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Hell: City of the Killing Dead
Lori Lyric has woken up from a nightmare. Now ... she's in HELL.
Violence is spreading through the city like an epidemic, and Lori's vivid dreams seem to be guiding her toward a confrontation with a vile and wicked cult, run by a pair of demonic twins.
Meanwhile, her friends, neighbors, and even her enemies are fighting their own brutal battles with the supernatural. From a blind man who survives a mass shooting, to a creep that stalks the park at night, to an academic who believes he has all the answers . . . No one is safe!
Before long, the undead begin to rise and swarm, throwing an already crumbling city into apocalyptic chaos!
Filled with splatter, decayed ghouls, Lovecraftian gods, and Italian cinema references, CITY OF THE KILLING DEAD is a psychotronic assault on the senses and logic!
Violence is spreading through the city like an epidemic, and Lori's vivid dreams seem to be guiding her toward a confrontation with a vile and wicked cult, run by a pair of demonic twins.
Meanwhile, her friends, neighbors, and even her enemies are fighting their own brutal battles with the supernatural. From a blind man who survives a mass shooting, to a creep that stalks the park at night, to an academic who believes he has all the answers . . . No one is safe!
Before long, the undead begin to rise and swarm, throwing an already crumbling city into apocalyptic chaos!
Filled with splatter, decayed ghouls, Lovecraftian gods, and Italian cinema references, CITY OF THE KILLING DEAD is a psychotronic assault on the senses and logic!
314 pages, Paperback
Published March 20, 2024
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103 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
August 8, 2024
Here we go. Let me guess Phrique, another 5 star rating for your latest Ms. Sonnet read. How droll. Your new favorite one of hers? Didn’t you say that about the last one? It was gross and bloody and made your “feewingz huht too?” Ugh, after you devoted almost an entire month to her? Have you finished excavating the perfect spot for her shrine yet? Geez man, get some new material.
Quick Synopsis:
A familiar femme fatale returns with a new life in a new city, when out of nowhere Hell literally breaks loose. Almost like it’s following her, wherever she goes. This time in the form of a demon worshipping cult and a set of hell-spawned twins that are painting the entire city red. Out of nowhere, civilized people are going from 0 to homicidal like they were competing for the most-depraved-fucked-up-shit title. What ensues is an insane battle of blood, gore, sex, MORE blood, gore, and sex, and then still some more of all 3 cuz why not?
Hell: City of the Killing Dead is a sequel to the original Hell, but can be read without prior knowledge, there’s just a few nods, which I loved. The first Hell was my favorite of Judith’s, it would have fit in with any Fulci film had they been novelized. Hell: COTKD dethroned that one for me, cranking everything up to the nth degree. I felt for all the characters, loved Lori & Brian and felt for them being stuck in the midst of a literal zombie apocalypse. This was such a bloody fun ride, I already want to read it again!
Quick Synopsis:
A familiar femme fatale returns with a new life in a new city, when out of nowhere Hell literally breaks loose. Almost like it’s following her, wherever she goes. This time in the form of a demon worshipping cult and a set of hell-spawned twins that are painting the entire city red. Out of nowhere, civilized people are going from 0 to homicidal like they were competing for the most-depraved-fucked-up-shit title. What ensues is an insane battle of blood, gore, sex, MORE blood, gore, and sex, and then still some more of all 3 cuz why not?
Hell: City of the Killing Dead is a sequel to the original Hell, but can be read without prior knowledge, there’s just a few nods, which I loved. The first Hell was my favorite of Judith’s, it would have fit in with any Fulci film had they been novelized. Hell: COTKD dethroned that one for me, cranking everything up to the nth degree. I felt for all the characters, loved Lori & Brian and felt for them being stuck in the midst of a literal zombie apocalypse. This was such a bloody fun ride, I already want to read it again!
April 17, 2024
An ancient religion and a couple of demons take over the city and turns the city into zombies. Only Lori can save the world. Hell on earth basically! Awesome storyline and violence abundance!
September 1, 2024
If you’re a fan of giallo films, this book should be on your radar. Judith Sonnet captured the fun depravity of Italian horror films with Hell: City of the Killing Dead. She even got the cheesy overdubs down in the dialogue.
I will say this isn’t the best book that Sonnet wrote, which is why I took off one star. I prefer her books that have social commentary, like Summer Never Ends. This was a bloody good time and she nailed the giallo-gone-lit trope, but I wasn’t as engrossed it in as her other books. I still loved it and will recommend it to anyone wanting a taste of Fulci or Bava in extreme horror lit.
I will say this isn’t the best book that Sonnet wrote, which is why I took off one star. I prefer her books that have social commentary, like Summer Never Ends. This was a bloody good time and she nailed the giallo-gone-lit trope, but I wasn’t as engrossed it in as her other books. I still loved it and will recommend it to anyone wanting a taste of Fulci or Bava in extreme horror lit.
March 21, 2024
Brutal, Fast-paced Entertainment!
Perhaps my 20th read by Sonnet, and this book ranks among my favorites. She keeps getting better and better. Highly recommended!
Perhaps my 20th read by Sonnet, and this book ranks among my favorites. She keeps getting better and better. Highly recommended!
September 6, 2024
It's always exciting to pick up another book from Judith Sonnet, her work is always engaging, bloody, imaginative, and sometimes hilarious. I loved the first Hell book, it was such an insane wild read that made for a wonderful love letter to Italian horror movies, crappy English dubs, and all. Realizing this is a sequel to that book I had to pick it up!
Lori Lyric has woken up from a nightmare, a dream where she was an author and a small town was under siege, she loves reading horror but has never been a writer. She works with her friend Bowyer at a television station and together they're about to witness the end of the world. Despite the differences in her dream, Lori Lyric and her friends are about to be thrown into an apocalypse eerily similar to what she imagined. The city is plagued by the living dead and Lovecraftian creatures of a forbidden religion are building a new world.
Judith Sonnet has written a brilliant sequel that can quite frankly be read on its own terms. It only has a few references to the previous novel since this is set in a completely different world but with a similar threat. It has a great cast of characters, plenty of violence and gore, the action-sequences are wonderfully tense and brutal and the atmosphere is beautifully dire and bleak. It's a novel that's even more crazy than its predecessor, with an insane finale.
Overall: I loved this novel so much, it kept up with the spirit of the first novel wonderfully. It may not make complete sense, but that's the point of it. 10/10
Lori Lyric has woken up from a nightmare, a dream where she was an author and a small town was under siege, she loves reading horror but has never been a writer. She works with her friend Bowyer at a television station and together they're about to witness the end of the world. Despite the differences in her dream, Lori Lyric and her friends are about to be thrown into an apocalypse eerily similar to what she imagined. The city is plagued by the living dead and Lovecraftian creatures of a forbidden religion are building a new world.
Judith Sonnet has written a brilliant sequel that can quite frankly be read on its own terms. It only has a few references to the previous novel since this is set in a completely different world but with a similar threat. It has a great cast of characters, plenty of violence and gore, the action-sequences are wonderfully tense and brutal and the atmosphere is beautifully dire and bleak. It's a novel that's even more crazy than its predecessor, with an insane finale.
Overall: I loved this novel so much, it kept up with the spirit of the first novel wonderfully. It may not make complete sense, but that's the point of it. 10/10
November 2, 2024
There are no words that I can say that will do this book justice. I loved Lori and her group of friends! This was a book I wished would never end. Everything was chiefs kiss good. I’m trying to do this with no spoilers but I suggest that you pick this up.
March 17, 2025
Hot damn.
This is a hell of ride, zombies ,gore and demons.
This reads like an 80's Italian splatter which was the authors intention and she nails it.
It's a fast and grisly read that never slows down. By the end I was gasping for breath.
This is a hell of ride, zombies ,gore and demons.
This reads like an 80's Italian splatter which was the authors intention and she nails it.
It's a fast and grisly read that never slows down. By the end I was gasping for breath.
July 12, 2025
Sonnet created a hellish landscape, filled with characters you can root for or despise to their very core.
She delivered vicious descriptions and doesn't skimp on the details.
It has been great to see her grow as an author.
Sonnet keeps delivering.
She delivered vicious descriptions and doesn't skimp on the details.
It has been great to see her grow as an author.
Sonnet keeps delivering.
December 25, 2024
Delivered on its promises.
January 5, 2025
Insanely good! Perfectly captures a sleazy New York zombie horror movie vibe. It’s everything you could wish for for fans of this genre.
Goes straight into my top 10
Goes straight into my top 10
April 14, 2025
Zombie perfection.
I actually enjoyed this even more than the first which was unexpected.
And now I don’t know what to read next
I actually enjoyed this even more than the first which was unexpected.
And now I don’t know what to read next
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews