Hunter Shea

Sweeeeeet.

I mean, I was expecting a cryptozoologist's nightmare with a focus on building sympathetic characters even in New Jersey, and all of this is right on target, but I didn't expect to love the whole damn redneck family or their never-ending bullets and their heavy-set will-to-revenge.

I had a great time reading this. This is horror done right. The build-up wasn't too long, the reveals were properly horrific, and the end was extremely satisfying. And bloody. Oh goodness, do any of you show more like a good gorefest? I do.

Hell, I love it. Especially when we get to ride with a bunch of lovable red-necks that have fallen in way too deep. Old School. Get your heart pumping in time to the shotgun barrel.

No spoilers, but keep your eye on that octogenerian. He's not only a man with a plan and a cadre of kids. He's an action hero. :)

Thanks to Netgalley for a wild ARC! show less

THE LEGEND LIVES...THE DEVIL AWAKES...THE BEAST MUST DIE!...Everyone knows the legend of the Jersey Devil. Some believe it is an abomination of nature, a hybrid winged beast from hell that stalks the Pine Barrens of southern New Jersey searching for prey. Others believe it is a hoax, a campfire story designed to scare children. But one man knows the truth.
I grew up on ghost stories and other "scary Irish creatures" that, as kids, my Irish grandmother entertained us with. As a result, none of show more us were never truly scared, we just loved the idea of it all being real, and the worse the story was, the better. I was 10-years old when I and two of my cousins that were close to my age visited more family in New Jersey with my grandfather. He and our uncle took us on "The Adventure of Our Lifetimes" to the Pine Barrens, after telling us all about the "Jersey Devil" in all its glorious, (to us), dripping gory details. Oh...we were more than ready to see this creature. BRING IT ON!! Of course, we didn't see anything other than about a hundred trillion zillion boring pine trees...it was the middle of the afternoon, and no self-respecting "Jersey Devil" would make an appearance at that time of day...and my "kill-joy", level-headed grandfather was adamant that we were not under any circumstances, staying until it was dark! Bummer!

Hunter Shea gives us a bit of "Devil History" along with a blood cudgeling horror story to get us ready to meet the "Star of the Show". It seems that the Legend of the Jersey Devil dates back to a dark and stormy night in 1735 when Mother Leeds had just given birth to her 13th child. (13 kids...I wonder if she had thought about feeding her husband...no, we won't go there.) The midwives that helped her swore that she’d given birth to a demon. The "Jersey Devil" is supposed to stand on two goat-like legs complete with sharp cloven hooves. Its upper body resembles a dragon or snake with short arms ending in razor sharp claws, and a pair of massive bat-like wings to give it the gift of flight. The head is said to look like a horse or large goat with eyes that glow a fiery red in the dark. The native Lenape People called the area "Popuessing", meaning “place of the dragon”. Later the Dutch would call it "Drake Kill" or "Dragon Channel". Oh Yeah...10-year-old me would have diffidently wanted to see that!!

It seems that too many thrill seekers decide to explore the Pine Barrens at a crucial time in the Devil’s life and the Willet Family, who have a long-kept family secret regarding the Devil, want to be at ground zero, lock, stock and barrel, when this creature shows up again. I began to wonder if these folks were perhaps "one brick short of a full wall" as they began to prepare for the "meeting". They watched the news, they read the articles in the newspapers...they were taking it all very, very seriously. People began to arrive...it started with one person, soon it was several couples, added to by one group after another of stupid, foolish campers. Jersey Devil Smorgasbord" and 'Take-Out" Service had arrived! Soon, one after another they start to go missing and the body count begins to rise fast...a cryptid hunter, Norm Cranston, enters the Barrens ready for the battle of his lifetime. No one knows what is going on. It seems that after years of just a few random sightings, the Devil is now getting a bit sloppy. He’s allowing himself to be spotted a lot more, and he’s not doing a lot to hide his kills.

The Jersey Devil is a thrill ride of fun. Dismembered limbs are flying, and heads are rolling, literally. Blood and gore abound and nowhere is safe. And all this is even before the hunters even meet one of the decedents of Mother Leeds who is reluctant to help them despite, or maybe because of, the recent uprising of violent activity. I thought, finally someone with a little sense! I bet, if they had existed at that time... the New Jersey Chamber of Commerce and Visitor's Center would have been thrilled! "Visit New Jersey and be dinner".

If you are planning a trip to New Jersey and are tempted to take a stroll through the legendary Pine Barrens...read Hunter Shea's "The Jersey Devil" before you go and you may find that you are "smarter than you look" and change your mind. If not...well...it was certainly a pleasure knowing you.... you'll be sorely missed. show less

Creature feature in perfection!

This story does everything right: from super-scary creatures, which are already scary enough in real life, to likeable main characters with just the right sense of humor. I must admit I easily imagined Chris to look something like the exterminator in The Strain series, but I guess that's due to the fact that I've not seen that many exterminators so far. Also, I think they share a similar kind of humor, which seems to be a necessary quality in order to do the show more job without going nuts. It was so sweet to observe how Chris cared for his beloved, but separated, ex-wife 'Benny' Benita, and I was not disappointed to read how the story ended - he totally deserved it!

Of course, the story also featured the mandatory wise-ass scientist who is to blame for the catastrophe because he missed to do some field-study and made the fatal (hehe!) assumption that wild rats would behave and react like lab rats.

Finally: the rats - nasty and annoying little creatures, but manageable if encountered alone. Give them a hive-like mind and highly increased aggressiveness, and they turn into mankind's worst nightmare. I was impressed by the sheer masses of them, which enabled them to literally overrun everything the humans threw in their way - walls, fire, you name it. Note: if I remember correctly, rats featured in the first creature horror I ever read (thanks to Mr. Herbert), and I guess that left a lasting impression...

Put together, it was a pleasure to read this fine work of genre fiction and I enjoyed every last page of it. Highest recommendation! show less

GROW AMAZING LIVE SEA SERPENTS! It’s fun! It’s easy! They only cost a measly dollar. Just clip out the ad in your comic book. Then ask Mom to mail it in. A few weeks later, receive a packet of instant Sea Serpent dust. Then: Just add water . . . and watch them grow! WHAT COULD GO WRONG? Just ask David and Patrick. Their “instant pets” are instant duds. They don’t hatch, they don’t grow, they don’t do anything. So they dump them into the sewer where Dad pours toxic chemicals . . show more .Growing is hard work and they're hungry...BUT IT WILL SOON BE FEEDING TIME.
A good friend that knows how I "feed" on strange and unusual "stuff", but loves me anyway, brought this to me and said... Read this...I heard it calling for you". After finishing this little somewhat bloody treasure, I have to sincerely say that "I HOPE IT DOESN'T KNOW WHERE I LIVE AND IT WILL NEVER, EVER HAVE ANY PLANS TO CALL ON ME"!! But I do have to admit that I loved it, and it brought back some good memories.

Do you remember the ads in the back of your comic book for the most "amazing stuff" that your 11-year-old self ever saw...and for only a mere $1.00 would bring the "amazing stuff" straight to your door!?

This was an absolutely "barrel of fun" read from start to finish. They all in this series; "Mail Order Massacres", appear to be really short little books, most around 100 pages or less, and oh boy...there are A LOT of them. Hunter Shea has been a busy man filling the pages with all this nostalgia and wonder that most all of us remember when we were kids...or our kids were kids.

This story is set in the 1980’s and is sprinkled with songs from that era, which were also a fun memory. The 1980's saw baseball games played in the street, and various "kid’-type" activities that sometimes lead to no good. David and Patrick were true 80's kids. In true "kid fashion" they had no patience waiting for the "Amazing Sea Serpents", that their $1.00 had bought, to grow. They feed them without much happening...that is other than a horrible smell...so they decide to dump them in the gutter. NO, NO, NO... bad move boys...and bad news is just around the corner for everyone. Those little beasts are growing, and you can't help but love the general mayhem that ensued after they were let loose.

There is plenty of horror along with juicy blood and guts along with tense moments. This is the first, but not the last, of Hunter’s book that I've read but I know that he must the KING of cryptids. I actually began to believe that these little monsters were really very cool creations. It was fun discovering their origin and their weakness that let the kids eventually beat them. Not "beat" them right away, of course...they DID NEED TO FEED...and FEED THEY DID!

I liked that the two kids were the main characters and ultimately the ones who battle the sea serpents. Just Add Water had a similar feel to Stephen King's IT with the banding together of "kids against monsters". I am getting the next book in this "Mail Order Massacre series"! I guess all of you know by now that I have a bit of a "Warped Sense of Humor". show less