‘Squelch’ – John Halkin (Grafton Way Horror)

Page Count: 256 Pages (Kindle Edition)

This cover art isn't for the Kindle Edition by the way, that was just a black rectangle with the title in red, we deserve better than that here ;o)

I don’t normally read anything much longer than around thirty pages on my Kindle app (regular visitors will know that already though…) but I was looking after my daughters the other night and didn’t have a book handy after they’d gone to bed. It’s at times like that, I’m glad I’ve got my phone on me ;o)

I’d read John Halkin’s ‘Slither’ a few years ago and enjoyed it enough to treat myself to the Kindle editions of ‘Squelch’ and ‘Slime’. I decided to go for ‘Squelch’ first as I was intrigued to see what kind of a ‘creature feature’ Halkin could make from caterpillars and moths. Not much of one as it happens…

When Ginny first spotted the beautiful moths, she felt sure they were welcoming her to her new cottage... But by the time the lethal caterpillars arrived, she knew she was very, very, wrong. Huge, green and hairy, they ravenously preyed upon flesh - burrowing in the softest, most unprotected parts of the human body. And their first victim was Ginny's own sister, but she was only the first...

I love a good ‘creature feature’ and I’ll be honest, I’m partial to awful ‘creature features’ as well. It’s just a lot of fun reading about unsuspecting people being torn up by the local fauna, you know what I mean ;o) Here’s the thing though… For a ‘creature feature’ to work, you’ve got to be to be able to believe that people are actually in danger. Whether it’s giant crabs or a crocodile that was flushed down the toilet and grew up over the years… If your hero/heroine/random onlooker aren’t in any danger, well… What’s the point?

And that’s where ‘Squelch’ fell down for me. Your mileage may vary but for me, caterpillars just aren’t that dangerous.

Don’t get me wrong, these specimens can do some real damage and its a lot of fun watching that play out on the page. These moments are signposted a little too strongly but that’s ok, the payoff is worth it. Plenty of gore for those who are after that kind of thing, like me :o)

There are only so many times though that I can read about people being ambushed by caterpillars dropping out of trees though, or people being caught unawares by a slow moving caterpillar that they weren’t looking out for. Caterpillars and moths aren’t hard to avoid and I ended up just getting frustrated with supporting cast, and a couple of the leads, who should have known better but had ‘convenient lapses’ so the plot could keep moving.

Gory? Yes. Tense? Not really, not at all actually. Halkin did a lot better with ‘Slither’ from what I can remember; maybe it just boils down to what you’re scared of. If it had been wasps, I’d have freaked right out ;o)

I finished the book, although it got to a point where I flicked through some pages just to get to the good bits. I didn’t need to go into the details of Ginny’s affair with her sisters husband; it didn’t do anything for the story, as a whole, and didn’t do much for Ginny either. Maybe there was a tale to be told of Ginny’s awakening, after her split with Jack, but it just didn’t seem to gel with a tale of carnivorous caterpillars. Oh well…

‘Squelch’ was an odd one to call then. When it concentrates on what it’s good at, ‘Squelch’ is a compelling read for the gore-hounds among us but that wasn’t often enough for me. I will give ‘Slime’ a go though and it has prompted me to dig ‘Slither’ out for another read so… Not all bad then ;o)

P.S Here's the other cover art that I found, why didn't they use this for the Kindle Edition...?