The Brain Eaters
By Gary Brandner
1985 Fawcett
Paperback, 278 pages
This book is good. I didn’t have to
suspend my disbelief too much during this one as it involves a fast-spreading
global pandemic. Much to my delight, it all started in Milwaukee. Not New York,
not LA, not London. It’s about time Wisconsin got the horror-pulp recognition
it so richly deserves!
An accidental (or is it?) mix-up
releases a dangerous chemical into the air in rural Wisconsin. Just a little.
Surely it was remote enough and there was so little… but then people start going
a bit crazy; just a few locals and some folks who went through the Milwaukee
airport. They get murderous. They kill. They break out in festering, bursting
sores. Things get gooey and it spreads quickly.
Our main character here is a
newspaper man who is looking for the big scoop to get out of the Midwest and
back to the big city. Maybe even a Pulitzer. He seems to have found the story.
(Ever notice how many books have zealous news guys as the leads? It must be a novelist’s
wish fulfillment fantasy!) Between him and the scientists who are responsible
for the deadly contagion, they unravel a tale of sabotage, murder and a
pandemic that threatens to shut down the world. Now, that couldn’t possibly happen, right?
Brandner is no stranger to horror
fiction. He is responsible for The
Howling and its literary sequels as well as a handful of other horrors. He
ladles on the gore and disgusting unmentionables with a heavy hand in this one
while still keeping an emotional bond between his characters and the reader.
This book comes highly recommended, from me to you. With love.
This review originally appeared in Midnight Magazine #10, Spring, 2023.
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