Review: No “Beetle”ing around the Bush in C. M. Forest’s Infested (N.B.: Mild Spoilers Ahead)
Who doesn’t love to be scared? I mean “come on”, we all love a good horror story when we find one! That’s why I was so excited and intrigued when I read Infested (Eerie River Publishing 2022). As a note of precaution, I don’t reveal the ending of the plot in this review, but there are some mild spoilers, especially for the beginning of the book, so readers be warned!
C. M. Forest’s Infested. For more on C. M. Forest, see: https://christianlaforet.com/
Infested is a fast-paced horror novel by C. M. Forest. The story follows Olivia, who suddenly awakes to find herself alone within her apartment in the mysterious New Leaf Building. Her husband, Liam, is missing and strange noises and events are riddling the building. Olivia is groggy and has to piece together what’s happened to her, the disappearance of her husband, and what’s going on in the building. Not to mention, Olivia has to do all this while fighting to stay alive in the midst of a killer bug infested building!
There’s much to commend this book, but I want to begin with an examination of the book’s prose. The text begins right in the middle of the action, without initially providing any background detail into what’s going on. This helps to set the stage for the quick paced adventure within this apartment complex, getting the reader right into the mystery without having to bog them down with copious world-building details. Olivia is frightened and confused. The last thing that she remembers was having a drink with Liam, but now he’s nowhere to be seen and there’s sounds coming through the vents. The chapters are short and sweet, which keeps the adventure moving. The sentence structure also tends to be short, and further contributes to the quick pace of the story. Honestly, I was so enthralled by how easy the book was to read (with its short chapters and straightforward language) that I struggled to put it down at night when I was reading and finished the entire book very quickly.
Enter the bugs! The thematic elements, particularly the monsters (i.e. the bugs), of the book are original. On one hand, there are plenty of stories about killer and/or scary giant bugs, but the ones featured here are unique. These bugs crawl into peoples’ mouths and transform these ‘host’ bodies into something akin to crazed psycho runner-type zombies. While I did not personally find the human hosts themselves overly frightening, the prospect of having bugs crawl into any given character and transform them into murderous husks was gross and terrifying. (Did I mention I hate bugs?) Now I won’t delve too deeply into the lore and origin of the where these bugs come from, but their background is interesting and uncovering the mystery of their origin and what they are is central to the story.
The story itself was exciting and quick paced. Olivia meets several other apartment residents in her journey, and this leads to some interesting and unique relationships and plot developments along the way. A big question that one is forced to ask in reading the book is: Who are the real villains of the story—the bugs, or something else that is more insidious? Now this plot device of questioning where the bugs come from and why they’re reeking havoc in the apartment building now is central to the plot and keeps one guessing. However, I felt that the solution to their mystery fell a bit unconvincing. That said, there are several twists and turns throughout the narrative, which keep you guessing on who the ‘real’ players are pulling the strings, was highly entertaining.
I’m very happy to have read this modern addition to the horror genre, and it reignited my interest in the genre. I’d highly recommend giving C.M. Loforet and his work a read!
Good night for now… Don’t let the bedbugs bite!