertain.
Oooooooooooh Yeeeeeeeeeaa
Professional wrestling, at it's best is a soap opera being carried out by some of the most well trained physical specimens. Characters are over-the-top and scenarios aren't far behind. It also is built on crowd-pleasing moments and humor.
It's kind of amazing that it took this long to meld the two together, but credit to Ryan Harding and Lucas Magnum for doing so. I am unfamiliar with the works of Lucas Magnum, but I've read a few of Ryan Harding's books, so I had an idea of what was coming. And it was all that I expected.
If you're a fan of Italian splatter movies and 'rassling, run, don't walk, to get this book. It melds the two seamlessly. Granted, a good knowledge of Demons may cause you to see some of the plot arcs coming from a distance, but I don't think this is the kind of book that necessarily relies on the story alone to entertain.
Oooooooooooh Yeeeeeeeeeaa
April 23, 2025
I mostly really enjoyed this unholy amalgam of pro wrestling and demon horror ala the Italian "Demons" film franchise. I think I enjoyed the first half of the book more than the second. The build up and mounting tension was more enjoyable to me than the eventual demon outbreak and ensuing slaughter. The action gets a little repetitive here and there after awhile. That said, the writing is high quality and I liked some of the characters. Not sure why it is an extreme horror trope to fill your books with extremely unlikable people, but Harding and Mangum do that here. The characters that are likable are quite likable though, so its not like every single character in the book is a scumbag. My only other criticism is that some of the attempts at humor in the book were a little edgelordy for my tastes. Look up pictures of Harding and Mangum, they don't exactly look like the hippest, coolest guys in the world. They look about as cool at Mitch McConnell cosplaying as Steve Urkel. See, guys, doesn't feel very nice, does it?
Overall, though, this book was pretty awesome and I tore through it. Recommended for hardcore horror and hardcore wrestling fans.
Overall, though, this book was pretty awesome and I tore through it. Recommended for hardcore horror and hardcore wrestling fans.
July 2, 2022
Hmmm. Harding and Mangum and that cover.
Me: I wonder how frickin’ crazy this is going to get?
Me after finishing it: Daaaanngg…
Free tix to the Bloody Pit of Horror Wrestling extravaganza. Nice!! Let’s go!! It will be fun. Just a good ole time fake and fun wrasslin match. It’s not like it’s a bloody sacrificial maelstrom waiting to explode with viscera or something. Or is it?
It is.
It is also very good. I enjoyed every bit of it. There were some of the best puke inducing, depraved and descriptive lines in here that had me rolling. Entertaining and very bloody. Just what I was hoping it would be.
Me: I wonder how frickin’ crazy this is going to get?
Me after finishing it: Daaaanngg…
Free tix to the Bloody Pit of Horror Wrestling extravaganza. Nice!! Let’s go!! It will be fun. Just a good ole time fake and fun wrasslin match. It’s not like it’s a bloody sacrificial maelstrom waiting to explode with viscera or something. Or is it?
It is.
It is also very good. I enjoyed every bit of it. There were some of the best puke inducing, depraved and descriptive lines in here that had me rolling. Entertaining and very bloody. Just what I was hoping it would be.
May 4, 2023
I’m not into wrestling of any kind. But the cover to this intrigued me and it’s a Death’s Head Press book. It was entertaining in a massacre kind of way. The characters are exactly how wrestling friends act. The demonic wrestler was a terror of sorts and just reading about the location was terrifying. But that wrestler in the bar was awesome. Also, the constant groupie sex was something I was not prepared for but it fit in so damn good.
September 1, 2024
I loved this crazy blood soaked wrestling book.
You really get the feel that this little indie show has something odd about it from the way they gave away tickets and from the way the promoted the main event, The Crimson Executioner. I highly enjoyed how you followed all the action from the different people that were present, from the wrestlers, to the fans, to event the staff working the show.
If you love horror and you love wrestling, this is one you do not want to miss.
You really get the feel that this little indie show has something odd about it from the way they gave away tickets and from the way the promoted the main event, The Crimson Executioner. I highly enjoyed how you followed all the action from the different people that were present, from the wrestlers, to the fans, to event the staff working the show.
If you love horror and you love wrestling, this is one you do not want to miss.
April 2, 2025
Imagine Argento's Demons set at a professional wrestling show and you've got Pandemonium by Ryan Harding and Lucas Mangum. The book is a barn burner, with demons squaring off against wrestlers and fans in a gory slobberknocker. Crimson masks all around.
August 8, 2021
A fun read.
June 5, 2022
Blatantly set up for a sequel.
October 25, 2022
Definitely made me want to watch Demons again.
March 26, 2024
If you like professional wrestling and blood and gore then this is the book for you. Pandemonium is a fun read with non-stop action.
3.5 💀
3.5 💀
October 19, 2024
Demons meets ECW 💜
September 25, 2025
Full of great Italian horror movie references and very cool crossover with the world of professional wrestling. Gory Lovecraftian fun!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 10, 2022
Harding and Magnum's Pandemonium is an extreme and brutal royal rumble written as a spiritual sequel to Lamberto Bava's Demons. Boasting an impressive body count, Pandemonium is one hell of a fun splatterpunk smackdown special. Equal parts The Wrestler and Italian splatterfest, Bloody Pit of Horror Wrestling's the hottest ticket in town; pity the audience doesn't know there's a fair bit of audience participation planned, giving an all-new meaning to Hell in a Cell.
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