Wake Up and Open Your Eyes is a horror novel about an apocalypse brought about by right-wing news and social media in the USA. Noah's parents have been parroting far-right views for a while now, but when his mother leaves a cryptic message and then can't be contacted, he drives from Brooklyn to Virginia to check on them, but what he finds is his parents in a weird state, trying to attack him. Then it turns out they aren't the only ones, and Noah's brother and his family have fallen victim too, and then Noah and his nephew must try and make it back to Brooklyn, through the radicalised hordes.

I've been hearing about this novel for a while, and even though I didn't really enjoy the only other Clay McLeod Chapman book I've read, I wanted to give this one a go, and I'm glad I did. The satire in this is very explicit—there's Fax News, there's influencer juice cleanses, there's Baby Ghost to the tune of Baby Shark—and the horror is too, with memorable moments of gore and sex. This isn't for the faint-hearted, and a good recent comparison is Alison Rumfitt's work: if you enjoy that, you'll be able to handle the stuff in this, with Tell Me I'm Worthless cited at the end in a list of influences and useful works for writing the book. I enjoyed that it was more extreme, not shying away from ideas of possession and what horrible things that makes people do to their bodies.

The structure is more experimental than most apocalypse stories, focusing mostly on the initial moment in the first part, then the build up in the second, and then just after that initial moment in the final section, which is intercut with lots of found footage moments to give a sense of the scale of devastation. This format doesn't give much space for connection with the central figure, Noah, but you delve further into the minds of his brother Asher and Asher's family, and it's not the sort of horror where you need a deep connection as it is more about the shock of what is happening more generally than specifically what is happening to Noah. The ending doesn't give much closure or explanation, and perhaps lacks a really memorable closing moment, but it also plays on a 'liberal' idea that such an apocalypse could be easily recovered from, suggesting that far-right threats aren't just something to ignore.

I really like horror that blends together modern fears with classic horror elements like possession, and Wake Up and Open Your Eyes feels like an American version of Alison Rumfitt's work, exploring the visceral horror of media radicalisation and far-right views. The middle section, about how one family got to that point, was perhaps the strongest part for me, especially in light of this theme, but overall this is a great horror novel that doesn't shy away from being in your face, and you just can't shut your eyes.

What did I just read. This was so ????? Exploring sometime in the near future where society has been gaslit and brainwashed into acting out in fits of violence, the reader follows the journey of the Fairchild family as each member of the family experiences this apocalypse. This is clearly a commentary on Fox News, online communities and how quickly people fall into conspiracy theories.

There were some overly sexual moments that I felt were added purely for shock value, these were incredibly disturbing to read. There was no real answer at the end of the book either, it spiralled into further madness. My frustration grew reading this, both at the plot and the uncomfortable truth that there are some people who believe things like this. This is a book unlike anything I’ve read before, both good and bad. A thought provoking and frankly terrifying book.

Wake up and open your eyes - Clay McLeod Chapman

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to @netgalley and @titanbooks for allowing me to read and review this copy in advance of its release date in January 2025.

Wow. All I can say is wow. This book was like a fever dream.

This is an apocalyptic horror, and probably one of the best I’ve read in a long time. Unlike most books in the apocalyptic genre this book concentrates on the very start of the apocalypse.

The story is split into three sections, and is so cleverly done. I won’t go into too much detail as I don’t want to ruin this, but first we follow Noah, as he tries to find out why his parents aren’t answering his calls.

The second part flips to Noah’s brother, Asher and his wife and two kids at the very start of this epidemic.

And in the final part we are back with Noah as he travels back to Brooklyn.

I feel like each part just gets better and better and CMC’s use of language and visceral imagery made me pause for a break a few times. There is a large amount of body horror, gore and some really uncomfortable sexual imagery too.

This book flips perspectives a few times as we follow different characters, however the stand out writing for me was the last part that is narrated from the point of view of Anderson Cooper. This was done so well and really worked to show Noah’s removal from the situation and his reaction to the new world around him.

This book carries a stark message/ warning about the use of social media, influencers, news and fake news, and the split in American politics at the moment. As a non-America I probably lost some of the nuances, however this didn’t detract or distract from the story. Every aspect of society is covered in this apocalyptic horror, including children and that absolutely awful baby shark song. Having this stuck in my head while reading actually upped the terror and fever dream qualities of this book.

As a huge Stephen King fan I definitely drew some similarities from “Cell” and a more up to date version of this tale. I was pleased to see a long list of books that CMC had drawn inspiration from in the writing of this book and Cell was one of those.

Altogether this was an insanely gripping and terrifying read. It was also thought provoking and gruesome.

Characters- 9
Atmosphere- 10
Writing Style- 10
Plot- 9
Intrigue-9
Relationships-8
Enjoyment- 8
9/10

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