Worm by Tim Curran

May 24, 2013

On Pine Street, the houses begin to shake. The earth begins to move. The streets crack open and yards split asunder…and rising from subterranean depths far below, a viscid black muck bubbles up and floods the neighborhood. 

In it are a ravenous army of gigantic worms seeking human flesh. They wash into houses, they come up through the sewers, through plumbing, filling toilets and tubs, seeking human prey. 

Cut off from the rest of the town, the people of Pine Street must wage a war of survival or they’ll never see morning. As bad as the worms are, there’s something worse—and far larger—waiting to emerge.

Do you remember the movie Tremors? It’s a bit of a classic isn’t it? The only issue I ever had with it was I always thought that the Graboids were nowhere near terrifying enough. Tim Curran appears to feel the same way and attempts to redress the balance with his latest novella, Worm. The good news is that he does a damn good job of it.

The residents of Pine Street are just an ordinary bunch of folks and this particular night isn’t going to end well for some of them. I do love that moment in a horror story when you realise absolutely no one is safe and everyone is fair game.

Just wait till you meet Bertie Kalishek, she’s a doll.

The worms themselves are disgusting creations. Driven by the most primal urges, they desire nothing but to consume, to eat. They are just so different, so very alien. It makes my flesh crawl thinking about them even now.

The mouth yawned open and a set of spongy pink shining gums jutted forth, mammoth teeth sliding from them like switchblades.

This book is proper old school evil, it’s delightfully icky. There is so much muck, gloop, ooze and slime. I’ve not even mentioned the buckets of blood yet, and believe me there is plenty of it. When characters get dispatched it is in spectacularly gory ways. I’m genuinely concerned that after reading Worm I may never be able to go to the bathroom again. They come through the pipes! *sits in corner of the room slowly rocking back and forth*

Seriously though, this book is more than a little bit bonkers. I should stress that I mean that as the highest of compliments. The whole time I was reading I kept making appreciative “Eeuuuwwww” sounds under my breath. My only complaint, I really wish it was a little bit longer. It’s a brilliant novella I reckon it could be and AWESOME novel.

Every so often when it comes to reading I want something that is just out and out pure entertainment. I want something that is outrageous, nonsensical and fun. I reckon that Worm is that something. Like it’s celluloid predecessor this isn’t high art, but it is massively enjoyable.

Overall, Worm is exactly what I hoped it would be, darkly comic, gross in the extreme and sometimes just plain old nasty. Any story that features the phrase semi-gelatinous is always going to be a winner in my opinion. Kevin Bacon would be proud. This is over the top horror at it’s very best.

Worm is published by Dark Fuse and is now. Beware people, there is trouble brewing under our feet. The worms are coming and they are more than a little hungry.

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