Coffin Dodger by Damien Casey


Coffin Dodger
Title : Coffin Dodger
Author :
Rating :
ISBN : -
ISBN-10 : 9798446502455
Language : English
Format Type : Paperback
Number of Pages : 260
Publication : Published May 14, 2022

When your favorite actors aren't acting, they're dealing with ghost-snakes, giant crocodiles, spiders with human faces, and cults kidnapping them. One of these cults kidnaps a group of actors from a cult classic horror series. This cult forces the group to play a game where they have to face their biggest fears in order to gain eternal life. They don't even want eternal life. It's all pretty inconvenient.


Coffin Dodger Reviews


  • Escapereality4now

    A slasher story with a cult?! Yes please!! My two favorite things in one story. I jumped at the opportunity to read this nostalgic novel. Many thanks to the author for my review copy.

    Can we take a minute to look at the cover? It is absolutely stunning!

    “Coffin Dodger” is about a group of celebrities reunite in Kentucky to appear in a cult classic horror series when they are kidnapped by a real cult. They are forced to play a game which forces them to face their greatest fears.

    “Coffin Dodger” alternates between characters and timelines. Author Damien Casey took his time to develop now-and-then timelines for each character. In the now timeline, the characters engage in dialogue and banter that solidifies their relationship.

    Although the characters were fleshed out quite well, I had a hard time keeping the connections between them straight. The transitions were a little jarring when you become invested in one character, the chapter switches to a different set of characters. The chapters were titled but it would have been preferred if the author used the character’s names so the reader could have prepared for the switches in the story and not lose the continuity.

    The build up was also a little slow paced. Once the slasher ramped up, it was hard to put down and was brutal as hell. Casey did not hold back with the gore and violence. It was fun. There were a a lot of fun scares, gross parts and action scenes to keep the reader flipping pages. Once the chaos started, I had a difficult time tearing my eyes from the page.

    Amidst the horror was humor. There were parts that will have you cringing and then laughing on the same page.

    Casey has 80’s songs referenced throughout the book. You can not help but pull up spotify to listen to them.

    Overall, it was an entertaining book for slasher fans.

  • Garth Jones

    Damien Casey’s COFFIN DODGER is, as the author puts it, a “Galaxy Quest/Cabin in the Woods/Wishmaster hybrid” loaded with boundless energy, whip smart humour and an infectious passion for the schlock-horror flicks he lovingly lampoons.

    COFFIN DODGER – it demands to be written in all caps – leaves Grady Hendrix’ FINAL GIRL SUPPORT GROUP in its dust in terms of sheer lunatic creative energy, and I’d even dare suggest that Casey’s slasher maniac world-building stacks up favourably against Stephen Graham Jones’ MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW.

    COFFIN DODGER’s crackpot, necrotically-charged plot – it’s Slayer meets Scooby Doo on a detour into Screaming Mad George’s wildest prosthetic wet dreams – hurtles towards a suitably gonzo conclusion, Casey, the mad bastard, cackling maniacally as he pulls of the tricky trifecta of simultaneously terrifying, titillating and pulling regular titters (fuck it, let’s do alliteration and boob puns, the book’s earned it) from the reader (that’s you).

    COFFIN DODGER is out on May 14.

  • Brian G Berry

    It took me a while to finish this book, but in no way was it related to the content within! I'm a slow reader. Damien Casey has knocked it out of the proverbial ballpark with this one. Granted, I've only read one piece from Casey, The Village of Gil--which was an incredible 'choose-your-own-path' adventure style read. His latest, Coffin Dodger, is an impressive work of passion. I wish I could do justice to this book in my review, but I can assure you, that I could not recommend this book enough! Casey has a way of drawing forth his characters with traits and personalities that you would be hard-pressed to find an equal. There is a natural rhythm that follows their interactions, much like watching a film and getting frustrated upon interruption during an important scene. That's how I relate the interactions you will encounter in this book. Damien has a way of keeping a smile on my face, even during the more gruesome parts of the book. I found myself rolling with laughter throughout. Released on May 14th, put this title way up on the towering TBR of yours, because you're in for a real treat! 5/5!

  • Casey

    Wait....what did I just read? I'm still not sure but I know I liked it.
    80s slasher stars get together to celebrate the Slasher series that brought them together at a Con with the star of the reboot. However, cults, an game that jigsaw would be proud and 1 pickle wielding cryptid later and this book jumps feet first into Bizarro Fiction and I loved every crazy minute of it.
    This was a *free ARC

    Now get the F out there and read it on 14th May!
    (That's an joke, but you'll have to read it understand 😜)

    *though apparently I now have to participate in a nightmarish slasher game show. Seriously, Damien, what the F!!!

  • Coy Hall

    With this novel, Damien Casey has achieved something exceptional. It’s his best to work to date. His talent, creativity, voice, and humor are on display, but there’s a complexity in the storytelling that operates on another level.

    In Coffin Dodger, he works with an ensemble cast of actors who achieved cult popularity in the 80s horror scene, and who survive on the horror convention scene decades later. The first quarter of the novel is approached by switching POV with each chapter, and switching between the 1980s and present day, highlighting each character. Relationships are built with the reader here. Casey deals with this deftly, providing individual voices for each character. My favorite character is Moses. Early in the book, there’s a podcast with Moses, and it was the moment I knew I was hooked on Coffin Dodger. I knew because I looked at the clock and thought, “One more hour.” And then two hours passed.

    The ensemble converges at a horror convention in Kentucky. Here Casey thrusts the reader into bouts of chaos, wherein we encounter The Stalker Song and Bandage Barry. I won’t spoil what unfolds but suffice to say Casey captures the frantic pacing of an 80s blockbuster, with the characters passing from pitfall to pitfall, threat to threat, all with his penchant for hilarious dialogue.

    This is horror comedy, and the set pieces for both are present in abundance. Coffin Dodger is a tapestry with a timeline that spans four decades, lore that hints at the epic, humor that slashes with insight, and cosmic ancient horror that peeks through the mist, hinting until it emerges in your heart, and by then you’re engulfed, trapped in the Stalker Song’s cycle of red mist carnage just like Moses and crew.

  • Denver Grenell

    Another bizarro comic horror romp, this time courtesy of Damien Casey. This is the first book of Casey's I've read, and like Leeroy Cross James, I was taken with his obvious affinity for '80s horror movies and how he recontextualises his influences into something fresh and new. The cast of a series of supernatural slasher films reconvene for a convention and are drawn into an increasingly odd fight for survival. After a nicely staged buildup that jumps between time periods to set the scene and introduce the characters, the book almost lost me with the abrupt switch to surreal and almost nonsensical horror shenanigans. But Casey's wit and imagination and again, those well fleshed-out characters, kept me going on this wild ride.

  • Sarah Huntington

    I was extremely lucky enough to read an ARC of this and I read it very quickly. It is a cliche to say it, but it is a real page turner. You can't stop at the end of a chapter and come back to it at a later time, you have to read on.
    The characters are all brilliant. Damien has a seriously genius and unique way of studying human behaviour, particularly the darker sides of humanity and creating believable people. He manages to do this in a way that adds real comedy and humour.
    The plot is very exciting and compelling, the action is excellently written.
    You will find yourself laughing, even when it isn't really appropriate. You just can't help it. This is dark horror and dark humour at its absolute best.
    If any indie author needs more readers and fans, it is Damien Casey. This book deserves a wide readership.

  • David Rider

    Damien Casey’s subject matter in COFFIN DODGER is firmly in my wheelhouse. He writes about slasher films and actors like he worked right alongside me at Blockbuster Video in the early ��90s—and every night we both punched out at the end of our shift with a stack of free VHS rentals to consume. Except he’s not discussing cinematic high points, low points, or quality kills in a break room the next day: he’s distilling all that accumulated pop culture knowledge into a novel and sharing it with his readers. This is the first work of Casey’s that I’ve read, and it’s unlike most writing I’m used to. He establishes a unique rhythm all his own and it’s damn near impossible to explain. He includes pages of banter between characters—lines of dialogue only—and he does it with the confidence of Gregory McDonald’s Fletch novels. At times he’s funny as hell. Like any accomplished horror director, he knows when to full-on depict violence and when to not show it. I’ve been doing research for a story about the early music of The Damned, The Stranglers, and Buzzcocks, and Casey’s prose has a similar punk rock feel. It’s rough and riddled with typos but screw you because anyone can goddamn write and if you don’t get that then there’s no hope for you in that box society forced you into. What he’s doing here is crafting a story about an old-school horror franchise that’s being rebooted, and its stars are being killed off…but there’s so much more going on that by the third act I started wondering if Damien Casey is a mad genius. COFFIN DODGER deserves two things: a re-read and a movie adaptation by Don Coscarelli.

  • Joe Ortlieb

    Damien is a one of a kind writer. He has his own voice. With coffin dodger he punches you in the face with his unique style. No one does it like Damien. His work needs to be read like the sun needs to come up. If you decide to give this a go be prepared to have you brain put in a blender and turned to mush, but in that good mushy kind of way that is enjoyable. I'm sure even bigfoot would give his seal of approval on it.

  • D.S. LaLonde

    A group of actors from an old horror movie series converge at a horror convention many years later, which is when the true horror starts for them.
    A satirical, madcap romp through horror, comedy, and pop culture.

  • Christopher

    I recently made a wonderful discovery. You see, on a jaunt to my local cinemaplex, I happened across a marvellous thing. Something so ingenious, so absurd and yet so absolutely illogically logical it broke my mind that I had never seen it before. You can get toppings on your popcorn. I'm talking Mars Bar pieces, Smarties, Toffee Crisp. Lion Bars, Oreo, hell even Skittles. Seeing such things combined, I dropped to my knees in awe. This is pretty much the same reaction I had after reading Damien Casey's newest absurdist opus, Coffin Dodger. He takes all the midnight movie staples and sprinkles them on a crispy plot that's a little salty, a little sweet, and in doing so offers up an indulgent treat any lover of horror cinema can't pass up. It's fun working out who each character is modelled on (I highly approve of who Damien cast in his fictional version of my fictional slasher movie), it's fun watching how Damien bounces these personalities off one another - it's just plain fun! And it makes you think and stuff too.⁣

  • H. Everend

    3.5 / 5

    What. A. Ride. Of course, this is what I come to expect from any book written by Casey, but this one was exciting and chaotic. This is horror comedy, so take that as you will, and not anyone can execute but Casey does an incredible job with it. We see a group of actors who found their fame and notoriety from 80's horror films, meeting up at a convention in Kentucky. What ensues is pure entertainment. The only thing I personally didn't care for was the amount of characters and different POV jumps [which can be jarring for some] and it felt slow-paced at times --- but don't let that take away from the chaos, cult 80's references and overall fun that is 'Coffin Dodger'.

  • Austrian Spencer

    Well, this was a great introduction to Bizzaro horror.

    I needed a while to process everything, from the names of characters (The Stalker song – to Bandage Barry) to the improbable scenarios the MCs (there are several) find themselves in (Deadly computer sprites falling over onto you – being your biggest fear…) to just plain old silliness, surreal and non-sensical. There’s no attempt at realism, no attempt at an explanation of the events unfolding that passes more than a cursory gaze – the thrust of the narrative and crux of the story is “Do we care about what happens to these people, regardless of how probable or realistic those events are?”

    I think the answer is Yes?

    Maybe?

    Hard to say, by the end. Reading Coffin Dodger thrusts you into Damien Casey’s mind, a melting pot of horror B-movies, comic superheroes, Asian food and porn. Tenuous threads flit from one subject to the other, situations thrust onto characters that Casey fleshes out in the early stages of the book, well enough, that you care about what evil sick things he is going to do to them.

    I still don’t really know what to make of this book? I was baffled by the story – the characters did their best to tackle what was thrust at them, and the cult that appeared in the book was laughably incompetent, funnily omnipotent. I think? Even the cover is a study of weirdness. No text and I am not sure I remember any of those things in the book.

    So it makes perfect sense.

    I still don’t really know why Bandage Barry did what he did, but I don’t think it matters, I don’t suppose in the grand scheme of Bizzaro horror that he knew why he did what he did. Casey tells the tale with gusto and aplomb, the writing is easy to read, there are flashes of genius, alongside nincompoopery, and you are taken along for the ride. My interest waned in the later stages, but I stuck it out to the end and probably couldn’t summarize the story for you and do it any justice. But I was kind of pleased I did, there’s a certain addictiveness to not knowing what the hell is going to happen because literally, anything could, hedgehogs on skewers attacking whilst rotating around a central axis being an example I can envisage coming in the sequel.

    I enjoyed it, I’ll be back for more.

    4 out of 5 stars, and I don’t really know how this stuff can be judged. I'm pretty sure Damien is a genius savant. One day, I'll figure it out, but he's way ahead of me.

    ⭐⭐⭐⭐

  • Adam Hulse

    Take The Toxic Avenger and Repo Man movies, attach them to a fish, and use it to slap the moisture out of your eyes. NOW you are ready for the work of Damien Casey! Coffin Dodger is a colourful, chaotic, and lively read which flew by like the highlight reel of my top 5 fever dreams. There is a ton of snappy dialogue to be found here which is hilarious as no-one is safe from the verbal onslaught. I was either grinning or laughing in public (curse you Casey) at some of the ridiculous interactions. The guy stumbling after making a big speech killed me and I can't explain why. Don't be fooled though, there's a good story here and if has a unique quality even though it often tips it's hat at eighties college horrors and cult tv shows. This is as much fun as you can have with a read and Casey deserves a great deal of credit for that. His imagination is as big as Godzilla poop so be prepared ok? I was going to give this book a 4 but I saw my name in the credits so now it's a 5.
    K thx (it's a lot cooler when Damien does it).

  • Cobwebs and Bookmarks

    Sit down, buckle up, grab maybe a Pabst or two because Coffin Dodger is a hell of a ride. I wasn’t really sure what I was getting myself into because the cover is wild and the synopsis SEEMS vague… it’s not. Coffin Dodger started off at a slow pace and was at times a little rough to follow between all the time jumps (conveniently labeled) and a hefty amount of character arcs to follow. Don’t let that scare you away though! Once the ball gets rolling, holy hell does it roll, it all becomes clear and the gorefest takes off! Being an avid fan of cult horror films, I loved the dynamic between the characters and the constant one-liners and cheesy dialog that come with the B-rated scripts we have all come to know and love. Chock full of blood, teenage humor, and wild creations of Casey’s mind, this book is definitely one to check out. If I haven’t convinced you yet, here is my final attempt… SPIDER SURFER JESUS.

  • Nat

    The quick and hilarious way Damien Casey gets you sucked into his chaotic story is unreal. Take the stars of those majestic 80s horror movies and then introduce them to the horror of the plot of the 00s...but also make them relive their glory gory days. As if that weren't enough to entice you, his characters' personalities and intertwining further give you that movie nostalgia. Seriously. That is the best I can do in explaining it. Just know that Damien keeps the plot rolling, keeps you chuckling, and also grimacing a bit too--the perfect combo for a good ass horror comedy. I mean, come on, this cover is rad as hell and there is Bandage Barry.

  • Cristina

    I read this book without looking over any summary or review in advance. I just saw the cover, and it looked intriguing. A few nights ago, I decided to do some light reading before bedtime. Two hours later, I was laughing out loud, eager to get to the next page. The way the author introduces multiple complex and likable characters, without going overboard with the number of pages, is incredible. The plot is unexpected; weird, over the top and almost perfect, the dialogue is funny, the characters have amazing chemistry, and all I can think about is when are we getting a sequel?

  • Lauren

    This book is Bizarro B-Movie joy and the cover is the perfect embodiment of it. I loved the weirdness and endless assortment of what these middle-aged actors were put through after being kidnapped by a cult. The snark is real in this, frequent, and endlessly entertaining. Also, the scene with the Doritos Locos taco had me laughing pretty dang hard. I also loved the turn this took at the end, with the antagonist getting a brilliantly-done send-off. Those ending chapters. Holy shit, that was a ride!

  • Willie Heredia

    This was such a rollercoaster! Every chapter offers crazy turns, sharp turns, and Casey keeps the pace going fast. The mix of comedy with horror works well and reminds me a bit of another novel I enjoyed, John Dies at the End by Jason Pargin. Casey has a knack for keeping the reader on their toes with quick suspense. His characters are extreme at times but manage to keep the story intact. I will definitely be checking out more of Casey's work!

  • Derek Hutchins

    The best way to describe this is it’s carries itself with the mania of an adult swim cartoon in book form, but in the best possible way. This book does. Not. Stop. Zoomed through it and laughed plenty along the way. If you love horror and laughing at witty dialogue I implore you to read this. K thnx.

  • Olivia

    So cool that my friend wrote this. This story had absolutely every trope that I love. The humor was subtle yet hilarious. The pacing was golden! The dual timeline was chefs kiss. Totally tubular. I have started to dabble in writing myself, and this is great inspo. God speed, my friend.

  • Elford Alley

    The story starts simple enough. A popular 80s horror franchise is being rebooted, and the stars past and present are gathering for a con. Then they're being slaughtered, one by one. Then it spirals into an increasingly bizarre and unique story. This is a love letter to horror fandom and slashers in general, but in true Damien Casey fashion, one that goes into directions you will never anticipate. A must read for horror fans!

  • Kassidy VanGundy

    Galaxy Quest meets It meets the Saw franchise, but in the campiest way. Damien does a great job of capturing the B Horror Movie spirit in his books, but this one exemplifies that the most. If you like horror comedy, I'm sure you will enjoy this!

  • Jonathan Tripp

    What a wild ride! Never really read a book like this and I wasn’t disappointed! I loved it! Laughed out loud, and said wtf quite a few times! Can’t wait to read more by Damien!!!!

  • Adperfectamconsilium - Gavin

    Trying to explain what I've just read is difficult so here's the official blurb/synopsis:

    'When your favorite actors aren't acting, they're dealing with ghost-snakes, giant crocodiles, spiders with human faces, and cults kidnapping them. One of these cults kidnaps a group of actors from a cult classic horror series. This cult forces the group to play a game where they have to face their biggest fears in order to gain eternal life. They don't even want eternal life. It's all pretty inconvenient.'

    It's a parody of all the slasher films but on the page. An absurdist horror comedy. A popcorn trash straight to DVD cult film in the making. With extra sprinkles on top. Unless that's blood?🤔

    The plot is crazy but just go with it for a fun ride.

    I've probably not seen enough of these films to get all the jokes and I must admit that I got confused several times as to what was going on because
    a) it keeps jumping backwards and forwards in time
    b) it frequently changes between characters at a frantic pace
    c) I kept mixing up the aging scream queens Any, Anna and Allison
    d) did I mention the plot is crazy?🤣. Maybe not everything is supposed to make sense?

    Certainly a different style book which is one of two group reads this month with @theindiehorrorbookclub

    I'm giving it ✨✨✨3 stars as it's a fun read and I think some of the problems I had were more to do with me than the writing.

    You'll definitely be entertained by this one and I will try another book by @damienthulhu as there are several others available 🙂👍

    Happy reading everyone. Just watch out for cults and stuff 😱