Melon Head Mayhem is a fun creature feature novella that takes you back to the eighties.
- Entertainment factor: ★★★★★
- Scare factor: ★☆☆☆☆
- Monster factor: ★★★★★
- Nostalgia factor: ★★★★★
- Originality factor: ★★★☆☆
Melon Head Mayhem is part of the Killer VHS series, a series with the nostalgic feel of VHS tapes and the eighties movies. Each novella can be read separately (except for part 2 and 5). This is the first part. It’s a fun creature feature that not only takes the main characters right back to the nostalgia of the eighties but the reader as well.
The second novella is Candy Cain Kills by Brian McAuley. The third is Teleportasm by Joshua Millican. The fourth is Cicada by Tanya Pell. The fifth novella is Candy Cain Kills Again by Brian McAuley and the sixth is Night of the Witch-Hunter by Patrick Barb.
It consist of 120 pages.
Plot
Carson is back in his old hometown after his Gran died. He has to clean out the house where he grew up in. After his mother died in a car crash his grandparents took him in. His cousin Sophia lived close to him and they grew up together watching old horror VHS tapes. Tapes he got from his friend Isaac who worked at the video store. While he wasn’t allowed to watch those horror movies, they still did it secretly. Even when his Gran threw all the movies away, Sophia’s dad salvaged them.
While he is cleaning out a closet he finds an old VHS tape that Gran didn’t throw away. The cover says Critters, a film he has never watched before. So he calls Sophia who’s in town for the same reason and she brings along her father’s video recorder so they can finally watch Critters. However to their surprise it’s not Critters on the tape but something else. It’s called Revenge of the Melon Heads! They watch this fun creature feature but after the credits a man shows his face with a warning that it’s all real. They both think it’s a nice gimmick and think nothing of it.
Until that night they get attacked by creatures that very much resemble the Melon Heads from the movie. Because the movie was shot nearby their town, they think there might be truth to what apparently the director told them at the end of the movie. Now that the Melon Heads know that Carson and Sophia know of their existence their lives are being hunted.
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Short Review
It doesn’t take long before the story steps right into the action. Carson is cleaning the house and right away they watch the tape with dangerous and deadly consequences. Immediately they have to fight, are on the move and have to search for answers. But when they involve more people they get them into danger as well.
Carson and Sophia are likable characters. While Carson is a bit hesitant and doesn’t quite know how to handle the situation, Sophia acts like she is born to do this. She is a born fighter, a problem solver and even seems to enjoy it. The Melon Heads are creepy little bastards and their appearance is nasty and creepy as is their background. They are relentless hunting predators that won’t give up.
But Carson and especially Sophia are not that easily to catch or defeat and they devise their own plan to kill those creatures. It really does feel like they ended up in their own horror film where they are replacing the main characters of the movie they have just watched. Only they don’t act like stupid characters in a movie, like easy prey. Instead they are smart about it and take action.
There’s a little twist near the ending that endangers their plan and makes it all the more trilling. Although there’s a gory scene which we can only hear and afterwards see the aftermath, the gore isn’t the main focus of this novella. It’s more about Carson and Sophia and their adventure in how to defeat the Melon Heads.
Melon Head Mayhem a fun entertaining ride back into the creature features of the eighties. Carson and Sophia wanted to relive their eighties childhood again with the nostalgia of a VHS tape and got more than they have bargained for which results in a great entertaining nostalgic read.
Read more reviews about the Killer VHS series:
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