Violet Eyes

Rachel and her son Eric are starting a new life near the Everglades, but they don't have much time to settle in before an infestation of flies are reported, people start getting bit, communications go out, and the spiders begin to take over, multiplying, and killing everything they touch. John Everson's Violet Eyes spun a web around me and I couldn't, nay, I didn't, want to free myself from it. Spiders are no friend of mine and I can stomp on them when needed, but the spiders in Violet Eyes are unnaturally aware, they can scent you, for you are their prey. There was almost an Alien (the movie) vibe to the way these spiders used a human's body.  From the beginning beach scene until the ending, Everson's outstanding descriptive skills allowed a movie-like screening of the spiders and their counterparts to play in my mind which kept me brushing away invisible creepy-crawlies. I was enraptured by these life-stealing things. I love the way John gave us full exposure of the lives these critters were taking, and the creative scenarios their demise took place in. There was one scene with two young brothers out playing catch that was hard to read because it was written so well and you knew, you just knew. Everson made me feel for the characters, whether they were in it for a few paragraphs or a few pages.  I wondered how the author was going to carry the story with such a terrifying and all-consuming enemy, but I needn't have worried. At first I felt a sense of hopelessness for everyone, but Rachel and friends were not to be counted out.  The ending. It was...just perfect. I really feel that this is the best story I have read by Mr. Everson and I highly recommend you give this read a try.

Some of the most disturbing horror comes from writers able to weave an amazing, riveting and terrifying story - that could just happen. Here we have an insight into what happens when you mess around with Mother Nature. She bites back. And in this story, she REALLY bites back, leaving something wretchedly alive,painful and deadly in her victims. But there are many layers to this tale. There is the story of Rachel who has escaped her abusive husband and taken her son as far away as she can. She believes that this out of the way community of Passanattee will be a safe haven to raise her boy. the trouble is, her ex-husband still believes she belongs to him. He is going to come after her and take her and his boy back with him. Meanwhile, out on the tiny deserted island of Sheila Key, a group of friends are looking forward to a weekend away, reliving 'Blue Lagoon', until they make an alarming discovery - and then the spiders come...and the flies. Swarms of them. The creatures were supposed to be contained on that island. But once they leave, no one is safe and the town of Passanattee lies right in their path. Oh, those spiders. Yes, I am an arachnophobe and John Everson's powerful descriptive writing did nothing to lessen my fear of the creatures but, at least, the ones I come across don't have vivid violet markings. This was a superbly crafted story, strong on personalities and plot and drew heavily on this reader's emotional responses on a number of occasions. My flesh crawled, itched and burned. This was a brilliant read.

After a group of college students stumbles onto an abandoned military test lab on small island in the Keys, all of them die except one, attacked by swarms of flesh-eating spiders and flies with strange violet eyes. The survivor, Billy, lives to tell his tale, but it is only the beginning of the insectoid horror to come. Rachel and her son, Eric, relocate to Panassattee on the edge of the Everglades, after an abusive marriage to start over. Little does she know what her new neighbor, Billy, has growing inside him, and what terror will be released on the little town. Everson has long been one of the most consistently solid horror writers around for years, and while this wasn't my favorite by him, it's still worthy of a read. Shocking conclusion that I didn't see coming.

Will never read anything from this guy again, because of the ending. With just a few words at the end he decided to kill all the main characters. Really screwed up the whole read for me.

Having read all of John Everson's books, I can honestly say, this is by far John at his best ! ! ! Once I started reading, I just couldn't put the book down. I will never look at a fly or spider in the same way again. SPOOOOOOKY ! ! !

Kind of a "Clickers" only with spiders.  I have enough hate for spiders without the author describing the hairy legged creatures invading every orifice of the human body.   Lots of gore. Of course, if gore is what you are looking for, you've come to the right book.

John has created a situation where the reader is afraid to look at a crawling insect. You will itch and scratch your way through the entire read. John can best be compared to the old time radio writer, Arch Obler, with his story of the "ever-growing chicken heart'. John is one of the top horror writers of the day. Don't miss any of his works.

Great follow up to the short story. Definitely worth reading. Waiting for the sequel. Spiders turning into flies turning into spiders. Would have liked a bit more backstory on the creation but still one of the best creature stories in a while.