Look Out For… Feral Things by Erin Cole
“A gripping horror thriller exploring the werewolf as protagonist rather than just a beast.”
Terror has claws and sharp teeth, but horror breeds in loathsome minds.
A monster possesses Jamie Fisher, one with claws and sharp teeth. After waking in the Nevada desert, not sure of who she is or how she got there, her key to survival lies in travelling with a dangerous guy named, Ray. A trust develops as they both flee across the state, running from Ray’s own troubled past and blindly heading into Jamie’s.
Ray will have to face new monsters and Jamie will have to embrace her own if she wants to save Ray and herself. It is a bloody mess, and only the feral will survive.
Why We’re Excited About This Book: It’s always a tightrope walk when a writer takes on one of the classic horror tropes such as the werewolf. On the one hand, if they stick to slavishly to the original myths and stories they’ll produce nothing but cliché. On the other, changing things for the sake of it can just seem pointless: “it’s not a werewolf it’s a were-wolverine!” Yawn.
The best re-imaginings of horror tropes tend to come when the author has a singular, personal vision that invigorates the archetype without succumbing to change for the sake of it. Which leads us nicely onto Erin Cole’s new werewolf novella, Feral Things. Cole’s werewolf is Jamie Fisher and unlike many lycanthrope stories she is the heroine of the piece. The psychology of Fisher is interesting – when she turns into a wolf, it is a pleasurable experience, for she feels freer as a werewolf than as a human. But despite this feeling of freedom she knows she is also trapped, because she will be forced to kill…
Set in the Nevada desert, Feral Things promises to be a gripping horror thriller exploring the werewolf as protagonist rather than just a beast.
This Book Will Appeal To: readers looking for something new to read under the light of a full moon.
Feral Things is out on 1 December 2014 from Damnation Books.
Look Out For … Strangers by David Moody
“Expect James Herbert-like quick-paced and bloody action.”
A dark and dirty horror novel from David Moody, author of the Hater trilogy and Autumn books.
A spate of brutal murders occur in and around the small town of Thussock. The bodies of the dead – savagely mutilated, unspeakably defiled – are piling up with terrifying speed. There are no apparent motives and no obvious connections between the victims, but the killings only began when Scott Griffiths and his family arrived in Thussock…
Why We’re Excited About This Book: David Moody has built up a reputation amongst horror readers with the Hater and Autumn series of post-apocalyptic novels. Now he returns with Strangers, a self-described “dark and dirty horror novel”. Moody interviewed James Herbert shortly before Herbert’s untimely death, and he has stated that Strangers is deliberately ‘Herbertesque’ in its execution. It’s no explicit homage but expect a familiar quick-pace and bloody plot. Strangers is set in a small rural English town, where a spate of murders begins; it’s as much about the finger-pointing and descent into paranoid suspicion of the people of Thussock as it is about the brutal and savage killings. Moody seems to be on a roll at the moment, and Strangers promises to be both please his current fans and gain him plenty more.
This Book Will Appeal To: fans of fast-paced and gory horror thrills.
Strangers is out on 1 December 2014 from Infected Books.
JAMES EVERINGTON
