Chocolateman by Jonathan Butcher
Traumatized as a child by a blood-soaked night of murder and supernatural mayhem, James Tooth is an adult who fears his own bodily functions. It’s perhaps unsurprising because James is the brother of Kreb the Chocolateman, a feces-obsessed part-human, part-demon who, after a long rest of 22 years, is ready to cause gruesome shit-streaked chaos once again.
Beginning as a tale about a uniquely disgusting haunting, and ending with some of the most wretchedly creative gore you will ever experience, the Chocolateman novel is an exercise in stomach-churning subject matter and bizarre body horror.
This is a different kind of “splatter” – and things are going to get messy.
United StatesAre You Ready for Browntime?
If you've already subjected yourself to Butcher's coprophilic masterpiece included in Scats, Splats, and Stupid Twats, you're already familiar with Kreb, The Chocolateman. You can think of him as something akin to Candyman, a monstrous, supernatural being who comes when you make the mistake of uttering his name. Of course, instead of bees and honey, his aesthetic is purely fecal. This larger volume can be considered the origin story for The Chocolateman. Butcher takes this opportunity to tell us how Kreb found his way into our world and our bathrooms in search of delicious choc-choc. James Tooth appears to be a successful man with a loving family, but he is tormented by a horrible secret that troubles him more profoundly as the 22nd anniversary of his parents' deaths approaches. James is terrified of poop and with good reason. Throughout the story, Butcher provides readers with glimpses of James's childhood, the horrible events of 22-years before, when he was only ten years old. As the past catches up with him, taking a terrible toll on both himself and those around him, he has no choice but to face the nightmare that's haunted him the previous two decades, his older brother, Kreb. Mixed up in the whole mess, James's drug dealer, Mucklow, and his bodybuilding lover, Isabella, find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time over and over again, leading them on a collision course with the Tooth family and The Chocolateman himself. Amazingly enough, considering how absurdly revolting the concept of Chocolateman is, Jonathan Butcher still populates this tale with well-developed and sympathetic characters. Grotesque, gory, and visceral as much of the narrative happens to be, it's also fantastically well-written and articulated in such a way as to never seem quite as gratuitous as it's clearly meant to be. Chocolateman isn't simply a collection of repulsive gags and toilet humor. At its heart, it's a story about family, fears, and the ways we cause harm when trying to do what we believe to be the right thing.
United KingdomHoly "fucking" shit!!
Soooo...... What can I say....???? Well, that was different! In the best way!! I'm not sure what I was expecting from this book really, apart from a lot of the brown stuff, and there was that, but it was also so much more!! The introduction, meeting Kreb for the first time......WOAH!!!! Holy "fucking" shit!! Literally!! Jonathan knows how to write an excellent story and to keep you burning through those pages for more! You get completely hooked into this innocent seeming family coming to term's with the Dad's psychological problems, feeling all the emotions, then .... BAM!!!! Brutal, horrific, gross, nastiness! And then you get lulled back into that false sense of security.... And then.... BAM!!!! Fuckedupness!! Over, and over!! It's not just gross out depravity though, there really is a great emotional story there too! Really well written, unputdownable, bizarre, witty, disgusting and no lack of blood, guts and horror!! "What a bleddy brilliant story this was!" 5/5 BAMS!!!! From me Now I really fancy some choc-choc!!
United StatesAbsolutely amazing
This book shocked me with how well it was written. With evil dead like shit monsters, trauma written believably, and an ending that was badass, I just couldn’t ask for more. Get this book