Nest

Back in high school in the early 80s, I was a huge Stephen King horror fan. This book has stuck with me for all those years because of its gruesome horror scenes and crazy end reveal of the monster in the nest. A truly great entry in 70s-80s horror novels. It seemed to fly under the radar back then, but I'm really glad that it's had a reprint. I will definitely pick it up again.

THE NEST by Gregory A. Douglas isn't for the faint of heart; the deaths are described in very gruesome detail, even for a horror novel. Just warning you. Anyway, this is a pretty good "nature gone mad" book. The various inhabitants of the island of Yalkie are drawn pretty realistically and no one really feels like a stock character or archetype. Suspense sequences are done nicely. There's a sex sequence (well, sort of) that seems a bit random, but otherwise, everything flows well. This book is a bit of an odd hybrid of a 50's giant monster movie (the general pace and narrative flow) and an 80's slasher film (sexual content, gruesome deaths, even a killer-isn't-quite-dead-yet scare). Also, there seems to be a slight right-wing spin, a mild conservative twist, but not enough to really bother me (who's about as left-wing as you can get).

This is one of the creepiest horror books ever written. An entire community on an island is being slowly massacred by giant, vicious, mutated cockroaches. The description of people, including children, being eaten alive is so gut-turning. This is a very good book, very scary and very realistic. The writer's description into how cockroaches live and what they are capable of is frightening. Buy it.

I have only two words for anyone who likes a good horror / insect / scary as heck book. READ IT. READ IT. READ IT. One of the most spine chilling reads of all time. Quite Frankly it is the most memerable and well writen pieces of Horror Art I have ever read. Stephen King eat your heart out. The only other writer i have ever read which comes close is Peter Benchley.