Heather’s Bookshelf: Marinara
Author: Mr. & Mrs. Post
Released: 10/03/23
Genre: Horror
“They’re funny, dontcha think? Bad feelings. People skip plan flights every day because of ‘em. Mostly they’re wrong, sometimes they’re right. Guess I never had the guts to find out.”
“Marinara” is set in the 1980s and introduces Ben Cooper, a teenager who works at an arcade-pizzeria known as Marinara.
Marinara is known for the pizza and for the animatronic band featuring “Meaty and the Toppings”. The janitor fills him in on the horrifying origins of Marinara, but this doesn’t deter him from making it an after-hours site for a party with a group of his friends.
Ben and five of his friends sneak in ready for a night of partying, pizza, and other underage shenanigans. Ben’s hoping to solidify his social status with his friends and also advance his relationship status with his crush Sarah. Everything’s going according to plan until the little group hears a maniacal laugh and then suddenly everything goes to hell.
Meaty and his animatronic friends come to life, thirsty for blood. They’re made of metal and near impossible to kill. And now the key isn’t working and some kind of mysterious force is keeping them from opening the door. Ben and his friends divide into two groups- some think they should hide and others to fight…but will any of them survive?
Trigger Warning: murder, arson, adult language, sexual references, drug and alcohol use, violence
Overall, I enjoyed this story. The authors do a really nice job in setting a world around the tale. I especially enjoyed the newspaper clippings related to the sketchy past of Marinara. The story is written in a YA tone with the main POV coming from Ben (however, a lot of the content is anything but YA). Ben’s optimistic but guarded regarding his friendships and especially his budding relationship. The cute little moments between Ben and Sarah shine through and set the tone before all hell breaks lose. The overall story is very reminiscent of the Five Nights at Freddy’s games and movie. However, the deaths are creative and relate to the setting in a disturbing way for anyone who has ever visited a Chuck E Cheese. The beginning of the story drags a bit, but once everything starts going bad, there’s a level of anxiety and tension in the story that doesn’t stop. It had me wanting to read more and kept the pacing excellent for the rest of the story. I enjoyed the ride but hoped for something a little more innovative or for some kind of epic reveal. In the end, I was left a bit wanting…but I am going to order some pizza tonight.
I received a copy of this story in exchange of a fair and honest review.
OVERALL REVIEW:
A horror that turns childhood memories into terrible nightmares. Derivative and left me desperately wanting some kind of reveal or twist.
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