A deadly new drug has hit the streets of Scarmouth, one which turns users into bloodthirsty maniacs with superhuman tolerance for pain. Through insidious design a large quantity has fallen into the hands of squatters occupying the derelict Victoria hotel.
It’s a bad place for a group of woke, virtue-signalling social media influencers to promote their new homeless charity, but they’ve got a PR story in the making. One of their party is searching for a long-lost sister and if they can find her they believe the stunt could bring them international attention.
They’re not the only ones looking for something. Hired muscle, Fred and Pinkie have been tasked to recover that lost drug shipment. These men know what it’s doing to people. What they don’t know is just how many have been affected already, but within the bowels of that derelict hotel breeds a mindless, homicidal legion.
Scarmouth is known as the coastal town they forgot to burn down. It’ll only take a few hot doses to finally set it alight.
| Source | Format | Pages | Publisher | Genre | Publication Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Author | Paperback | 260 | indie | Horror | July 6th, 2021 |
Jesus wept… I mean, one never picks up a splatterpunk horror and expects to laugh, but for all intents and purposes, I did laugh. Not like a ha-ha-ha embarrassed chuckle, but I full on cackled! Stark delivers some stellar characters, personalities and witty dialogue. Where appropriate.
But… leaving the gore-fest and fun aside… Things are quite serious, as Stark has taken 2 completely opposite sides of society and portrayed the glaringly obvious and realistic rift in between them. As far as horror fiction goes, there is quite a bit of realistic mirror images of society reflected back from the pages. Equally as grim and sad as it is deluded and cruel. Stark doesn’t shy away from taking the gist of each problem in society and delivering it like a fist to the face. Homelessness, drug abuse, prostitution, children in care… Politics, social media, propaganda, profits… The utter hypocrisy of the world. Always the us versus them.
A Hot Dose of Hell is a 260 page controversy-fueled epic apocalypse! It has everything one can expect from a book 100% of the population will take offense to. Half of said population for half of the book, and without missing a beat, Stark delivers a blow to the other half, for he does not discriminate, we all get our fair share of pain from this read. My most painful moment was delivered by dialogue of appreciation for a cover of Enter Sandman by Metallica, taking place in a hipster bar. What can I say, the book’s a balanced act.
I appreciated the fact that the story takes time to set the scene and we get a quick understanding of our characters and their motivations. Once this is done, you’re hit with: “I wonder who, if anyone, will make it out alive from this?!” So, make no mistake, a total zombie-infested gore-fest it may be, but it is a story with meat on its bones.
Oh, and Stark, if you’re reading this? Screw you, Mister! I’ll never look at doorknobs the same way ever again!
Steve Stark is the author of the novel “A Hot Dose of Hell” and the anthology “Violent Ends”. An avid fan of crime and horror fiction, he tends to write a mixture of both. Steve draws inspiration from a misspent youth in an impoverished corner of Britain and an imagination fuelled by 80’s video nasties and pulp paperbacks.
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