Defeating The Black Worm: Paul Flewitt
Reviewed By Steve Stred
I always love when Demain Publishing announces another batch of upcoming releases for two things. I love to see authors I’m familiar with get to share their good news about a new book and I love to see what new authors will get discovered.
Paul Flewitt falls into the second reason for me. I’m not familiar with any of his works and truthfully (and apologies on this one Paul) I’m not even sure if we’ve ever interacted much on any of the social media platforms.
What I will say – once you read ‘Defeating the Black Worm’ you’ll be like me and want to seek out his other releases.
What I liked: ‘Defeating the Black Worm’ is an interesting piece in that it starts off with a sudden bang. Seriously. Paraphrasing here, but it essentially opens with “And one day the Black Worm wiggled in my head and there it was.” No rhyme, no reason, just bang. Possessed. From here Paul leads us on a story of a man becoming more and more crumbled, a shell of his former self, until he is wandering the streets and comes across someone who may help him.
I loved the two parts of the plot here. We get the initial decay of our main character’s mind and we get the fantastic, brutal attempt to relieve him of his unseen hitchhiker.
Flewitt really wrote this with a flare I wasn’t expecting. It hummed along and the ending was truly superb. I loved how it played out.
What I didn’t like: For me, while the start was great and I loved this sort of starting block gun going off and we took off in a sprint, I wished we would’ve learned more about how this came to happen. Minor, I know, but some rhyme and some reason would’ve been lovely.
Why you should buy this: A fantastically dark piece in the ever-growing Short! Sharp! Shocks! series and one that I hope will introduce Flewitt to more readers. This one was a ton of fun and the lore that is used is something that hasn’t been done to death. Great stuff.
Defeating The Black Worm
Matthew had fallen so far, so quickly. The anxiety and panic had overcome him suddenly, and he couldn’t find a way back. In desperation, he sought solace in doctors and psychiatrists, but no-one could (or would!) help him. He loses everything to the hunger and appetites of the Black Worm.
But then, at his lowest point, and with nothing left, Matthew finds aid in the most unexpected of places…
But can the Black Worm be defeated?
(with a cover by Adrian Baldwin; illustration based on an original leatherwork design by Sonia Price of Gaia Art Books)
You can buy Defeating The Black Worm from Amazon UK & Amazon US
Steve Stred
Steve Stred is the author of a number of novels, novellas and collections. He has appeared in anthologies with some of Horror’s heaviest hitters.
He lives in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada with his wife, son and their dog OJ.
You can follow Steve on Twitter @stevestred
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You can visit Steve’s Official website here
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