James Schannep ‘Infected (Click Your Poison)’ Review

Written by: William Massa

A few years back, when my focus was screenwriting and not books, I was hired to write the script for Return to House on Haunted Hill. This was a sequel to a remake and the producers were looking for a gimmick to give the project a little bit of a novelty factor. William Castle who had created the original 1959 movie was known for using gimmicks to promote his movies. During the release of the original, a skeleton attached to a wire floated over the audience in the final moments of some showings of the film to parallel the action. Naturally the audience loved it.

Our movie needed a gimmick and the producers found it in the classic Choose Your Own Adventure novels of yesteryear and interactive “Navigational Cinema”, a cutting edge technology at the time that allowed the viewer to decide the actions of the on-screen action.   We were going to shoot additional footage and make a Choose Your Own Adventure movie that also happened to be a horror flick. As a result, this genre has been on my brain for a while and when I heard of Infected written by James Schannep, a modern-day zombie take on the Choose Your own Adventure genre, I had to check it out.

Infected takes the conceit into the digital ebook world and decides to have a ton of fun with it. It features 3 unique storylines and over 50 possible endings and asks just one question… Will you Survive the Zombie Apocalypse? Instead of being redirected to specific pages, hyperlinks transport the reader from scene to scene which makes for a smoother reading experience than having to flip back and forth between specific pages.  Ebooks work perfectly for this genre.

The technology has changed but the fun of the interactive reading experience hasn’t.  This doesn’t play like hardcore horror but is more of a game. Schannep keeps the story moving and explores every zombie twist and turn. He has clear handle on the genre and the end result is an entertaining romp. The scenes are laid out with humor even though certain decisions carry deadly consequences.

Infected is the first volume in the Click Your Poison series. The idea is to focus on a different genre with each book. Book 2- Murdered is a crime novel and the third book is rumored to take the series once again into a completely different direction.

Best part, Infected (Click Your Poison) is available as a free download available only from Amazon until January 10th. Go grab that free copy right now!

Rating: 4/5

 

William Massa is a screenwriter, novelist and script consultant.  His two books GARGOYLE KNIGHT and FEAR THE LIGHT: WHO MURDERED DRACULA? are exclusively available on Amazon.  Follow William on Twitter and Facebook .