John Everson ‘Violet Eyes’ Review

Written by: Vitina Molgaard

On the edge of the mattress, his fingers twitched. His whole hand shook, as if someone were pulling the strings, but didn’t know how to operate the puppet.

The tremors grew more intense, and a spike of pain shot down behind his ear. His head felt like a balloon that had been inflated beyond capacity. Things seemed to be tearing inside, and his eyes felt distended, as if he were turning into some hideous Halloween prop. His skull had to pop, it would pop. He knew this without question. Despite all logic. The only question was when. And how much pain he would endure before it finally exploded from the pressure. — Violet Eyes

This time we are here to discuss the latest novel written by the oft ultra-violent and extremely erotic, John Everson. The man’s made a fine career out of infusing terror, violence and erotica, but Violet Eyes doesn’t necessarily fit comfortably into an erotic subgenre exclusively, this one has throwback creature craziness all over the place, and it’s good, eerie fun.

One weekend four teenagers have decided to spend their afternoon on a small, relatively unused key down in Florida. Prepared for a wild, sex-filled adventure on Sheila Keys, this group instead encounters an unknown and unexpected enemy that will leave three of the four dead. One young man will return and with him he’ll bring back the horrific antagonist.

Our protagonist here is newly divorced mother, Rachel who’s trying to stay away from her ex-husband, Anders, and start a new life with her son, Eric. Living in a small town near the Everglades, things soon turn into a nightmare, as an unknown breed of flies start to migrate throughout the little community. These flies are doing things that no other species has ever been known to do and they deliver a bite that leads to the absolutely appalling. The media delivers a message to the masses, warning them to remain inside their homes until the flies pass, but the flies have no intention of leaving. Instead they seem to be bringing in hordes of spiders with them. Something has gone horribly wrong and soon pets and people alike start to disappear.

Violet Eyes illuminates a wide variety of characters, but I’m not going to clutter this review with every name or singular conflict they deal with. I am going to say that they are brought to the readers’ attention courtesy of a finely written tale, and audiences will not feel cheated in any way while coming to know each personality and their subsequent fate.

Mr. Everson is known for his heavy addition of erotica, and this book is not an exception. However what works quite well, at least in my opinion, is the fact that the erotica is limited and does not permeate throughout the entire tale. This is something I felt you should be aware of, should you have strong feelings either way about Everson’s established approach. The story moves at a fantastic pace from the beginning right to the conclusion and that’s what stands out first and foremost, not the nasty stuff.

Do you have trouble dealing with spiders and or similar arachnid/insect critters? Be forewarned: Violet Eyes will leave you itching, twitching, and possibly even scratching at nothing. However, you should also find yourself enjoying this old school throwback horror novel.

Order it here.

Rating: 3.5/5