Book Review: Earthworm Gods

Brian Keene, Earthworm Gods (Preferred Author's Edition). Portland, OR: Eraserhead Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781621050599.

 

Genre: horror

Subgenre: post-apocalyptic, United States, Appalachia

Format: trade paperback

Source: Berea branch, Madison County (KY) Public Library

 

This book has two stories. We start with Teddy Garrett, an old man in rural West Virginia. As the novel opens, he tells us it's been raining nonstop for days with no sign of stopping. The town nearby is fully flooded, and the water is still rising. It has been 40 days of rain, but that may be the least of his worries. Giant worm creatures are rising from the ground as it rains. The second story comes from survivors of a helicopter crash near Teddy's location. Those survivors tell the story of the rain and monsters in Baltimore including satanists in the city making sacrifices to some creature. 

I thought this post-apocalyptic tale would be a better read. The author is very good at characterization. Teddy and his buddy Carl are very well drawn. These are people that readers can visualize and maybe even recognize from real life. However, the narrative is seriously slow and just dull, especially prior to the helicopter crash. Those first chapters just dragged. It was basically slow reading for me. 

Note that this particular edition is the "author's preferred edition." This edition includes an afterword from the author where he discusses how the novel came about and the inspiration for the characters. If you like reading authors discussing their craft, the afterword is worth reading. 

Overall, for me this does not feel like the author's best work. Pacing and narrative were fairly slow, not that engaging. I did enjoy his novel Castaways better (link to that review). I don't recommend Earthworm Gods, but I am still willing to try out other books by this author. 

1 out of 5 stars. 

Additional note.

This book has ads in the back for other books from the publisher. I am jotting down some titles that sound interesting to find later:

• Edward Lee, The Innswich Horror.
• Ryan Harding, Genital Grinder. Part of the reason I chose this one is Keene gave it a good blurp.