BRIANS!!!

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Synopsis

Having just self-published his first zombie novel, Kenny is excited about doing a book signing, but so far, the only person in attendance is his mother until a reporter for the local news shows up. Concerned about people no longer watching the news, he hopes that interviewing Kenny about his novel will draw viewers. It all works too well, when people start showing up in droves, and they run out of books, leaving the crowd clamoring for "BRIANS!!!".

Review

"BRIANS!!!" is a stand-alone short story about a inept, mama's boy named Kenny who recently self-published his first novel. It's a zombie story that's so badly written that even the title, which was supposed to be Brains!!! has a typo. At his first book-signing at a local bookstore, a reporter shows up, trying to capitalize on the recent craze surrounding zombies by interviewing Kenny about his book for the news. Kenny is thrilled that the report brings fans from far and wide to the bookstore, but when they run out of his books, the crowd starts chanting, "BRIANS!!!" and acting like zombies themselves.

Kenny is a little too much of a putz to be likable, and his mom grates like fingernails on a chalkboard. My favorite character was Steph, the bookstore clerk, because she's a smart, confident straight-talker. I have to admit being a bit confused as to whether the people who came to the store were actual zombies or just rabid fans who started acting like them. I think it was the latter but it was hard to tell for sure. The narrative also left our protagonists kind of hanging when I prefer things to be wrapped up a bit neater. However, as a fan of the series, I did enjoy the touch of Twilight parody the story contained, so overall it was a decent if short read. "BRIANS!!!" can be found in the anthology Blood Lite III: Aftertaste.

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D. L. Snell