Skip to main content

Rewieving the "Rewind or Die" Series - Books 5 and 6

My quest of reading and reviewing the complete “Rewind or Die” series for the Otherland Newsletter proceeds; a sum total of 23 retro-horror paperbacks (I recently realized that the series isn't even complete yet, so it's still counting!) inspired by 70s, 80s and 90s horror movies. Ever since I first found out about this series I am dreaming about these colorful little books with amazing cover art and extremely over the top storylines. Tongue-in-cheek, bizarro, absurd, gore-splatter, wild ride or pulpy are terms that come to mind describing this incredibly fun series that I will happily read and discuss for you guys in the near future. 

On a last note; you will not find all of the series in the Otherland Newsletter as initially planned, but I will still have here the complete series. Still, the "Rewind or Die" books are availabe at the Otherland Bookstore, of course, they will even send it home to you if you can't or don't want to leave home. Just drop them a line if you live in Germany. 

So, here we go with Number 5 and 6!

Imagine your local movie rental store back in the '70s, '80s, and '90s - remember all those fantastic covers. Remember taking those movies home and watching in awe as the stories unfolded in nasty rainbows of gore, remember the atmosphere and textures. Remember the blood.
Hairspray and Switchblades by V. Castro
YOU CAN'T HAVE A HEART OF GOLD IF YOU HAVE THE HEART OF A JAGUAR

The fifth installment of "Rewind or Die" was more paranormal romance/erotica than horror and for me unfortunately the weakest of the series so far...

We're following Maya, who belongs to an ancient people of shapeshifters who can turn into Jaguars when full moon is on. She performs exotic dances to get her sister through college after the death of both her parents under mysterious circumstances. Meanwhile a serial killer called the "San Antonio Stripper Ripper" is out there looking for exactly the kind of people like Maya and she will eventually confront this killer as well as solve the mystery behind her parents' death.

The novella comes and goes between two extremes on the scale of "great" and "oh no", making you cheer with sentences like "They were a pack of brown-skinned Charlie's Angels without a Charlie, intend on knocking down a demon's door." and cringe with others such as "Her heart was a Texas thundercloud of pain and desire". And there are seriously racy scenes, really. It is the first time I have read a paranormal romance and though I’m not the biggest fan, I can’t say I disliked it as much as I thought I would. Although I didn't find the antagonist very compelling and the motivation behind their evil deeds a little way too far-fetched, I still quite liked the other characters, they were fun to read about. I guess that's the strength of the book, successfully fleshed out characters. Overall it was fun to read.

 
Sole Survivor by Zachary Ashford
OUTPLAY*OUTLAST*OUTRUN
 
Welcome to "Sole Survivor", the reality show that is unlike anything you have seen before! Yes, participants are (quite literally) being dropped off on a remote island. Yes it's every man and woman for themselves in this survival game. But they don't get eliminated here, they are being killed one by one!!!
A group of ten people are expected to survive hunger, thirst, dangerous tides and each other. But they are not alone on the island; an uninvited guest and the murderous drop-bears are lurking in the heart of the jungle, waiting to get them... Guess who will be the last one standing? 
This book, the cover, the cover description, make no secret of what it is about and what you see is what you get indeed. The fun of the whole ordeal lies in you guessing who will be next, because Ashford self-awarely makes use of all stereotypes on horror movie group dynamics. Will it be the wise guy with the glasses? Will it be the couple who retreats into the bushes to spend some time alone? The military man? The final girl? All of them? You need to read and see... 
Even if it wasn't my favorite who ultimately turned out to be the sole survivor, I still can't wait to read Sole Survivor 2 and I'm expecting an origin story for those aggressive koalas... Where did they come from and what made them like that? Questions worth exploring...

Comments