Monstrosity

The first book I read by Tim Curran was Grimweave. It was to arachnaphobes what holy water is to a demon.This one, however, runs the whole gamut of itchy, crawly, insectile critters. With one small (big) exception: they’ve all been eating The Food. Along with the bugs eating the The Food, there are plants, and animals as well. The Food, for you horror movie fans, is similar to The Stuff from the movie of the same name. A white, gooey substance creeping out from the soil. No one really knows it’s origins. And it’s wreaking havoc across the country.Frank and his children are trying to get to a haven. A place they’ve been told is safe from The Food and is abhorrent creations. Along the way they meet others who are also fleeing The Food. Some make it. Some don’t. In fact one death shocked the hell outta me.If you like a great book that literally gets under your skin you will not go wrong with Monstrosity.

As I've found out in real life, never say it can't get worse, because it always can. And so, this is something the honest man-of-the-earth, and single father, Frank Bowman quickly finds out. The world, or, at least, his little corner of it, is ending. Something toxic is oozing out of the ground, something that is called "The Food", and it’s causing cracks in the earth, and monstrous mutations in both the local fauna and flora. But until recently it’s all happened elsewhere, and now it's come to the land that has been worked for five generations of Bowmans. Now Bowman and his children Jasmine and Jerrold are forced to become three more refugees on a road to a possible refuge. Then their vehicle is attacked by a "Food" altered monster and all three barely get away alive. The trio will then find their way to a nearby convenience story where they are helped by Candy, a feisty black woman, who is hiding there after an attack by some flying monsters, monsters that will come back to the store for seconds. After surviving all of this, Frank's family, now joined with the fiercely protective Candy, will continue on their journey. Nothing ever comes easy, so after Frank investigates a house, where some questionable things happen to him, he finds that the other three have disappeared from where he had left them. This leads to another quest, and as he scours the ruined and dangerous countryside for his family, he comes across another wandering quartet of people, who will help him in his quest. Nobody, and nothing, is sacred in a Curran novel, so as "Monstrosity" progresses people will live, people will die, and things will become more and more bizarre, including predatory walking houses, sea monsters, giant man-eating bears, giant man-eating monsters, etc, and when he finally gets to his destination he finds things get really weird as he has to take a trip into madness to rescue his children with a set of newly found friends. As usual we get a quest novel from Hell from Tim Curran, and nobody does them better than Curran. They start off bad, become worse, and then go into something that only be described as a hallucionary bad trip. Like most of Tim Curran's books "Monstrosity" is mostly one twisted trek, and like most of Curran's books, he has an obsessive fascination with various forms of corruption, and body horror, like rot, decay, infections, and all types of funguses in all of its obscene forms. Curran also fills his novels, as he does this one, genetic mutations and madness. Thankfully, Curran doesn't even try to explain what "The Food" actually is, it just bubbles up from the earth and corrupts everything, plants, animals, insects, etc., that comes in contact with, like a twisted version of "The Stuf". One of the neat things that you see in Curran's works is his fanboy enthusiasms for his influences, as you see Lovecraft, King, William Hope Hodgson, and Robert Howard amongst others mixed into this work. In fact, I think that over the years, Curran has developed his own Sargasso Sea, only on land. If you’re familiar with the works of Hodgson you know what I mean. I think that "Monstrosity" is one of Curran's better novels, and it would probably benefit from multiple reading to catch all of the stuff that he throws at the reader. "Monstrosity" is clearly a novel that should be turned into a movie, tv series, or even an anime. For this site I have read and reviewed these other books by Tim Curran:AfterburnCannibal Corpse, M/CDead SeaGrimweaveHive #1: HiveHive #2: The SpawningLeviathanNightcrawlersSkin MedicineToxic Shadows

Nobody will put characters through a desolate wasteland the way Tim Curran will. He manages to pull the last bit of desperate struggle out of the time after time. Curran's world building in this novel is his best since Dead Sea in my opinion. Overall just a fantastic read.

I great read. One of few books of late that I kept wanting to get back to. I enjoy a good monster story, especially one with a wide variety of creatures previously not experienced, and this one fit that bill exactly. Recommended!

A horrible, sweet and terrible, ooze, oily, fungi ridden treat. Give yourself something to read to make the night just that much longer.

I love Tim Curran's work. I've read a bunch of his books, starting with "Skull Moon" (also highly recommended). I like the characters in "Monstrosity" and the monsters Tim cooks up are just mind-boggling. Curran's imagination is something to behold. This novella reads quickly and has a satisfying ending. I blew through it pretty fast.

Monstrosity by Tim Curran was another apocalyptic tale by one of my favorite authors. If you've read the man, you know what to expect. If not, I won't ruin it, but check him out. Tons of beasties decorate the pages of this book. Give it a try, and he's got lots of other good books too.

The whole quest through the horrors was pretty good. Lots of things up to no-good in grotesque ways. Unfortunately there was never an explanation as to any background of the food, military, world outside etc. Yes it's resolved but really just for the main character.