The Brain Eaters by Gary Bradner
Something has gone terribly, horribly wrong!
Cover by Terry Oaks
Published by Arrow in the Uk in 1985
Gary Bradner is probably best known in horror circles as the guy who wrote the Howling novels, the first of which was used as the basis for the Joe Dante movie. Although there are 4 movies, the first novel is the only one they used for the films. He published more than 30 n0vels in his lifetime and numerous short stories and even screenplays. He also wrote the big brain sci fi trilogy.
he worked as an amateur boxer, bartender, surveyor, loan company investigator, advertising copywriter, and technical writer before turning to fiction writing. He sadly passed away in 2013 of oesophageal cancer.
So, the basic plot is a pesticide gets sprayed by accident and infects a few people with the brain eaters parasite that send them into crazy and violent killers and makes their faces explodes in pustules, which spreads the virus far and wide. A disgraced reporter Corey Macklin see’s a connection and a story that could put him in the big leagues again. However, he soon realises there is something far more serious as the virus spreads and the unexplained horror infects the county causing widespread mayhem. The government refuses to recognize the problem at first. Everything leads to the Biotron chemical factory, by way of a strange half mad scientists, eco terrorist plot, dark government departments and the KGB lurking in the background. So, with the help of his pal chain smoking doc Ingersoll and new girlfriend Dr Dena Falkner who happens to work at the Biotron factory, they try to find out what’s happened and find a way to stop the Brain Eaters before the whole country is consumed.
Yes, like those classic exploitation 80s horror flicks, there is a lot to keep you entertained; cheesy dialogue, over-the-top cliched characters, a highly contagious parasitic virus that turns people into angry monsters with rotting skin, and the mass hysteria that follows as society is on the edge of possibly breaking down . Oh, and graphic gore and violence. We have people snapping their own limbs, throats being ripped out, heads caved in, and bullet sprays. There are also some disturbing mentions of a teacher swinging the kids into walls and some kids violent rampage at a party. Bradner certainly has a flair for describing these episodes. The episode on the plane as a guy goes into full rage mode is brilliant. Bradner had obviously been stuck on a few planes in his time!
Despite these wonderful descriptions of mayhem and blood drenched bodies, and fun autopsy scene, there are some dry monologues and long explanations of the “science” behind the virus. but it’s difficult for a story like this to exist without them, but for me there was a bit too much and could have lost a few pages. The characters are pretty fun one dimensional apart from Doc Ingersoll, Coreys, chain smoking older friend who works on the Milwaukee newspaper with him. Bradner’s description of his ash coated office with cigarette seemingly permanently stuck in his mouth is a treat. One upon a time I knew people like that! Also, the ending rushes up to you very quickly and its all over and everything is fine (or is it !!!)
This is very much like watching a b movie horror flick from the Charles band school from a writer who knew his genre. Even though I thought the word count could have been dropped a little, I really enjoyed this.
The spectacular cover art is by Welsh illustrator Terry Oakes, who illustrated a number of the fighting fantasy book covers, Dune Novel covers as well as several science fiction, fantasy and horror novels. He recently celebrated his 80th birthday and is still going strong! You can buy prints of his work at Intercept Studios.
If anyone would like to download some of my artbook for free, please check out my GUMROAD store or you can support me on KOFI and check out my artwork and ramblings at dansmonsters.substack.com.
