Years ago, when I first started discovering mid-list horror writers and their work, there was a book that always interested me, written by J.F. Gonzalez and Mark Williams, entitled Clickers. I really didn’t know much about the book other than it was about an invasion of creatures from the sea. The problem was that it never was marketed in mass paperback, and always seemed hard to find unless you laid out the money for a limited edition version. That wait finally came to an end this year, once again to the thanks of the folks at Deadite Press. They provided me not only with the original book, but with the sequel written by J.F. Gonzalez and Brian Keene. This review will be a double review of both books which flow directly together.
Clickers is about the small town of Phllipsport, Maine. A well-known horror writer, Rick Sychek, has just arrived there to write his next horror story. Unfortunately, he is about to be part of one. When Rick arrives in town, his car hits something in the road forcing him to swerve off the highway and hit a tree. Thankfully, there are good people in the town that help him out and help him get settled into town. But that peace will not last very long, as an ancient creature from the sea is about to make landfall, a hybrid species that looks to be a crab, lobster and scorpion all wrapped into one. They are named clickers because of the sound the make with their claws. As they swarm the beaches of Phillpsport, they kill and eat everything in their path. No man, woman or child is safe. However, the clickers can easily be avoided and killed. As long as you don’t get too close to their tails, you have a good chance of killing of them with a bullet. The townsfolk soon learn this and form a hunting party. As they kill off the clickers, their victory is short lived as another darker, more intelligent group of creatures is making their way out of the ocean. These creatures are named the Dark Ones and they are here to hunt and kill every living thing on land until there is nothing left. Rick and a few survivors take refuge in a supermarket freezer as they prepare to defend themselves from these evil sea creatures.
Clickers II: The New Wave takes place almost ten years after the attack on Phillipsport. The government has covered every thing that happened in that small town up, blaming it on the hurricane that conveniently hit at the same time the attack took place. Over the years, rumors of sighting of the creatures have been told and a lot more people have died at sea from unknown causes. The survivors of the Phllipsport attacks have gone into hiding as the government has been hunting them down to cover up all loose ends of the incident. Rick has gone into hiding using a new name and living in the Midwest. Unfortunately for him, his mother is dying and he has decided to take a trip back to the east coast to say good bye to her. Another unfortunate thing has also occurred in the White House. A very religious president has been elected: one that does not believe in evolution or that dinosaurs ever roamed the earth. His beliefs will be humanity’s downfall, but there is still hope. A former Colonel who helped cover up the Phillipsport incident has been called back to duty. The good thing is he is still in touch with Rick when the counties’ leader fails to recognize the attacks by the army of Clickers and Dark Ones, and as people all up and down the east coast are brutally murdered by the creatures of the sea. Only Rick and Colonel Livingston are the ones that know how to stop the invasion and it is up to them to rally the nation’s armed forces to defeat the invaders from the sea once and for all.
Unfortunately, the Clickers do return, as there is a third book. I have yet to read the third one, but I know Deadite plans to release it soon. When it happens, you will see a review for it up on the site. There is also Clickers vs. Zombies book coming out.
Overall, here is my opinion about both books. They are both one and the same and both are out of this world great. Now, if you’re reading this and saying to yourself, “How can a book about giant crab things and sea creatures be any good?” Well it is. The books are a nod to the classic science fiction and horror films of the fifties and sixties. It is a B-movie written on the page, however the vision it leaves on your mind is so traumatic that you’re left wondering and thinking for days about what you would do if it ever happened. Yet, there is more of that “oh shit” factor that does it for me. I live on Long Island. My wife’s family has a beach house right on the Ocean that we go to almost every week over the summer. I can get in my car right now and drive down the block and be standing at the edge of the Great South Bay in less than three minutes and at the Atlantic Ocean in twenty minutes. So there is more of a personal effect here being that I live so close to the Atlantic Ocean. This book puts more of that fear in you the closer you live to it. I will never look at crabs the same again. This is a must read series for all fans of horror and science fiction. The books are brutal and I highly recommend the first two books in the Clickers series.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
