Human nature is neither fixed nor tame. We are like puppets pulled by invisible strings, dancing to the silent music of our desires, swayed by the winds of our fantasies and led astray by the soft tyranny of pleasure. In the deepest part of the soul, is often our cravings that write the script while we merely perform it and later find who or what to blame for our dark side.
A couple of days ago, I was looking through my TBR list to see which book would appeal to me. I was in the mood to read horror, something small, dark and vile. So I picked up The Bug Collector by Wrath James White and it was exactly what I needed but it turned out unexpectedly nasty.
I have never read any works by Wrath James White. This is actually my first time. I have four of his books in my TBR and after my experience with The Bug Collector, I will be reading more of his works.
Genres: Body Horror, Splatterpunk Horror, Extreme Horror.
Published: September 30, 2024
Pages: 73
This is a short, horrific novella that dives headfirst without beating around the bush into extreme horror, body horror, and splatterpunk by exploring addiction, disease, and revenge. It is not a book that tries to comfort the reader or depict an unrealistic world. It is also not for the faint of heart.
It is a satisfyingly graphic book that entails descriptions of sexually transmitted diseases, sexual violence, gore, torture, and decay that will test the readers’ morals and mental strength. Trigger warnings are mentioned on the introductory page so I'd suggest you check it before reading this book.
Joey, the main character of this book is a “bug collector”—a man with a severe obsession of deliberately seeking out and contracting as many sexually transmitted infections or diseases (STIs/STDs) as possible. This is called paraphilia. Joey was once a successful computer coder with a comfortable life in Las Vegas. You would think since he is successful and averagely rich he would live out his life in a peaceful and good way. But his obsession took him down the path to where he destroyed his health.
His obsession with contracting sexually transmitted diseases made his health condition terminal, ravaged his appearance (losing his nose to syphilis, covered in sores, scabs, blisters, herpes and pus). This finally reduced him to living on the streets like a homeless, rotting, undead figure. People would take one look at him and recoil in disgust and fear.
However, his actions and obsession have consequences when his past—Tina, a prostitute, he infected with his numerous bugs and ruining her life—comes back to haunt him. Tina kidnaps Joey off the streets of LA and holds him in an abandoned house. She seeks revenge and gets what she wanted in the most sadistic and vile way but in the end, a monster was made. Will Joey make it out alive from Tina's captivity? Who will Tina become at the end?
I praise White's narrative, especially his descriptive techniques in this book. He wrote this book specifically to unsettle his readers as he ties physical horror to emotional, mental degradation and moral collapse. The plot is straightforward, focusing mainly on two characters: Joey and Tina. It also a book that focuses on obsession, confrontation, and visceral payback.
Though it's 73 pages, this novella left me mortified. I was in shock right from the first page to the last. I love how the author tells the story of Joey through a blend of flashbacks and present narration. With this technique, I was able to get a full insight into Joey’s early life before his obsession started and what led him to paraphilia. This same technique was applied to Tina. This made it easy for me to connect with Tina and understand Joey’s obsession. It was a masterful writing.
Also, the themes explored in this dark book include obsession, addiction, self-destruction, consequences and collateral damages, revenge and justice.
Rating this novella, I'd give 4.5 stars out of 5. It's a well-written horror with gory scenes in it that will mess with your mental health. The author didn't disappoint. The story is gripping such that I was conflicted with Joey and felt he deserved everything he got. The characters will tug at your heartstrings so, be sure to check the triggers.
All images above are from my E-library
Header images compiled in Canva.
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