Lowbrow Lowdown

In our season finale, Natasha and Damien return to the incredible mind of M.J. Edwards with Covid Claus is Coming to Town (Kissing the Coronavirus Chronicles). A wild tale of COVID, Christmas and erotica. Christmas will never be the same after reading this erotic tome.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 3/5 😷

Damien: 3/5 😷

More importantly, we introduce our next season of the Lowbrow Lowdown: Unpacking the Undead.

Season 2 of the Lowbrow Lowdown is all about zombies. We will explore the hypothesis that zombie movies, TV series and books provide us with a snapshot of culture and society at the time of their creation.

Damien and Natasha will explore the zeitgeist, through a trashy, undead lens that touches mostly upon horror, but will cross over into action, comedy, sci-fi, dystopian and apocalypse sub-genres. 

We can’t wait to watch (and in Damien’s case, rewatch) lots and lots of zombie flicks. And to share our laughter-filled opinions with you. 

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Intro music

Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams is part of the YouTube Audio Library (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/...) is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Artist: E's Jammy Jams - https://goo.gl/tuVmjd

Also includes music by:

Christmas Village by Aaron Kenny is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yjIy5VrVZYM

Artist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCVAggfwI4hnkA2WO6-xC06Q

Carried by Lauren Duski is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cm6pgaD2yig

Artist: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtlICmXX_nrri2E8PlRoASQ

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

The twisted Christmas tale of COVID, virus, romance(?) and horror. Coronavirus is coming to town: A COVID-19 steamy horror story by K.A. Ricen was a weird, confusing and ultimately disappointing ride. We're still not entirely sure what happened, but it had a strong 'mask-up' message at the end, so at least it has one positive.

Natasha and Damien endured this story so you don't have to.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 0.5/5 😷

Damien: 1/5 😷

More importantly, we introduce our next season of the Lowbrow Lowdown: Unpacking the Undead.

Season 2 of the Lowbrow Lowdown is all about zombies. We will explore the hypothesis that zombie movies, TV series and books provide us with a snapshot of culture and society at the time of their creation.

Damien and Natasha will explore the zeitgeist, through a trashy, undead lens that touches mostly upon horror, but will cross over into action, comedy, sci-fi, dystopian and apocalypse sub-genres. 

We can’t wait to watch (and in Damien’s case, rewatch) lots and lots of zombie flicks. And to share our laughter-filled opinions with you. 

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Intro music

Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams is part of the YouTube Audio Library (https://www.youtube.com/audiolibrary/...).

Artist: E's Jammy Jams - https://goo.gl/tuVmjd

Also includes music by:

FairyTale Waltz by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Source: http://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/index.html?isrc=USUAN1100232

Artist: http://incompetech.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It is difficult to take something like the Norse gods and provide a fresh new look at the story of Ragnorok though a COVID-lens. However, Luis Paul Delgado de Mendoza's novel The Rotten Roots of Yggdrasil: Mythology meets reality in Sweden’s COVID19 pandemic is a mighty good effort.

As a reader, you will gain a new insight into the relationship between Thor and Loki, Odin and Freya and of course the Valkyrie.

Natasha and Damien were pleasantly surprised by this complex and detailed story.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 4.5/5 😷

Damien: 4.5/5 😷

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Like Icarus, Natasha and Damien flew too close to the sun; the wax has melted from the wings of a fantastic crime novella from the perspective of a crow, to dive to the depths of a bonkers Tinder fuelled COVID romance. This may be our lowest moment.

COVID Cupid (Book 1) is a rough draft of a series of vignettes where, admittedly, the dire state of dating is definitely on show. If anything, this is yet another item of proof that there's a gap in the market for editors of self-published short stories.

Natasha and Damien find out how to solve a crime from an unexpected perspective.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 🤷🏻‍♀️ (she's got nothing)

Damien: 😷 (for managing to navigate the Amazon publishing portal, also not racist which has been a struggle for a lot of these books)

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Here's the thing, when Natasha and Damien started this podcast and made the first season about coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic-themed literature, they expected a lot of rushed and terrible erotica. Over the weeks, there have been surprises - good and bad, terrible and delightful.

When we tell you that you simply must read Martin Cross' Co[r]vid: A novella, you really must.

From the author himself: "CO[R]VID, is a crime story with a difference. The difference being that the detective is a crow."

You may baulk at the concept, but we're here to tell you that it works. My god it works.

Natasha and Damien find out how to solve a crime from an unexpected perspective.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷

Damien: 😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷😷

Yes, we both gave it 10/5 face masks. We make the rules, and we're gonna break the rules, because it is absolutely off-the-scale good.

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natasha and Damien dive into the crime(?)/thriller(?) and honestly become a bit delirious. Michael Koglin's Coronavirus Murderous Attack moves so fast you can barely follow, punctuated with painfully detailed Wikipedia entries on the history and architecture of Barcelona and Hamburg. I know I would become a spy if my boyfriend broke up with me and the only reason could be... espionage.

Join Natasha and Damien for wheeze-laughing that requires medical attention.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 😷😷

Damien: 😷😷 (and a half)

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a halloween special as Natasha and Damien cautiously tread down the path of a COVID-19 themed horror and Matt Shaw's Pandemic: horrors written in lockdown. This is the first time that the podcast has been able to be recorded in person, so there are some improvements in the sound quality. Also there's a special guest in the form of a cat named Peanut doing laps of the room while we try to record.

Join Natasha and Damien for a fabulous series of drabbles, and then a serious discussion of what makes a horror story and does

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 😷😷😷

Damien: 😷😷😷

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Natasha and Damien return to the unique and surprising MJ Edwards in, what turned out to be, an incredible collection of poetry. I F*cking Hate Zoom Quizzes charts the year that was 2020 in funny and heartfelt ways.

Join Natasha and Damien for a surprisingly heartfelt experience.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 😷😷😷😷😷

Damien: 😷😷😷😷😷

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Well, a content warning for a super racist and somewhat sexist book, The COVID Killer was... well... you know what you need most in a genre that is built on suspense? That's right, suspense. I'd say The COVID Killer was missing an editor, but I don't even know if an editor could save this book. It was a lot like a Chip Driver mystery (a Good Place reference for those of you playing at home).

Join Natasha and Damien for bad motives and abysmal police work in The COVID Killder.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha and Damien: 😷 (combined, they gave half a mask each).

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

When you're not the target market for the vaccine, zombie, superhero, exploding people and sloths book, it does make it hard to enjoy. But here we are with Death Vaxxers the first book (and the only one we'll be reviewing) in John P Logsdon's 2021 Vaccine Zombies series).

Natasha and Damien despite leaving COVID-erotica, we're still in a world of questionable science and improbable love-interests. Although the world-building of the questionable science is markedly better.

Join Natasha and Damien for irresistible nerds with magic powers and questionable ideas about appropriate behaviour in Death Vaxxers.

Rating out of five masks:

Natasha: 😷😷😷

Damien: 😷😷😷

Do you have questions, comments or want to share your thoughts on what we're reading? Email us at [email protected].

Music from the Youtube Audio Library: Book Bag by E's Jammy Jams

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.