What do you think?
Rate this book
Itch: Extreme Horror
It’s an infection. It starts with a rash. Then you change.
Something has come from the farms. Something … contagious. And in all her years of watching horror films, Janie has never seen the infected act like these do. These infected are acting like no one had ever seen.
And everyone has caught it.
These aren’t zombies. They are something much, much more violent.
Full of vile acts of assault, heads disgorging brains, obscene acts with rolling pins, and death by garden gnome, Itch is certainly not for the weak of heart, or feeble of stomach.
Itch is an extreme horror novella, painted with the blackest of humour. Consider this a trigger warning for just about everything.
Something has come from the farms. Something … contagious. And in all her years of watching horror films, Janie has never seen the infected act like these do. These infected are acting like no one had ever seen.
And everyone has caught it.
These aren’t zombies. They are something much, much more violent.
Full of vile acts of assault, heads disgorging brains, obscene acts with rolling pins, and death by garden gnome, Itch is certainly not for the weak of heart, or feeble of stomach.
Itch is an extreme horror novella, painted with the blackest of humour. Consider this a trigger warning for just about everything.
- GenresHorror
89 pages, Paperback
Published August 26, 2022
33 people are currently reading
171 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
July 1, 2025
Hi everyone. My list for spooky season (it's almost always spooky season for me all the time anyways) has been over-compiled and all that's left to do is get diving into it. I'm going to lean towards the supernatural, post-apocalyptic, splatterpunk, body and extreme horror sub-genre so here's to hoping it's going to be as an enjoyable ride to my fellow reviewers and readers of reviews alike.
I'm starting with a bang instead of a whimper (staying in tune with the universe and all...) and so my first read is from the mind of the funny, brutal, and hilarious Mr. Ash Ericmore, titled Itch that describes a superb and intensely atmospheric alternating slow/fast unraveling of society from a viral (a wild 'itch' indeed!) outbreak with all the necessary humor, violence, gore, and savagery expected from him.
Here's a quote:
N.B:
-- I do wish his novellas would be proofread better, thereby eliminating a few typos, kinda subtracts from my reading experience.
2022 Read
I'm starting with a bang instead of a whimper (staying in tune with the universe and all...) and so my first read is from the mind of the funny, brutal, and hilarious Mr. Ash Ericmore, titled Itch that describes a superb and intensely atmospheric alternating slow/fast unraveling of society from a viral (a wild 'itch' indeed!) outbreak with all the necessary humor, violence, gore, and savagery expected from him.
Here's a quote:
He came at her.Good writing and world-building; short and fast paced, savage and sick, with very bleak humor and a heavy sense of the macabre. "Voracious acts of carnality",... everything an Extreme needs really. I'd highly recommend this.
“Well fuck you, too,” she said. She jabbed the concrete pointy hat of the garden gnome into his gut, pushing him backwards. He staggered back, away from her, tangling on the bushes. She took her opportunity and raised the gnome up, over her head and slammed it down on his skull. The thud was disappointingly dull, but his head gave in more than the tiny statue did. He stopped moving, and for the first time his hard-on wavered. He looked at her, the anger gone, replaced with apathetic benevolence. Maybe he was thankful? She staggered away from him, his head seeming to want to hold onto the gnome, and she let it go, falling backwards onto her rump, her skirt riding up to her waist.
He reached up and touched the concrete ornament, impaled into his brain. His fingers felt around it as his brain matter slooped out of the side of the hole, and down, onto his jaw line. Viscous clear liquid was joining it, and a fair amount of blood. The geyser in his trouser region was lessening though, and it looked like he might stop. He dropped, arse first into a rose bush on the other side of the path, when the front door of the house opened and an elderly gentleman in a beige cardy stood there. He looked at the mushed up man in his rose bush whose brains were everywhere, and then to Janie, whose vagina was displayed directly at him.
He shook his head. “What’s the world coming to?” he said, and turned back into the house, closing the door.
N.B:
-- I do wish his novellas would be proofread better, thereby eliminating a few typos, kinda subtracts from my reading experience.
2022 Read
April 6, 2021
ITCH is the first novella I’ve read by author Ash Ericmore. Even though he is fairly new on the extreme horror scene, he seems to be a busy guy, releasing novellas less than a month apart.
In this story, there is an infection – nobody knows where it comes from and nobody knows how to stop it. Once you get the rash, you are pretty much done for. It doesn’t turn you into a zombie, but you become some kind of animalistic sex fiend, who screws anything and everything until you die.
We follow Janie (not the ‘Janie’s got a gun’ girl, because they don’t allow guns in Britain, so it would just be damn unlikely), a young girl in an unhappy, abusive relationship. Where can she go? What can she do? Will she survive?
My thoughts...
I think there are a lot of people who’ve had their fill of zombie stories – I should mention that I went into this one blind. And while this is not technically a zombie story, it follows the same recipe – infection, loss of control, violence, death.
I get the feeling this author will be very much like Jon Athan for me, who is hit and miss. The quantity over quality system is not something I am fond of – as a reader, when I feel I have wasted my time, I become very reluctant to stick with an author. There are just too many books worth reading to get bogged down with a ‘maybe’.
Something else about this system that rubs me the wrong way is the polishing of a story. Some people will feel an editing mistake here and there is not the end of the world. But, if you want to be taken seriously and sell a product to people, you need to be professional. I can forgive something small like using the word ‘new’ instead of ‘news’, but when you swop the names of two characters in a scene, it feels sloppy.
The author also gives away the twist at the end – there is something the main character does close to the beginning of the story which tells the reader what’s going on: Just because she doesn’t know, it isn’t hidden from the audience.
The thing this author does right is to get covers for his stories which draws attention. Whether you judge a book by its cover or not, when it catches your eye you will most likely read the blurb, at the very least.
The final thing I want to touch on is marketing this story as ‘painted with the blackest of humor’ was misleading. Most of the humor fell flat for me because it felt somewhat juvenile. There was only one thing that made me chuckle – the implication of what she was about to do was funnier than when she said it.
Having said all of that, and in all fairness to the author, I might be a little overly critical and, therefore, am not willing to write off this author just yet.
As luck would have it, the book I read right before this one had a very similar theme (infection, end of the world, etc.) and I found it impossible not to compare the two stories. While this one had an inferior story, the ending would have been better if I hadn’t figured it out so early, which left me very disappointed.
I will give this author another go – after reading the blurb this time – and figure out if I was too hard on him or not.
*Originally reviewed at IndieMuse
* https://www.myindiemuse.com/author/mo...
In this story, there is an infection – nobody knows where it comes from and nobody knows how to stop it. Once you get the rash, you are pretty much done for. It doesn’t turn you into a zombie, but you become some kind of animalistic sex fiend, who screws anything and everything until you die.
We follow Janie (not the ‘Janie’s got a gun’ girl, because they don’t allow guns in Britain, so it would just be damn unlikely), a young girl in an unhappy, abusive relationship. Where can she go? What can she do? Will she survive?
My thoughts...
I think there are a lot of people who’ve had their fill of zombie stories – I should mention that I went into this one blind. And while this is not technically a zombie story, it follows the same recipe – infection, loss of control, violence, death.
I get the feeling this author will be very much like Jon Athan for me, who is hit and miss. The quantity over quality system is not something I am fond of – as a reader, when I feel I have wasted my time, I become very reluctant to stick with an author. There are just too many books worth reading to get bogged down with a ‘maybe’.
Something else about this system that rubs me the wrong way is the polishing of a story. Some people will feel an editing mistake here and there is not the end of the world. But, if you want to be taken seriously and sell a product to people, you need to be professional. I can forgive something small like using the word ‘new’ instead of ‘news’, but when you swop the names of two characters in a scene, it feels sloppy.
The author also gives away the twist at the end – there is something the main character does close to the beginning of the story which tells the reader what’s going on: Just because she doesn’t know, it isn’t hidden from the audience.
The thing this author does right is to get covers for his stories which draws attention. Whether you judge a book by its cover or not, when it catches your eye you will most likely read the blurb, at the very least.
The final thing I want to touch on is marketing this story as ‘painted with the blackest of humor’ was misleading. Most of the humor fell flat for me because it felt somewhat juvenile. There was only one thing that made me chuckle – the implication of what she was about to do was funnier than when she said it.
Having said all of that, and in all fairness to the author, I might be a little overly critical and, therefore, am not willing to write off this author just yet.
As luck would have it, the book I read right before this one had a very similar theme (infection, end of the world, etc.) and I found it impossible not to compare the two stories. While this one had an inferior story, the ending would have been better if I hadn’t figured it out so early, which left me very disappointed.
I will give this author another go – after reading the blurb this time – and figure out if I was too hard on him or not.
*Originally reviewed at IndieMuse
* https://www.myindiemuse.com/author/mo...
August 15, 2021
An infection breaks out, giving people rashes and turning them into horny sex fiends that go at it until death do they part (or not part in some cases). Then comes quick rotting of putrid bodies. Some people are immune to this disease. The twist was no surprise to me as there are clues thrown up ...er, in. This is a gory and quick read for those who enjoy the zombie genre.
November 8, 2025
This had a really good opening portion with our lead, Janie. Some good introductory aspects to her character and her state of mind, ahead of the impending horror. It was after that where the story really lost me. The zombie content was all standard fare, but still good, except for the fact that they were raping each other and whatnot. Just like a ton of unnecessary sexual content, which was basically the primary focus. And it did nothing but make the story feel very disconnected from its horror aspects. It didn’t totally dive into splatterpunk territory, but just danced along that line. Ash Ericmore needed to take the full plunge or remove 90% of the sexual situations and just make this just a gritty, gory zombie story. The way it was, it all just felt like an excuse to write about sex, hiding it behind a very basic and overdone horror premise. The ending was also on par with the rest of the book, leaving me very underwhelmed. The quality of the writing was the highlight, but the content was just very mediocre for me on several levels.
October 31, 2023
There must also be other people—women—around here. The fucking estate was a baby factory. There must be survivors. Ones that didn’t get killed by the infected. She went back to the bedroom and continued to pack her things. It looked like she was going to have to learn how to drive a bus.
April 12, 2021
Zombies!!
Nice little twist on your average blood thirsty zombies.. Short and full of gore just how I like my Ericmore books.
Nice little twist on your average blood thirsty zombies.. Short and full of gore just how I like my Ericmore books.
October 10, 2021
I fucking love zombies....or should that be, I love zombies fucking?? 🧟♀️🖤
A fab twist on the zombie trope, sometimes you just gotta scratch that, pustule filled, weeping, rash covered itch!!!
Ash is fast becoming one of my fave authors!
This was gross, fast-paced, and horrific, with some dark humour splattered about! Brilliant fun!!
🧟♀️🧟♀️🧟♀️🧟♀️
A fab twist on the zombie trope, sometimes you just gotta scratch that, pustule filled, weeping, rash covered itch!!!
Ash is fast becoming one of my fave authors!
This was gross, fast-paced, and horrific, with some dark humour splattered about! Brilliant fun!!
🧟♀️🧟♀️🧟♀️🧟♀️
August 7, 2022
Sex-zombies? Seriously? Is this extreme horror? To me was just describing pustules, blood, sex and violence just to shock the reader. There's no plot, just zombies having sex with everyone and anything.
March 26, 2023
When you catch it you won’t be able to stop.. fucking.. madly fucking… and then you die.
Sex Zombies.
Sex Zombies.
October 2, 2023
One word: NO. I have no clue who recommended this to me, but I need to know so I can doubt anything you ever suggest again. It’s spooky season. Why not read some “extreme horror?” Ugh. This was straight trash. This is a British Novella. And it was like a bad accident… once I started, though already offended in page 1, I could not look away.
It doesn’t matter what this is about. It was awful. Basically, an infectious disease spreads through England. It turns everyone into a sex zombie. Seriously. That is what they are called. Yuck, vulgar, yuck. This was not for me at all. I have never been so glad to finish and delete something from my kindle!
Now… on to something else that has to be better for spooky season.
It doesn’t matter what this is about. It was awful. Basically, an infectious disease spreads through England. It turns everyone into a sex zombie. Seriously. That is what they are called. Yuck, vulgar, yuck. This was not for me at all. I have never been so glad to finish and delete something from my kindle!
Now… on to something else that has to be better for spooky season.
Read
May 3, 2024I thought this was going to be nasty and gory. Although it was kinda gross, it made me laugh more than anything.
August 20, 2024
2.75 ⭐️
Rounded this up to 3 stars because I really couldn’t decide.
The first few pages were riddled with mistakes and felt like they have been written by someone who was very very new at writing.
However, given how small the book was, I pushed through it and ended up enjoying some parts of it.
The gore was good, disgusting and well described. I even enjoyed the stupid concept and the little twist at the end.
I’d give this author another go.
Rounded this up to 3 stars because I really couldn’t decide.
The first few pages were riddled with mistakes and felt like they have been written by someone who was very very new at writing.
However, given how small the book was, I pushed through it and ended up enjoying some parts of it.
The gore was good, disgusting and well described. I even enjoyed the stupid concept and the little twist at the end.
I’d give this author another go.
December 11, 2022
A gory, bloody, carnal sex filled tale of survival!! 4/5 itchy skulls 💀
May 18, 2024
I don’t know what I just read. At all.
September 1, 2024
What in the s3x zombies did I just read?! This was hilarious and gory. Read in one sitting
September 11, 2024
LMAO
This was a 69 pages sex-joke 🤣 A bit immature, sure but it made me laugh
This was a 69 pages sex-joke 🤣 A bit immature, sure but it made me laugh
June 8, 2022
3 ⭐
Definitely an interesting take on a zombie story - the zombies have sex instead of 'attacking people' this was kind of a cool concept. I want more zombie books!
Definitely an interesting take on a zombie story - the zombies have sex instead of 'attacking people' this was kind of a cool concept. I want more zombie books!
December 27, 2024
Interesting take on the zombie genre. I just felt overall it was a bit rushed and needed fleshing out a bit, with a bit more backstory on the virus itself, like where it came from or what caused it. Also some of the writing style was a bit jarring. Love the cover though.
March 7, 2022
Even if you don’t know it yet the unaffected … we are all pregnant.”
Janie is trapped long before the infections leaked their ways from the farmlands. Trapped in a horrific relationship that only knows two cycle; sex and abuse. Bobby seemed so sweet on her in the begining, but things rather quickly changed as the only time he touched her was for a sexual need to be satisfied or as an object to vent his frustrations physically upon. It was started out to be just another day, after he had sex with her and left to play video games when the strangest thing happened to her. Happening to glance outside the window as a man stumbled across the street before being struck by a car. In a terrified frenzy she races to the accident to be horrified by the disfigurement and the man's obsessive need to self pleasure. As her world begins to fall apart she takes shelter at the Pub, owned by couple Donnie and Diane. Yet they refused to listen to the nightmares taking form as Donnie is attacked and killed by one of the infected. It didn't take long for his wife to also fall victim to the virus. With hours behind her, she catches a broadcast explaining why she wasn't infected. She was pregnant, something that horrified her completely.
“There’s something rotten in the town today,” Roger said. “You mark my words.” He stood up and went to the door. “You mark my words,” he repeated, leaving.
Janie is trapped long before the infections leaked their ways from the farmlands. Trapped in a horrific relationship that only knows two cycle; sex and abuse. Bobby seemed so sweet on her in the begining, but things rather quickly changed as the only time he touched her was for a sexual need to be satisfied or as an object to vent his frustrations physically upon. It was started out to be just another day, after he had sex with her and left to play video games when the strangest thing happened to her. Happening to glance outside the window as a man stumbled across the street before being struck by a car. In a terrified frenzy she races to the accident to be horrified by the disfigurement and the man's obsessive need to self pleasure. As her world begins to fall apart she takes shelter at the Pub, owned by couple Donnie and Diane. Yet they refused to listen to the nightmares taking form as Donnie is attacked and killed by one of the infected. It didn't take long for his wife to also fall victim to the virus. With hours behind her, she catches a broadcast explaining why she wasn't infected. She was pregnant, something that horrified her completely.
“There’s something rotten in the town today,” Roger said. “You mark my words.” He stood up and went to the door. “You mark my words,” he repeated, leaving.
September 6, 2021
Itch is a carnal twist on your classic zombie apocalypse story. A rash begins to appear on everyone’s skin that quickly turns them into sex crazed monsters who will stop at nothing to scratch that itch, including murder. We follow Janie, a young woman dealing with an abusive relationship, and her attempts to escape her small town unscathed when the infection begins spreading.
I loved the premise of this short novella, and found that generally it was well written despite it being so short. There were a few editing issues in the copy I read which put me off slightly, and I found the ending to be somewhat predictable despite the fact that it feels like it was written to be a grand reveal.
Ericmore is a hit and miss author, but overall I enjoyed this. It wasn’t as gruesome as I think it could have been and I wish it had been a little busier, in terms of Janie’s reactions and how quickly she seemed to be okay with the idea of these monsters, but it was good.
I loved the premise of this short novella, and found that generally it was well written despite it being so short. There were a few editing issues in the copy I read which put me off slightly, and I found the ending to be somewhat predictable despite the fact that it feels like it was written to be a grand reveal.
Ericmore is a hit and miss author, but overall I enjoyed this. It wasn’t as gruesome as I think it could have been and I wish it had been a little busier, in terms of Janie’s reactions and how quickly she seemed to be okay with the idea of these monsters, but it was good.
July 18, 2024
So this one is okay for beginners of the genre, however the twist was expected, it was funny at times, there are a few redeeming qualities with this one. It was funny at times, it was a short read, the cover is amazing and it's a good starter for beginners because in my opinion it isn't too graphic. However, I wasn't too fond of this one. I give it a 2.5/5 stars ⭐ ⭐. I will give Ash Ericmore another try down the line, Tatters seems interesting to me. I guess this one was just not for me, but if you like zombie type stories and you like erotic romance type stuff then this is for you.
September 21, 2021
Ha! This is the kind of itch some of use love to scratch.
First Ash Ericmore book and I really enjoyed it.
I love zombie reads but Ash took this too another level. These are not your ordinary zombies, they are zombies with a certain kind of itch that needs to be scratched.
Only issue is I wish it were longer or wish it were a series so we could get different peoples perspective of when the itch hit.
First Ash Ericmore book and I really enjoyed it.
I love zombie reads but Ash took this too another level. These are not your ordinary zombies, they are zombies with a certain kind of itch that needs to be scratched.
Only issue is I wish it were longer or wish it were a series so we could get different peoples perspective of when the itch hit.
November 12, 2024
Book Review:
Rating - 3🌟
So I ordered a couple of books off of Amazon just because I wanted a couple of horrors for the month. This was one of them.
I read the blurb of this book and expected something strange but not this.
I don’t even have any words.
Just imagine a plague of sex zombies.
That’s it.
That’s all I have to say on it.
It’s a good read if you want a quick and easy horror, but it’s definitely strange.
Rating - 3🌟
So I ordered a couple of books off of Amazon just because I wanted a couple of horrors for the month. This was one of them.
I read the blurb of this book and expected something strange but not this.
I don’t even have any words.
Just imagine a plague of sex zombies.
That’s it.
That’s all I have to say on it.
It’s a good read if you want a quick and easy horror, but it’s definitely strange.
August 31, 2025
“Stop with the Fuckening”
I found this absolutely hilarious and probably not in the way the author intended 🤣
I don’t know what was extreme about it other than the gore - which I just found comical tbh
If you take a shot every time the word “fuck” is used you’ll probably pass out within the first chapter
Wasn’t a literary masterpiece but provided an hour or so of entertainment
Ending was underwhelming and foreshadowed very early on so no twist per se
I found this absolutely hilarious and probably not in the way the author intended 🤣
I don’t know what was extreme about it other than the gore - which I just found comical tbh
If you take a shot every time the word “fuck” is used you’ll probably pass out within the first chapter
Wasn’t a literary masterpiece but provided an hour or so of entertainment
Ending was underwhelming and foreshadowed very early on so no twist per se
November 2, 2025
Summary: First the rash. Then the change.
Something’s spreading from the farms.
Not zombies - something far more violent.
Itch: brutal, filthy, and not for the weak of heart (or stomach).
Review: Short. Sick. Brilliant.
Itch is about 90 pages of pure extreme horror chaos - disgusting, weird, and impossible to put down.
If you’ve been struggling to finish a full novel, this is the perfect quick, nasty read to get you back into it.
Question: What's your favourite extreme horror?
Something’s spreading from the farms.
Not zombies - something far more violent.
Itch: brutal, filthy, and not for the weak of heart (or stomach).
Review: Short. Sick. Brilliant.
Itch is about 90 pages of pure extreme horror chaos - disgusting, weird, and impossible to put down.
If you’ve been struggling to finish a full novel, this is the perfect quick, nasty read to get you back into it.
Question: What's your favourite extreme horror?
January 7, 2024
This was utter garbage. The characters appear to have no serious reactions to what was going on around them and the book doesn't even succeed in being extreme imo - I've read Ericmore's Cult which had some remnants of a story and you cared about the main character but there's no redeeming qualities about this book other than the Shaun of the Dead references
February 21, 2025
For what it is, this short story sex zombie tale was fast paced and actioned packed and honestly felt like it ended to abruptly I’d love more of this story to see what happened when Janie gets to London or if she does. I guessed the ending but the author made that quite easy for the reader. It was written well and I would read more of their work!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 24, 2025
This novella takes us into crazy town when an infection runs rampant across the country. Our fmc has to fight for survival among the crazed. Its an interesting take on an epidemic one that takes the usual direction of these kinds and turns it on its head. If you like things a bit disgusting and different this is great for you.
October 11, 2021
(Sex) Zombie apocalypse
This was a different twist on a zombie outbreak. Instead of eating brains the infected craved sex. It was different and quite entertaining.
If sex acts and rapes affend you, then this book is not for you.
This was a different twist on a zombie outbreak. Instead of eating brains the infected craved sex. It was different and quite entertaining.
If sex acts and rapes affend you, then this book is not for you.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews