Unhinged by John Podlaski, @pdoggbiker, @RRBC_Org, @RRBC_RWISA, A Book Review by Pat Garcia

When I started reading Unhinged, I didn’t know what to expect. It is a horror story presented as a tale being told by an adult reminiscing about an incident in his teenage years. I had forgotten all the scary incidences that had filled me with terror and dread at the age of fourteen. I asked myself what he had experienced that shook him up so that it would remain in the back corner of his mind. 

I began reading the story, and I was immediately drawn into it by the metaphorical descriptions.

Two boys, Jerry and Nick, were propositioned for a temporary job at the local drive-in theater, their job, cleaning up trash after the night viewing. Their reward, sitting up front and watching the movies with complimentary soda, hot dogs, burgers, and popcorn. Practically like an all-you-can-eat buffet. 

I like how this macro story is constructed from the moment that the two boys began their work dressed in blue jeans, colored t-shirts, and tennis shoes to the point of how the drivers parked their cars. All of this adds to building up the tension.

I really loved the boys’ reactions to seeing the first scary film. But, not wanting to spoil your joy, I will only say fear paralyzed Jerry and Nick as they watched the movie. Screams from the cars all around them made them shake even worse so that by the time it was time for them to go home, Jerry and Nick saw cannibalistic corpses roaming the countryside, turning people into zombies. Needless to say, their walk home almost got one of them killed after they separated to go the last block alone to reach their homes. 

Unhinged is scary, but it is horror very well written.

Shalom aleichem

Pat Garcia