Midnight Snack

by Chris Weedin, Chris Caprile (Illustrator)

Working the night shift at the neighborhood 24/7, Carson Dudley has seen his share of weird - but never the kind that tries to kill you, drain all your blood and stuff your body in a dumpster. Something has moved into the neighborhood and is turning latenight snackers into latenight snacks, leaving a bloody trail of bodies through the quiet, peaceful seaside city of Las Calamas. With his trusty baseball bat and an unlikely collection of would-be battlers of the supernatural - a techie co-ed with a shady past, a trigger-happy rent-a-cop and an aging nun with anger management issues - it's up to Carson to uncover the evil that threatens his beloved mini-mart and put it down once and for all... before he becomes the next midnight snack! The first book in a decidedly different horror comedy series about a guy, his baseball bat, and things that go bump in the night: Graveyard Shift, the Adventures of Carson Dudley. In an ordinary ciy... in an ordinary neighborhood... in an ordinary store... for an ordinary clerk... things are about to get freakin' nuts!

Genres: Fiction, Horror

191 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2009

About the author

I don't know when or where or how it happened - I've always just loved to write. Words, communication, language... they're all just, well, you know... good. Try as I might I could never shake it, so here I am, writing. It's funny how you can weasel it into just about every job - furniture deliveryman, professional tutor, youth minister, computer system admin - seems there's always an excuse to put pen to paper or fingers to keyboard when you look for it hard enough. I started with short stories and stepped up to the roleplaying game "Horror Rules, the Simply Horrible Roleplaying Game," a truly fun and liberating project. And now, poof! Novels. Go figure. So I write what I like and I write who I am. I've said it once, I'll say it again - words are good.

Reviews

[Stephen · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 to 2.0 stars. While not a bad book, this one was just to the left of okay in my opinion. It is a fast, short read that fits within the genre of camp/horror/comedy. Without giving away any spoilers, the story involves a convenience store clerk who works the night shift and becomes involved in trying to solve some bizarre murders that may be tied to supernatural creatures.

There are a few areas of sharp witty dialogue, especially when the characters are channeling Star Wars, Lost Boys and other "classic" films. Unfortunately, there wasn't enough of these moments to make me rate this higher. That is what makes this sub-genre so difficult to do well. If you aren't laughing much of this time, then the story becomes very forgettable.

I will say that I will check out future work by this author as I think the good parts of this story were very enjoyable and the main character was very likeable.

[McKinley Weedin · Rating 5 out of 5]

What happens when an evil vampire comes to your small town and starts killing all you local customers? You just sit back and wait for the storm to pass, right?
WRONG!
Carson Dudley finds himself in quite a pickle when Vanessa, a seductive temptress from the underworld, targets his little piece of the world. The 24/7 Mini Mart. Carson is just a regular guy, but when his favorite hobo sacrifices himself to save him and his buddies from a grizzly demise, Carson decides things just got personal and calls in backup. A nun. With the help of his friend, a cop who has had too many Twinkies and his grandmother's friend, Sister Becky, the lot set off to reclaim Las Calamas from the blood sucking queen.

Filled with humor, pop culture references and booty kicking (both for the good guys and the bad guys) this short read is sure to have you on the edge of your seat with suspense then falling off with laughter. Seriously, there are some funny lines in this book. Carson may just be a normal guy, but he can make you feel like you too can do great things.

Now read the book to find out if they are able to stop the vampire and her reign of terror of if they end up as a tasty delectable snack...

[D'arcy Rowe · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really liked this book. I found it a little slow at first while the characters were getting developed. I enjoyed getting to know the characters though and absolutely loved Sister Becky. She was awesome! A vampire butt kicking nun! The vampire, Vanessa, was exactly what you would expect out of an old world vampire with a few added twists. The descriptions of her were quite good and I could visualize her very easily and it creeped me out. I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series.