Wake Up And Open Your Eyes by Clay McLeod Chapman
Quirk Books (January 2025)
Reviewed by Chandra Claypool (Instagram) (TikTok)
Holy smokes, folks! What did I just read?! Readers, oh readers. This is a hard review to write because there is just so much to say but I’ll keep it as simple as possible. Let’s take a look at this “fast-paced supernatural horror novel about a mass demonic possession epidemic that spreads through the internet.”
Noah Fairchild’s mother leaves him a concerning voicemail to which he passes off as just another conspiracy theory she believes in. When she doesn’t return his many calls, he decides to drive from Brooklyn to Richmond to his parents’ home. He discovers an absolute mess with his parents in front of the TV in a trance. He tries to snap them out of it but his mother attacks him. It appears this is happening to many families across the country so Noah and Marcus (the only members of their family unaffected) decide to try and get back to Brooklyn. Their journey is far from easy. People that are affected by this conspiracy from watching particular news channels and YouTube videos, etc., become possessed and violent to those who do not share the same beliefs. The fact that the people being possessed are “waking up and opening their eyes” to this distorted reality made by this zombie-like cult is scary to the core.
Let’s break down the themes strewn throughout this book. Social media manipulation plays a huge part and, as someone who loves social media, I certainly see the bad side of it with misinformation on so many topics that people will ingest and believe without question. It’s fascinating and horrifying how much this plays into our everyday lives and effects everyone across the world. Political polarization highlights how extreme divisions can lead to violence when people are so deep into their beliefs. As we have seen in the real world, this type of divide has led to breaks in families and incited horrendous attacks on places and people that are not aligned. Family disintegration is a huge theme within this read.
Political satire at its finest in a wonderful horror forum. As stated in the synopsis this book “holds a mirror to our divided nation.” I’m so interested in how people leaning to one side or the other may receive this book and its very harrowing contents. I think it will surely divide people once again.
