First published back in July of 2016, Andre Duza’s novella ‘Ride The Serpentine’ formed the seventh instalment within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ series which saw a zombie story published (in ebook format) each month of 2016 from a variety of different horror authors. All twelve stories were later collected together and published within the ‘Year Of The Zombie’ (2018) anthology (which was also published in paperback format).
DLS Synopsis:
DLS Review:
DLS Synopsis:
Serpentine were one of the most influential rock bands of a generation. In the mid-to-late ‘80s nobody was bigger than Serpentine. They had it all. Drugs. Booze. Fast women. Drunken performances. But a life of excess eventually took its toll on the trio, and the band once named the most influential rock group of the last decade officially split in 1991.
Twenty-four years later and Serpentine are due to reform for a dramatic comeback. But fate had other plans. It all happened whilst they were celebrating their comeback album. Drinking and partying at filmmaker Alex Zamora’s place in Princeton. That’s when the shit well-and-truly hit the fan. The dead began to walk!
Luckily Zamora had a badass bunker that no one knew about located underneath his four-acre estate. They thought it would be their sanctuary from the madness outside. But things started to get difficult. More than difficult. Downright fucked up!
It was a recipe for disaster. They had the queen of porn, nicknamed Cinderella, along with three washed-up, junkie actresses down there with them. The women were all part of Zamora’s current harem of sister-wives. He also had two animated mannequins who used to fuck these chicks on film with them. Not the ideal crowd for surviving the apocalypse with. In fact, the whole situation soon turned into a cesspit of debauchery.
The members of Serpentine – Jules Yeager, James ‘Holly’ Holliser, and Graeme ‘Gramps’ Gunz – knew they had to get out of there. This shit wasn’t safe anymore. They knew something bad was gonna happen with this group, and they didn’t want to be there when this supposed haven imploded.
It was time Serpentine got back on the road. Those three friends who’d become rock Gods, had decided to chronicle humanity’s struggle to survive and Rock ‘n’ Roll’s place in the resurrection of our once great society…
Andre Duza is no stranger to the mania of a zombie apocalypse. He’d already penned the likes of ‘Dead Bitch Army’ (2004), Jesus Freaks’ (2006), and ‘Necro Sex Machine’ (2008). Now, what we have here is a whole new vision of the apocalypse, bringing rock ‘n’ roll to front and centre stage of humanity’s resurgence after suffering a zombie apocalypse.
The novella is every bit of the over-the-top madness you’d hope for (and probably expect) from a Duza offering. It pulls in a hefty helping of sex, gore, grittiness and debauchery – along with a solid spattering of brutality, spurring our protagonists on through this shitstorm of carnage.
Interestingly, zombies take somewhat of a backseat in the story, and instead we have a greater focus on the three band members and their dilemma with the supposed haven they’re holed up within. What’s more, the storyline takes a further step away from our undead friends when Duza brings in a lonesome undead groupie who’s seems to always be hanging around the group.
This aspect is where the story really comes into its own. The strangely serene zombie, dressed in her groupie getup, always lurking in the background, or hanging around wherever the group are. But it’s through this undead groupie where the human element of the whole piece starts to rise to the surface. Pity, sadness, confusion, even hallucinations. And then the sheer devotion that people feel to the music and the rock groups, and how it manifests itself into this powerful connection with them. Honestly, the story’s actually quite fucking touching!
But anyway, it’s a crazyass read alright, but not what I was expecting at all. Even the prose is different. Purposefully akin to a screenplay that’s been written for an end of the world documentary on Serpentine. Sounds weird, but it fucking works. In fact, Duza absolutely smashed it with this story. What a damn fine read!
The novella runs for a total of 38 pages.
© DLS Reviews
