I Saw Satan at the 7-Eleven

by Christopher Brett Bailey

Fear and Loathing meets South Park in a screwball horror novella. Part romance, part buddy comedy, part body horror, I Saw Satan At The 7-Eleven is a dark-as-night tale from a phenomenal new name in literary fiction.

Two miles north of Hell, a nameless deadbeat narrator spots Satan buying soy milk at the 7-Eleven. Satan's a washed-up has-been, who's totally lost his edge. That is until he falls in love with our narrator, and the two embark on a debauched misadventure, by turns slapstick, violent, whimsical, dreamlike and tender.

Genres: Horror, Fiction, Fantasy

136 pages, Paperback

Published April 4, 2023

Reviews

[Brittany (whatbritreads) · Rating 1 out of 5]

*Thank you to the publisher for sending me a copy of this book!*

Ahhh. I really wanted to like this one but unfortunately none of it clicked for me at all. I thought the title, cover, and synopsis were really fun and I’d have a good time but it just didn’t click for me. I think half of the problem was I didn’t really ‘get’ it?

Starting with the positives it was very short so I was able to read it in a single sitting very comfortably. I really liked how fast paced it was and the overall idea is pretty wacky and fun. I do think some of the humour was a little funny, but to me the majority just didn’t click with me at all. I actually thought the author was American but it turns out he’s Canadian which is close enough for me to understand why the humour wasn’t my forte. It was just a little cringe and if you like silly slapstick this is probably definitely the book for you, just not for me unfortunately.

Every sentence in the book. Was sort of written. Like this. And when you use that many. Short sentences. They kind of lose their impact. It felt pretty averagely written but the pacing did feel a bit clunky because of the writing style, and the dialogue was a bit bizarre. It was quite hard to follow at times who was speaking and what was really happening. It very much feels like a weird fever dream and if you’re into gross weird random novellas this is for you but I am definitely not the intended audience.

I don’t know how else to articulate it, but this definitely felt like a men’s kind of book. It seemed to just have random gross happenings just for the sake of shock value and to be gross, rather than to serve the story at all. No plot just vibes almost. There was the random gay subplot which was a lovely surprise but I just wasn’t feeling it.

So sad about this, the cover is stunning and the title is very fun.

[De Queer Boekenkast -Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an awesome ride from start to finish. The humor clicked with me. And past-teenage me would not forgive present-day me for not giving any book that has sexual outbursts with the devil 5 stars. So here you go!

[Anna · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most unhinged book I’ve ever read it was really refreshing . Slay 👹💅

[Lori · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was absolutely gonzo! A quick, fun romp in which our protagonist accepts a ride in Satan's little red Corvette and ends up having the worst, and best, time of his life. Prepare for insane amounts of alcohol, violence, sexual deviance, and yes, Satan's firey ejaculate.

It reads like lightning and will likely melt your face off.
4 sulfur smelling stars!

[Balthazarinblue · Rating 2 out of 5]

dnf @ 25 pages

What an abysmal waste of a great title. This reads like a rambling reddit comment and is as exactly as funny as that.

[Tyler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Exceptional? No. Absurd, horrorific, twisted? Yes. Unexpectedly comforting and interesting exploration of one's character? Also yes.

It's essentially a story of some doe eyed innocent nobody falling for the edgy glorywhore asshole with a soft spot and they fall for each other. But with a cup of absurdism and detailing much more graphic than your average Colleen Hoover. Bailey is a master at making ridiculous connections as he describes scenes in the most fucked up way possible. Creating so much mahem and uncomfortable situations from something simple, it really is an uncommon talent. And this novel relies entirely on that, its a performance of sorts as he takes absurdism to the brink while also having a bit of an exploration of the characters of the town, including Satan. The exploration of character is shallow, never really going much further than one or two points for each character in the short novella with no noticable connection.

Bailey explores the draw of the disturbed, the intensity and power that people find so attractive, even with the insane fucked upness that comes with it. The desire to have a real connection with someone, anyone, even the devil, someone who's sins outnumber yours and you won't be judged, but also bringing the consequences of being around someone with no moral bounds.

[Melissa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Absolute weirdest (grossest, most uncomfortable) book I’ve (ever??) read but I weirdly enjoyed it?

[Isobel Southgate · Rating 3 out of 5]

so weird but silly and gooofy

[Max · Rating 2 out of 5]

I don’t even know where to start… not what I was excepting at all. It was a wild ride for sure.

[leila · Rating 5 out of 5]

read in one sitting, absolutely nuts, loved loved loved. not for those who arent into body horror

[Florence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ginsberg and Brautigan go to see The Book of Mormon, then play cards against humanity in the grottiest dive bar this side of hell, and this book is born…

[Duncan · Rating 3 out of 5]

It start off well, very funny, and very quotable. My favourite line coming in on the 6th page.
'I want to tell him to go to hell. So instead, I just say, you know, I just say, 'Go home.''

But it's not funny enough for 130 pages. Every paragraph is made out to have this quirky quotable line that's oh-so-outrageous, and what's funny at first becomes monotonous. The jokes feel less new and more tired. The first half had this thoughtfulness into the jokes that just insn't there in the second half.

By 90 pages in, everything still feels the same and you're wondering why the books still going on if it's not making a point to anything or actually going anywhere.

I'd forgive this if it read well, but I don't think it does by the second half. Because every paragraph has to be quirky and contrarian, your brain just becomes soup at some point. It's not thoughtfully contrarian, or thought provoking. It's thoughtless, and I switched off. Like the book didn't want me to care about it.

But I do care about it! because it started off so interesting and funny and promised so much from those first pages. So someone else might find something here that I didn't.

It feels fin de siecle and judgemental and coded in that cynical way. From plastic surgery to caring about issues. The story is framed as the writer's perspective, or from satan's perspective, both bad people. So it's not like their cynacism is good. The problem was just that it became so cynical and mindless I wasn't sure if the book wanted me to be reading it at all.

Just to agree that the writer-pov's cynacism was bad? I guess??

[Guilherme J P · Rating 1 out of 5]

I bought this book because I saw someone reading it on the subway and the title made me curious. Unfortunately, the story is not nearly as well crafted as the title itself.

The story reads like one of the thousands of half-baked stories one might find on forums dedicated to aspiring writers: full of absurd imagery for the sake of it, bad attempts at humor and uninteresting characters.

I cannot think of any kind of audience that I could recommend this book to.

[Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hilarious, absurd, truthful. There’s a Gory elegance to the whole book, it’s brilliantly funny and vivid. I found it refreshing to read something that battles all the ins and outs of morality that is also, in my mind, kind to the reader in many ways, and brutal in others. Be warned; there is an SA scene; despite being hard to read still felt honest. A spattering of clunky description, but in my opinion it only added to the world I got to experience, would 100% recommend!

[Jack Thackwell · Rating 3 out of 5]

Love the cover.

The beginning was fun in a sort of surreal way. I like a bit of transgressive fiction and the dynamic between satan and the main character. I wish it had been a little more extreme, this felt a bit like a half measure but the idea of sleeping with a washed up version of satan in a cheap motel, that’s fun.

Unfortunately I thought it fell apart in the last quarter. It was still fun but the idea of becoming the devil/death after the previous one dies is a little overdone.

[LLG · Rating 2 out of 5]

Felt like it was being ‘edgy’ for the sake of it, it didn’t have much to say about anything unless it was just putting something shocking or gross to seem ‘cool’. Good it was short, if this was a full novel I would not have been so tired by the end of it, especially by its constant use of short sentences, making it feel like it was a written version of a edgy TikTok. Descriptions were good, just very over the top. If you like show like South Park, you’ll probably enjoy this.

[Andy Field · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is like a cartoon drawn with words - one minute playing on the surface of language before plunging you into the story's day-glo world. It is deeply stupid and entirely heartfelt, as grotesque as it is romantic. It is also very short and even if it is not your kind of thing, it is worth reading as it will be like nothing else you'll read this year.

[Kari · Rating 4 out of 5]

That was.... interesting. I didn't know what I was getting into, but I acknowledge that I did tick the box for "absurdist" when filtering my choices.

Part horror, part dark comedy, part erotica, quite.absurd. Yeah, that kind of wraps it all up!

[Gemma · Rating 2 out of 5]

Overly gross with most of it being written for shock value. Like the blurb says would be at home as south park episode.

I like the idea of it between the unnecessary setting descriptions but I was honestly bored.

[Tom Mooney · Rating 2 out of 5]

The first chapter is hilarious, then it's diminishing returns as you go farther through.

[Jo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly enjoyable, atmospheric modern day fable with memorable characters and lots of gore.

[Artemis]

funny but underwhelming. was expecting more

[Morgan Molin · Rating 3 out of 5]

⭐️2.75
What the fuck

[LilyGreentea · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.8/5

[Marieke]

A fever dream.