Bloodworm (UK: Arrow Books, 1987)
Tagline: "A mighty city fallen prey to a bloodsucking
nightmare."
All right. What better way to kick things off than with this
little offering by John Halkin, an old hand at creepy-crawly
horror as evidenced by three previous books, SLITHER,
SLIME, and SQUELCH. Now take a moment and examine
Tagline: "A mighty city fallen prey to a bloodsucking
nightmare."
All right. What better way to kick things off than with this
little offering by John Halkin, an old hand at creepy-crawly
horror as evidenced by three previous books, SLITHER,
SLIME, and SQUELCH. Now take a moment and examine
that cover. That's the thing. That's exactly what made people buy this book: an immense
worm with slime dripping from its jaws rising up above the ruins of London. Okay. So
that never really happens anywhere in the story, but that doesn't mean there aren't other
things equally as hideous afoot:
"On the low platform before the blackboard lay a man's body spreadeagled like so
much carrion, its face destroyed--and its abdomen open to the air, exposed, while
several long, pale snake-like creatures appeared to be feeding on it with slobbering
mouths."
And:
"The obscene white slug shifted, coiling over his face, its mouth still fiercely sucking at
his neck with such power that he felt his blood-vessels bursting under the pressure and
knew that his blood was being hungrily drawn out."
First off, Halkin doesn't screw around. Within the first twenty pages he's already shown
you how the beetles--I'll explain this later--have already nearly devoured one man and
sharpened their teeth on a second who manages to survive. And it's this guy--actually his
name is Guy--who will soon become our saviour...the only man who can save London
from the bloodsucking nightmare. Now a few words about Guy. He's a good-natured,
likeable sort, ex-Army, with a darling little daughter (Kath) and a hard-drinking,
foul-mouthed whore for a wife (Dorothea). See? Already, the plot thickens.
Okay. Plot, then. Buildings are falling down all over London. Investigation proves that it's
because of a boring woodworm tunneling through wooden structures, weakening them.
But this is no ordinary woodworm. This is the Bloodworm. The larval
stage--maggot--burrow into wood and emerge as flesh-hungry beetles. When buildings
collapse, the beetles emerge and feast on anybody that happens to be in the vicinity.
Okay, fine. But what of our Bloodworms? Well, it seems that there really aren't any true
Bloodworms. An entomologist discovers that the Bloodworms are actually a colonial
organism made up of thousands of maggots. These "colonies" form immense segmented
worms about the size of pythons that go from a pale white to a shiny engorged pink
when they feed on blood. Nice touch. The science of this is never adequately explained.
How do these pulpy white little wood-boring maggots form themselves into giant worms?
And how do they mimic the sucking mouths of the worms or the black glassy eyes? And,
furthermore, why is it that wood-boring larva, when disturbed, happily change their diet
and feed on human blood? Oh, well, this isn't Bio 101. The story is pretty fast-faced and
exciting. London becomes infested and pretty soon nobody is safe. Our hero, Guy,
battles the worm menace with a cop and our entomologist while his own domestic life is
falling apart: his wife was screwing some guy from the local pub and while doing so,
Kath--the daughter--walked in and saw it and ran off in shame. Now Guy has not only
the blood-sucking worm menace and the flesh-eating beetle menace to deal with, but his
daughter is lost somewhere in the devastated ruins of greater London. And that,
essentially, is what propels our plot. Does Guy find his daughter? Does he defeat the
Bloodworm menace? Ha, you'll have to read to find out.
Pros: I liked the characters and the urban descriptions of London. The writing was crisp
and Halkin really kept things moving. The various subplots seasoned things nicely.
Cons: There simply weren't enough human attacks in here for me and not enough
graphic close-ups of people being devoured. What there was was good, but like the fat
guy at the buffet I wanted more. The final of this one is not the sort of all-out
worm/beetle vs. human slaughter I had hoped for.
Overall: A good read. Great cover. There was enough gore scenes in here to slake my
bloodlust without necessarily satisfying it. The ending was kind of rushed and the pivotal
battle should have been longer and bloodier. But beyond that nitpicking, this is worth
picking up and definitely a keeper.
I give it 3½ bloody skulls out of five.
Next month's Guilty Pleasure:
"Out of the earth crept mankind's oldest nightmare."
worm with slime dripping from its jaws rising up above the ruins of London. Okay. So
that never really happens anywhere in the story, but that doesn't mean there aren't other
things equally as hideous afoot:
"On the low platform before the blackboard lay a man's body spreadeagled like so
much carrion, its face destroyed--and its abdomen open to the air, exposed, while
several long, pale snake-like creatures appeared to be feeding on it with slobbering
mouths."
And:
"The obscene white slug shifted, coiling over his face, its mouth still fiercely sucking at
his neck with such power that he felt his blood-vessels bursting under the pressure and
knew that his blood was being hungrily drawn out."
First off, Halkin doesn't screw around. Within the first twenty pages he's already shown
you how the beetles--I'll explain this later--have already nearly devoured one man and
sharpened their teeth on a second who manages to survive. And it's this guy--actually his
name is Guy--who will soon become our saviour...the only man who can save London
from the bloodsucking nightmare. Now a few words about Guy. He's a good-natured,
likeable sort, ex-Army, with a darling little daughter (Kath) and a hard-drinking,
foul-mouthed whore for a wife (Dorothea). See? Already, the plot thickens.
Okay. Plot, then. Buildings are falling down all over London. Investigation proves that it's
because of a boring woodworm tunneling through wooden structures, weakening them.
But this is no ordinary woodworm. This is the Bloodworm. The larval
stage--maggot--burrow into wood and emerge as flesh-hungry beetles. When buildings
collapse, the beetles emerge and feast on anybody that happens to be in the vicinity.
Okay, fine. But what of our Bloodworms? Well, it seems that there really aren't any true
Bloodworms. An entomologist discovers that the Bloodworms are actually a colonial
organism made up of thousands of maggots. These "colonies" form immense segmented
worms about the size of pythons that go from a pale white to a shiny engorged pink
when they feed on blood. Nice touch. The science of this is never adequately explained.
How do these pulpy white little wood-boring maggots form themselves into giant worms?
And how do they mimic the sucking mouths of the worms or the black glassy eyes? And,
furthermore, why is it that wood-boring larva, when disturbed, happily change their diet
and feed on human blood? Oh, well, this isn't Bio 101. The story is pretty fast-faced and
exciting. London becomes infested and pretty soon nobody is safe. Our hero, Guy,
battles the worm menace with a cop and our entomologist while his own domestic life is
falling apart: his wife was screwing some guy from the local pub and while doing so,
Kath--the daughter--walked in and saw it and ran off in shame. Now Guy has not only
the blood-sucking worm menace and the flesh-eating beetle menace to deal with, but his
daughter is lost somewhere in the devastated ruins of greater London. And that,
essentially, is what propels our plot. Does Guy find his daughter? Does he defeat the
Bloodworm menace? Ha, you'll have to read to find out.
Pros: I liked the characters and the urban descriptions of London. The writing was crisp
and Halkin really kept things moving. The various subplots seasoned things nicely.
Cons: There simply weren't enough human attacks in here for me and not enough
graphic close-ups of people being devoured. What there was was good, but like the fat
guy at the buffet I wanted more. The final of this one is not the sort of all-out
worm/beetle vs. human slaughter I had hoped for.
Overall: A good read. Great cover. There was enough gore scenes in here to slake my
bloodlust without necessarily satisfying it. The ending was kind of rushed and the pivotal
battle should have been longer and bloodier. But beyond that nitpicking, this is worth
picking up and definitely a keeper.
I give it 3½ bloody skulls out of five.
Next month's Guilty Pleasure:
"Out of the earth crept mankind's oldest nightmare."