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Vasily Pugh
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Basically Frightened: Yet Another Slice of Post-Apocalyptia Kindle Edition

by Vasily Pugh (Author) Format: Kindle Edition
3.3 out of 5 stars 69 ratings
You haven't read anything like 'Basically Frightened' before – a genre-busting mix of post-apocalyptic action, adventure and suspense all heavily laced with whimsy and observational humour.

“So for those looking for a fresh laugh or who just can’t get enough of apocalypse books you’ve just found your next read.”

Toni Owen Blue

“As I found this story original from what I read before regarding this genre, I would totally recommend it to the Science-Fiction readers and I’m looking forward to the upcoming books of Vasily Pugh!”

Cristina Slusariuc

“It starts slow, but once it gets going it's a promising good read and I'd certainly love to see more from the author.”

TDC Book Reviews

“Oh my! This book really came as a surprise!The writing style is so...realistic! At first, I did not even realize that what I was reading was actually a part of the book. the first chapter is has so many details described in a very realistic manner. Only after he mentioned the Alpha Men I started thinking "ok, so this actually the beginning of the book, not a message or an introduction". With this book, the author brings something new on the market: an unusual plot, realistic description and unique writing style. Great job! I recommend the book and I look forward for the next one.”

Adriana


Acclaimed as a mix of Douglas Adams' dry humour, 'Shaun of the Dead' and 'Pushing Daisies', the 'Basically Frightened' series is a unique piece of Dystopian drama dusted with copious amounts of black comedy

The world is devastated by a pandemic known as 'The Shakes', but one unlikely hero is determined to make the best of it. Leaving his self-imposed isolation, he discovers a fractured country that has divided into numerous groups, all trying to find meagre resources.

But this is no ordinary landscape...our hero will meet feisty heroines, sweet old ladies, a range of mildly psychotic antagonists and a group inspired by a particular television show. Behind the scenes the country is in the process of being re-organised by a mysterious body called 'Order', but can they be trusted? And was it really worth leaving isolation for all of the dread, danger and general nonsense? Especially when you promised to finally read 'War & Peace' at the start of this all.

A suitably prescient story for our times, 'Basically Frightened' and its sequel 'Outside Looking Out', examines what ordinary people do in the face of isolation, conflict and the utterly absurd.

THIS VERSION HAS BEEN RE-EDITED TO DELETE ERRORS AS OF 21/10/20 - IF YOU HAVE AN OLD COPY AND WOULD LIKE TO UPGRADE FOR FREE, PLEASE CONTACT ME. MY APOLOGIES THAT IT HAS TAKEN SO LONG TO RETURN TO MY FIRST BOOK TO GIVE IT THE PROOF-READ IT DESERVES.Don't forget to leave a review after reading – your feedback is always appreciated by us humble authors!

Be thrilled, be amused, be mildly distracted...be 'Basically Frightened'.
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  1. Reading age
    10 - 18 years
  2. Print length
    224 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Accessibility
    Learn more
  5. Publication date
    9 Sept. 2016
  6. Page Flip
    Enabled
  7. Word Wise
    Enabled
  8. Enhanced typesetting
    Enabled
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01KYKNQAG
  • Accessibility ‏ : ‎ Learn more
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ 9 Sept. 2016
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ 2nd
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • File size ‏ : ‎ 1.3 MB
  • Simultaneous device usage ‏ : ‎ Unlimited
  • Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
  • Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Not Enabled
  • Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 224 pages
  • Page Flip ‏ : ‎ Enabled
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 10 - 18 years
  • Customer reviews:
    3.3 out of 5 stars 69 ratings

About the author

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Vasily Pugh

Vasily Pugh

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Author of:

'So You've Got Fibromyalgia' ("...almost certainly the best book about fibromyalgia by anyone with the name Vasily")

'So You've Still Got Fibromyalgia ("When will he stop whinging!?")

'Basically Frightened' ("...is English your second language?")

'Outside Looking Out: Still Basically Frightened; ("a sequel, of that we are almost certain")

'Gusto' ("One Star - Not my kind of book")

'The Insomniacs' Club' ("Almost certain NOT to be a major Netflix picture soon.")

'Mauve Alert' ("A fever dream by a madman who has been locked inside a disused Lidl.")

Customer reviews

3.3 out of 5 stars
69 global ratings

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Top reviews from United Kingdom

  • Commonreader
    4.0 out of 5 stars Witty, compelling, and curiously prescient
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 26 March 2021
    Verified Purchase
    I got a few chapters into this book and then had to flick back onto the start to check when it was written, and then confirmed that it was in 2016 and not 2020. My reason for checking is that parts are remarkably prophetic in their descriptions of circumstances surrounding the current pandemic.
    Pugh has an obvious joy in the use of language, as well as an appreciation for the mundanity and reality of post-apocalyptic life. I really enjoyed it, and found myself carried along with the story as it unfolded.
    It took me a while to invest in some of the characters, but that probably says more about me than about the author.
    The very British setting to the story adds an additional endearment for me, as does the central character’s penchant for pop and cult film references.

    I’ll be reading more!
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  • SG
    3.0 out of 5 stars I would recommend this book for people looking for a change from the traditional post-apocalyptic novels
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 December 2016
    This book was a post-apocalyptic book with a difference, the world’s population has been decimated by a disease and the survivors are designated either immune or semi-immune. It’s nothing as sexy as a zombie outbreak or nuclear war, or even a government created super-virus released into the environment by mistake – it’s (as far as we know) a naturally occurring disease which human immune systems weren’t prepared for.

    This tale is told in the first person by a narrator who has been designated semi-immune and has discovered that it’s getting more difficult to survive on his own, with people banding together to pool resources, and in some cases, steal from other groups and loners.

    It’s also pretty tough on a person’s mental health to be completely isolated for so long, even if they do have an extensive DVD collection, so he sets out to go and join a group of survivors based in another town.

    Teaming up with other individuals has its perils though and he tries his best to fit in and be accepted by his new companions. The interesting thing about this is that though he adapts his behaviour completely to make himself useful and completely inoffensive to them so that he isn’t kicked out to fend for himself, he seems to invest in it only as a survival strategy and views everything he does with an emotional detachment.

    I’m not sure if the author intended to do this to represent how a person would behave following the huge trauma of losing most of the world, but it did make him difficult to relate to, and to like, during the course of the novel. He also speaks in a very long winded and dry way, which I did find a bit tedious at points – dry humour is great but only when you can be sure it’s intended to be humorous!

    I really enjoyed the concept of the story, a more mundane survival story which includes pinching a load of things from the local Spar long after the owners have disappeared and the virtues of Pound shops. However, despite knowing that the writing style was being used to represent the thoughts of a man who’s been completely isolated for however long without having anyone to talk to, it was tough going in places and not as entertaining as it could have been.

    I would recommend this book for people looking for a change from the traditional post-apocalyptic novel, particularly if you enjoy dry British humour and little in-jokes about British culture.

    Reviewed by Nia at Whispering Stories Book Blog

    **I received a free copy of this book, which I voluntarily reviewed**
    One person found this helpful
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  • gareth watkins
    4.0 out of 5 stars Nothing very original but worth a buy.
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 September 2022
    Verified Purchase
    Possibly the finest book since the bible ( not the Koran I'm not suicidal ). Just kidding its a good read but it's nothing I have not seen before but a few too many pop references and a cast of supporting characters that didn't really stand out slowed the story. Having said that I would buy more from the author
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  • Lynne
    4.0 out of 5 stars Witty and refreshing
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 13 January 2017
    Quite a different read to most other post-apocalyptic books. This one's tongue-in-cheek and written with a great deal of wit and topical observation. The story's told from the viewpoint of semi-immune protagonist Buck as he leaves his home in search of other survivors. On his way he encounters adversaries in the semblance of Klingons and a bunch of kids who wouldn't look out of place on the set of a Mad Max movie.

    Be prepared to have plenty of laughs as Buck writes about his experiences in his journal. The majority of in-jokes and narrative relate to British popular culture, so non-Brits should be aware they may have a tough time understanding the humour.

    Overall, I thought Basically Frightened was a good read. It approached the post-apocalyptic genre from a different angle which I found to be refreshing. I should also point out that the Kindle version contains quite a few grammatical errors and could benefit from another proofreading.
    One person found this helpful
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  • Zuky the BookBum
    4.0 out of 5 stars Funny apocalyptic novel!
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 23 March 2017
    This is marketed as a post-apocalyptic novel, with a twist. The twist being there is no zombies, but I don’t think that’s the only thing that makes this novel stand out. Most of the time, post-apocalyptic novels are moody in tone, but this one is actually extremely witty and made light on the fact civilisation had practically come to an end so you weren’t feeling completely dreary the whole way through it.

    This is a little bit slow to start, even though the narration is funny and it’s setting the scene, if does feel like not a lot happens but as soon as our narrator heads out into the world and comes across a congregation of other survivors, things pick up. It was nice to have a number of other characters become involved in the story as it fastened the pace a little. My only problem with the introduction of the new characters is that there is so many of them that I forgot who people were, too many new people and not enough time to get to know them before they were all separated out and having their own conversations with each other. It got a little confusing, but that may just be me not having the best memory.

    One major flaw for this novel, which had been pointed out by several others, is the amount of spelling and grammatical errors. A proofread may need to be done for this one.

    Dystopian novels aren’t my go-to reading material but I did really enjoy this book, it was nice to read something that wasn’t about people acting mysteriously, out of the blue murders or crime in general. If you are looking for a fast-paced action novel, then this isn’t going to be for you. It’s not slow, per se, it’s just relaxed. The only thrilling, heart racing part is right at the end, this is far more a novel that is filled with British humor about one man just trying to get by during the apocalypse.
    One person found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

  • JH
    4.0 out of 5 stars Great book
    Reviewed in the United States on 14 March 2017
    Verified Purchase
    The begining was a bit slow, but it picke up after a while. When it did and more characters, than just the narrator, turns up it becomes a lot more interesting. It's very well written, and thought it containes a bit more errors than I think is ok for a published book, there is one thing that enoyes me a bit. Every so often the author makes refferences to different kinds of popculture, like song , actors , singers, books etc, wich is kind of fun to begining with, but after a while it starts getting a bit repetitive. I did how every enjoy the book Immanuel and applaud the author for being so knowledgable about a lot of tings. I learned a lot from this book!
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  • Amazon Customer wayne pountney
    1.0 out of 5 stars One Star
    Reviewed in Canada on 17 September 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Did not read
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  • BadPoet
    3.0 out of 5 stars I had a love-hate relationship with this book.
    Reviewed in the United States on 27 April 2017
    Verified Purchase
    I had a love-hate relationship with this book. I enjoyed the author's humor and had quite a few chuckles but, I tired quickly of the overuse of movie references as simile (despite the movie nerd being part of the narrators character). Still in saying that, the book kept my interest, and the story moved along quite well. It needs a good edit and some proofreading. (Ironic that the narrator of the story is a proofreader). Author also needs work on his dialogue punctuation. Another good edit and this could easily have been a 4 star read. But for all its faults, don't let my comments put you off reading this book. It's different and enjoyable for the most part. Good, light entertainment for a rainy day.
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  • D.T.
    5.0 out of 5 stars I could say that it was a great read and looking forward to read more from this ...
    Reviewed in the United States on 6 February 2017
    Verified Purchase
    Basically Frightened: Yet Another Slice of Post-Apocalyptia is a book unlike others. From the beginning till the end, the writing is pervaded by a strong, sophisticated, and unique sense of humor and critique.

    The story is narrated in first person by a British survivor of the pandemic that has almost destroyed the human race. After living for quite some time in solitude, the narrator (we never get his real name) goes on a search for other survivors. The whole story is told with an amusing detachment of what it is really happening. Although everything around the main character is daunting and falling apart, he takes the time to analyze even the most trivial things about human nature and especially British mentality.

    Honestly, I could say that it was a great read and looking forward to read more from this author.
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  • The Bionic Stan
    1.0 out of 5 stars Not a book for reading, a book for lying down and avoiding
    Reviewed in the United States on 21 March 2017
    Verified Purchase
    The idea was appealing, and I was drawn in by the good reviews. But the author didn't really have the writing skills to develop the idea in an interesting way. I struggled along, bored and annoyed, but finally gave up around the 40% mark.

    Apart from the fact that I just couldn't get interested in what happened to the narrator -- and given that the background was the end of the world, that's saying something -- the use of English was egregiously bad, even by the standard of self-published Kindle books. It read as though it had been dictated, then converted to text by software, but never proofread at all, let alone revised to make a decent second draft. There were very few misspelled words, but many words that were flat-out wrong: "populous" for "populace", for instance, or "thinks" for "things". There were also many wrong words that couldn't even be explained by sounding similar. Many sentences contained two similar phrases, as though the author had put one in near the start, then by the time he got to the end he forgot he had done it and put in a near-repetition, just to be on the safe side. Other sentences never actually expressed a complete thought: there would be a subject with description, but no action, or an action with description, but no indication who did it. Every page held a multitude of sins, and it's with relief that I finally pressed "Remove from Device." The only reason I'm not also removing it from the cloud is that I'm afraid I might forget this experience, run across the book a year or so from now, find the premise interesting, and download it again; only Amazon's "you bought this on (date)" will save me from getting it on my Kindle a second time. But you're lucky; you don't even have to get it once.
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