Bug horror is not a new niche in the horror fiction landscape—as long as humans have been afraid of creepy crawlies, we’ve been writing stories about them. A natural byproduct of many a horror construct (it is very hard to write about anything decaying, rotting, long-dead and buried or otherwise anatomically compromised without mentioning bugs), insects also feature heavily in folklore around the world and in religious iconography and symbology, with the small critters taking on various different forms of significance: Philistine god Behelzebub or Beelzebub (amongst other spellings) is sometimes known as the Lord of the Flies, owing to the winged, buzzing form the god is fond of taking. Scarabs were beloved by ancient Egyptians and depicted often on monuments and tomb architecture. Locusts feature heavily in biblical warnings, bees were beloved by the Romans and Greeks as harbingers of good fortune and divine messengers, butterflies were believed to carry the souls of the dead by the Aztecs…the list goes on. Naturally, some of this fear (and reverence) has made it into modern literature, as allegory for change, for death, for transportation, for many things. Here are just a few horror novels that feature bugs heavily, listed in no particular order:
The Breach and The Queen by Nick Cutter
Cutter’s thing is bugs, it is safe to say. Completely at home with visceral gore and wonderfully graphic depictions of bodily harm, Cutter’s ability to harness insectile unease is masterfully woven into a number of his books. In The Breach, a Detective investigates the likely death of a theoretical physicist in a case that takes him to a house literally pulsing with dread (and creepy crawlies). Intense body horror and procedural crime thriller collide to create a truly disturbing tale, available on Audible in narrated form.
The Queen by the same author doesn’t use bugs as a set piece so much as a means to invade the reader’s mind. Told over the course of a single day to really ramp up the tension, this fantastically disturbing novel tells the story of Margaret, who finds a strange phone on her doorstep one morning, and quickly receives a text on it, from a friend who has been missing for a while. Following the breadcrumbs to try and locate her missing best friend, Margaret is led down a spiralling path through, well, a LOT of insectile encounters, bug fetishes and downright weird happenings. An absolute must read if you are a fan of Cutter’s work but perhaps not if you are squeamish or affected by any sort of insect phobia.
Meat Bees by Dane Erbach
This one is not out yet but its arresting cover should secure its spot as a firm contender for bug horror entry of the year. As you would expect from a punk-rock, transgressive publisher like Clash, this one promises to be fun and disgusting in the best possible way. Pitched as “Jaws with Wasps”, it features a swarm of meat-eating yellowjackets, and that is probably all you need to know to add it to your TBR immediately.
Queen of the Cicadas by V. Castro
Castro is no stranger to poetic violence, and her talent for beautiful dissemination is firmly on show in Queen of the Cicadas, which tells the heartfelt story of Milagros, a Mexican woman who migrates to Texas in 1952 to restore her family’s reputation after a mysterious death. Harassed by her employers on the farm she becomes a labourer on, Milagros tries to escape but is attacked by a jealous wife, to devastating consequences- Milagros quite literally suffers death by insect invasion and exposure. But someone- or something- is listening to the dying woman’s screams: vengeful goddess Mictecacihuatl. What follows is brutal, gut-wrenching odyssey of revenge that is absolutely teeming with insects. A must-read.
Locusts by Guy N. Smith
Better known for his Crabs series of novels (the pulpy covers of which are deeply ingrained in my memory from a box of paperbacks I once found in my grandparents attic), Locusts is a fantastic entry into Smith’s impressive catalogue of books about crawling, biting, disgusting things that make life difficult for every day human beings. What starts as a man’s attempt to save his failing marriage by moving his family to the great English countryside (I can tell you from experience that you’re onto a loser with that strategy) during a fierce heatwave ends up in a bonkers, savage meltdown of epic proportions when an infested crate of peaches sent over by an American relative unleashes a plague of pennsylvanian locusts onto the unsuspecting pastoral Britain. Part insect horror, part examination of how quickly things go awry when nature is pissed off with us, this one is fast-paced, and reliably bonkers with some deeper themes for the more cerebral amongst you.
Metamorphosis by Kafka
Is it a horror novel? Arguably, yes, although the literary bigwigs get all snobbish and het-up when you say that. Regardless, the terror of existence and the threat (or catharsis) of change, of transformation, of becoming, is downright scary, thought-provoking and deeply confronting, depending on which side of the existential fence you sit. The Metamorphosis tells the story of salesman Gregor Samsa, who wakes up one day to find himself unexpectedly transformed into a huge insect (what kind, exactly, is left up to reader interpretation: cockroach? Beetle? Something else? The ambiguity is masterful and extremely unsettling.) While turning into a massive insect without warning is shocking enough in itself, the real anguish of the tale lies in Gregor’s struggles to adjust to his new, buglike form, and the simultaneous struggles of his loved ones to accept him as he now is. Obviously a metaphorical exploration of whatever society deems verminous and the exquisite pain of being an outsider, this is a lonely, absurd and uncomfortable read that goes to some very dark places.
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