Connect with us

Books

BOOK REVIEW: ‘The Worm and His Kings’ is Cosmic Horror Done Right

Published

on

The Worm and HIs Kings

Last Thursday, I read Hailey Piper’s The Worm and His Kings, and as I turned that final page, I found myself sitting back and thinking, “I need to give myself a day or two before I review this piece.” It’s now been four days, and I can honestly say that I am still not sure how to encapsulate the enormity of what Piper gives us in this short novella in a review.

As the novel opens, we are introduced to Monique, a young homeless woman who has been searching for her missing partner, Donna, for three months. She’s been hearing stories among the others in a secluded homeless community that a strange creature has been stalking the night, taking young women who are never seen nor heard from again.

Somehow, deep down, Monique knows that this creature is connected to Donna’s disappearance and she is determined to stalk this beast to the ends of the earth if need be to save her lost love. As night falls, the beast appears, and Monique is soon on its trail. What she discovers at the creature’s destination could have terrifying consequences for the world and reality as we know it.

What is it about cosmic horror? I’ll admit I enjoy it, but there is often an inherent sense of hopelessness when faced with events and beings on a scale such that we cannot even fathom their breadth or depth. I think that much of this has to do with the fact that often the magnitude of those horrors is given the focus, leaving us with a set of two-dimensional protagonists that we have no real reason to care about.

Piper, did the opposite. Certainly her horrors are grand and mystifying, but the author painstakingly creates a connection to Monique. She is real, and I found myself rooting for her while admittedly from time to time wanting to step in and protect her from the circumstances in which she has found herself.

This grounding in reality with Monique further heightens the horror that will come later in the novel. We have real stakes, now, and we want to see them through.

There is one other aspect of this novel that I wasn’t sure that I wanted to dive deep into while writing this review. Then I remembered that the first statement on Piper’s Twitter account is “Make horror gay af” and I decided to go all in on this.

One of the reasons The Worm and His Kings works so well is because it is gay af. Thinking back over the history of cosmic horror, there has always been a queerness to the sub-genre, even when it was being mishandled by bigoted men who thickly layered their own prejudices onto the text.

What is the central theme of cosmic horror? The “other.” Indescribable, unfathomable, and yes, terrifying. So what happens when your protagonist is another kind of “other?”

In the case of Piper’s work, you have a story about a person who understands this unspeakable horror on a level that no one else could. As the novel reaches its mind-blowing conclusion, Monique comprehends the incomprehensible. She looks at the creatures around her and sees them, not as monsters, but as beings who have also been wronged by the crushing force of a universe that used and discarded them.

And I must say, the final few pages of The Worm and His Kings may be some of the beautiful prose I’ve read from a contemporary author in years. It is sweeping, lyrical description at its most operatic, and I found myself devouring every word, every detail completely enraptured by her soaring aria.

This quick-paced novella is exactly the kind of fast-paced read that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it deserves an honored place on any horror fan’s book shelf.

The Worm and His Kings is slated for release by Off Limits Press on November 15, 2020. It is currently available for pre-order on Kindle by CLICKING HERE or on paperback by CLICKING HERE.

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Click to comment

You must be logged in to post a comment Login

Leave a Reply

Books

‘Alien’ is Being Made Into a Children’s ABC Book

Published

on

Alien Book

That Disney buyout of Fox is making for strange crossovers. Just look at this new children’s book that teaches children the alphabet via the 1979 Alien movie.

From the library of Penguin House’s classic Little Golden Books comes A is for Alien: An ABC Book.

Pre-Order Here

The next few years are going to be big for the space monster. First, just in time for the film’s 45th anniversary, we are getting a new franchise film called Alien: Romulus. Then Hulu, also owned by Disney is creating a television series, although they say that might not be ready until 2025.

The book is currently available for pre-order here, and is set to release on July 9, 2024. It might be fun to guess which letter will represent which part of the movie. Such as “J is for Jonesy” or “M is for Mother.”

Romulus will be released in theaters on August 16, 2024. Not since 2017 have we revisited the Alien cinematic universe in Covenant. Apparently, this next entry follows, “Young people from a distant world facing the most terrifying life form in the universe.”

Until then “A is for Anticipation” and “F is for Facehugger.”

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Continue Reading

Books

Holland House Ent. Announces New Book “Oh Mother, What Have You Done?”

Published

on

Screenwriter and Director Tom Holland is delighting fans with books containing scripts, visual memoirs, continuation of stories, and now behind-the-scenes books on his iconic films. These books offer a fascinating glimpse into the creative process, script revisions, continued stories and the challenges faced during production. Holland’s accounts and personal anecdotes provide a treasure trove of insights for movie enthusiasts, shedding new light on the magic of filmmaking! Check out the press release below on Hollan’s newest fascinating story of the making of his critically acclaimed horror sequel Psycho II in a brand new book!

Horror icon and filmmaker Tom Holland returns to the world he envisioned in 1983’s critically acclaimed feature film Psycho II in the all-new 176-page book Oh Mother, What Have You Done? now available from Holland House Entertainment.

‘Psycho II’ House. “Oh Mother, What Have You Done?”

Authored by Tom Holland and containing unpublished memoirs by late Psycho II director Richard Franklin and conversations with the film’s editor Andrew London, Oh Mother, What Have You Done? offers fans a unique glimpse into the continuation of the beloved Psycho film franchise, which created nightmares for millions of people showering worldwide.

Created using never-before-seen production materials and photos – many from Holland’s own personal archive – Oh Mother, What Have You Done? abounds with rare hand-written development and production notes, early budgets, personal Polaroids and more, all set against fascinating conversations with the film’s writer, director and editor which document the development, filming, and reception of the much-celebrated Psycho II.  

‘Oh Mother, What Have you Done? – The Making of Psycho II

Says author Holland of writing Oh Mother, What Have You Done? (which contains an afterward by Bates Motel producer Anthony Cipriano), I wrote Psycho II, the first sequel that began the Psycho legacy, forty years ago this past summer, and the film was a huge success in the year 1983, but who remembers? To my surprise, apparently, they do, because on the film’s fortieth anniversary love from fans began to pour in, much to my amazement and pleasure. And then (Psycho II director) Richard Franklin’s unpublished memoirs arrived unexpectedly. I’d had no idea he’d written them before he passed in 2007.”

“Reading them,” continues Holland, “was like being transported back in time, and I had to share them, along with my memories and personal archives with the fans of Psycho, the sequels, and the excellent Bates Motel. I hope they enjoy reading the book as much as I did in putting it together. My thanks to Andrew London, who edited, and to Mr. Hitchcock, without whom none of this would have existed.”

“So, step back with me forty years and let’s see how it happened.”

Anthony Perkins – Norman Bates

Oh Mother, What Have You Done? is available now in both hardback and paperback through Amazon and at Terror Time (for copies autographed by Tom Holland)

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Continue Reading

Books

Sequel to ‘Cujo’ Just One Offering in New Stephen King Anthology

Published

on

It’s been a minute since Stephen King put out a short story anthology. But in 2024 a new one containing some original works is getting published just in time for summer. Even the book title “You Like It Darker,” suggests the author is giving readers something more.

The anthology will also contain a sequel to King’s 1981 novel “Cujo,” about a rabid Saint Bernard that wreaks havoc on a young mother and her child trapped inside a Ford Pinto. Called “Rattlesnakes,” you can read an excerpt from that story on Ew.com.

The website also gives a synopsis of some of the other shorts in the book: “The other tales include ‘Two Talented Bastids,’ which explores the long-hidden secret of how the eponymous gentlemen got their skills, and ‘Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream,’ about a brief and unprecedented psychic flash that upends dozens of lives. In ‘The Dreamers,’ a taciturn Vietnam vet answers a job ad and learns that there are some corners of the universe best left unexplored while ‘The Answer Man’ asks if prescience is good luck or bad and reminds us that a life marked by unbearable tragedy can still be meaningful.”

Here’s the table of contents from “You Like It Darker,”:

  • “Two Talented Bastids”
  • “The Fifth Step”
  • “Willie the Weirdo”
  • “Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream”
  • “Finn”
  • “On Slide Inn Road”
  • “Red Screen”
  • “The Turbulence Expert”
  • “Laurie”
  • “Rattlesnakes”
  • “The Dreamers”
  • “The Answer Man”

Except for “The Outsider” (2018) King has been releasing crime novels and adventure books instead of true horror in the past few years. Known mostly for his terrifying early supernatural novels such as “Pet Sematary,” “It,” “The Shining” and “Christine,” the 76-year-old author has diversified from what made him famous starting with “Carrie” in 1974.

A 1986 article from Time Magazine explained that King planned on quitting horror after he wrote “It.” At the time he said there was too much competition, citing Clive Barker as “better than I am now” and “a lot more energetic.” But that was almost four decades ago. Since then he’s written some horror classics such as “The Dark Half, “Needful Things,” “Gerald’s Game,” and “Bag of Bones.”

Maybe the King of Horror is waxing nostalgic with this latest anthology by revisiting the “Cujo” universe in this latest book. We will have to find out when “You Like It Darker” hits bookshelves and digital platforms starting May 21, 2024.

'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' Popcorn Bucket

Continue Reading

Embed Gif with Clickable Title