Gross Out

I’ll admit, I side-eyed *Gross Out* at first. ‘Horror-comedy about a convention?’ sounded like a one-joke premise. Then Joe Hempel’s voice kicked in—smooth as a late-night DJ but with the timing of a stand-up comic—and suddenly I was hooked. The real magic here is how Ralston uses Splatterfest as a petri dish for horror’s id, where every character is either a caricature or a psychopath (or both). The Gross Out contest scenes are *hilariously* grotesque, like listening to a competitive eating championship where the prize is a stomach pump. Hempel sells it all, his delivery shifting from gleeful mockery during the satire to ice-cold menace when the revenge plot kicks into gear. The man *gets* this book. That said, the pacing isn’t perfect. The first act meanders a bit, indulging in convention shenanigans that sometimes feel like padding before the plot’s knife twist. And while the gore is intentionally over-the-top, a few set pieces (a *very* memorable enema scene) risk crossing from ‘bold’ to ‘alienating’ for listeners who prefer their horror with less… digestive detail. But when the story locks into its revenge-thriller groove, it’s relentless. The audio production is crisp, though I’d have loved a touch more atmospheric sound design during the kill scenes—imagine the *squelch* of a machete hitting bone. Still, Hempel’s performance carries it. If you love horror that’s self-aware but never winks *too* hard, this is your next binge. Just maybe don’t listen while eating.