Horrors of the Shopping Mall Ass Slasher (Never Made Movies) by R.J. Benetti
Horrors of the Shopping Mall Ass Slasher by R.J. Benetti is a horror comedy book dripping with gore and nostalgia. Published on January 7, 2025, it weighs in at 175 pages. This is Book One in the Never Made Movies series.
I first heard about this book at the October 2024 AuthorCon IV Scares That Care event in St. Louis, a few months before the book was released. Benetti was on a panel I’d attended, and after hearing him discuss horror and his upcoming release, I made a mental note to grab a copy when it came out.
One of the things that inspired me, other than hearing that Benetti was the Scares That Care 2022 Gross Out Contest winner, was that the book was inspired by a true story. With that title and that background information, I knew I needed to read it. I did get a chance to say a quick hello to Benetti, who was so nice, after his panel discussion to let him know I was excited to check out his book.
When you start reading the book, you get a warning first thing. And I’d advise you to take it if extreme or gross horror isn’t your cup of tea. There is some humor woven into the acts of violence, but make no mistake: Benetti will do his best to gross you out. After reading this book, my first of his work, I can attest that he is quite skilled at it! The prologue alone is gory, dark, jaw-dropping, and disgusting—and it’s the perfect way to introduce you to this outrageous and thoroughly engaging horror story.
Aside from the gore, this book has a buttload of nostalgia. (Yes, I said it.) I adored the descriptions of the characters. They gave life to the time frame the book is set in so nicely. Not to mention, the chapter graphics and that amazing cover scream the 80s in the best way!
The nods to Top Gun, The Karate Kid, The Golden Girls, and so many more beloved relics from the 80s balance out the gory, filthy scenes so well. If you’ve ever experienced an 80s shopping mall, you will feel right at home. I jotted down a ton of callbacks to that time and numerous moments that I felt were homages to movies and commercials of the decade. Benetti did a fantastic job of bringing that mall and all the characters to life for me.
I don’t do spoilers in my reviews, and I don’t want to ruin any part of this book for potential readers. I will end this by saying how much I adored this story. I’ve been slowly adding more extreme horror to my reading, and this book made me want to dig into even more of Benetti’s work. (See below for two more extreme reviews I’ve written.)
If you love horror, gore, dark humor, and nostalgia, this is the perfect book for you. Grab a seat. (Again, yes, I said it.) Crack open this book. (I can’t stop myself.) And enjoy this one of a kind story. You bet your ass I did.
More books from R.J. Benetti:
Who is R.J. Benetti?
R.J. Benetti is a horror author, living near a specific Great Lake in Pennsylvania. Growing up, he was always drawn to the spooky and the strange, and credits The Twilight Zone, Tales From the Crypt, The Simpsons' Treehouse of Horror episodes, Creepshow, Mars Attacks, Halloween, and The Shining for spurring his imagination and his love of storytelling. He was recently nominated for the 2023 Splatterpunk Awards for his short story, Just Another Bloodbath at Camp Woe-Be-Gone (available on Amazon). He is also the 2022 Gross Out Contest Scares That Care champion. When he's not writing, he enjoys spending time doodling and watching horror movies with his girlfriend and long-haired chihuahua, named Dwight.d their ball python, Indie Hellspawn McFangy Serenity Strand.
***Taken from R.J. Benetti’s Amazon Author Page
