It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Is Cancelled

By: Craig Kimber

Narrated by: David Winter

Length: 8 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the mall, rushed a worker, named Steve, who was sick of you all. From Doris to Karen, and that pest, Creepy Santa, Steve wanted to clock them with a big, glass decanter. With the help of an elf, her clothes quite revealing, Steve finished his shopping with much a mixed feeling. After a beer or two, and he’d bought all his presents, Steve went to a house with a marijuana essence. Along with his buddies, their names Dave and Spike, the three amigos partied with beer and ganja alike. When they woke in the morning, their memory all hazy, the neighbours were outside acting all crazy. After some time the truth would be heard. They'd been in a coma, and it was January Third. While they were sleeping, all was not well. Zombies rose up and it all went to Hell. Now for our heroes, they're getting out of the city. But when it comes to these three, it's bound to go... bad.

©2022 Craig Kimber (P)2024 Craig Kimber

My kind of zombie novel

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas Is Cancelled by Craig Kimber is sort of like if Shaun of the Dead was an 80s-style sex comedy mixed with a little bit of Mad Max. A group of no-hopers manage to dodge the zombie apocalypse by being too drunk and stoned. Getting smashed on Christmas Eve, they wake a week and a half later to find things have gone a bit zombie.

Steve, along with his best mates Dave and Spike, wake to a world where zombies are on the street and doing the usual – trying to kill everyone who isn’t a zombie.

In their rush to get out of the city and to safety, they recruit buxom elves fresh from Santa’s grotto, an American cowboy, and a slowly growing cast of hangers-on as they navigate the minefield of zombies and try to dodge a roving band of perverts dead set on making them unwilling contestants in their human vs zombie fight club.

It’s like the only ones the zombie plague spared were the worst of humanity. Steve and his mates fall into this, happy to chuck each other under the bus if it means a chance of getting laid, stoned, or both.

Steve probably has it together the most out of the band of misfits. Spike is like a more-stoned version of Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, and Dave wouldn’t be out of place in a “Carry On” movie.

For me, I found the narration by David Winter was a little flat. I get that the characters are all stoners or losers to some degree, but some of them just sounded brain dead. A little more variety in tone or a change of energy could have lifted the performance, especially in the more chaotic moments. The production quality, however, was excellent, with no noticeable background noises or repeated lines.

Overall, this was my kind of zombie novel. I enjoy absurd situations that escalate in ridiculousness, and I’m a fan of humorous end-of-the-world stories. It’s crass, unapologetically politically incorrect, but a fun, silly zombie romp that was an easy listen for me.